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That famous line from "The Little Prince"

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is actually a Buddhist formula.

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200 million people have read this book;

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almost everyone can recite that quote:

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"What is essential

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is invisible to the eye."

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But have you ever wondered

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what this line actually means?

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It's not just "chicken soup for the soul"

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or mere comfort;

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it is a precise description of human cognitive structure.

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If you re-examine this line through Buddhism,

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you will discover

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the secret a French pilot wrote in 1943

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was fully explained by the Buddha

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2,500 years ago using a complete cognitive model.

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Hello,

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everyone.

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I am Wang Lijie.

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Today, we'll dismantle a book that seems simple

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but might actually be the most profound:

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Saint-Exupéry's "The Little Prince."

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First, a fact that might surprise you:

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translated into hundreds of languages,

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with global sales exceeding 200 million copies,

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it's one of the most-read books in human history.

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But have you noticed?

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The experience of reading it is very strange.

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Read it as a child,

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and you think it's a fairy tale.

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Read it again as an adult,

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and you feel something hidden inside,

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though you can't quite name it.

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By the third or fourth reading,

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you feel the book is dismantling you.

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Why?

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Because "The Little Prince" isn't just telling a story;

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it uses the language of fairy tales

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to describe human consciousness falling into the mist

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and the full process of finding the way back.

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This process

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has an extremely precise model in Yogacara Buddhism.

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Let's start from the beginning.

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The Little Prince lives on asteroid B612.

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How small is that planet?

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Just move your chair,

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turn around,

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and you can watch the sunset.

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There are only three things on the planet:

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A rose,

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three volcanoes,

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and some baobab trees that need regular weeding.

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This setting itself is deeply meaningful.

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In Yogacara,

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there are three ways consciousness views the world,

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called the "Three Natures."

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First is Pariniṣpanna (Perfected Nature):

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things as they truly are,

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pure truth without labels or emotions.

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Second is Paratantra (Dependent Nature):

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how things appear due to interdependent conditions.

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Third is Parikalpita (Imagined Nature):

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when consciousness labels, scripts, and adds drama to things.

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Planet B612

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is a world close to the Perfected Nature.

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No redundant concepts,

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no comparisons,

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no competition.

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The relationship between the Prince and his rose

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is as pure as water.

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He waters her,

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she blooms;

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that's all.

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The problem is,

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the Little Prince isn't satisfied.

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He thinks the rose is too dramatic.

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She coughs, demands care, and makes sarcastic remarks.

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The Little Prince can't take it anymore.

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He decides to leave.

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This is the book's most critical turning point.

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It's also a core proposition in Yogacara philosophy.

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The Little Prince leaves B612,

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not because the flower is bad,

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but because he began to label her.

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Melodramatic.

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Difficult.

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Not good enough.

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These labels are what Buddhism calls Parikalpita—imaginative attachments.

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He no longer sees the flower directly;

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instead, he sees her through these labels.

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But Saint-Exupéry left a deep clue here.

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On the morning he left,

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the rose said something to him.

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She said,

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I have been silly.

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Please forgive me.

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I hope you will be happy.

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She finally stopped being dramatic.

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She no longer asked for a screen,

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or faked a cough.

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Why?

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Because she had always loved him,

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but didn't know how to express it.

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She used demands and bluffs to hide her fragility.

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In Yogacara terms,

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the rose's melodrama was also Parikalpita.

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She had applied a label to herself:

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a princess in need of protection.

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When the Little Prince was truly leaving,

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this label shattered,

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and for the first time, she saw her own heart.

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What is the deepest tragedy between two people?

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It is not a lack of love,

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but two hearts clearly being together,

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yet each blocked by their own labels.

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Neither can see who the other truly is.

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From that moment on,

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the Little Prince fell from a state of Parinispanna

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into the fog of his own attachments.

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Then he began his travels.

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He visited six planets in turn.

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On the first lived a king.

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He was all alone on his planet,

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yet he insisted on ruling everything,

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even ording the sun to set.

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On the second lived a conceited man.

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His only function was to wait for applause.

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On the third lived a drunkard.

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He drank to forget that he was ashamed of drinking.

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A perfect, vicious cycle.

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On the fourth lived a businessman.

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He was counting the stars,

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claiming to own them all.

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He spent his days recording numbers in a drawer.

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On the fifth lived a lamplighter.

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He faithfully followed an obsolete order,

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lighting and extinguishing the lamp every minute.

