Part 1 of 3 · The Principle of Brain Activation series
At the end of each day, we usually count how many tasks we have finished. There is another way of counting that nourishes us far more: what did I learn today, what did I take to heart, and what did I come to realize? This essay opens a series on the Principle of Brain Activation, so that every day leaves you with a seed of wisdom.
Three small pearls in your hand
Imagine that in the evening you sit down at the family table and open your palm. In your hand are three small pearls the day has just given you. Each has its own name.
There are three key concepts to grasp in order to apply the Principle of Brain Activation:
- A lesson: something new that you had never learned before and have just learned now.
- A takeaway: something valuable that you can apply to yourself, your family, your organization and society.
- A realization: a long-held question or doubt that has finally found its answer.
These three pearls are present in every day: in a conversation, a page of a book, a meal, a moment of working with others. Those who pause for a breath to pick them up will find their hands slowly filling over the years.
Whether a life is long or short does not matter; what matters is when we come to realize.
How the brain is activated
A seed sown sprouts one shoot. Sown steadily every day, it becomes a whole harvest. Human wisdom grows the same way, like a field tended with a steady hand.
- Lessons widen the field. Each new thing is another row of soil turned and ready to receive seeds.
- Takeaways plant the seeds. Something valuable becomes our own when we bring it into daily life, into our family and our work.
- Realizations are when the seed sprouts. A question carried for a long time suddenly finds its answer, and the heart feels lighter.
When a person diligently practices lessons, takeaways and realizations, over time their brain becomes activated. They gain good judgment: they naturally know what to say and what to do to suit each situation. Their words and actions come lightly, like a seasoned cook tasting a soup once and knowing exactly what it needs.
This is also how the lamp of wisdom is lit — the lamp that gives rise to every other lamp in the house of human life.
Three pearls in the four areas of life
The three pearls can come from any corner of the house of life. A few familiar examples:
- Inner life: you read that every inner choice is a seed (a lesson). That evening, you choose a gentle word and feel the whole family grow lighter (a takeaway). A long-held puzzle about your own emotions suddenly becomes clear (a realization).
- Health: you learn about eating slowly and chewing well (a lesson). You invite the family to enjoy dinner at a more relaxed pace (a takeaway). You understand why you feel refreshed when you live in rhythm (a realization).
- Relationships: you notice how a friend listens fully (a lesson). You bring that way of listening home when you talk with your child (a takeaway). You realize that the people you love want to be heard more than advised (a realization).
- Finances: you observe how a kind business owner creates value (a lesson). You apply it to your own work (a takeaway). You come to feel deeply that money is the flow of the value we create for the world (a realization).
Each new lesson also thins the cocoon of lacking understanding a little more, giving our wings room to open.
What I realized about raising my child
I am a mother, and I want my child to grow up well. So in the past, I often worried about how to walk alongside my child. I read books, searched for resources and talked with many people on the subject. At first, I thought I had to “teach my child” a great many things: what they may and may not do; how to walk, stand, lie down and sit; how to study; how to behave in their relationships. Then I saw that there were far too many things I “had to teach,” and it seemed it would never be finished.
Then I met a Teacher, and I received the lesson that the family is a child’s first school, and parents are a child’s first teachers. How parents eat, speak and live, children tend to “imitate.” When parents live with filial devotion and have good-quality relationships, children too tend to keep good manners in their relationships.
So I came to realize that children grow up well not necessarily because their parents spend a great deal of time teaching them, but because the growth of the parents themselves is the foundation for the child’s growth. There is a saying I heard and treasure: the best time to educate a child is twenty years before the child is born; the second-best time is right now. So instead of worrying about how to teach my child to grow up, I turned back to nurturing myself. And from then on, walking alongside my child naturally became simpler and lighter.
Practice for today
- Place a small notebook where you usually sit in the evening: by your bed, at your desk or in a corner of the kitchen.
- Tonight, write three lines: today’s lesson, today’s takeaway and today’s realization. One sentence each. If a line is empty, leave it blank; the seed may sprout tomorrow.
- At the end of the week, read back over the seven pages and choose one takeaway to keep practicing next week.
Reflection question: Which pearls has today given me?
Frequently asked questions
Does activating the brain this way mean reading a lot of books?
Books are a precious source. The three pearls are also present in conversations, work and family meals. What matters most is the habit of pausing to pick them up every day.
How is a lesson different from a takeaway?
A lesson is something new you have just learned. A takeaway is something valuable you see you can apply to yourself, your family, your organization and society. One thing can be both a lesson and a takeaway.
What about days when I have not realized anything?
Realization takes time, just as a seed needs enough days to sprout. Keep steadily writing down lessons and takeaways, and your questions will find their answers one by one.
How does the Principle of Brain Activation relate to Cause, Condition and Effect?
Every lesson, takeaway and realization you record is a Cause sown in your wisdom. The notebook, the pause each evening and the people learning with you are the Conditions. Natural good judgment — knowing what to say and do to suit each situation — is the Effect.
The Principle of Brain Activation series
- Part 1: Lessons, Takeaways and Realizations Every Day (you are reading)
- Part 2: The Three Levels of Wisdom
- Part 3: The Five Levels of Learning
This essay is an English rendering of the original Vietnamese article on Chuyện Bên Mâm Cơm.