Recently, Shanghai EK successfully hosted a training program on traditional Chinese culture centered on cultivating a life of wisdom and happiness. The program spanned one and a half days, during which participants learned practical ways to cultivate happiness and gained profound insights into living a wise and fulfilling life.

If you wish to gain a clear understanding of what constitutes a happy life and what it means to live a “Five Blessings” life, let me explain: the Five Blessings are longevity, wealth and honor, health and peace, virtuous conduct, and a peaceful death. “Blessing” refers to the blessing of happiness; “wisdom” refers to the wisdom of insight. The course “A Life of Blessing and Wisdom” is precisely such a program—a guiding light that leads you on the path to a life filled with both happiness and wisdom. Why should you study “A Life of Blessing and Wisdom”? To awaken the wisdom of your true heart, to see the true nature of life, to understand the methods for transforming your fortune, and to create a life brimming with blessing and wisdom.

The course began with a welcoming address by Ms. Lan Lei, General Manager of Shanghai EK, after which we formally commenced our learning by performing the traditional three-bow ritual led by Teacher Chunjuan. As the saying goes, “All blessings and good fortune spring from the heart; seek them within, and you will find that nothing is beyond your reach.” The true source of happiness and joy lies deep within your own heart—we are simply here to illuminate the path that leads you back to it. Your destiny is in your own hands; cultivate your own blessings through your own efforts. On the journey of a life enriched by both virtue and wisdom, let us learn to become the masters of our own fate—and together, let us establish our life’s purpose! Teacher Chunjuan guided us in reciting the classic text “Four Lessons from Liufan,” followed by small-group discussions and real-world role-playing exercises, seamlessly blending theory with practice. This dynamic approach made every class lively, engaging, and endlessly enjoyable.

The beauty of life lies in its resilience, its ceaseless vitality, its fleeting moments, and its enduring length. A life of blessings and wisdom means letting one life touch another, letting goodness bring forth more goodness—this is our mission. With a single thought, we can dwell in paradise; with another, in hell. All things in this world are but reflections of the mind. The way you view others may well be nothing more than your own assumptions. Life is a mirror: if our hearts hold beauty, we will see beauty. In the Blessings and Wisdom Life Course, let us learn to shift our mindset together. The classes are interwoven with a variety of mindful practices—meditation, chanting, prostration rituals, standing meditation, Tai Chi, and singing—through which participants immerse themselves, share their insights on life, release past attachments and mistakes, forgive themselves, and, from this moment forward, begin to cultivate a new way of thinking.

Family love, friendship, and romantic love—how often we dismiss the need to express them; how often we lack the skill to do so; and how often we simply don’t have the chance. Here, let us together allow these bonds to blossom. One’s destiny is shaped by one’s own actions; blessings are sought through one’s own efforts; misfortune and good fortune come without fixed doors—only we ourselves invite them. As long as a person is sincere in their practice and does more good, there is no deed that will go unheeded. In this world, every cause has its effect; the primary factor determining whether a person enjoys wealth and honor or poverty and hardship, and whether they find true happiness, is not feng shui, nor astrology, nor predestined fate—but rather the “field of the heart,” that is, your thoughts, your moral character, and your conduct. Life is like a program: however you write it, that is how it will run; where there is a cause, there will be an effect. All fields of merit lie within the confines of the mind; seek them from the heart, and you will find that nothing remains beyond reach.

Starting today, starting right now, let us begin from the heart...