Chairman's Insights | Upright Mind · Reverence · Altruism

The three realms — know yourself, perceive heaven and earth, and understand all living beings — originate from the film The Grandmaster. It does not merely depict three levels of martial arts mastery, but three progressive stages of human cognition of the world. These stages are not parallel; each runs deeper than the last. Anyone who misses a stage will hit a wall in life.

Stage One: Know Yourself — Radical Honesty Within

To know yourself is not just listing your strengths and weaknesses. It means uncovering the hidden, unacknowledged motives behind every action. When you say "I only want what's best for you", dig deeper: it is often your desire to control others. When you claim "I care nothing about money", face the truth: you fear you will fail even if you try. When you insist "I am just outspoken", admit it: you are simply unwilling to consider other people's feelings.

Most people's suffering stems not from external harm, but from never truly seeing who they are. They live up to others' expectations, maintain polished social media personas, and strive to match the ideal version of themselves — yet never live in alignment with their true identity.

To know yourself is to stop self-deception and take full responsibility for every choice. Stop blaming your family background, unfair times or bad company. Accept this simple truth: this is your life, and you have voted for every outcome.

Stage Two: Perceive Heaven and Earth — Awe for the Outside World

To perceive heaven and earth is to recognize the tides of the times, social structures, objective laws, and your own position on this vast map. You learn to distinguish what lies within human power and what does not.

It takes equal courage to add leverage amid an economic downturn and to hold back when the market booms. Hard work counts far less than right choices — but only if you can see the bigger picture.

Many people cover up strategic laziness with tactical diligence. Ten years of grinding in a declining industry cannot compare with three years of rooting yourself in an upward trend. Repeatedly trying to fix a broken relationship is less sensible than accepting that you and the other person are simply not on the same path.

Perceiving heaven and earth does not mean resignation. It means refusing to fight against natural laws. You may swim freely, but you must follow the current instead of shouting against the ocean that "I am the master of my fate".

Heaven and earth are impartial. They do not set out to punish you; they simply remain indifferent. This realization brings great relief: since universal laws do not target individuals, you no longer need to treat every setback as a personal judgment.

Stage Three: Understand All Living Beings — Empathy Without Condescension

To understand all living beings is to step out of the "self" and see the struggles, hardships and helplessness behind every individual.

The salesperson who snaps at clients may have just been reprimanded by their manager, while their child runs a fever at home. The unreasonable parents you argue with may have never received genuine love in their whole life. The colleague you envy may burn themselves out to climb the career ladder.

Once entrepreneurs reach a certain scale, their ultimate breadth of vision is determined not by capability, but by how many people they can truly see. Many business leaders feel empty despite good profits, because they only focus on financial statements. They overlook the strained backs of assembly line workers, the young salespeople burdened with mortgages, and suppliers tossing and turning at night under prolonged payment delays.

Understanding all living beings is not patronizing sympathy, but equal empathy. I know how hard life can be, because I have walked the same tough road. I refrain from judgment, because I have never stood in your shoes.

This shift leads you from "winning" to "achievement". It is no longer about how many competitors you defeat, but how many people you help grow and succeed.

The Three Realms: Inseparable and Interdependent

If you lack any one realm, you will get stuck.

• If you only know yourself but ignore heaven and earth, you grow arrogant. You believe sheer effort can overcome everything, until you run headfirst into a wall.
• If you see the big picture but never examine yourself, you fall into nihilism. Having seen all the rules of the world, you conclude nothing matters and choose to lie flat.
• If you know yourself and grasp the trends yet remain blind to others, you become a sophisticated egoist: sharp, clear-minded and profit-driven, yet perpetually lonely.

Only when you integrate all three can you stay worldly-wise without being worldly, keep humble amid your insignificance without giving up, and remain warm even when solitude comes.

These three levels are especially meaningful today. We live in an era obsessed with "perceiving heaven and earth": success theories teach you how to climb higher, KPIs push you to win every game, and algorithms keep you chasing attention. Yet few people ask: What comes after you reach the top? After you win the game? After you become famous?

The answer is simple: pause to check whether you have lost yourself along the way; look up to see whether the tides have shifted; and look down to make sure you do not step on others as you advance.

To know yourself is to preserve your true identity. To perceive heaven and earth is to live a meaningful life. To understand all living beings is to win without being alone.