📜 middle-humanities

135NOW Official Origin Whitepaper · Middle Volume · Humanities Origin

Conceived and led from start to finish by founder Zhao Lianghan (赵良汉)

Built on long-termism to forge a cross-time-zone, global ceremonial commercial IP

This volume answers: What does 1-3-5 mean spiritually? How do we translate “Closest to the Sun” into a way of living life?

Version V1.0 ｜ Official Origin Whitepaper ｜ Unchanged in perpetuity

Table of Contents

135NOW Official Origin Whitepaper · Middle Volume · Humanities Origin4

Preface: From Astronomy’s “Where” to the Humanities’ “Why”4

Chapter 1 “Ascend High, Await the Sun”: Why Wait for the Sun at the Highest Place4

Chapter 2 “Race Toward Mountains and Seas”: Pack the Faraway into Your Bag6

Chapter 3 “A Life Without Overthinking”: The Spiritual Redemption of Today’s Youth8

Chapter 4 “NOW”: Presentism, Against Future Anxiety and Past Regret9

Chapter 5 The 21,000-Year Time Frame: Living Smallness into Vastness10

Chapter 6 Mountains, Seas and the Perihelion: A Complete Way of Living11

Chapter 7 Audience Portrait: Who 135NOW Is Written For12

Chapter 8 The Echo Between Humanities and Astronomy: Why “Closest to the Sun” Is the Best Metaphor13

Chapter 9 Spreading the Humanities Origin: How to Tell This Way of Living to More People14

Chapter 10 Humanities Origin, Summed Up: A Complete Contemporary Spiritual Philosophy15

Chapter 11 A Deep Dissection of “Internal Friction”: Why 135NOW Starts with “No-Brain”16

Chapter 12 A Philosophical Reading of “Happiness”: 135NOW Does Not Want Cheap Happiness18

Chapter 13 Multiple Readings of “Mountains and Seas”: The Faraway Has More Than One Face19

Chapter 14 The Deep Lesson of “Awaiting the Sun” and “Waiting”: How Modern People Relearn to Wait20

Chapter 15 Making “Ascending High” Everyday: You Don’t Have to Climb a Mountain to Stand Tall21

Chapter 16 Balancing “Mountains and Seas” with “the Present”: How to Have Both the Faraway and This Moment22

Chapter 17 The Humanities Origin’s “Anti-Friction” Toolkit: An Operational Set of Mindset Practices23

Chapter 18 Socializing “Just Be Happy”: How Not to Be Held Hostage by Comparison25

Chapter 19 The Ideal Portrait of “a 135NOW Person”: A Complete Character Proposition26

Chapter 20 Humanities Origin in Dialogue with Today’s Society: Why It Arrives Just in Time27

Chapter 21 The Humanities Origin’s “Ritual” System: Turning Philosophy into Bodily Memory28

Chapter 22 Humanities Origin and Reconciliation with “Loneliness”: The Person Closest to the Sun Is Not Alone29

Chapter 23 Setting “Mountains-and-Seas Goals” in the Humanities Origin: How to Truly “Race”30

Chapter 24 The Deep Relationship Between “No-Brain” and Focus: Letting Go to Hold Better31

Chapter 25 Balancing “Just Be Happy” and “Meaning”: 135NOW Does Not Give Up Profundity32

Chapter 26 Quotations of the Humanities Origin: Words to Recite Again and Again33

Chapter 27 Frequently Asked Questions About the Humanities Origin (FAQ)34

Chapter 28 Spreading the Humanities Origin in Practice: Three Scenarios You Can Act On Immediately36

Chapter 29 The Boundaries and Honest Limitations of the Humanities Origin37

Chapter 30 Humanities Origin, Concluded: A Complete Philosophy of Life37

Closing: When the Soul Has Warmth, the Root Never Grows Cold39

Supplementary Chapter: Ten Core Propositions of the Humanities Origin39

Appendix: Cross-Reference Table of Core Concepts in the Humanities Origin40

135NOW Official Origin Whitepaper · Middle Volume · Humanities Origin

Version: V1.0 ｜ Length: approx. 20,000 characters ｜ Positioning: the official second pillar, unchanged in perpetuity

Core question this volume answers: What does 1-3-5 mean spiritually? How do we translate “Closest to the Sun” into a way of living life?

Preface: From Astronomy’s “Where” to the Humanities’ “Why”

The previous volume, Astronomical Origin, told us: at 5:00 on January 3, the Earth is at its closest point to the Sun, a moment that returns only once in roughly 21,000 years. That is a hard fact of the universe.

But facts do not speak for themselves. Faced with the same “Earth closest to the Sun,” an astronomer reads the perihelion, the anomalistic year, the precession cycle; and what does an ordinary person read? How he ought to live.

That is precisely what the Humanities Origin sets out to do — the “second translation”: turning that cold, hard “closest to the Sun” from the astronomical layer into a spiritual philosophy that can guide how a person lives, how he faces anxiety, and how he gets along with others. It does not answer “where 1-3-5 is,” but “why 1-3-5 is worth living.”

The core proposition of the Humanities Origin can be stated in one line:

Ascend high and await the sun; race toward mountains and seas; live a life without overthinking; and just be happy.

These twenty characters look like a pair of doggerel verses, yet they form a complete contemporary humanistic set of values. They contain a profound reconciliation of four pairs of relationships: “upward” and “relaxed,” “faraway” and “present,” “striving” and “happiness.” The following chapters unfold this logic, explaining the spiritual reasoning behind every word.

Chapter 1 “Ascend High, Await the Sun”: Why Wait for the Sun at the Highest Place

1.1 Ascending high is humanity’s most ancient ritual impulse

The two characters “ascend high” run through nearly every civilization. In China, Double Ninth climbing, the Feng and Shan sacrifices at Mount Tai, climbing mountains to watch the sun — ascending high has never been merely a physical exercise; it is a means of spiritual elevation. Standing high, a person gains not only a broader view, but also a “god’s-eye perspective” that lifts him out of daily trivia — the troubles are still at his feet, but for a moment he stands above them.

The ancients’ attachment to ascending high has deep philosophical roots. The Book of Changes says, “Observe the patterns of heaven to discern the changes of the seasons”; the Book of Songs says, “Climb that high ridge to gaze into the distance.” The ancients believed that only by standing high can a person see farther and think more clearly. From Du Fu’s “I must ascend the very summit, and see all mountains in one glance,” to Wang Zhihuan’s “To see a thousand miles, climb one more floor,” ascending high has always been the metaphor in Chinese culture for “spiritual ascent.”

The West is the same. In Milton’s hands, heaven and hell are separated by a “chaotic abyss,” and man must climb upward; Nietzsche says, “Man is a rope, stretched between the animal and the Superman”; and countless pilgrims, mountaineers, and explorers all use “upward” as a metaphor for self-transcendence. Ascending high is humanity’s innate longing for a “higher version of oneself.”

135NOW places “ascend high” at the head of the phrase for exactly this reason: it is not asking you to actually climb some mountain, but reminding you — every day you should have a spiritual “ascent,” pulling yourself out of the trivialities for a while.

1.2 Awaiting the sun: waiting is a scarce ability

If “ascending high” is an action, then “awaiting the sun” is a posture. What modern people are least good at, precisely, is waiting. Delivery must be fast, videos must be short, results must be immediate; we live in the “instant gratification” that algorithms have trained into us, and waiting has been twisted into anxiety.

Data can illustrate how widespread this anxiety is: modern people check their phones every 6.5 minutes on average; the average completion rate of short videos is under 20 percent; and “playback at double speed” has become the default for almost all long videos. We have been trained to be people who “cannot wait” — waiting for a new episode feels too slow, waiting for a reply feels too slow, waiting for an outcome feels too slow. That once-ordinary ability called “waiting” is collectively atrophying in one generation.

The two characters “await the sun” redefine waiting as an active, ritualistic posture turned toward the light. Rise in the morning, climb to a high place, and quietly wait for the sun to come up — this is not wasting time; it is granting yourself a stretch of blank space in which you “do nothing, just face the light.” The sunrise never arrives late; with billions of years it proves that whatever is worth waiting for will, in the end, come.

“Ascending high” plus “awaiting the sun,” joined together, form a complete spiritual action: actively place yourself at a height, then patiently wait for the light.

1.3 Why the “sun,” and not something else

The sun is the only heavenly body that humanity “has waited for, in every era, down to the present.” It rises on schedule every day and never fails to show up — it is the most reliable token in the universe. Waiting for sunrise is waiting for a hope that is certain to arrive.

In an age full of uncertainty, the “sunrise that will certainly come” is an extraordinarily precious psychological anchor — it tells every person: however dark the night was, dawn is guaranteed. This is what makes “awaiting the sun” fundamentally different from “waiting for anything else”: a letter may never come, a result may come to nothing, but waiting for a sunrise always has an outcome. By using “await the sun” as its core action, 135NOW is teaching people: go and wait for the light that is “certain to come,” instead of draining your energy on the anxiety of “what may not come.”

1.4 The modern psychological value of “ascend high, await the sun”

Set in the contemporary context, “ascend high, await the sun” has extremely concrete psychotherapeutic functions:

• Against the “sense of losing control”: modern people often feel their lives are out of control, while ascending high and awaiting the sun provide a “controllable ritual” — when you get up, where you climb, how long you wait for sunrise: all of these are decided by you. A small controllable ritual effectively offsets the feeling that life is out of control.
• Against “fragmentation”: in an age when attention is sliced into fragments, quietly waiting for a single sunrise is a complete, continuous, patience-requiring experience of focus. It can repair a brain damaged by fragmentation.
• Against the “sense of meaninglessness”: when a person feels “what I do has no meaning,” ascending high and awaiting the sun offer a transcendent meaning: you are waiting for the sun, and the Earth is carrying you toward it. This meaning depends on no one’s approval; it is given by the universe.

So “ascend high, await the sun” is not the affectation of literary youth, but a self-repair method backed by psychological science.

Chapter 2 “Race Toward Mountains and Seas”: Pack the Faraway into Your Bag

2.1 Mountains and seas: the two poles of imagery in Chinese culture

The word “mountains and seas” carries enormous weight in the cultural genes of the Chinese. Mountains represent steadfastness, sublimity, and challenge; the sea represents openness, tolerance, and the faraway. Placing “mountain” and “sea” side by side covers the two basic longings of a human life — breaking upward (the mountain) and sailing outward (the sea).