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On the sixth lived a geographer.

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He recorded all the rivers and mountains,

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but had never seen them himself.

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He claimed he was far too important to go out.

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Do you notice a pattern?

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These six people show symptoms of the same illness.

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In Buddhist terms,

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these are six disguises of the 'Manas-vijnana'.

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Manas is the seventh consciousness in Yogacara.

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It only does one thing:

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it grasps incessantly.

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It constantly constructs an 'ego,'

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and then fights desperately to maintain it.

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The king grasps power;

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the conceited man grasps recognition;

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the drunkard grasps oblivion;

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the businessman grasps possession;

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the lamplighter grasps rules;

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the geographer grasps concepts.

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Six different ways of grasping,

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but all from the same root.

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That root is this:

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needing to own, control, or be recognized to exist.

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to prove my existence.

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Notice another detail:

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Each planet has only one inhabitant.

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This wasn't written by chance.

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Every form of attachment

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confines you to an island where you are alone.

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The deeper the attachment,

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the greater the loneliness.

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Think about those around you with a strong need for control,

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those who care too much about others' opinions,

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or those trapped in inescapable habits.

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Aren't they all living on a planet of their own?

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Think about yourself.

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When you can't stop scrolling through your phone,

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when you keep checking your 'likes',

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when you save money desperately but fear spending it,

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aren't you also sitting on some small asteroid,

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thinking you're doing something important,

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while actually just maintaining the illusion of 'self'?

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Saint-Exupéry wrote this book in 1943.

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There were no smartphones then,

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no social media.

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Yet he accurately predicted how humanity would live 80 years later.

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Everyone busy on their own asteroid,

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everyone thinking they are important,

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and everyone being very lonely.

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Then, the Little Prince arrived on the seventh planet:

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Earth.

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On Earth, he encountered a garden of roses.

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Five thousand roses,

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all looking exactly like his own.

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He wept.

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He had always thought his rose was unique in the universe,

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only to find them everywhere.

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Lying in the grass, he cried,

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I thought I was rich,

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possessing a flower unique in all the world,

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but she is just a common rose.

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That, and three volcanoes that only reach my knees—

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it doesn't make me a very great prince.

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This is the most painful blow in the book,

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and a necessary one on the path of self-cultivation.

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The things you thought were unique

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are actually found all over the world.

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The 'uniqueness' you bestowed upon them

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is a label you attached yourself,

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not an inherent quality of the object.

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In Yogacara Buddhism,

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this is the first shattering of 'imaginary attachment'.

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You finally see

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that a label is just a label,

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not the thing itself.

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This realization is painful,

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but it's the first step toward waking up.

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Next,

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the fox appears.

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The fox says something that changes the whole book.

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It goes like this:

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To me,

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you are just a little boy,

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no different from a hundred thousand other little boys.

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I have no need of you,

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and you have no need of me.

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To you,

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I am just a fox,

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no different from a hundred thousand other foxes.

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But,

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if you tame me,

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then we shall need each other.

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To me, you will be unique in all the world;

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to you, I shall be unique in all the world.

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This passage is extremely crucial.

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The word 'tame'

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implies patient companionship and constant devotion

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to build a bond with another life that belongs only to you two.

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It's not possession,

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nor is it control,

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but a mutual bond woven over time.

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In Buddhist terms,

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to 'tame' is to plant the seed of a cause.

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The fox also taught the Little Prince an important lesson.

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He said,

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Taming requires rituals.

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It's best if you come at the same time every day.

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If you come at four in the afternoon,

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then by three o'clock, I will begin to feel happy.

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As the time approaches,

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I shall become even happier.

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By four o'clock,

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I shall be restless and excited.

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That is the value of a ritual.

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This passage has a precise parallel in spiritual practice,

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known as the 'daily lesson' or 'routine.'

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Meditating at a fixed time every day,

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practicing mindfulness at a fixed hour,

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isn't because that specific time is magical,

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but because repetition itself is planting a seed.

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Every repetition deepens the groove of that karma.

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Over time,

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your consciousness will automatically awaken at that moment,

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just as the fox begins to feel happy at three o'clock.

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Taming isn't a momentary decision;

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it's a continuous process that requires patience.

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A seed doesn't grow into a tree in a day.

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Before a connection is established,

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you and any given rose are equal to each other.

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She is indeed no different from five thousand others.

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This is the principle of 'dependent origination' and 'emptiness.'

