notes~
Unique Yet Universal Existence
May 22, 2026
Originally written in 2020, during my Philosophy undergrad at the age of 21. Republished here, almost unchanged, as part of my notes archive. Reading it five years later, I’m surprised how much of what I’m doing now, working between Eastern intuition and Western science that was already living in this essay.
The divergence between Western and Eastern philosophy starts right at the source.
The West adopts an outward-looking perspective, separating the “self” from the “non-self,” detaching humans to study the universe. Because of this, it excels at building structural systems of thought, logic, induction, and analysis.
Eastern philosophy, on the other hand, looks inward to explore the relationship between “humanity” and “the cosmos.” It holds “the unity of nature and humanity” as the ultimate achievement. In other words, it views humans and the universe as an inseparable whole, focusing on the most intuitive truths, those we can directly experience, which naturally led to practices designed to embody these insights, such as meditation and Qigong.
An Era of Integration
Western theories lean heavily toward the material world, while Eastern ones focus more on the spiritual realm. But honestly, in our modern era, it is no longer about East versus West. It is all human knowledge.
Truth is truth, and exploring the external is just as vital as exploring the internal. The only thing between us is just “differences”, and these differences have absolutely nothing to do with superiority or inferiority. That is why, even as we leverage technology invented in the West, traditional Eastern wisdom, like TCM (Tradition Chinese Medicine) or yoga from India, is simultaneously flowing across the world.
We are living in an era of integration. As human beings, we need the material world, but we also need to elevate our spirit.
Like Your Left and Right Hands
Every single one of us is inherently different. We have our own preferences, our own roles, and our own purposes.
Yet, from the perspective of the bigger scale of the universe, everyone is exactly the same. It is just like your left and right hands. They look different, but they are both part of who you are. You wouldn’t think your left hand is inherently amazing and your right hand is completely useless.
So don’t judge yourself as “good” or “bad” either. You are simply you, a unique yet universal existence.
原文 — 所謂的差異無關乎高低強弱
西方的哲學和東方哲學的差異，從源頭就已經不同了。西方由人向外觀察的角度，分離出「我」與「非我」，把人抽離來研究宇宙，因此善於建立思想系統、邏輯、歸納、分析。而東方哲學則是向內探討「人」與「萬物」之間的關係，以「天人合一」作為人的最高成就，也就是說把人與宇宙視為一體，研究最直觀的道理，也就是人能夠直接體會的道理，進而發展出能夠體會這個道理的方法，例如：冥想、氣功。
西方理論較重於物質世界，而東方理論較重於精神世界，但我認為對於現代來說，已經無關乎東方還是西方，都是「人」的知識，真理就是真理，無論是討論外在還是內在都是同樣重要，我們之間唯一的不同就是差異性，而這個差異性無關乎高低強弱，所以我們運用了在「西方的人」發明的科技的同時，在「東方的人」所發現的中醫、自然之道也同樣的在擴散全世界。
現在就是整合的時代，作為一個人，我們需要物質、也需要提升精神，而每個人本來就是不一樣的，我們有不同的喜好、不同的角色、不同的作用。但換個角度，對於宇宙來說，每個人也都是一樣，就像你的左右手雖然不一樣，但都是你的一部分，你不會認為左手特別棒、或是右手特別差，所以你也完全不要這樣認為自己好或不好，你就是你，一個獨特又普遍的存在。