From the Classic of Mountains and Seas to “having crossed the great sea, no other water can tempt,” from “I must ascend the very summit” to “Facing the sea, with spring blossoms blooming,” mountains and seas have always been the two pillars of the Chinese spirit. By embedding “mountains and seas” into its phrase, 135NOW borrows the entire tradition’s “sense of the faraway.”

2.2 “Race”: not wandering, but an active expedition

The two characters “race toward” are extremely important. They imply not “longing for the faraway while lying at home,” but an active, resolute, on-foot yearning. Racing toward the mountain is climbing upward; racing toward the sea is sailing forward. Both require you to “get moving.”

So “race toward mountains and seas” is not a literary decoration but a program of action: your ideal may be far away, but you must set out on foot. The mountains and seas are not the destination; they are the direction. Racing is not the result; it is the posture.

Here we must distinguish “racing” from “escaping”: escaping is “leaving this place,” racing is “going to that place.” Both involve departure, but the person who escapes has no direction, while the person who races has a definite faraway. In replacing “escape the present” with “race toward mountains and seas,” 135NOW means to convey a positive outlook on life: we do not leave because reality is too bad, we set out because the faraway is too beautiful.

2.3 How mountains and seas secretly echo the perihelion

The delightful thing is that “ascend high, await the sun” (facing the sun) and “race toward mountains and seas” (heading for the faraway) share a hidden thread: the perihelion itself is precisely “the point on its orbit where the Earth comes closest to the Sun.” It takes the Earth a whole year to “race” to the place closest to the Sun — waiting and racing are, in fact, two faces of the same orbit. By superimposing astronomical language onto an attitude to life, 135NOW turns “waking up on the day closest to the Sun” into a phrase worth savoring again and again.

2.4 “Mountains and seas” as a metaphor for life: three levels

“Race toward mountains and seas” can also be unpacked into three progressive levels, so that different people can take what they need:

• Physical mountains and seas: real mountains and seas. Go climb, go sail, go see a larger world. This is racing at the level of “walking.”
• Spiritual mountains and seas: ideals, passions, careers, dreams. Go pursue those “faraway” goals. This is racing at the level of “striving.”
• Existential mountains and seas: becoming a better self, living a more complete life. This is racing at the level of “meaning.”

The three levels do not conflict; rather, they are a staircase from “small racing” to “great racing.” 135NOW respects every level of racing — whether you are preparing for a trip, pursuing a dream, or simply striving to become a better version of yourself, you are “racing toward mountains and seas.”

Chapter 3 “A Life Without Overthinking”: The Spiritual Redemption of Today’s Youth

3.1 “No-brain” is not stupidity; it is a revolt against over-thinking

This is the most viral part of 135NOW, and the part most easily misread. On the surface, “a life without overthinking” sounds like self-deprecation; but in the context of this era it is precisely a precise spiritual revolt.

The plight of today’s young people is not that they think too little, but that they think too much — internal friction, anxiety, rumination, self-doubt; the brain is like a server that never shuts down. Psychology has a term for this: “ruminative thinking” — chewing over the same bad thing, the same mistake, the same worry, over and over, unable to stop. Studies show that chronic rumination is significantly associated with depression and anxiety, and modern social media exacerbates this internal friction by “peddling anxiety.”

Society tells us “think everything through clearly,” so we weigh and hesitate endlessly, spending our energy on “thinking” rather than on “living.” “A life without overthinking” is an active halt to this internal friction: I will no longer torment myself over every choice; I choose to trust my instincts and travel light.

3.2 A thought experiment: if “thinking too much” is the disease of the age, “no-brain” is the antidote

Let us make a comparison. Faced with the same question, “Should I try something new?”

The “brainy” version: What if I fail? What will others think of me? Is the return on investment worth it? Is my current foundation good enough? … And then nothing gets done, and you fall asleep in anxiety.

The “no-brain” version: That sounds interesting — let’s just try it. And then you do it. Either you succeed, or you gain a lesson; either way, no regret.

Which one is closer to “having truly lived”? 135NOW’s answer is the latter. “A life without overthinking” is not an endorsement of recklessness; it is a reminder that on those “harmless experiments where doing or not doing are both fine,” think less and do more. Because the regrets of a life are usually not “what you did wrong,” but “what you did nothing about because you thought too much.”

3.3 “Just be happy”: give the standard for happiness back to yourself

“Just be happy” is the landing point of “a life without overthinking.” It moves life’s standard of evaluation from “success” (an external standard) back to “happiness” (an internal standard). In an age when everyone is swept along by KPIs, anxiety, and comparison, daring to say “just be happy” is itself a declaration of attitude — I do not live for others’ eyes; I live to be comfortable with myself.

Here we should clear up a common misunderstanding: does “just be happy” encourage hedonism and complacency? No. In 135NOW, “just be happy” stands side by side with “race toward mountains and seas” — it means “while racing, do not let happiness become the sacrifice.” It is not “happiness only, no mountains and seas,” but “race toward the mountains and seas, yet do not lose your happiness.” It is a balance, not indulgence.

3.4 Why “no-brain” and “happiness” became memes

Because they hit a raw nerve, and carry a self-deprecating humor. It does not preach and does not play on sorrow; with a light tone of “haha, I may have no brains but I’m happy,” it speaks out the shared fatigue and reconciliation of a generation. This is precisely the psychological mechanism behind its rapid spread: people are not spreading a slogan; they are spreading a relaxation that has been permitted.

In other words, when someone cries out “a life without overthinking, just be happy,” he is really saying: “I am already exhausted; please allow me to be happy for a moment, instead of continuing to force myself to be perfect.” This sentence gives countless people permission to “let out a sigh of relief” — and this permission is precisely the scarcest gift of this age.

Chapter 4 “NOW”: Presentism, Against Future Anxiety and Past Regret

4.1 Three philosophies of time, three eras

Humanity’s attitudes toward time can roughly be divided into three kinds:

• Pastism: living in memories, bound by regret and obsession.
• Futurism: living in goals, forever “waiting until later,” treating the present as a means.
• Presentism (NOW): living in the present, held hostage neither by the past nor overdrawn by the future.

The first two are the two great sources of anxiety. Pastism makes people regret; futurism makes people tense. With one capitalized NOW, 135NOW chooses the third, unequivocally: the present.

4.2 The data: modern people are being crushed by “futurism”

The price of “futurism” is backed by ever-clearer data:

• The prevalence of global anxiety disorders has risen steadily over decades; “living in worry about the future” is one of the core triggers.
• “Multitasking” has repeatedly been shown to reduce efficiency and damage focus — and it is precisely the manifestation of “always preparing for the next step.”
• The “to-do-list culture” leads many people to live the present as “a queue toward the future,” forever waiting for “once this stretch is done, it will be fine” — and “this stretch” never ends.

135NOW’s “NOW” is precisely the counter-operation against this flood of futurism: it reminds you that the only thing you truly possess is this moment. The future has not yet come, the past has already gone; only this moment is where you can breathe, feel, and act.

4.3 The ultimate echo between NOW and the perihelion

The astronomical layer tells us: at 5:00 on January 3 is a perihelion moment that occurs once in 21,000 years — the moment when the Earth is closest to the Sun. The humanistic layer translates this meaning into: every “now” is the only time in your life that you are “closest to the sun.”

This is an extraordinarily powerful view of time: you need not wait for some distant “future,” because “this moment” itself is the instant in your life when you are closest to the light. NOW is not a rush; it is a reminder — you are already in the best of moments; go and be happy.

4.4 Why it must be “NOW,” not “NOW + MORE”

Everyone has “now,” this point in time; it looks ordinary. But precisely because it is ordinary, it is the most honest and fairest gift — it is open equally to everyone, with no threshold and no qualification. By choosing NOW as its ending, 135NOW tells every person: this “now,” you can always reach it.

Unlike “success,” “happiness,” or “freedom,” it does not require conditions, qualifications, or reaching some standard before you deserve it. Now does not require you to pass an exam, earn enough money, or achieve fame — it is simply there, equal for everyone. Choosing “NOW” as its final landing point is 135NOW telling everyone: you do not have to become anyone to deserve this moment.

Chapter 5 The 21,000-Year Time Frame: Living Smallness into Vastness

5.1 How does an ordinary person face 21,000 years?

21,000 years is a number far beyond an individual life, even far beyond the history of civilization. Five thousand years of Chinese civilization, set against 21,000 years, occupies only a quarter circle. Faced with such a scale, people easily fall into two extremes: one is “if I am this small, what meaning does striving have?” and the other is “since I am small anyway, I might as well seize the day and completely give up.”

135NOW offers a third attitude, and a more powerful one: precisely because it happens only once in 21,000 years, this 5:00 of January 3 deserves to be taken seriously. Smallness is not an excuse for nihilism; it is proof of preciousness — in the infinite time of the universe, you happen to live inside this narrow window. This does not tell you to lie flat; it tells you to live every day as your life’s “perihelion.”

5.2 A comparison: smallness and meaning can coexist

Psychology has a concept called the “awe experience”: when a person faces something immense (the starry sky, mountains, the universe), he feels himself “shrink.” Traditionally this sense of smallness is often linked to nihilism; but recent research has found its other face: although awe makes a person feel small, it simultaneously raises his sense of meaning, of connection, and of altruism. Because the flip side of “I am small” is “I belong to a larger whole.”

The “21,000-year” time frame of 135NOW manufactures precisely a “healthy awe”: it makes you feel your smallness (relative to 21,000 years), while making you feel that you stand precisely on an important coordinate (this window) — small yet not nihilistic, brief yet meaningful. This is a philosophy of time that lives smallness as vastness.

5.3 Viewing “a life” inside “21,000 years”

The “life” of “a life without overthinking” forms a contrast with “21,000 years”: an individual life is short, but can be lived without burden; the cycle of the universe is long, yet it happens to hand us its brightest moment. This is not a passive comparison but a gentle comfort: you do not need to live as long as the universe; you only need, in your own stretch of “perihelion,” to be happy.

5.4 Making the time frame concrete: ritual

The grandeur of 21,000 years ultimately needs ritual to land. Sunrise, ascending high, 5:00 on January 3 — these specific, small actions turn an abstract view of time into a repeatable daily practice. Ritual is not superstition; it is using the body to remember a set of values. 135NOW’s sense of ritual keeps the humanities from floating in slogans and lets them fall into every morning.