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All phenomena are inherently without rank or distinction.

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But once a connection is established,

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everything changes.

272
00:09:42,144 --> 00:09:43,134
You watered her;

273
00:09:43,544 --> 00:09:44,833
you shielded her from the wind;

274
00:09:44,945 --> 00:09:46,134
you listened to her complaints;

275
00:09:46,465 --> 00:09:47,833
you lost sleep over her.

276
00:09:48,345 --> 00:09:49,913
These invisible investments

277
00:09:49,945 --> 00:09:53,514
wove a unique web between the two of you.

278
00:09:54,065 --> 00:09:56,703
Looking at those five thousand roses again from this perspective,

279
00:09:56,705 --> 00:09:57,913
you finally understand.

280
00:09:58,184 --> 00:10:00,793
They may look exactly like your rose,

281
00:10:01,504 --> 00:10:03,313
but the reason yours is different

282
00:10:03,384 --> 00:10:05,994
is not due to any special attribute of her own,

283
00:10:06,024 --> 00:10:08,274
but because of the bond established between you.

284
00:10:08,625 --> 00:10:10,494
This uniqueness doesn't reside in the object itself,

285
00:10:10,705 --> 00:10:11,714
but in the relationship.

286
00:10:12,065 --> 00:10:15,474
This is the precise definition of 'dependent nature' in Yogacara.

287
00:10:15,784 --> 00:10:17,543
How an object appears

288
00:10:17,544 --> 00:10:20,634
depends on the conditions and relationships it relies upon.

289
00:10:21,024 --> 00:10:23,193
A rose's nature is empty,

290
00:10:23,225 --> 00:10:27,033
but the connection gives it an irreplaceable meaning to you.

291
00:10:27,384 --> 00:10:28,464
You might ask,

292
00:10:28,465 --> 00:10:30,894
is this uniqueness real or fake?

293
00:10:31,424 --> 00:10:31,974
The answer is,

294
00:10:32,225 --> 00:10:34,514
it is neither real nor fake;

295
00:10:34,625 --> 00:10:36,234
it is born of conditions.

296
00:10:36,465 --> 00:10:37,053
While conditions exist,

297
00:10:37,424 --> 00:10:38,354
it exists.

298
00:10:38,504 --> 00:10:39,094
When conditions cease,

299
00:10:39,465 --> 00:10:40,354
it ceases.

300
00:10:40,585 --> 00:10:42,594
But that doesn't mean it's not important.

301
00:10:42,784 --> 00:10:43,413
On the contrary,

302
00:10:43,784 --> 00:10:45,823
precisely because it is born of conditions,

303
00:10:45,825 --> 00:10:50,114
it is more precious than mere innate uniqueness.

304
00:10:50,384 --> 00:10:52,474
Natural things require no maintenance,

305
00:10:52,585 --> 00:10:54,793
but things born of connection need your care.

306
00:10:55,065 --> 00:10:56,453
The day you stop watering it,

307
00:10:56,745 --> 00:10:57,953
it begins to wither.

308
00:10:58,345 --> 00:11:00,234
This isn't the sadness brought by impermanence;

309
00:11:00,345 --> 00:11:02,594
it's the sense of urgency that impermanence bestows.

310
00:11:02,904 --> 00:11:03,774
Because things change,

311
00:11:04,065 --> 00:11:06,193
this moment becomes incredibly precious.

312
00:11:06,384 --> 00:11:08,514
Then the fox shared his secret:

313
00:11:08,705 --> 00:11:10,874
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly;

314
00:11:11,105 --> 00:11:11,774
what is essential

315
00:11:12,184 --> 00:11:14,234
is invisible to the eye.

316
00:11:14,504 --> 00:11:16,193
This isn't just 'chicken soup for the soul';

317
00:11:16,384 --> 00:11:19,714
it's a structural judgment about the human sensory system.

318
00:11:20,345 --> 00:11:23,874
Cognitive scientist Donald Hoffman at UC Irvine proposed a theory

319
00:11:24,024 --> 00:11:25,953
called the Interface Theory of Perception.

320
00:11:26,225 --> 00:11:30,953
Through math and computer simulations, he proved a counterintuitive fact.

321
00:11:31,264 --> 00:11:35,033
Natural selection doesn't drive our senses to perceive the truth.

322
00:11:35,465 --> 00:11:38,114
Our eyes, ears, and nose...

