A New Year, a New You? Ji Gong on "Leaving the Old Behind and Growing Anew"

Every new year, families get busy with spring cleaning, buying new clothes and hanging up festive couplets, wishing each other "Happy New Year" and "May all go well." Then the celebrations end, life goes back to the old routine, and it seems nothing has really changed. A teaching from almost fifty years ago uses the arrival of spring to remind us: real "newness" is not in our clothes or our homes. It is in our own hearts and actions.

10/25/20266 min read

A bronze dragon sculpture on a tiled roof corner with red tassels

A New Year, a New You? Ji Gong on "Leaving the Old Behind and Growing Anew"

A Plain-Language Reading of a Teaching by Ji Gong (济公)

A teaching from almost fifty years ago uses the arrival of spring to remind us: real "newness" is not in our clothes or our homes. It is in our own hearts and actions.

About This Teaching

This teaching comes from the Chu Ke Teachings (《处科训文》), printed by the Hong Kong Office of the Mother Daoyuan (宗母总驻港办事处) and passed down in the Daoyuan (道院). It was given by Ji Fo (济佛) on the 22nd day of the 1st lunar month of the Dingsi year, which was 11 March 1977, during the Lunar New Year season.

Ji Fo is better known as Ji Gong, the Living Buddha (济公活佛). He was originally Daoji (道济), an eminent Chan (Zen) monk of the Southern Song dynasty. With his torn hat and broken fan, he cared little for rules and often looked a little mad. Yet his heart was full of compassion: he helped the poor and the weak wherever he went and guided people toward awakening. This teaching ends with a cheerful "Ha ha!", which is very much Ji Gong's warm and playful style.

The original is written in a mix of classical and everyday Chinese. What follows is our plain-language reading, so that readers of every background can take something from it.

The Opening Lines: Spring Returns to the Earth

春回大地。万物昭苏。

Spring returns to the earth, and all things wake up again.

Ji Gong says everyone understands these two lines. But truly "understanding" them is a much deeper matter.

1. Feeling Spring, from the Outside In

Most people feel spring through their senses:

The ears hear birds singing;
The eyes see fresh green leaves and flowers in every colour;
The nose smells all kinds of blossoms;
The heart feels lighter and happier too.

All of this is the "newness" we see on the outside. Going a little deeper, there is the feeling in the air itself: the spring breeze is warm and gentle, carrying a sense of harmony.

Ji Gong says this warm, gentle air is the harmonious blending of heaven and earth, where heaven and earth, yin and yang, meet in balance. That is why all life bursts forth. Birds in the sky, fish in the water, animals on the land and plants in the fields are all stirred by this living energy, growing and renewing without end.

Surrounded by this scene of "leaving the old behind and growing anew," people naturally feel joyful.

2. The Same Spring, Different Understandings

But when it comes to people, things differ. Each person has a different nature and background, so each sees and feels things differently:

Some never sense the deeper meaning behind spring;
Some treat "Happy New Year" as just a nice thing to say, a wish that mostly never comes true;
Only a few seek to understand spring through the natural laws of heaven, earth, yin and yang.

Most people work on being "new" on the outside. At the New Year, for example, we clean the house and put on new clothes. These customs have been passed down for generations and are still common today.

These are good things, of course. But Ji Gong reminds us: outer newness is only the beginning.

3. A Practitioner's Spring: A Yearly Check-Up

For those who practise, the four seasons go round and round like a ring with no end. Spring is the start of the year, when everything is renewed, so it is the perfect time to look back and check on ourselves.

Ji Gong lists a series of questions that are well worth asking ourselves every new year:

How many of the bad habits I picked up have I let go of? Have I improved since last year?
Can I sweep clean the clutter and dust in my heart?
Can I nurture my energy to be gentle and warm, like a spring breeze?
Has my inner spirit been drained? Is my foundation steady, full and lasting?
Has my sitting meditation made progress?
Do I have any new understanding of goodness and compassion?
Have I truly put in effort to help myself and help others?

Going through them one by one, is there even a small change for the better?

All things in nature can leave the old behind and grow anew. What about us?

4. Renew Yourself Every Day

苟日新，日日新，又日新。

"If you can make yourself new for one day, make yourself new every day, and keep on renewing."