Ritual has three functions: first, “anchoring” (fixing abstract values to specific moments); second, “repetition” (through repeated practice, letting values internalize into habit); third, “transmission” (letting values be passed down generation by generation). It is through these three functions that 135NOW’s ascend-high-await-the-sun brings the grand 21,000-year view of time down into every ordinary person’s daily life.

Chapter 6 Mountains, Seas and the Perihelion: A Complete Way of Living

6.1 Four phrases form a whole that interlocks

Taken apart, 135NOW’s humanistic phrase is a complete closed loop:

The five phrases are not parallel slogans but one complete spiritual chain: first place yourself high (ascend high), then patiently wait for the light (await the sun); set out with direction (race toward mountains and seas); on the road, do not be too hard on yourself (a life without overthinking); set happiness as your goal (just be happy); and start from this moment (NOW).

6.2 A balanced philosophy of “looking up + staying relaxed”

What is rarest about 135NOW is that it accommodates both poles at once: both the grandeur of looking up at the stars (ascend high await the sun, race toward mountains and seas, 21,000 years) and the relaxation of embracing the everyday (a life without overthinking, just be happy, NOW). Most cultural products take only one side: either so fervent they exhaust you, or so resigned they sadden you. 135NOW has both — it lets you neither be anxious to the point of exhaustion nor so slack that you lose your direction. It is a higher balance: serious without being rigid, relaxed without giving up.

6.3 A one-day practice of the complete way of living

To bring this way of living down to “one day,” 135NOW provides an executable template:

• Early morning (ascend high, await the sun): get up early, go to the nearest high place, and quietly wait for sunrise. Say to yourself: “Right now, the Earth is closest to the Sun — and so am I.”
• Morning (race toward mountains and seas): do one concrete thing for your mountains-and-seas goal — write a page, walk a stretch, learn a little.
• Daytime (a life without overthinking): when a thought of internal friction arises, actively halt it: “This is not worth my thinking so much.”
• Evening (just be happy): do one small thing that makes you happy, for no one, purely to feel comfortable.
• Late night (NOW): before sleep, say to yourself: “Today, I lived in this moment; I wasted nothing.”

This is a “135NOW daily practice” that can be repeated every day. It turns abstract philosophy into a concrete, executable day.

Chapter 7 Audience Portrait: Who 135NOW Is Written For

7.1 Three core audiences

7.2 It does not serve the “never anxious”

We must be honest: 135NOW is not written for those who “have already lain flat,” nor for those who are “never anxious.” It is written for that group of people who have aspirations but are being crushed by reality — they need to be reminded: you do not need anxiety to prove you are striving; you can, while racing toward the mountains and seas, allow yourself to be happy.

7.3 A one-sentence declaration of the audience

“I still want to go to the mountains and seas, but I have learned to let myself be happy along the way.”

This is 135NOW’s most sincere humanistic gift to today’s young people.

7.4 The stance toward the “lying-flat” crowd

Some worry that 135NOW will be misappropriated by the “lying-flat” crowd as an excuse for “lying flat with reason.” 135NOW must clarify its stance: it opposes “directionless lying flat,” but does not oppose “bounded relaxation.” The precondition for “a life without overthinking, just be happy” is that “ascend high await the sun, race toward mountains and seas” still comes first — you are still at a height, still have a faraway, only you no longer torment yourself along the way. 135NOW’s complete phrase is an indivisible whole: it allows you to relax, but on the premise that you are still racing. If you take only “just be happy” and discard “race toward mountains and seas,” that is not 135NOW; that is a distortion of 135NOW.

Chapter 8 The Echo Between Humanities and Astronomy: Why “Closest to the Sun” Is the Best Metaphor

8.1 The symbolic system of “the sun” in the humanities

In nearly every culture, “the sun” symbolizes “light, warmth, hope, life.” From Ra, the sun god of ancient Egypt, to the Chinese myth of Xihe driving the sun-chariot; from the agrarian rhythm of “rise with the sun, rest with the sun” to the life philosophy of “born facing the sun” — the sun carries humanity’s most positive emotional projection.

By making “closest to the sun” its humanistic core, 135NOW stands on the orthodox lineage of all humanity’s sun worship: it inherently carries the positive energy of “light,” “warmth,” and “hope.” It needs no extra explanation; everyone understands it.

8.2 The three humanistic meanings of “closest to the sun”

In time: at 5:00 on January 3, the Earth is closest to the Sun — this is the moment of the year closest to the light.

In metaphor: every “now” is the moment in your life closest to the light — this is the philosophical expression of “living in the present.”

In action: ascend high and await the sun, placing yourself at the place closest to the sun — this is the ritual of “actively moving toward the light.”

The three layers progress from the physical to the metaphorical to the action. “Closest to the sun” thus becomes a core metaphor of enormous tension: it is at once a fact, a philosophy, and a guide to action.

8.3 Why the astronomical layer and the humanistic layer must support each other

If there were only the astronomical layer, 135NOW would be a piece of trivia; if there were only the humanistic layer, 135NOW would be chicken soup. Astronomy gives the humanities “weight”; the humanities give astronomy “warmth.” The astronomical layer’s “21,000 years” gives “closest to the sun” a cosmic shock; the humanistic layer’s “ascend high await the sun” gives that shock a direction in the smoke of everyday life. Remove either one, and 135NOW loses half its power.

This is the deep meaning of the word “origin”: the Astronomical Origin is the “root,” and the Humanities Origin is the “soul.” The root keeps the soul from drifting; the soul keeps the root from withering.

Chapter 9 Spreading the Humanities Origin: How to Tell This Way of Living to More People

9.1 Three layers of communication

The three layers progress from “remembering” to “resonating” to “participating.” 135NOW’s spread should not stop at making people remember the slogan; it should lead people toward genuine participation — because only after truly climbing high once and waiting for a sunrise once will a person truly understand what “closest to the sun” means.

9.2 How to handle the controversy over “no-brain”

“A life without overthinking” is bound to spark controversy — some will see it as negative and anti-intellectual. 135NOW needs a mature script for responding:

• First, explain the context: “no-brain” does not mean “having no brain,” but “not over-frictioning internally”; it is a revolt against the disease of “thinking too much,” not an advocacy of “not thinking.”
• Second, quote the whole phrase: “a life without overthinking” is preceded by “ascend high, await the sun; race toward mountains and seas” — it is part of a whole set of values, not an isolated slogan.
• Third, cite examples: point to those who “both race and do not torment themselves,” showing that this way of living is feasible.
• Fourth, acknowledge the boundary: 135NOW does not oppose thinking, only “pointless over-thinking”; what deserves to be thought through clearly should still be thought through clearly.

This script can turn “no-brain” from a “point of controversy” into a “highlight” — it is precisely where 135NOW is most distinctive and most sharply hits the pain point of today’s world.

9.3 The humanities origin’s one-sentence communication core

The most effective communication condenses a complex philosophy into one “story core”:

“We do not need to live the life others expect of us; we only need, while racing toward our own mountains and seas, to remember to let ourselves be happy first. And all of this begins from this moment, from this morning closest to the sun.”

This core has a direction (mountains and seas), a posture (happiness), and a time (this moment). It can quickly and completely convey 135NOW’s humanities origin.

Chapter 10 Humanities Origin, Summed Up: A Complete Contemporary Spiritual Philosophy

10.1 Integrating the five phrases into one system

Looking back over the whole volume, 135NOW’s humanities origin is a system nested layer within layer:

• Cosmology: I live inside a window that opens once in 21,000 years (21,000 years).
• Outlook on life: I want to ascend (ascend high), I want to wait (await the sun), I want a faraway (race toward mountains and seas).
• Values: I do not want internal friction (a life without overthinking), I want happiness (just be happy), I want to live in the present (NOW).

From cosmology to outlook on life to values, 135NOW offers a complete spiritual chain from “how I see the world” to “how I live a life” to “how I make decisions.” It is not just a slogan; it is a philosophy that can guide life.

10.2 Its relationship with the times: 135NOW is an “antidote,” not a “anesthetic”

135NOW’s positioning in the times must be emphasized: it is the antidote for this “age of internal friction,” not an anesthetic for “escaping reality.” It does not let you evade problems; it lets you face them in a healthier way — racing without anxiety, striving without internal friction, being happy without sacrifice. The medicine it prescribes is not “numbing the nerves” but “adjusting the mindset.”

10.3 Summing up the humanities origin in one sentence

If the whole volume must be condensed into one sentence:

“I ascend high, I await the sun, I race toward mountains and seas; but I live a life without overthinking and just be happy — because this moment is precisely the moment when I am closest to the sun.”

This is 135NOW’s humanities origin: a way of living that holds “looking up” and “relaxation” in the same hand, a philosophy that uses 21,000 years of romance to house an ordinary person’s life.

Chapter 11 A Deep Dissection of “Internal Friction”: Why 135NOW Starts with “No-Brain”

11.1 Internal friction: the most widespread spiritual illness of this era

To understand why “a life without overthinking” matters so much, we must first see clearly the thing it fights — internal friction.

Internal friction (mental rumination / internal attrition) is not “thinking a lot,” but “thinking exhaustingly and uselessly.” Its typical manifestations include:

• Rumination: repeatedly revisiting bad things that have already happened, replaying them in the mind N times, unable to stop.
• Pre-consumption: worrying in advance about bad things that have not happened, running the future’s possible failures through the mind.
• Comparison: constantly comparing with others, always feeling others are better and you are worse.
• Oscillation: swaying endlessly between two options, draining energy yet never deciding.

The essence of internal friction is “the mind spinning in a direction that produces nothing.” Unlike “thinking,” which leads to action and conclusions, it leads to fatigue and paralysis. It burns psychological energy yet produces no valuable result.

11.2 Why internal friction runs rampant

The widespread spread of internal friction has clear causes rooted in the age:

• Explosion of choices: the choices facing modern people every day far exceed any historical period. More choices bring “decision fatigue” and “fear of missing out.”
• Information overload: the flood of information on phones constantly feeds hints of “how well others are doing” and “what you might be missing,” fueling anxiety.
• Success-cult pressure: society instills “you must be excellent, must succeed, must be perfect,” making people afraid to relax and afraid to err.
• Excessive self-observation: over-attending to “how I appear in others’ eyes” leads to living under others’ scrutiny.

These four factors stack on top of one another, creating an age in which “everyone has internal friction.” And 135NOW’s “a life without overthinking” is precisely an antidote aimed at this disease of the age.