323
00:11:38,144 --> 00:11:41,553
didn't evolve to show you things as they really are,

324
00:11:41,585 --> 00:11:43,354
but rather to help you survive.

325
00:11:43,784 --> 00:11:44,994
He uses an analogy:

326
00:11:45,024 --> 00:11:47,913
Think of a blue folder icon on your computer desktop.

327
00:11:48,065 --> 00:11:51,634
It's blue, rectangular, and in the bottom right corner.

328
00:11:51,664 --> 00:11:53,703
But the actual file isn't blue,

329
00:11:53,705 --> 00:11:54,703
it isn't rectangular,

330
00:11:54,705 --> 00:11:56,234
and it's not literally in a "corner."

331
00:11:56,424 --> 00:11:58,274
The icon is just a user interface.

332
00:11:58,345 --> 00:12:00,553
It helps you manage information efficiently,

333
00:12:00,625 --> 00:12:04,594
without showing the underlying voltages and transistors.

334
00:12:04,825 --> 00:12:06,094
What your senses provide

335
00:12:06,304 --> 00:12:07,553
are these kinds of icons.

336
00:12:07,865 --> 00:12:10,433
The red you see is not the light wave itself.

337
00:12:10,544 --> 00:12:13,073
The floral scent is not the molecules themselves.

338
00:12:13,144 --> 00:12:14,943
The entire world you perceive

339
00:12:14,945 --> 00:12:17,913
is a custom interface designed by evolution.

340
00:12:18,345 --> 00:12:21,714
Buddhism said the same thing 2,500 years ago.

341
00:12:22,065 --> 00:12:24,173
Eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind

342
00:12:24,585 --> 00:12:27,234
correspond to sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, and thought.

343
00:12:27,625 --> 00:12:30,354
These six pairs make up your perceptual interface.

344
00:12:30,784 --> 00:12:31,894
But "Parinishpanna,"

345
00:12:32,225 --> 00:12:34,394
the ultimate reality of things,

346
00:12:34,465 --> 00:12:36,913
is never shown on this interface.

347
00:12:37,345 --> 00:12:39,264
Everything you see on the interface

348
00:12:39,264 --> 00:12:41,293
is processed, simplified,

349
00:12:41,504 --> 00:12:44,193
and optimized for your survival.

350
00:12:44,544 --> 00:12:47,313
We've done a previous episode on this,

351
00:12:47,384 --> 00:12:50,854
comparing neuroscience with the "Six Roots"

352
00:12:50,865 --> 00:12:52,793
and "Six Dusts" of Buddhism.

353
00:12:52,985 --> 00:12:56,833
The conclusion is both describe the same process.

354
00:12:56,945 --> 00:12:59,104
Interested viewers can go back and watch that.

355
00:12:59,105 --> 00:13:00,354
I won't elaborate further here.

356
00:13:00,784 --> 00:13:03,864
So, the Little Prince looks at 5,000 roses

357
00:13:03,865 --> 00:13:05,234
and sees them all as the same.

358
00:13:05,544 --> 00:13:06,614
But when looking with the heart,

359
00:13:06,945 --> 00:13:08,433
only one is truly his.

360
00:13:08,664 --> 00:13:11,793
Because eyes only see the icons on the interface,

361
00:13:11,985 --> 00:13:16,433
but the heart touches the invisible causes behind them.

362
00:13:17,184 --> 00:13:19,394
Saint-Exupéry also wrote:

363
00:13:19,865 --> 00:13:22,433
"It is the time you have wasted for your rose

364
00:13:22,625 --> 00:13:25,193
that makes your rose so important."

365
00:13:25,784 --> 00:13:28,274
In Yogacara terms, this means:

366
00:13:28,465 --> 00:13:32,234
The awareness and attention you invest in a connection

367
00:13:32,424 --> 00:13:35,833
determines its weight in your consciousness.

368
00:13:36,345 --> 00:13:38,234
It's not that the rose changed,

369
00:13:38,264 --> 00:13:41,833
but the density of the karmic bond between you has increased.

370
00:13:42,585 --> 00:13:45,114
The world itself has no inherent hierarchy;

371
00:13:45,225 --> 00:13:47,583
rather, where your heart dwells,

372
00:13:47,585 --> 00:13:48,783
where you invest,

373
00:13:48,784 --> 00:13:51,274
and where you give true attention,

374
00:13:51,465 --> 00:13:54,634
a different world reveals itself to you.

