Ancient Wisdom and
Modern Living
Everybody wants to live not only a better but also a longer
life. Living well is a common human pursuit, but it may often turn out to be
only a carrot and stick-forever unattainable. Why? It is because living well is
an art that requires profound ancient wisdom, not just the conventional wisdom
of modern medicine, in order to live a disease-free life.
The human body has built-in body wisdom that keeps it young
and healthy, that is, an innate awareness of its basic needs, as well as its
warning signs and signals of internal disharmony that may lead to imminent
disease and disorder. Therefore, wisdom is required to enhance this human
consciousness to create a new environment in which the biochemistry of the body
becomes the substance of awareness of beliefs, emotions, and thoughts, thereby
instrumental in maintaining and sustaining the overall wellness of an
individual to remain disease-free as much as and as long as possible.
Body wisdom is no more than everyday eating and living
habits. Eating is a science, and living is an art; they complement each other,
just as "yin" and "yang" do. Human wisdom is, essentially,
the capability in creating and managing this art and science to live a better
and a longer life.
Ancient wisdom, however, is not the same as contemporary
wisdom. The former has more to do with the mind-how it thinks and perceives;
the latter focuses more on knowledge acquisition, and its practical
applications in life.
A classic example of ancient wisdom is that of Lao Tzu, an ancient sage in China China for Tibet
How does Tao wisdom help in living a better and a longer
life?
Lao Tzu's wisdom is unique in that it emphasizes
"reverse" thinking of the human mind, instead of the
"conditioned" contemporary mindset. In other words, one must, first
and foremost, have an empty mind before one can even think out of the box, not
to mention creating one's own box in thinking. To illustrate, Lao Tzu's focus
on "under-doing" (as opposed to "over-doing" or "the
more, the better" contemporary mindset), "living in the present"
(as opposed to "multi-tasking" modern lifestyle), and "no
expectation of result" (as opposed to "goal-oriented" or
"goal-setting" attitude of this day and age) is conducive to creating
internal peace and harmony, which is the essence of living a stress-free life.
The essentials of Tao wisdom are fundamental to the art of living well and the
science of healthy living without stress.
In addition, Lao Tzu believed that true wisdom lies in
internalizing and self-intuiting eternal truths. Unlike contemporary wisdom,
Tao wisdom has no blueprint for all-just as the health of an individual is
based on the unique body chemistry of that individual; true wisdom, therefore,
is acute awareness of the needs of the body, which is known exclusively only to
that individual.
Another example of ancient wisdom is that of Hippocrates
(377-460 BC), the "Father of Medicine." His basic principles of
health and wellness are profound. For example, Hippocrates said: "Let food
be your medicine and medicine be your food." His wisdom is quite contrary
to the conventional wisdom of modern medicine, which overtly emphasizes the use
of drugs. The United States
Hippocrates also expressed his wisdom in the art of living:
"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." The wisdom of
modern medicine focuses on cure through drugs and procedures, rather than
prevention through a holistic approach to health and wellness of the body, the
mind, and the spirit. The wisdom of modern medicine is simply on quick fixing
the symptoms, instead of preventing their occurrence in the first place.
The wisdom of Hippocrates echoed that of Lao Tzu's
"non-doing" or "under-doing" when he said: "To do
nothing is sometimes a good remedy." According to Hippocrates,
"everything in excess is opposed to nature" because of the presence
of the innate body wisdom in self-healing. Unfortunately, modern medicine
chooses to do just the opposite, and thus opening the Pandora's box, creating
many more human diseases and disorders through toxic drugs and procedures.
The Bible is the Word of God. It provides the ancient wisdom
of God for health and wellness in the form of principles for the body, the
soul, and the spirit. For example, in the Old Testament (Genesis 1:19), God
prescribed ancient Hebrews with instructions to eat plants and seeds. As a
matter of fact, in Hebrew language, the word "meat" is essentially
"food" and not animal protein. However, it does not mean that God
would like the Hebrews to become vegetarians; rather, fruits, vegetables, and
herbs would have to be their basic or first diet. The Bible, in many instances,
reveals the ancient wisdom in healthy eating to maintain health and wellness.
To conclude, wisdom is about acute awareness and profound
perception through the human eye to see things as they really are, without
looking at them through colored spectacles. In Matthew 6:22, Jesus
said: "The light of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye be single,
your body will be full of light." True human wisdom is how we perceive and
internalize our life experiences, based on an understanding of who we really
are and what our essential roles are in this world, as well as of the natural
laws of things. With this profound understanding, we will look at everything
and everyone around us in perspective. One final word: without true human
wisdom, it is difficult to understand the wisdom of God.
Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
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