11.3 The precise meaning of “no-brain”: not giving up thinking, but stopping the spinning

It must be repeatedly clarified: the “no-brain” in “a life without overthinking” does not mean “having no brain” (not thinking); it means “not spinning idly” (stopping unproductive internal friction). It targets precisely those mental activities that “thinking about does no good, and makes things worse”:

• For what has already happened: no amount of thinking can change it, so stop ruminating.
• For what has not happened: no amount of worry can control it, so stop pre-consuming.
• For what cannot be chosen: no amount of agonizing will make it better, so make a decision and let it go.

To put it vividly: “a life without overthinking” is not switching off the brain, but installing a “brake” on it — the moment it starts spinning idly, decisively press the brake and pull it back to the thing you are currently doing.

11.4 The dialectic between “no-brain” and “wisdom”

Some say, does 135NOW’s “no-brain” contradict “wisdom”? On the contrary.

True wisdom includes “knowing when to think and when not to think.” A mature person is not one who is always thinking, but one who knows “some things are not worth thinking about.” 135NOW’s “a life without overthinking” is precisely an expression of this wisdom of “knowing when to stop thinking” — it is a metacognitive ability: step outside, see that you are spinning idly, and actively stop it.

So “a life without overthinking” is not the enemy of wisdom but a higher form of it. It elevates “thinking” from “indiscriminate use” to “precise use” — think through what should be thought through; let go of what should be let go.

11.5 The three toxins of internal friction: draining energy, draining time, draining emotion

The threefold cost of internal friction deserves every modern person’s attention:

• Draining energy: rumination and anxiety consume large amounts of psychological energy, leaving you without the drive to do real work.
• Draining time: oscillation and comparison occupy large amounts of time that could have gone to action.
• Draining emotion: chronic internal friction erodes emotional stability, making people irritable, weary, and prone to self-negation.

135NOW’s “a life without overthinking” stops the bleeding on all three fronts at once: no more rumination (saving energy), no more oscillation (saving time), no more self-torment (preserving emotion). It is an all-directional stop-loss against internal friction.

Chapter 12 A Philosophical Reading of “Happiness”: 135NOW Does Not Want Cheap Happiness

12.1 Has happiness been misunderstood?

The four characters “just be happy” are easily misunderstood by two kinds of people: the “unhappy” see it as “let them eat cake,” and the “aspiring” see it as a “lying-flat manifesto.” Both misunderstandings stem from not seeing clearly what 135NOW means by “happiness.”

12.2 135NOW’s happiness: not indulgence, but “self-consistency”

The “happiness” 135NOW advocates is neither hedonism (the pursuit of sensory stimulation) nor the utilitarian “maximization of utility,” but a state closer to “eudaimonia” — self-consistency.

• Hedonism: wants “thrill,” pursues immediate sensory satisfaction, easily becomes empty.
• Utilitarianism: wants “utility,” calculates gains and losses, easily becomes tense.
• 135NOW’s happiness: wants “self-consistency,” that is, “my life is consistent with my values, so my heart is at ease.” It is a state of “not being twisted, not having internal friction, not contradicting oneself.”

Explained with 135NOW’s complete phrase: “just be happy” is not “just thrill,” but “while racing toward the mountains and seas, do not twist yourself” — you are pursuing a faraway, yet you do not torment yourself for it. This state of “self-consistency amid pursuit” is what 135NOW means by “happiness.”

12.3 Happiness is a “by-product,” not a “goal”

A deeper analysis: rather than setting “happiness” as a goal, 135NOW’s “just be happy” is a reminder to “not sacrifice happiness.”

Psychology has a counterintuitive phenomenon: pursuing happiness as a direct goal often fails to bring happiness (this is called “the paradox of happiness”). Because when we stare at “I want to be happy,” we instead keep checking “am I happy right now?” — and that checking itself destroys happiness.

The correct reading of 135NOW’s “just be happy” is: happiness is the “by-product” of racing toward the mountains and seas — when you devote yourself to something you love, happiness arises naturally. So it is not asking you to “go pursue happiness,” but asking you to “not throw away the happiness along the road in order to hurry.” This is a “natural happiness,” not a “forced happiness.”

12.4 Happiness and responsibility coexist

There is one more layer to clarify: happiness and responsibility do not conflict. 135NOW never advocates “escaping responsibility for the sake of happiness.” It advocates: on the road of bearing responsibility, you need not strip away your own happiness. You can enjoy life while working seriously; you can pursue an ideal without being harsh on yourself. Responsibility and happiness are not an either/or; they can coexist.

12.5 Three healthy sources of “happiness”

135NOW encourages three healthy, sustainable sources of happiness:

• Joy of meaning: doing meaningful, beloved work, and the sense of fulfillment it brings.
• Joy of connection: connecting sincerely with others, sharing and accompanying, and the warmth it brings.
• Joy of the present: focusing on this moment, feeling the everyday (sunrise, food, scenery), and the vividness it brings.

These three kinds of happiness are all “happiness that can be held long-term and harms no one.” What 135NOW’s “just be happy” advocates is guiding people to build happiness on these healthy sources, rather than on fleeting stimulation or taking from others.

Chapter 13 Multiple Readings of “Mountains and Seas”: The Faraway Has More Than One Face

13.1 “Mountains and seas” is not a fixed place

To most people, the “mountains and seas” in “race toward mountains and seas” first brings to mind a specific mountain, a specific sea. But 135NOW’s “mountains and seas” are far more than that — they are an open symbol pointing to the “faraway” in each person’s own heart.

13.2 The threefold possibility of mountains and seas

For different people, “mountains and seas” take different forms:

• For the entrepreneur: the mountains and seas are the project not yet done, the company not yet opened.
• For the student: the mountains and seas are the ideal major, the dream school.
• For the traveler: the mountains and seas are the plane ticket not yet bought, the scenery not yet seen.
• For the artist: the mountains and seas are the work not yet finished, the painting not yet completed.
• For the ordinary person: the mountains and seas may simply be the self that is “a little better today than yesterday.”

135NOW’s “mountains and seas” are not a fixed standard answer, but an open question: what are your mountains and seas? It frees the “faraway” from “others’ definitions” and returns it to each person himself.

13.3 Why “mountains and seas” is more moving than “dream”

135NOW uses “mountains and seas” rather than words like “dream” or “ideal” — there is a reason:

• “Dream” has been worn out: when modern people hear “dream,” they often feel fatigue and pressure.
• “Mountains and seas” has pictures: it is a concrete scene (a mountain, a sea) that can evoke emotion and longing.
• “Mountains and seas” has a bodily feel: racing across mountains and seas requires movement; it is something the body does, not merely something the mind imagines.

“Mountains and seas” is a word that “embodies the ideal” — it turns an abstract dream into a faraway that can be “walked to on foot.” That is why it moves people more than “dream” does.

13.4 The dialectic between mountains and seas and “going home”

Some readers ask: if everyone is racing toward mountains and seas, does no one want to “go home”? 135NOW’s answer: mountains and seas and going home are not contradictory. For some people, their mountains and seas are “returning from a foreign land to their hometown”; for others, their racing is “setting out in order to protect a home.” The essence of “mountains and seas” is not “leaving,” but “heading toward the life you truly want.” If “home” is what you truly want, then going home is also a kind of racing toward the mountains and seas.

Chapter 14 The Deep Lesson of “Awaiting the Sun” and “Waiting”: How Modern People Relearn to Wait

14.1 Waiting: the underestimated modern ability

In the age of “instant gratification,” waiting has nearly become an “outdated” ability. But 135NOW insists on making “awaiting the sun” (waiting for sunrise) its core action, because it believes: waiting is not waste, but an underestimated self-discipline.

14.2 The four disciplines of waiting

• Disciplining patience: waiting forces people to face the reality of “not getting it immediately,” honing the ability to delay gratification.
• Disciplining focus: waiting for sunrise requires a person to quiet down and keep watching, training attention to be retrieved from fragments.
• Disciplining trust: waiting for sunrise lets a person experience the “hope that is certain to come,” rebuilding trust that “the future will be good.”
• Disciplining the present: the gaps of waiting are a perfect chance to practice “abiding in this moment” — with nothing to do, you instead return to the present.

These four disciplines happen to treat exactly the four lacks of modern people: lack of patience, lack of focus, lack of trust, lack of the present.

14.3 Why “await the sun” rather than “wait for anything”

135NOW chooses “await the sun” because, of all waiting, “waiting for sunrise” is the most special — it is certain to come, and it is worth waiting for. Unlike waiting for a letter (which may not come) or a result (which may come to nothing), sunrise “inevitably descends.” Awaiting the sun is practicing “waiting with an outcome”; it lets a person experience that “waiting is worthwhile.” This positive experience of waiting migrates to other waiting in life, making a person less anxious.

14.4 Comparing “awaiting the sun” and “awaiting a person”

If “awaiting the sun” is waiting for a certain light, then “awaiting a person” (waiting for someone, waiting for a response) is waiting for an uncertain outcome. The wisdom 135NOW wants to convey: put more of your mental energy into “awaiting the sun” (the light that is certain to come) and less into “awaiting a person” (responses that are uncertain). This is not coldness; it is the rational allocation of psychological resources — do not spend precious energy on things that “may never be waited for.” Have more patience for certain light, and more letting-go for uncertain obsessions.

Chapter 15 Making “Ascending High” Everyday: You Don’t Have to Climb a Mountain to Stand Tall

15.1 “Ascending high” need not be mountain climbing

Many people, hearing “ascend high,” think: “I am not going mountain climbing; how am I to ascend high?” This is a misunderstanding. In 135NOW, the core of “ascending high” is “rising to a higher perspective,” not “actually climbing a mountain.” It can be achieved through countless everyday means.

15.2 Seven everyday ways to “ascend high”

• Physical ascent: go up to the rooftop, climb a hilltop, take the elevator to a high floor — raise your body above the horizon.
• Reading ascent: read a good book, borrowing others’ wisdom to stand at a height of thought.
• Solitude ascent: spend a while in quiet solitude, withdrawing from the clamor of the crowd.
• Perspective-taking ascent: look at a problem from others’ viewpoint, standing at the height of empathy.
• Temporal ascent: stand at the viewpoint of “looking back at today ten years from now,” making today’s troubles seem small.
• Cosmic ascent: remember that you live in a solar system, placing your trivialities on a larger scale.
• Morning ascent: getting up early itself is a posture of “standing higher than those who sleep in.”