375
00:13:54,945 --> 00:13:55,533
This principle

376
00:13:55,825 --> 00:13:58,313
points in the same direction as the Buddha's teaching:

377
00:13:58,345 --> 00:14:00,354
"All things are created by the mind."

378
00:14:00,904 --> 00:14:03,033
There's an easily overlooked quote in the book.

379
00:14:03,424 --> 00:14:06,354
The Prince and the pilot walk for a long time in the desert

380
00:14:06,544 --> 00:14:08,073
and finally find a well.

381
00:14:08,504 --> 00:14:09,214
The Little Prince says:

382
00:14:09,745 --> 00:14:11,474
"What makes the desert beautiful

383
00:14:11,585 --> 00:14:14,594
is that somewhere it hides a well."

384
00:14:15,144 --> 00:14:16,394
Think about that.

385
00:14:16,945 --> 00:14:19,433
The desert surface looks empty,

386
00:14:19,585 --> 00:14:20,714
just endless yellow sand.

387
00:14:21,065 --> 00:14:22,994
But knowing there is water somewhere,

388
00:14:23,144 --> 00:14:25,313
knowing you will find it if you keep going,

389
00:14:25,585 --> 00:14:27,433
this invisible certainty

390
00:14:27,465 --> 00:14:29,833
changes the entire desert's appearance.

391
00:14:30,144 --> 00:14:31,833
This is the same as spiritual practice.

392
00:14:32,225 --> 00:14:34,714
Your life may seem mundane on the surface,

393
00:14:34,745 --> 00:14:35,913
even desolate.

394
00:14:36,264 --> 00:14:39,433
But if you know a well is hidden deep within,

395
00:14:39,625 --> 00:14:42,234
a truth you haven't fully seen yet,

396
00:14:42,504 --> 00:14:44,264
then every step of your daily life

397
00:14:44,264 --> 00:14:45,913
will feel different.

398
00:14:46,225 --> 00:14:47,193
This is "Faith."

399
00:14:47,544 --> 00:14:48,214
Not superstition,

400
00:14:48,544 --> 00:14:49,553
and not blind following.

401
00:14:49,825 --> 00:14:51,994
It is the willingness to believe there is water in the heart of the desert

402
00:14:52,065 --> 00:14:54,313
before you even see a well,

403
00:14:54,504 --> 00:14:56,514
and then taking it one step at a time.

404
00:14:56,825 --> 00:14:59,313
Finally, let's talk about the ending that many people overlook.

405
00:14:59,985 --> 00:15:02,193
The Little Prince decides to return to B612,

406
00:15:02,985 --> 00:15:04,594
but his body is too heavy

407
00:15:04,664 --> 00:15:06,234
to take it that far.

408
00:15:06,664 --> 00:15:08,793
So he lets the venomous snake bite him,

409
00:15:09,424 --> 00:15:10,333
and his body falls,

410
00:15:10,745 --> 00:15:11,994
just like a tree,

411
00:15:12,105 --> 00:15:12,653
slowly,

412
00:15:12,904 --> 00:15:14,394
and silently.

413
00:15:14,985 --> 00:15:16,913
When the pilot returns the next day,

414
00:15:17,184 --> 00:15:19,433
the body isn't even on the sand anymore.

415
00:15:19,825 --> 00:15:21,793
If you look at this through a Buddhist framework,

416
00:15:21,865 --> 00:15:23,514
this is not a narrative of death,

417
00:15:23,904 --> 00:15:25,793
but a metaphor for the return of consciousness.

418
00:15:26,264 --> 00:15:26,693
The physical body

419
00:15:27,264 --> 00:15:28,793
is just the final interface.

420
00:15:29,065 --> 00:15:30,774
When all interfaces are let go,

421
00:15:31,144 --> 00:15:32,423
labels dropped,

422
00:15:32,424 --> 00:15:33,413
and attachments released,

423
00:15:33,784 --> 00:15:35,423
consciousness doesn't disappear;

424
00:15:35,424 --> 00:15:39,553
it returns to a state where it exists without any interface.

425
00:15:39,904 --> 00:15:40,974
No body was left behind,

426
00:15:41,264 --> 00:15:42,833
because it was only a shell,

427
00:15:43,304 --> 00:15:45,913
and the true Little Prince was never inside it.

428
00:15:46,504 --> 00:15:49,073
At the end, the pilot looks up at the stars.

