心定自然涼 [Heart at ease = coolness] (#180; Topic D)

Washington was under a heat wave the last several days, prompting Washington Post to ask, 7/20: What would you do without air conditioning? Well, for an Old Man Out of China -- or for most people in China -- air conditioning is a luxury. In China, there was no air conditioning when I was a youngster. How does one survive in hot weather? One must adapt, and the best way to adapt is to follow the dictum used as today's heading: With a heart at ease, coolness naturally follows. Last September, my wife and I visited quite a few famous scholars' gardens in Suzhou (one is scheduled to be built in Washington's Botanical Garden). There was no air conditioning. Still, scholars remained indoors and continued their studies. In USA, my son has a brownstone in Brooklyn; even now there is no air conditioning -- and he seems to manage quite well. Our condo has a balcony, which is not under air conditioning, but I enjoy reading my morning papers there (or doing my blog, as I am doing right now). The key to the dictum is at ease; it is difficult to keep cool when one is moving about. Three Saturdays ago, with the air conditioning in the gym not functioning, our Tai Chi teacher taught the class outdoors. She was sweating all over. Still, she said: 心定自然涼. I admired her setting an excellent example. Unable to contain myself, I blurted out: Some years ago, I used the same phrase to a group with some knowlege of Chinese. With my poor diction, I pronounced 定[at ease] as 停[at stop] (the two words are quasi-homonyms), prompting one to say: That is not good; I don't want my heart to stop. Touche.