These seven ways make “ascending high” something every person can do every day — you do not need a mountain; you only need a single thought of “wanting to see farther.”

15.3 The three gifts of perspective that “ascending high” brings

Ascending high is worth doing again and again because each time it brings three gifts:

• A sense of transcendence: rising above the trivial, seeing the larger picture, so troubles no longer fill the whole horizon.
• A sense of relativity: looking back from the height, realizing “the current difficulty, on a larger scale, is small.”

• A sense of direction: seeing far lets you see direction — ascending high lets a person reconfirm which way he should go.

These three gifts make “ascending high” not merely a way to relieve anxiety, but a way to rebuild direction. 135NOW places “ascend high” at the head of its phrase precisely because it is the starting point of every spiritual action — stand high first, then see clearly.

Chapter 16 Balancing “Mountains and Seas” with “the Present”: How to Have Both the Faraway and This Moment

16.1 A pair of apparent contradictions

Inside 135NOW’s phrase hides a pair of seemingly contradictory demands: both “race toward mountains and seas” (pointing to the faraway) and “just be happy” and “NOW” (landing in the present). The faraway and the present — one faces forward, one is here. Do they conflict?

16.2 The way to resolve it: the faraway is direction, the present is the step

135NOW’s answer: the faraway decides the direction; the present decides the step. The two do not conflict; they divide the labor.

“Race toward mountains and seas” tells you “which way to go” (direction);

“NOW” tells you “how to walk this step right now” (the step).

A person can possess both the faraway and the present at once: he clearly knows where he is going (the mountains and seas), while focusing on walking this present step well (NOW). The faraway keeps the present from being lost; the present gives the faraway actual footsteps. This is like a mountaineer: he knows where the summit is (the mountains and seas), yet every step he takes is on the stone underfoot (this moment).

16.3 The practical principle of “mountains and seas as direction, this moment as action”

Bringing this pair into practice, 135NOW proposes three principles:

• Break the mountains and seas into this moment: break the faraway’s big goal into one small step you can do today, then focus on that step.
• Connect this moment to the mountains and seas: while doing what you do now, remember that it leads to your mountains and seas, so you do not get lost in the trivial.
• Test the mountains and seas by this moment: if what you are doing now makes you extremely miserable and is meaningless, it may not be the road to your true mountains and seas — allow yourself to adjust direction.

These three principles turn the “faraway” and the “present” from contradiction into synergy: you have both a sense of direction (mountains and seas) and the power to act (this moment).

16.4 Why modern people need this “faraway + present” balance

The typical plight of modern people is precisely an imbalance of the two:

• Only the present, no faraway: sunk into the trivial of day after day, feeling lost and empty.
• Only the faraway, no present: living in anxiety about the future, ignoring the life of this moment.

135NOW’s “mountains and seas + NOW” combination treats the symptom precisely: it gives the person with only the present a faraway (direction), and the person with only the faraway a this-moment (a place to land). It is the balance of “neither settling for the status quo nor overdrafting the future.”

Chapter 17 The Humanities Origin’s “Anti-Friction” Toolkit: An Operational Set of Mindset Practices

17.1 From idea to tool

The earlier chapters discussed ideas; this chapter brings them down to “tools” — a set of “anti-friction mindset practices” anyone can use at any time, so that “a life without overthinking, just be happy” is not just a slogan but an operable technique.

17.2 Seven anti-friction tools

Tool One: the Halt Method

The moment you notice yourself ruminating, anxious, or oscillating, decisively shout “stop” in your mind and pull your attention back to what you are currently doing. This is the simplest and most effective “thought brake.”

Tool Two: the Three-Question Method

When you have internal friction, ask yourself three questions:

• Can I change this? (If not, let it go.)
• Will thinking about it now make me better? (If not, let it go.)
• Will I still remember it ten years from now? (If not, let it go.)

After the three questions, most internal friction naturally dissolves.

Tool Five: the List Method

Write down everything circling in your head. At the moment you write it, the brain “unloads” these thoughts and no longer stays busy with them. This is the classic technique of “freeing up memory.”

Tool Four: the Ten-Minute Rule

When you are torn over whether to do something, grant yourself permission to “do only ten minutes.” When the ten minutes are up, decide whether to continue or stop. This breaks the deadlock of “thinking too much, never acting.”

Tool Three: the Look-Back-at-Mountains-and-Seas Method

When you have internal friction, look up at the distance (or think of your mountains-and-seas goal), pulling yourself from “the tangle right in front of you” back to “the larger picture.” Ascending high is precisely the embodied version of this tool.

Tool Six: the Small-Happiness Order

Every day, do one small thing “purely for happiness” (listen to a song, watch a cloud, drink a good cup of tea), attaching no “meaning” to it, purely for joy. This tops up your emotional “happiness balance” every day.

Tool Seven: the Present Anchor

Often say to yourself: “Right now, the Earth is closest to the Sun — and so am I.” Use this anchor phrase of 135NOW to pull the scattered mind back to the present, again and again.

17.3 How to weave this toolkit into daily life

You do not need to use all seven tools at once, nor “persist” under pressure. 135NOW’s advice: first pick the one that comes most naturally, use it until it becomes a habit, then gradually add others. The point of tools is “to have something usable when you need it,” not “to complete seven tasks every day.”

17.4 The boundary statement of the toolkit

Finally, the boundary must be stated: this set of mindset practices is a self-help tool at the level of “psychological regulation,” suited to everyday emotional distress. If a person is chronically and seriously troubled by anxiety, depression, or other emotions, he should seek professional psychological help rather than relying only on self-help practices. 135NOW respects professionals and advocates seeking professional support when needed. This toolkit is “daily maintenance,” not “intensive treatment.”

Chapter 18 Socializing “Just Be Happy”: How Not to Be Held Hostage by Comparison

18.1 Comparison: the invisible killer of happiness

The most powerful enemy of “just be happy” is “comparison.” The high-intensity comparison of modern society has countless people torn between “I am already pretty good” and “others are so much better than me.” What 135NOW fights is precisely this trap of “letting others define your happiness.”

18.2 The psychological roots of comparison

Why is comparison so stubborn? It has deep psychological roots:

• Social comparison theory: human beings naturally evaluate themselves by comparing with others — an instinct left over from evolution.
• Fear of missing out (FOMO): social media constantly displays others’ “highlight moments,” making people worry that “they have missed something.”
• Anchoring effect: a person’s sense of happiness often depends on “whom you compare with,” not “how much you have.”

These three roots make comparison the invisible killer of happiness — it keeps you staring at “others’ mountains and seas” while blind to your own.

18.3 135NOW’s “anti-comparison” mindset

135NOW’s “just be happy” is itself an anti-comparison declaration: it moves the standard of happiness from “compared with others” back to “compared with yourself.” Concretely, there are three levels of operation:

• Compare inward: do not ask “am I better than others?” but “am I better than yesterday’s self?” Swap the object of comparison from “others” to “yourself.”
• Focus on your mountains and seas: put your attention back on your own mountains and seas, not others’. The only road you need to walk is yours.
• Decouple happiness: practice “not living for others’ eyes” — allow yourself to be “less successful than others yet very happy.” This is an ability that takes courage and is worth practicing.

18.4 Why “happiness” itself is a form of competitiveness

Counterintuitively, 135NOW’s “just be happy” does not weaken competitiveness — it enhances it:

• Happy people are more focused: those without internal friction can put all their energy into the real work.
• Happy people are more resilient: those with a good mindset can better endure setbacks and keep going.
• Happy people are more likable: relaxed people more easily win trust and cooperation.

Happiness is not the monopoly of the “lying-flat,” but the underlying configuration of the “high-performer.” This is also why 135NOW’s “just be happy” can move both the “relaxed” and the “striving” at the same time.

Chapter 19 The Ideal Portrait of “a 135NOW Person”: A Complete Character Proposition

19.1 From “slogan” to “character”

The humanistic values of 135NOW must ultimately land on “what kind of person to become.” This chapter portrays the ideal image of “a 135NOW person,” condensing the scattered ideas into an aspirational character figure.

19.2 Six traits of “a 135NOW person”

Trait One: the Uplooker (ascend high, await the sun)

They believe there is value higher than the present, are willing to place themselves at a height, and patiently wait for the light. They do not drift with the tide; they have a direction to look up toward.

Trait Two: the Actor (race toward mountains and seas)

They have a faraway, and are willing to walk toward it on foot. They do not empty-dream or lie flat; they turn the “mountains and seas” into step-by-step action.

Trait Three: the Light One (a life without overthinking)

They are not trapped by pointless rumination and know when to let go. They have no internal friction, no rumination; their psyche is light.

Trait Four: the Content One (just be happy)

They hold the standard of happiness in their own hands and are not trapped by comparison. They can appreciate what they have and sincerely feel happy for themselves.

Trait Five: the Present One (NOW)

They do not live in regret about the past or anxiety about the future, but abide in this moment and live the present well.

Trait Six: the Grounded One (21,000 years)

They know they live in a precious window; therefore they both revere the vastness of the universe and do not fail their own present.

19.3 “A 135NOW person” is not a paragon

It must be clarified: the portrait of a 135NOW person is not the standard of a “perfect person,” but a “direction to aspire to.” No one can embody all six traits at every moment — a 135NOW person allows themselves to have bad days, allows themselves to occasionally have internal friction or anxiety. What it offers is not the shackle of “you must achieve,” but the direction of “you may aspire to.” Becoming a 135NOW person is a process of “tending toward,” not a destination of “arriving.”

19.4 A “character daily practice” you can do every day

Bring the six traits into a one-day practice:

• Early morning: ascend high, await the sun (the Uplooker) — rise early, go to a height, wait for sunrise.
• Morning: race toward mountains and seas (the Actor) — do one concrete thing for your faraway.
• Afternoon: let go of internal friction (the Light One) — when entangled, decisively halt.
• Dusk: be grateful for what you have (the Content One) — count the small joys of today.
• Night: abide in this moment (the Present One) — no regret for the past, no worry for the future.

These five steps turn “a 135NOW person” from an abstract portrait into a way of life that can be practiced every day.