These words were carved on the washbasin of King Tang, founder of the Shang dynasty, and are quoted in the Confucian classic The Great Learning (《大学》).

Ji Gong applies them to spiritual practice:

In the heart, we should renew ourselves again and again, every moment;
In our actions, we should renew ourselves again and again, in everything we do.

Confucius praised his student Yan Hui for "never making the same mistake twice." Ji Gong admits honestly that this is not easy to do.

But turning away from a mistake and toward what is good can be done at any time. As long as we pay attention to ourselves and truly practise, we are leaving the old behind and growing anew, moment by moment.

You don't need to wait for the New Year. Every day, every moment, can be a fresh start.

5. The Body Grows Old, but the Heart Can Stay New

The human body naturally renews itself: old cells fade away and new ones grow. But as we age year by year, this ability slowly weakens.

If a person does not look after their daily life, does not cultivate themselves, and only offers a few empty New Year wishes each year, then in the end they are like grass and trees: withering year after year, until nothing is left.

No one can stop the body from ageing. But renewing the heart is something we hold in our own hands.

6. Don't Let This Compassion Go to Waste

At the end of the teaching, Ji Gong asks a string of pointed questions:

If we simply let the years slip by like this, how can we talk about cultivating the "Three Treasures" (三宝) we are born with and those we gain in life? How can we talk about reaching the level of sages, saints, immortals and buddhas? How can we stay true to the vows we made when we first began this path? How can we speak of progress in our practice at all?

And how could we repay the great compassion of the Venerable Teacher (师尊), who came to guide us, nurture us, pass on the scriptures, teach us sitting meditation, and help ease the world's hardships?

Then Ji Gong suddenly changes his tone:

"吾侪修人，皆不如是也。哈哈。"

"But of course, none of us who practise would ever be like that. Ha ha!"

With one "Ha ha!", a serious warning becomes warm encouragement. Ji Gong believes in us, and hopes we won't let ourselves down.

Five Simple Tips for Beginners

1. Make New Year a "check-up day": as well as cleaning the house, give your heart a good clean too.

2. Compare yourself with last year's you: not with others. Just ask whether you've grown a little.

3. Every day is a fresh start: there's no need to wait for the New Year to turn toward the good.

4. Be gentle like a spring breeze: in daily life, be a little less hasty and a little more kind.

5. Turn wishes into actions: "A new year, a new you" is more than a saying. Start with one small change today.

Going Deeper: Notes for Fellow Practitioners

The following notes touch on deeper practice and are offered for fellow members of the Daoyuan.

"同时体验到自身的阴阳水火修程如何" (At the same time, reflect on how one's own practice of yin and yang, water and fire, is progressing): Using the harmonious blending of heaven and earth and the renewal of all things as an image, the original teaching encourages fellow practitioners, at the start of each year, to look back on the progress of their own cultivation of yin and yang, water and fire.
"吾之炁灵，是否没有损耗，而固本充恒" (Has my qi-ling suffered no loss, and is my root firm, full and lasting?): The original teaching lists the preservation of qi-ling (炁灵, primordial qi and spirit), a firm and lasting foundation, progress in sitting practice, and new understanding of the Dao and compassion as key points for self-reflection at the start of the year.
"渡己渡人，四愿四诫，有无切实用功" (In carrying oneself and others across, the Four Vows and Four Precepts, have I truly put in effort?): The original teaching reminds fellow practitioners to check themselves against the Four Vows (四愿) and the Four Precepts (四诫: pride 矜, restlessness 躁, one-sidedness 偏 and haste 急), and to see whether there are signs of new progress in each.
"何有于先后天之三宝……何有于石门发愿而来……何有于功候之进退" (What of the Three Treasures, primordial and acquired… what of the vows made on entering the Stone Gate… what of progress or decline in practice?): With this series of questions, the original teaching warns fellow practitioners not to let their practice become mere "empty wishes," decaying like grass and trees, and so failing the great compassion of the Venerable Teacher, who descended to guide and save, passed on the scriptures and sitting practice, and eased calamities and fate.

Source: Chu Ke Teachings (《处科训文》), printed by the Hong Kong Office of the Mother Daoyuan, Daoyuan. Teaching by Ji Fo (Ji Gong, the Living Buddha), 22nd day of the 1st lunar month, Dingsi year (11 March 1977). This article is a plain-language reading and is for reference only.

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