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Start of Spring has passed for more than twenty days, and we look forward to thriving in spring. Rain Water also went by over a week ago, yet we still experience recurring rain, snow and cold snaps… Still, some new growth is unstoppable, just as the seasons change. On February 27, more than thirty senior learners came to warm Good-Ark Suzhou amid the spring sunshine to embark on the first learning journey of Supreme Governance Family Culture in the Year of the Dragon.
Within just one or two years, from ChatGPT to Sora, understanding across every industry has piled up rapidly. In this fast-changing era, if we wish to find breakthrough paths for ourselves and our organizations, we cannot merely sigh for spring. Instead, we must devote ourselves inward, cultivate equanimity, renew our mindset, gather strength and grow upward. Once the early spring chill fades, we will surely witness vibrant life ready to break through the soil.
1 Nurturing People with Love
To observe an enterprise is to observe a person. Why is Good-Ark Suzhou hailed as a model of happy enterprises? As the saying goes, “Observe what one does, examine one’s motives, and see where one finds peace.” Guided by volunteer instructors, the senior learners visited the Happy Farm, IC Workshop, Happy Canteen and other sites. They learned how Good-Ark runs itself as a school for cultivating people, turns the workplace into a place for spiritual practice, and builds the enterprise into a big family rooted in true love.
2 Respect Comes First
In the lobby of Ren’ai Building at the IC campus, the senior learners paid reverence to the Confucian sages with sincere and noble hearts. In the classroom of the Moral Lecture Hall, amid ceremonial music honouring ancestral virtue, they paid homage to the Greatest Sage Master Confucius, resonating with the wisdom of ancient saints to nurture virtuous inner roots. This is the power of culture — transcending time and connecting the world. It also explains, as stated by Mr. Wu Wenhao, Chairman of Good-Ark, why the company can commit to “never laying off employees”: culture is an inexhaustible source of strength.
3 Rites Take Priority
During the branch report session, staff from Gongcheng Branch disciplined themselves and treated others with courtesy, letting the senior learners fully grasp Good-Ark’s cultural tenet: “All misfortunes stem from unfilial conduct and disregard for rites.” These family members from frontline production shared the practical implementation of the Eight Modules, illustrating how Good-Ark integrates industrial development, employee education, ecological civilization and social services while advancing its family culture.
The wonderful lecture “One Cannot Stand Without Learning Rites” delivered by Teacher Miao Zhong received high praise from all participants. Through the wisdom of Chinese characters, learners understood the importance of rites in enterprise development and personal growth, mastered the core principles and practical skills of propriety, and practiced ceremonial rituals in class.
Practicing Rites
4 Cultivation as the Core
“To manage is first to govern oneself”; “Any improvement or spiritual practice must be led from the top.” Manager Wu Aiping from the Good-Ark Family Culture Centre shared, on behalf of General Manager Teng Youxi, his inner journey while promoting and practising family culture. Transforming from an opponent into a promoter, and then from a promoter into a devoted practitioner, General Manager Teng’s personal evolution reflects both hardships and resolve behind Good-Ark’s cultural development. It also embodies the philosophy upheld by Mr. Wu Nianbo, the “Great Patriarch” of Good-Ark: take self-cultivation as the foundation and transform others by setting a virtuous example.
5 Learning to Forge the Soul
Why does Good-Ark persist in studying fine traditional culture and practising family culture? Dean Yang Ping from the Academy of Supreme Governance Family Culture explained the spiritual nature of human life and our pursuit of truth, goodness and beauty from the perspectives of life’s true nature and classic wisdom. “All under heaven are sages at heart.” Every one of us is born with a conscience, endowed with Buddha-nature, benevolence and innate moral awareness. Yet we carry negative impressions into this world, forming unwholesome habits and emotions that lead us astray — hence the need for learning.
From whom shall we learn? In Dean Yang Ping’s view, there are two directions of learning. The first lies in fundamentals: learning from daily life and the people and things around us. The second points upward: learn from those who live with greatest happiness and wisdom — namely, the ancient sages and classics, for they understand the laws of nature. To help more people systematically study family culture and sage wisdom, Dean Yang briefly introduced brand-new courses and an online learning platform under development at the Academy of Supreme Governance.
Good-Ark’s family culture is practical learning, not empty theory. It is neither lofty rhetoric nor mystification, nor a superficial showcase. It is put into solid inner practice and applied in daily work and life.
During group sharing and face-to-face dialogue with teachers, senior learners shared takeaways from the day’s visit and discussed doubts and reflections arising in their own business growth. At the heart of family culture lies “true love”. This learning helps everyone understand that the true Dao allows us to live more freely. Kindness is cultivated for oneself, independent of others; its fruits will reveal themselves with the passage of time.
Return with a Fulfilling Heart