Chapter 20 Humanities Origin in Dialogue with Today’s Society: Why It Arrives Just in Time

20.1 An age that has been “drained empty”

To understand the contemporary significance of 135NOW’s humanities origin, first look at the prevailing state of this age — being “drained empty”:

• Drained by information: attention is cut to pieces by a flood of information; people feel exhausted yet hollow.
• Drained by comparison: in endless comparison, people feel anxious yet lost.
• Drained by goals: driven by the success cult to never stop, people feel exhausted yet meaningless.
• Drained by instant gratification: amid quick stimulation, people feel thrilled yet empty.

This “drained-empty” age calls not for “more,” but for “return” — return to what is real, return to the present, return to happiness. 135NOW’s humanities origin is a response to this “return.”

20.2 The “four antidotes” 135NOW offers

Four antidotes correspond exactly to the four kinds of “draining,” forming a complete “healing plan for the age.”

20.3 135NOW is an “antidote,” not an “escape”

It must be emphasized again and again: 135NOW is not an antidote that lets people escape the age, but one that lets people face the age in a healthier way. It does not negate striving, responsibility, or reality; it simply provides a way of living that is “less full of internal friction, less lost, and closer to the true self.” The medicine it prescribes is not “the drug of running away,” but “the drug of standing firm again.”

20.4 A question facing the future

At the end of the humanities origin, one open question remains, left for you to answer:

In such a fast-paced, high-anxiety age, are you willing to be a person who “ascends high, awaits the sun, races toward mountains and seas, lives without overthinking, and just be happy”?

This is not a question that needs an immediate answer, but one worth answering with a whole lifetime. The mission of 135NOW’s humanities origin is to keep you company on this question, slowly living out your own answer.

Chapter 21 The Humanities Origin’s “Ritual” System: Turning Philosophy into Bodily Memory

21.1 Why philosophy needs ritual

Mere ideas are easily forgotten; only when they become “rituals” are they remembered by the body. If 135NOW’s humanities-origin core concepts (ascend high, await the sun, race, no-brain, happiness, this moment) remain only as principles in the mind, they are easily cast aside amid busyness. So it needs a “ritual system” to build these concepts into daily life.

21.2 135NOW’s daily ritual list

This list places 135NOW’s five ideas into five moments of the day, turning “the life closest to the sun” from a slogan into the structure of a day.

21.3 Combining ritual with “deliberate practice”

For ritual to truly change a person, it also needs the support of “deliberate practice”: within the ritual, consciously notice “what I am doing now, and why I am doing it.” For example, when ascending high and awaiting the sun, do not only wait for sunrise, but consciously feel “I am placing myself at a height and waiting for the light.” This awareness turns ritual from “going through the motions” into “real practice.”

21.4 The elasticity of ritual: not a shackle, but a direction

Finally, it must be stressed: 135NOW’s rituals are not “a checklist that must be completed every day,” but “a direction you may choose.” On good days you can do the full set; on bad days, doing even one is fine; and even doing nothing, as long as you remember the phrase “closest to the sun,” is enough. Ritual is help, not pressure; it is direction, not a shackle.

Chapter 22 Humanities Origin and Reconciliation with “Loneliness”: The Person Closest to the Sun Is Not Alone

22.1 The universal loneliness of modern people

“Loneliness” is an inescapable topic for contemporary people. The high density of the city has not dissolved loneliness; it has made “loneliness in the crowd” more widespread. A person walking down a bustling street yet feeling separated from the world by a pane of glass — this is the real experience of many.

22.2 The “cosmic company” 135NOW offers

135NOW’s humanities origin offers a unique response to loneliness — “cosmic company”: when you ascend high and await the sun, you know the Earth is carrying you toward the Sun; when you look up at the starry sky, you know you stand on a coordinate that opens once in 21,000 years. You are not alone — you are with the entire solar system, with all who look up at the same sky.

The value of this “cosmic company” is that it does not depend on “whether anyone is around,” but on “whether you are aware that you belong to a larger whole.” When a person realizes “I am with the Sun, with the Earth, with the 21,000-year cycle,” loneliness naturally lessens — because he is no longer an isolated point, but part of the cosmic story.

22.3 “Closest to the sun” is a common coordinate for everyone

135NOW’s “5:00 on January 3” is a common coordinate that everyone owns equally. Wherever you are, whatever your identity, at that moment the Earth is equally closest to the Sun. The existence of this “common coordinate” lets every person who “alone ascends high and awaits the sun” know: right now, countless people are doing the same as me — watching the same sun, waiting for the same sunrise. This “invisible connection” is the most powerful way to fight loneliness.

22.4 The positive value of solitude

135NOW does not aim to eliminate loneliness, but to make peace with it. In fact, solitude (as opposed to loneliness) has positive value: solitude lets a person hear his own voice again, and ascending high and awaiting the sun is essentially a form of “active solitude.” What 135NOW encourages: turning loneliness into “high-quality solitude” — not scrolling a phone alone, but quietly waiting for sunrise, thinking of the faraway, and taking care of yourself. When loneliness becomes “time spent with yourself,” it is no longer an enemy but a companion.

Chapter 23 Setting “Mountains-and-Seas Goals” in the Humanities Origin: How to Truly “Race”

23.1 Having “mountains and seas” is not enough to race

Many people have “mountains and seas” (things they want to do, people they want to become) yet can never “race” — usually because the goal is too empty, too big, too vague. This chapter provides a method for “turning mountains and seas into a goal you can race toward.”

23.2 Four principles of mountains-and-seas goals

• Principle One: be specific (the “S” of SMART) — “becoming a better self” is too abstract; “finish 12 books and complete one marathon this year” is more specific. Turn the mountains and seas from a “feeling” into a “describable goal.”
• Principle Two: be measurable (the “M” of SMART) — give the goal a quantified standard so you can tell “how far you have come.” Without measurement, you cannot feel progress.
• Principle Three: be actionable (the “A” of SMART) — break the big goal into “the first step you can take today.” However far the mountains and seas, they begin with the first step underfoot.
• Principle Four: connect with happiness (a 135NOW specialty) — when setting the mountains and seas, ask yourself: “Will this goal make me happy on the road of racing?” If the answer is no, it may be worth re-examining — because 135NOW’s mountains and seas should not be bought at the price of all your happiness.

23.3 The “three-step” process for setting mountains and seas

• Write down the mountains and seas: write out the faraway you truly want; the more specific, the better.
• Break it into this moment: break the mountains and seas into “what I can do this month,” “this week,” and “today.”
• Start racing: begin with today’s first step, and along the road remember “just be happy.”

These three steps turn “race toward mountains and seas” from a slogan into an executable action plan.

23.4 Mountains and seas change; adjustment is allowed

Finally, 135NOW allows your mountains and seas to be adjusted at any time. People grow, change; what they truly want changes too. When you find the road you are walking is not the mountains and seas you truly want, adjusting direction is not failure but growth. Mountains and seas are a direction, not a shackle; allowing yourself to redefine your mountains and seas is itself a form of maturity.

Chapter 24 The Deep Relationship Between “No-Brain” and Focus: Letting Go to Hold Better

24.1 Letting go and focusing are not contradictory

Some worry: will “a life without overthinking” (letting go) lead to “focusing on nothing” (scattered)? On the contrary — in 135NOW, “no-brain” is the precondition for “focus.”

24.2 The brain’s bandwidth is limited

Human attention is a limited resource. When the brain is filled with “internal friction, rumination, anxiety, oscillation,” there is no bandwidth left for “focusing on the present.” Letting go of pointless rumination is not in order to “think nothing,” but to “place your limited attention on what truly matters.”

Use a metaphor: the brain is like a hard drive. Internal friction is the “junk files” endlessly occupying drive space, and “no-brain” is cleaning up those junk files — cleaning does not leave the drive empty; it frees up space for content that truly matters.

24.3 135NOW’s “path of focus”

Join “no-brain” and “focus” into one complete path:

• No-brain: first set aside the unimportant thoughts (clear the junk).
• Focus: concentrate the freed attention on what matters most now (load the essentials).
• Immersion: give yourself wholly to this moment, entering a “flow” state (run efficiently).

So “a life without overthinking” is not “not focusing,” but “making room for focus.” Letting go is in order to hold better; no-brain is in order to focus more purely.

24.4 “Flow” and “closest to the sun”

“Flow” is the peak experience of “total absorption, forgetting self and world” proposed by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, considered the state closest to “happiness.” 135NOW’s “ascend high, await the sun” is essentially a practice leading toward flow — when you wait for sunrise with total focus, you forget yourself, forget time, leaving only “being with the sun in this moment.” “Closest to the sun” is both an astronomical coordinate and a metaphor for flow — in total absorption, you are closest to your “true present.”

Chapter 25 Balancing “Just Be Happy” and “Meaning”: 135NOW Does Not Give Up Profundity

25.1 A superficial surface, a profound interior

“Just be happy” sounds very “shallow,” but what 135NOW means to convey is precisely a happiness that does not give up profundity. It maintains: happiness need not be shallow; happiness can coexist with meaning.

25.2 The two relationships between happiness and meaning

Psychology (for example, positive-psychology research) has found that human well-being has two sources:

• Hedonic well-being: coming from pleasant, joyful experiences.
• Eudaimonic well-being: coming from meaning, growth, and contribution.

The healthiest state combines both. 135NOW’s “just be happy” standing side by side with “race toward mountains and seas” is precisely an attempt to grasp both: racing gives you meaning (eudaimonic), and being happy gives you pleasure (hedonic). It neither makes you give up happiness for meaning, nor give up meaning for happiness.

25.3 Three sources of “profound happiness”

135NOW encourages the pursuit of three states that are “both profound and happy”:

• Joy of flow: focusing on what you love and entering the happiness of self-forgetfulness.
• Joy of growth: overcoming challenges and gaining growth, bringing a solid happiness.
• Joy of connection: connection with others, with nature, with the universe, bringing a broad happiness.

None of these three is shallow or hollow; they are full of meaning. 135NOW’s “just be happy” was never “shallow is fine,” but “happiness that is profound yet light.”

25.4 Redefining “living well”

Combining happiness with meaning, 135NOW offers a redefinition of “living well”:

Living well is not “succeeding for others to see,” but “happily racing toward your own mountains and seas” — both looking up at the faraway and abiding in this moment; both pursuing meaning and not giving up happiness.

This is what 135NOW’s humanities origin understands by “a good life.”

Chapter 26 Quotations of the Humanities Origin: Words to Recite Again and Again

26.1 From idea to quotation

Good spiritual philosophy is often condensed into a few lines “that can be recited again and again.” The following collects the classic quotations of 135NOW’s humanities origin, for daily reflection, sharing, and spread.

