Step into the field library and experience a vibrant reading life

Since the Field Study House opened in April, some people have come to exchange labor, and some have come to stay. One day, two days, a week, two months -- different people come with different mindsets, wanting to learn all sorts of things such as building houses, growing plants, woodworking, handmade soap… and so on, while others simply want to space out or change their mood. As time passes, the climate here changes too, because with no air conditioning and an extremely drafty study house, the temperature shifts with the four seasons, and even with the daily weather, bringing different humidity and ecological conditions (for example, summer is the season of mosquitoes and weeds, while winter is cold and damp). Yet no matter who comes, or what natural conditions the study house finds itself in, Abu's expectation of the study house is actually always the same one thing: 'to offer an opportunity for like-minded friends to learn, inside and outside the study house, about 'life' itself.'

Modern people have too many outside commitments, too many laws and rules, and an endless array of courses to take; one moment it is organic regulations, natural farming, permaculture…; the next it is natural building, ecological building, green building, energy-saving building…; and for those who want to purify or heal themselves, there are still courses on light, Osho Zen cards, energy perfumery, co-living communities, family constellations, community agriculture, body-mind dialogue yoga… and countless other courses to join.

But set all that aside for now! Aren't we, while alive (which is really just 'a lifetime'), simply 'living our lives', and the only thing we truly need to do well is this one thing? Of course, if we can cultivate ourselves, transcend ourselves, and serve others, that is even better, but if we neglect 'life' itself and cannot even manage 'to live life well', then how can we speak of spiritual elevation?

Looking back, it is because each person first has 'life' that all the aforementioned variety comes about, and on top of that there is the even more complicated need to face and deal with wealth, desire, work, family ties, life and death, relationships, physical and mental health… and other issues. Yet no matter what circumstances we encounter or how life's course unfolds, we should return to 'life' itself and earnestly ask ourselves this question: 'Have I lived my life well?'

All along, Abu has said his work is 'agricultural extension', and everything he does falls under it, whether it is making kitchen-waste compost, growing vegetables, building houses, constructing ecological ponds, building clay kilns, baking bread, making tofu by hand, or whittling cherry-wood chopsticks…. Looked at simply, all these things actually fall within the scope of 'food, clothing, shelter, transport, education and recreation', and learning agriculture is rather like learning how to take good care of one's own 'food, clothing, shelter, transport, education and recreation'. So what are 'food, clothing, shelter, transport, education and recreation'? Added together, they roughly make up most of a person's 'life'.

The principle, once laid bare, is really this simple, yet looking around and thinking of the people near us, how many people have we ever met who live life well? Abu admits that his own life score is still failing, but at least Abu lives with great effort, tries hard to live life well, and even helps others pursue their own beautiful lives.

So at the Field Study House, Abu can be said to have 'deliberately' set rather unfriendly labor-exchange rules -- only four hours of work exchange per day, with meals self-provided. Abu spends most of his time teaching outside, and cannot work alongside the labor-exchange visitors at the study house, so when assigning work he often does not give just one task but offers many jobs for the visitors to choose from themselves (which leaves them thoroughly bewildered). Although there is plenty of work to do, for each day of lodging the visitor only needs to work4 hours (and no one supervises or reviews it). Then there is the rule that the study house provides no meals: those who come to exchange labor must bring their own ingredients and cook for themselves; how they want to eat, and how well (or badly) they want to eat, is entirely up to them.

Then when the work is done and the meal is eaten, every labor-exchange visitor soon discovers -- they still have a great deal of time left. What to do? Outside the study house there is no7-11, no shopping mall, not even a neighbor; and even inside the study house there is no internet and no TV to watch. The only diversions available are looking at the mountains, looking at the fields, listening to endless insects and birds, and reading the many secondhand books and art films. Otherwise, one can ride a bicycle toward the sea, and if one rides a bit farther, reach Bali Left Bank. Apart from spacing out, there really is no 'easy' way to relax at the study house. Because some people fall asleep as soon as they see a book, some cannot even space out, and some find the insects and birds noisy.…… How can one properly spend a day and a night at the study house? After the lights are out, the insects seem to become everywhere, and looking around one sees only pitch darkness…… plus the army of mosquitoes that invariably launches a major assault at dawn and dusk.

But must everything be like this? Not necessarily, because many friends who come to exchange labor live quite at ease and contentedly, and some even feel they have gained a great deal. The difference in all this is really just whether you treat your time seriously, arrange it well and make good use of it, and then create 'happiness' through action. Think about it: idly listening to the wind, watching the clouds, leisurely reading a book, foolishly waiting for the orange-yellow sunlight that slants down in the evening -- isn't that quite a wonderful enjoyment!

Abu built the study house, planted flowers, grass and trees; inside there is a simple kitchen, a loft and a simple bed, along with handmade lamps, a wooden table and a bench; outside there is a clay-built bread oven and an ecological toilet, and a workshop holding all kinds of farm tools and woodworking machines. Everything here is kept simple, yet this gives it a kind of unadorned beauty. Simply put, what Abu has completed (or continues to create) is only a 'foundation' for 'life'; but just how to 'live' on this foundation -- the answer lies only in the heart of each friend who comes to exchange labor.

I think 'life' can be practiced -- practice living life better, and then you will reap: a more complete self.