Language shapes our perception of reality. Modern language, with English as a primary example, tends to be pragmatic and straightforward, aimed at “arriving at the point”, extracting meanings from the felt-sense and lived experiences sometime in a brutal way. With this language as the primary lens, we may experience the world as fragmented, transactional and alienating to the felt-sense of aliveness.

In contrast, ancient languages with an indigenous root, with Chinese as an example, works in an opposite way. It tends to enfold layers of meaning into simple phrases, enriching the felt-sense and feelings through poetic expressions. It also arranges many shades and nuances of felt senses into imagery and metaphors, through which one experiences more of an inter-connected, living world.

Chinese characters carry maps pointing to the mysterious territory of the Tao, which cannot be comprehended through an approach dominated by the rational left brain. Nor can it be fully translated into modern English language. Learning to speak and draw Chinese characters, and contemplating on the meanings they transmit, will activate our feeling heart and intuitive mind, where the essence of the Tao already resides.