26.2 Selected humanities-origin quotations of 135NOW

On ascending high and awaiting the sun

“You do not need to climb a mountain; you only need a single thought of wanting to see farther.”

“What is worth waiting for will, in the end, come — sunrise never arrives late.”

“Place yourself at a height, then patiently wait for the light — this is an ascent you can make every day.”

On racing toward mountains and seas

“Mountains and seas are not the destination, but the direction; racing is not the result, but the posture.”

“Your mountains and seas need not be grand; as long as they are yours, they are worth racing toward.”

“Going home can also be a racing toward mountains and seas — if the home is what you truly want.”

On a life without overthinking

“The greatest regret of a life is not doing something wrong, but doing nothing because you thought too much.”

“No-brain is not switching off the brain; it is installing a brake on the brain.”

“Letting go is in order to hold better.”

On just be happy

“I do not need to live as others expect me to look; I only need, while racing toward my own mountains and seas, to remember to let myself be happy first.”

“Happiness is not the monopoly of those who lie flat, but the underlying configuration of the high-performer.”

“Happiness can be profound, and it can be light — it never owes anyone a ‘meaningful.’”

On NOW

“You do not have to wait for some distant future, because this moment is the moment when you are closest to the sun.”

“The future has not yet come, the past has already gone; only this moment is where you can breathe.”

“You do not need to become anyone to deserve this moment.”

On 21,000 years

“In the infinite time of the universe, you happen to live inside this window — this does not tell you to lie flat; it tells you to be serious.”

“Smallness is not an excuse for nihilism, but proof of preciousness.”

“An individual life is short, but can be lived without burden; the cycle of the universe is long, yet it happens to hand us its brightest moment.”

On the complete way of living

“I ascend high, I await the sun, I race toward mountains and seas; but I live a life without overthinking and just be happy — because this moment is precisely the moment when I am closest to the sun.”

“Living well is happily racing toward your own mountains and seas — both looking up at the faraway and abiding in this moment.”

26.3 Using these quotations

This set of quotations can be used for: daily self-reminders, social-media sharing, poster copy, souvenir design, and so on. They condense 135NOW’s humanities origin into lines “you can carry with you,” letting people pick up a line at will when they need it, to give themselves a little light.

Chapter 27 Frequently Asked Questions About the Humanities Origin (FAQ)

Q1: Does “a life without overthinking” encourage not thinking?

No. What it opposes is “pointless over-thinking” (internal friction), and what it advocates is “think through what should be thought through, let go of what should be let go.” It is a metacognitive wisdom, not “giving up thinking.”

Q2: Is “just be happy” lying flat and not striving?

No. 135NOW’s complete phrase is “ascend high, await the sun; race toward mountains and seas; a life without overthinking; just be happy” — the precondition for “just be happy” is “race toward mountains and seas.” It allows you to relax, but on the premise that you are still racing.

Q3: I have severe internal friction; will this system cure me?

This set of practices is a “daily psychological maintenance” tool, suited to ordinary emotional distress. If you are chronically troubled by severe anxiety or depression, please seek professional psychological help. 135NOW respects professionals and advocates seeking help when needed.

Q4: My “mountains and seas” are very ordinary; do they still count?

Yes. Mountains and seas have no hierarchy — whether your faraway is career, family, health, or “a little better today than yesterday,” as long as it is what you truly want, it is worth racing toward.

Q5: Must I “ascend high and await the sun” exactly at 5:00 on January 3?

5:00 on January 3 is the “official anchor” (an astronomical fact); but the spirit of “ascend high, await the sun” can be embodied on any day — every day you can ascend high, await the sun, race toward mountains and seas, and just be happy. The anchor is ritual; the spirit is everyday.

Q6: Might the humanities origin be misused by the “lying-flat” crowd?

It is possible. That is why 135NOW stresses the complete phrase: it opposes “directionless lying flat,” but does not oppose “bounded relaxation.” Those who truly understand 135NOW know that before “just be happy” comes “race toward mountains and seas.”

Q7: Do happiness and responsibility conflict?

No. 135NOW never advocates escaping responsibility for happiness; it advocates “on the road of bearing responsibility, you need not strip away your own happiness.” Responsibility and happiness can coexist.

Q8: Is this just “chicken soup”?

The difference between 135NOW and “chicken soup” is that it has astronomical fact (the Astronomical Origin) as its underlying support, operable rituals and tools (the anti-friction toolkit, the mountains-and-seas goal-setting method), and clear boundary statements (no escape, seek professional help). It does not offer “empty comfort”; it offers an “executable way of living.”

Chapter 28 Spreading the Humanities Origin in Practice: Three Scenarios You Can Act On Immediately

28.1 Scenario One: a one-line self-introduction

Introduce yourself with 135NOW:

“I am a person who longs for the mountains and seas and also wants to be happy — I ascend high and await the sun, I race toward mountains and seas, but I live a life without overthinking and just be happy. Because I feel this moment is the moment closest to the sun.”

This sentence both conveys personal temperament and plants the seed of 135NOW.

28.2 Scenario Two: a self-dialogue when feeling low

When you are filled with internal friction, anxiety, or low spirits, say this to yourself with 135NOW:

“I know you are thinking a lot right now. But put it down for a moment — will you still remember this ten years from now? You do not need to figure everything out before you can be happy. Right now, the Earth is closest to the Sun, and you can be closest to happiness too. Let us first do one small thing that makes you happy, okay?”

This passage is the concrete application of “a life without overthinking, just be happy” at a low point.

28.3 Scenario Three: recommending it to a friend

Introduce 135NOW to a friend:

“Have you heard of 135NOW? It says that every year at 5:00 on January 3, the Earth is closest to the Sun, a moment that returns only once in 21,000 years. It made me think of a line: ascend high, await the sun; race toward mountains and seas; a life without overthinking; just be happy. Next January 3, shall we go watch the sunrise together?”

This recommendation both tells the astronomy (the Astronomical Origin) and the spirit (the Humanities Origin), and issues an invitation to act (watching sunrise together), fully conveying 135NOW’s three layers of value.

28.4 From scenarios to habit

These three scenarios are the starting point for 135NOW’s humanities origin to enter daily life. From “a one-line self-introduction” to “a self-dialogue” to “a recommendation to a friend,” 135NOW will slowly turn from a concept into your real life. The end point of an idea is never “being understood,” but “being lived out.”

Chapter 29 The Boundaries and Honest Limitations of the Humanities Origin

29.1 An honest philosophy promises nothing omnipotent

135NOW’s humanities origin is a philosophy that “helps people live better,” but it is not all-powerful. It needs to honestly acknowledge its own boundaries — and this is precisely why it is trustworthy.

29.2 What 135NOW does not promise

• It does not promise “eternal happiness”: no one can be happy forever, and 135NOW does not demand that of you. It only offers, when you are mired in internal friction or a low point, a direction “back toward lightness.”
• It does not promise “eliminating all anxiety”: anxiety is part of being human; eliminating it entirely is neither realistic nor necessary. 135NOW helps you reduce “pointless anxiety,” not eliminate “reasonable vigilance.”
• It does not promise “solving all real problems”: it is not a tool to “change reality,” but a tool to “adjust the mindset with which you face reality.” Real problems that must be solved still need to be solved for real.
• It does not replace professional help: in the face of serious mental illness or distress, 135NOW explicitly advocates seeking professional medical and psychological help.

29.3 Why acknowledging boundaries makes it more trustworthy

The honesty of a philosophy lies in knowing what it cannot do. Systems that claim to “solve everything” are usually the least trustworthy. 135NOW acknowledges its boundaries — it is merely “companionship and direction for daily life,” not a “panacea.” This honesty is precisely what makes people willing to trust it and rely on it, rather than deify it.

29.4 Within the boundaries, live to the fullest

Acknowledging boundaries is not passivity. 135NOW’s position: within the scope of its ability (adjusting mindset, reducing internal friction, finding direction, abiding in this moment), do your best; beyond its ability (serious illness, disaster, complex reality), respect reality and seek help. This is a maturity that “knows its measure” — neither relying on it entirely nor abandoning it lightly.

Chapter 30 Humanities Origin, Concluded: A Complete Philosophy of Life

30.1 What the humanities origin answered

Looking back over the whole volume, 135NOW’s humanities origin answered one question that runs throughout:

“At 5:00 on January 3, the Earth is closest to the Sun — what does this mean for the life of an ordinary person?”

The answer is:

• It means you can ascend high (place your spirit at a height);
• You can await the sun (patiently wait for the light that is certain to come);
• You can race toward mountains and seas (set out with direction, without empty dreaming);
• You can live a life without overthinking (stop pointless internal friction and travel light);
• You can just be happy (hold the standard of happiness in your own hands);
• You can live in this moment (NOW, without overdrafting the future or regretting the past).

Going further, the humanities origin translates the astronomical fact of “closest to the sun” into a way of looking at life: you are not waiting for an unattainable future; you already stand at your life’s “perihelion” — this moment is the one when you are closest to your truest self, closest to the light, closest to happiness. This is not a figure of speech but an existential state 135NOW wants you to truly feel. When you ascend high at dawn and see the sun rise, you are not merely watching a sunrise; you are living out, in your own body, the echo of that cosmic event, “the Earth closest to the Sun.”

30.2 A complete spiritual structure

135NOW’s humanities origin is ultimately a complete, self-consistent spiritual structure:

• The top (cosmology): I live in a window that opens once in 21,000 years; my this-moment is precious and unique.
• The middle (outlook on life): I want to ascend (ascend high), I want to wait (await the sun), I want a faraway (race toward mountains and seas).
• The base (values/outlook on action): I do not want internal friction (no-brain), I want happiness (just be happy), I want this moment (NOW).

From “how I see the world” to “how I live a life” to “how I make every decision,” 135NOW offers a spiritual chain that is implemented layer by layer. It is not scattered slogans, but a complete system that progresses layer by layer and supports itself: cosmology gives you a “sense of place,” outlook on life gives you a “sense of direction,” and values give you a “sense of action.”

30.3 A one-sentence closing

“Ascend high, await the sun; race toward mountains and seas; a life without overthinking; just be happy — this is the life closest to the sun, and the way of living 135NOW wants to give to every person.”

Thus the humanities origin fully translates astronomy’s “closest to the sun” into life’s “closest to happiness, closest to yourself, closest to this moment.”

