How to Break Out of Your Cognitive Boundaries

Xuefeng

July 13, 2023

Cognitive boundaries are like walls; they both protect and limit us. If life is comfortable and easy, do not venture beyond your cognitive boundaries. Living within your own walls until old age can also be considered a decent life. But if you feel miserable, stifled, or oppressed within your walls, it's time to knock them down and step outside.

Stepping beyond these walls, i.e., your cognitive boundaries, starts with admitting when you're wrong. If you always believe you're right, you'll never break free from those walls.

The sufferings in this world are mostly created by those who think they're right. Those who endure suffering and hardship usually believe they are right.

So, when you think you're right, you're already wrong. You've created cognitive boundaries, built walls, and constructed your own prison.

For instance, for thousands of years, the Chinese people have anticipated the appearance of a wise ruler to save them. They now anticipate the arrival of an "Eastern sage." This is a cognitive boundary. Without breaking this boundary, they'll forever remain in confinement. Instead of considering solving problems through legality and procedures, they perpetually hope for a wise ruler or an "Eastern sage" to save them. It's not just ignorance; it's sheer folly.

"Change the country or immigrate." This represents a major breakthrough in the cognitive boundaries of Indians. Currently, 32 million Indians have renounced their Indian citizenship to become citizens of other countries. How do these Indians who have relinquished their birth nationality for other countries fare? The current Prime Minister of the UK, Sajid Javid, is of Indian descent. In the US, many high-ranking executives in major tech companies like Microsoft and Google are of Indian origin. In 1993, in Zimbabwe, I noticed nearly half of the shops in cities were owned by Indians. Similarly, in various places like South Africa, Mozambique, Angola, Ethiopia, Botswana, Tanzania, I found numerous Indians engaged in business. In 2016, visiting Pacific island nations like Fiji and Vanuatu, I discovered many shops were run by Indians. In 2017, coming to Canada and staying in various cities, I found that the owners and staff in the hotels I stayed at were mostly Indians. Even at the Walmart supermarket, the managers and most employees were Indians. If these dispersed Indians hadn't ventured beyond their cognitive boundaries and stayed in their homeland, they wouldn't have achieved such success. Breaking cognitive boundaries brought them opportunities, wealth, and a vast realm of life, ensuring a better future for their descendants.

In our understanding, relatives are those connected by blood ties. Without blood relations, they are not considered family. Consequently, we end up with only a few relatives in our lives. However, if we break this cognitive boundary and consider everyone close and intimate as family, irrespective of region or race, without categorizing by status or position, we realize that we can have numerous relatives in this life. The life of someone with just a few relatives differs entirely from someone with many relatives. With only a few relatives, our scope, range, and life's boundaries are limited. But the more relatives we have, the broader our scope, range, and activities become. I have several strangers around me whom I treat as family, and as a result, I receive care and assistance from them, akin to family, even more effective than my own biological children.

"Graduate from school and find a job" versus "graduate from school and start a business" represents two entirely different cognitive perspectives. If parents only intend for their children to graduate and secure a good job, then during technical school, college, or university, the focus will revolve around finding employment. But if parents intend for their children to start a business after graduation, their educational focus will entirely revolve around entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurs tend to value practicality, while job seekers focus more on formalities. This difference, over time, results in a significant disparity in life experiences and perceptions, leading to different tastes in life.

"Without money, you cannot get things done" is a cognitive boundary for some. With this belief, their entire life revolves around money, and over time, their thoughts and actions carry a sense of vulgarity, giving off a sense of superficiality, and they tend to ignore, even contempt the blessings like love, sexuality, morality, justice, the Tao, and spirituality.

In fact, everyone lives within their own cognitive boundaries. For example, believing that death is the end of life, if someone holds this belief, they'll never find the door to heaven. It's hard for us to comprehend why some people choose to commit suicide. However, suicide occurs because within their cognitive boundaries, they cannot find reasons or opportunities to continue living. At this critical moment, if they could break free from these cognitive boundaries, they would realize, "Wow, life's path is so vast."

Stepping beyond cognitive boundaries opens up a vast world.