Master Jingzong; English translation by Foyi, edited by Jingxing
True beauty belongs to everyone. Nobody has the right to make it his or her own private possession. The sun shines on everyone, the air is for all to breathe, and the roads are open for both you and me. Consider the early riser who sees the sunrise first and shouts, “The sun is rising!” But if he then believes that the sunrise is his exclusive property, and tries to collect a “sunrise fee” from other people, wouldn’t he be considered totally overbearing?
It’s the same with our ideas. No matter how original and brilliant they are, if someone else expresses an identical thought, we should be happy because we have been “resurrected” in that person. We should congratulate him, saying “Your ideas are marvelous!” We should never selfishly grumble that “These are my ideas! You stole them from me!” If we do so, then we die in that person. Those who cannot rejoice in a truth that is shared by others have, in effect, taken their own lives.