Throughout life, people inevitably fall into various misconceptions. What is not truly frightening is making mistakes, but realizing too late that one has already gone astray and never identifying where things went wrong, continuing down the wrong path. Life is much like a game of chess. The master Go player Wu Qingyuan once said that a game of Go is essentially two people continuously making mistakes, and the one who makes bigger and more frequent mistakes loses. Life works in much the same way.
There are many misconceptions in life, related to wealth, existence, and values. What appears to be a smooth path may actually hide traps; what seems to be the most convenient choice may lead you in the wrong direction. For example, when buying a house, many people believe they own it completely. In reality, property certificates clearly show that what one owns is a 70-year usage right. Looking at it differently, after several decades, most things we care about today may no longer matter at all.
Master Cheng Yen in Hualien, Taiwan, once said, “Life has no ownership, only usage rights.” This statement is worth reflecting on. In the chessboard of life, what do we truly own? Life itself is not entirely under our control. We do not choose when we come into this world, nor can we know when we will leave it. Experiences such as illness, loss, pain, or heartbreak are also not entirely within our choice to accept or reject.
Given this, within the limited period in which we “use” life, we should cherish every meal, every cup of tea, every relationship, every bond of family, as well as every breeze and every rainfall. Nothing in this world is permanently ours; everything is transient. Therefore, there is no need to be overly anxious about things beyond our control. The same applies to wealth—whether rich or poor, it is all a temporary form of use and management.
Money itself illustrates this point: the same banknote belongs to different people depending on where it is held, and its value is realized only when it is used. Wealth gains meaning through circulation and use, not mere possession.
