Confucius is teaching 2 simple ways to save money.

Aside from my Yoga Teacher Training, I am also studying Classic Chinese literatures like the Golden Mean and the Great Learning.

These books are among Four Books of Confucius teaches.
It is a long story why I am studying that, yet, it is actually pretty nifty thing.
I love the contents and it’s lesson. What a good idea, be a nice person, and I get to go to heaven.

In the main four classic texts of Confucius teachings, we just finished going over Great Learning.
It was roughly written, I believe, about 3000 years ago during Zhou Dynasty or may be later. Not sure.

Anyway, the book is about significance of the 5 virtues: benevolence, righteousness, proprieties, wisdom, and faith.

Basically, you will need to cultivate yourself to equip yourself with these virtues, and you will find your true self.

Among other lessons, one of the section is about money and the virtues.

生財有大道，生之者眾，食之者寡。為之者疾，用之者舒。則財恆足矣。

Shēngcái yǒu dàdào, shēng zhī zhě zhòng, shí zhī zhě guǎ. Wéi zhī zhě jí, yòng zhī zhě shū. Zé cái héng zú yǐ.

The meaning of the sentence basically is that:
One who makes wealth works hard and use the money with wisdom.
If you use less than you make, you will accumulate the wealth.

It is to me, daaaaaaaaaaaah.
Of course, Confucius, what else is new. If you use less than what you make, of course you will save yourself some dough.

And it is pretty embedded common sense in Japan, at least.

However, I know that, from my life in Canada for 12 years, not many North American understands the principle.
I believe their intuition knows, but they cannot make that into actual practice.

Of course not. This is the country that the wealth is build upon nation’s debt.
Without national debt, the ministry is not able to print out cash. Literally.
I watched the documentary of how the system works.
The point I am making is that the socio-cultural norm of finance is that “use as much you can, and think about the payment later.”

Don’t get me wrong, I am not criticizing the discourse of money here.
I am just stating my observation.

Then, in Asia, save money, use wisely, spend after earning, is something we get taught by our parents.
If, this Great Learning section about Money is first Financial guide for dummies in Asia, the contribution of the book is huge! The discourse is so deeply rooted in Asian society. The influence of the little book is still todays ongoing influence. Holy money!

I cannot help thinking “whoa” when I think about the history of the thought.

2 simple solutions to save money:
Use less than you make
And spend wisely.

Whoa.

南無阿弥陀仏

Setting an intention, creating space

Setting an intention, creating space

It is Tuesday, so we had our weekly meeting at 6:30 am.
It was pretty cold this morning like I always do.
I was actually thinking to bike down here, but boyfriend insisted that he want to give me a ride.
It was nice of him, and I appreciated the intention.

Then, I realized my body is not as ready as usual because I skipped the cardio moment that I usually do.
My body was not as warn and my muscles were still sleeping.

In Atlas Studio, it is very important to set an intention before we start.
My general intention is “appreciating what I have” which include my life, my body, my disposition, my family, my boyfriend, my teacher, my classmates, and the most importantly my deceased husband.

Then, I set some specific intention for improvements in my yoga performance.
I have tender quad (front thigh) and weak shoulders.

I also prescribe my clients some intention.
If my client have low back issue due to sitting their chair for too much, I will ask them to have specific intention to decompress their low back when they stretch. If a client has uneven muscle development due to work or sport, I will ask them to have special intention to the other side of the body to develop to match with the dominant side when they work out.

I believe the result follow your intention.

Intention is extremely important in Buddhism as well.
I learn Classical Chinese with Confucius theories from my Taiqi teacher.
When no-righteous thoughts appear in your mind, and if you did not notice that it was not righteous thought, it will become intention. The intention will eventually become manifested in to motivation.

If the intention is wrong, even though appear-to-be right thing to do can cause an unexpected result.
For example, I witnessed someone did something that she should not have done. I thought I should report that to my manager. The right intention could be making the work environment right and fair for everyone. However. My intention, even the slight of intention I had was that manager would think “huh, the girl is not the first I thought she was when we hired her. Yuumi seems like to be kick ass on whatever she does. I may give her more credit on her achievement.” The result was horrible. And I actually did not realize my true intention which was masked by thin superficial justice that I thought I had till I hurt someone’s feeling. The lesson was that intention does count.

How to face your inner intention?

One way is creating the space and silence so your little inner voice will reach your mind.

The significance of silence for music, poetry, and other art forms is evident.

”Poetry comes out of silence and yearns for silence”, Picard writes, or as Rainer Maria Rilke states, ”Works of art are of an infinite solitude”. Great paintings and works of architecture also arise from and create silence. A powerful architectural experience eliminates noise and turns our consciousness to ourselves, into our existential experience and sense of being. The church interiors of Alvar Aalto and Juha Leiviskä, for instance, are cast in a benevolent silence. The innate silence of an experience of profound architecture arises from the manner in which it focuses our attention on our own existential experience–I am listening to my own existence.

The language of architecture is the drama of tranquility. Great buildings are silence turned into matter. They are petrified silence, and every building has its characteristic silence, and great buildings are museums of silence. Perhaps the idea of turning life back to the unpretentious appropriateness and silent prestige that we admire in the peasant’s sphere of life, or in the most refined creations of Modernity, proves to be mere nostalgia, but man has never mourned for a homecoming more than today. And man has never yearned for silence as the focus of one’s very being more than we do in our era of surreal and hysterical consumption and noise.

By Juhani Pallasmaa, who is Professor of Architecture at the Helsinki University of Technology and is William A. Bernoudy Architect in Residence at the American Academy in Rome.

Well, my house is nothing special, no profound architecture per se. However, what I can do to creat silence at home is not too complicated. I just need to turn off the damn TV, and start picking after my stuff. Huh. My mother will be proud of me of she witness that. However, creating space is equally powerful as creating silent moment on yoga mat.

Today, I will clean my bed room.

Oh, I am so booked today.

May be tomorrow.

Oh, I have six appointments tomorrow. I will be tired.

May be in the weekend.

Oh, I have yoga teacher Training.

Hmmmmmmm………
Actually creating space is harder than I thought. ……….

南無阿弥陀仏