429
00:15:49,264 --> 00:15:49,693
He says,

430
00:15:50,184 --> 00:15:52,433
"When you look up at the sky at night,

431
00:15:52,585 --> 00:15:55,394
because the Little Prince lives on one of them,

432
00:15:55,504 --> 00:15:57,543
and because he is laughing on that star,

433
00:15:57,544 --> 00:15:58,703
then for you,

434
00:15:58,705 --> 00:16:00,833
it will be as if all the stars are laughing."

435
00:16:01,384 --> 00:16:02,553
The same starry sky

436
00:16:02,585 --> 00:16:06,744
looks completely different to those who have built a connection

437
00:16:06,745 --> 00:16:08,033
compared to those who haven't.

438
00:16:08,625 --> 00:16:10,553
The stars remain the same,

439
00:16:10,585 --> 00:16:12,514
but when you have someone in your heart,

440
00:16:12,705 --> 00:16:16,193
the interface of the entire cosmos is rewritten.

441
00:16:16,585 --> 00:16:18,994
Saint-Exupéry was flying missions in WWII

442
00:16:19,144 --> 00:16:21,553
while writing this book.

443
00:16:21,745 --> 00:16:22,653
A year after finishing it,

444
00:16:22,904 --> 00:16:24,433
in July 1944,

445
00:16:24,544 --> 00:16:27,394
he took off from Corsica in a reconnaissance plane

446
00:16:27,504 --> 00:16:28,714
and never returned.

447
00:16:29,144 --> 00:16:30,874
He was missing for nearly sixty years

448
00:16:30,904 --> 00:16:34,594
until the wreckage was found off the coast of Marseille.

449
00:16:35,384 --> 00:16:38,114
For a man writing under the literal shadow of death,

450
00:16:38,264 --> 00:16:39,744
the secret he left behind

451
00:16:39,745 --> 00:16:41,594
wasn't some copied quote from a book;

452
00:16:41,904 --> 00:16:44,433
it was something he validated with his entire life.

453
00:16:44,865 --> 00:16:46,793
He was that pilot,

454
00:16:46,945 --> 00:16:48,793
and he had a rose too—

455
00:16:48,945 --> 00:16:50,754
his wife, Consuelo.

456
00:16:51,345 --> 00:16:54,714
Their relationship was full of arguments, misunderstandings, and distance,

457
00:16:55,024 --> 00:16:57,754
just like the Little Prince and his rose.

458
00:16:58,184 --> 00:16:59,714
When he wrote "The Little Prince,"

459
00:16:59,985 --> 00:17:01,553
he was actually writing about himself.

460
00:17:02,024 --> 00:17:03,714
He was using a fairytale

461
00:17:03,745 --> 00:17:06,913
to apologize to the one he loved but failed to love well.

462
00:17:07,265 --> 00:17:09,673
What is essential is invisible to the eye.

463
00:17:10,065 --> 00:17:11,473
This isn't just a sentimental sigh;

464
00:17:11,904 --> 00:17:14,394
it's a law about cognitive structure.

465
00:17:14,664 --> 00:17:16,794
Your eyes give you the interface,

466
00:17:16,865 --> 00:17:18,834
but your heart gives you the connection.

467
00:17:19,184 --> 00:17:20,173
Interfaces can be replicated,

468
00:17:20,464 --> 00:17:21,874
but connections cannot.

469
00:17:22,144 --> 00:17:24,864
Five thousand roses look identical in the interface,

470
00:17:24,865 --> 00:17:25,903
but in the realm of connection,

471
00:17:25,904 --> 00:17:27,594
only one is truly yours.

472
00:17:27,785 --> 00:17:31,634
You don't need to read 600 volumes of sutras to understand this.

473
00:17:31,664 --> 00:17:33,753
You only need, like the Little Prince,

474
00:17:33,785 --> 00:17:36,473
to have cared for and watered a flower yourself.

475
00:17:36,904 --> 00:17:38,334
What is your rose?

476
00:17:38,825 --> 00:17:39,453
Is it a person,

477
00:17:39,944 --> 00:17:40,993
a career,

478
00:17:41,025 --> 00:17:43,413
or an irreplaceable moment in your life?

479
00:17:44,025 --> 00:17:44,854
If you're willing,

480
00:17:45,105 --> 00:17:46,594
tell me in the comments.

481
00:17:46,825 --> 00:17:47,574
I'm Leo Wang.

482
00:17:47,944 --> 00:17:48,733
See you next time.