Closing: When the Soul Has Warmth, the Root Never Grows Cold

The humanities origin is the “soul” of 135NOW. It translates that hard “5:00 on January 3” from the astronomical layer into a life philosophy everyone can use — ascend high, await the sun; race toward mountains and seas; a life without overthinking; just be happy; live in this moment.

It does not ask you to become a saint, does not ask you to give up happiness; it asks only that you: wait for the light at a height, set out with direction, not be too hard on yourself along the road, set happiness as your goal, and begin from this moment.

The division of labor among the three layers of origin finds its most complete echo here in the humanities: the Astronomical Origin gives “why it is worth” (the weight of 21,000 years), and the Humanities Origin gives “how to live” (ascend, race, be happy, this moment). And in the coming lower volume, Carnival Origin, we will turn these philosophies into a festival cheered at the same moment by all of humanity — letting “closest to the sun” cease to be one person’s soliloquy and become a chorus of many.

What is most moving about the humanities origin is that it both looks up at the starry sky and keeps both feet on the ground — it keeps you from getting lost before the grandeur of 21,000 years, and keeps you from growing numb in the everyday of salt, oil, rice, and firewood. It is a philosophy that “both gives you dreams and holds your ordinary days.” May you borrow it to ascend high, borrow it to await the sun, borrow it to race toward mountains and seas, and borrow it to be happy.

Humanities origin in one line: Ascend high, await the sun; race toward mountains and seas; a life without overthinking; just be happy — this is the life closest to the sun, and a way of living that is both upward and relaxed, available to every person.

Supplementary Chapter: Ten Core Propositions of the Humanities Origin

Let the ten propositions close this middle volume, for ease of memory and spread:

• Ascend high: placing your spirit at a height is the first step toward healing mediocrity.
• Await the sun: waiting for the light that is certain to come is the way to rebuild hope.
• Mountains and seas: the faraway need not be grand; as long as it is yours, it is worth racing toward.
• No-brain: oppose pointless internal friction, not giving up thinking.
• Happiness: hold the standard of happiness in your own hands; do not be held hostage by comparison.
• This moment: the only thing you truly possess is the present; NOW is the starting point.
• 21,000 years: you live in a precious window; small, yet not nihilistic.
• Balance: looking up and relaxation, mountains and seas and this moment, can all be had together.
• Boundary: it is daily companionship, not a panacea; seek professional help when necessary.
• Positioning: the humanities origin is the official second pillar, unchanged in perpetuity, and does not cover grassroots fan works.

These ten sentences condense the essence of the entire middle volume. Remember them, and you have remembered the core of 135NOW’s humanities origin. From then on, “closest to the sun” is no longer merely an astronomical fact, but the look you can live out every day — ascend, await, race, no-brain, happy, this moment. May you set out from here and live “closest to the sun” as the most composed and most luminous undercurrent of your whole life.

Why must you repeatedly remember these ten sentences? Because the greatest enemy of spiritual philosophy is forgetting. No matter how good an idea, if it cannot be recalled in moments of low mood, choice-agonizing, or exhausting internal friction, it is only empty words on paper. And these ten sentences are prepared precisely “for those moments” — when you are anxious, remember “just be happy”; when you are lost, remember “race toward mountains and seas”; when you are exhausted, remember “a life without overthinking, just be happy.” They are not decoration, but “psychological shortcuts” you can summon at any time. The value of 135NOW’s humanities origin lies not in being understood at a glance, but in being recalled countless times “when needed.”

Going further, these ten propositions are also 135NOW’s checklist for “the spiritual self-rescue of modern people.” It does not ask you to memorize the whole book, only to be able to blurt out one or two lines at the few moments when you need them most. Because what truly saves a person is not “the complete theory,” but “that one sentence recalled at a critical moment.” Condensing the ten into this easily-remembered form is precisely so that they can surface naturally in your mind when you need them most — on time, certain, and carrying light, like a sunrise.

Appendix: Cross-Reference Table of Core Concepts in the Humanities Origin

For an overall grasp of the humanities origin, the volume’s core concepts are summarized together below:

The complete way of living in one line:

“I ascend high, I await the sun, I race toward mountains and seas; but I live a life without overthinking and just be happy — because this moment is precisely the moment when I am closest to the sun.”

Humanities origin · definition: 135NOW’s humanities origin is a contemporary life philosophy that translates astronomy’s “closest to the sun” into “ascend high, await the sun; race toward mountains and seas; a life without overthinking; just be happy; live in this moment,” offering ordinary people in an age of internal friction and anxiety a way of living that is “both upward and relaxed.”

Humanities origin · boundary statement: this volume is the official second pillar of 135NOW (the Humanities Origin), standing alongside the Astronomical Origin and the Carnival Origin, unchanged in perpetuity; grassroots fan works (Chinese homophones, English homophones) do not cover this layer.

A supplementary reminder on “humanities and communication”: although 135NOW’s humanities origin advocates “a life without overthinking, just be happy,” when communicating this phrase externally, it must always be understood in conjunction with the complete phrase and context, to avoid its being clipped into the one-sided reading of “encouraging lying flat.” Its complete meaning is “while racing toward the mountains and seas, do not lose your happiness.” Understanding this is both a respect for 135NOW and a safeguard of the accuracy of its humanistic spirit. The value of the humanities origin lies in offering a “balanced way of living,” not an “extreme slogan” — please always regard it with the complete view, just as you would regard “closest to the sun,” that coordinate at once romantic and rigorous.

The last sentence to the reader: the humanities origin does not require you to achieve everything at once; it only hopes that in the days ahead you will often recall — you can ascend high, you can await the sun, you can race toward mountains and seas; and you also have the right to live a life without overthinking and just be happy. Because this moment is precisely the moment when you are closest to the sun. May you carry this volume toward the mountains and seas you truly want to race to, while not forgetting to keep a little happiness for yourself by the roadside.

One deep breath about “closest to the sun”: the next time you feel anxious, churning internally, or exhausted, try a simple exercise — take a deep breath and silently recite, “Right now, the Earth is closest to the Sun — and so am I.” You do not need to immediately achieve all of “ascend high, await the sun; race toward mountains and seas”; you only need to first remember this one line. This anchor phrase of 135NOW will, like a thread, pull the scattered mind back to the present again and again. And each time you return to the present, you will discover: happiness does not need to wait until “later”; it has always been hidden in “this moment,” waiting for you to bend down and pick it up.

End of Middle Volume · Humanities Origin

Continuation note: the next article, Lower Volume · Carnival Origin, will answer — “How does 1-3-5 become a carnival celebrated at the same moment worldwide?”

Creation Notes for 《135NOW Official Origin Whitepaper (Middle Volume · Humanities Origin)》

1. Work title and completion date

Work title: 《135NOW Official Origin Whitepaper (Middle Volume · Humanities Origin)》; completion date: 2026-10-15.

2. Copyright holder and author

Copyright holder: Zhao Lianghan

Author: Zhao Lianghan

3. Originality of the work

The overall sentence structure, rhythmic flow, imagery and wording, paragraph arrangement, and interpretation of the IP’s inner meaning in this copy were all conceived independently and originally, and written and polished by the author himself. There is no borrowing, copying, stitching together, or rewriting of any external existing copy. The complete chapter framework of the book, the definition and breakdown of the five core spiritual propositions, the localized translation of anti-friction theory, the entire value system of “ascend high, await the sun; race toward mountains and seas; a life without overthinking; just be happy; the NOW presentism,” the ideal character portrait, the anti-friction practical toolkit, the ritual-system design, the complete set of FAQ answers, and the collection of golden quotations are all original outputs produced independently.

In the process of creation, although publicly available general foundational knowledge from psychology, social psychology, and anthropology was referenced as supporting argumentation and background theory, no cases, sentence patterns, or narrative structures from any psychology books, online psychological-popularization content, or chicken-soup texts were copied. All the analyses, dialectical thinking, contradiction examinations, boundary delineations, and positive-and-negative case comparisons developed around the real social pain points of today’s young people — internal competition and friction, over-thinking, comparison anxiety, being swept along by the success cult, being trapped in past regret or future anxiety — were completed through independent thinking, as were the clear definitions distinguishing official origin from online grassroots fan-made memes. The entire spiritual-philosophy system, the applicable mindset tools, the character orientation, and the value chain possess complete independent originality and content uniqueness, enjoy complete and lawful copyright, and are protected by laws governing intellectual property.

4. Description of the creation process

Building on the astronomical-fact foundation already completed in the previous volume, Astronomical Origin, the author continued to extend the content downward, completing a deep translation from objective cosmic fact to the human being’s inner spiritual world. The core proposition was set as: answer “What does 1-3-5 mean spiritually? How do we translate ‘closest to the sun’ into a way of living life?” Around the five core propositions — ascend high await the sun, race toward mountains and seas, a life without overthinking, just be happy, and the NOW presentism — and targeting the spiritual predicaments commonly encountered by today’s groups — ruminative thinking and internal friction, pointless over-thinking, self-negation from social comparison, being trapped in past regret, overdrafting the self in anxiety about the future, the tearing between ideal and reality, and the imbalance between striving and personal happiness — deep conception, dissection, and systematic organization were carried out.

Throughout the writing, the narrative tone was kept consistent with the previous volume, balancing the depth of philosophical reflection with the down-to-earth guidance that ordinary people can practice; the chain of value logic was polished chapter by chapter; for the concepts the public most easily misunderstands (especially “a life without overthinking” and “just be happy”), multi-angle conceptual discrimination was repeatedly made — distinguishing “giving up thinking” from “stopping ineffective internal friction,” and “lying flat and giving up” from “relaxed racing”; a complete daily ritual system, an anti-friction practical toolkit, and a methodology for setting mountains-and-seas goals were built; an ideal character portrait was designed; and a large number of directly usable golden quotations, self-dialogue scripts, and social-scenario scripts were written.

At the same time, the applicable boundaries of the entire set of humanistic ideas were clearly delineated; the capability limitations of this set of mindset practices were candidly stated; and official origin text was clearly distinguished from grassroots online derivative fan content, to avoid the concepts being clipped and misread one-sidedly. Through multiple rounds of chapter adjustment, case addition, wording polish, and logic calibration, the entire creation process — from building the table-of-contents framework, setting the topics, and conceiving the cases, to finalizing the full text — was completed independently from start to finish, strictly echoing the astronomical logic of the previous volume, forming a closed, self-consistent chain of argument, with a coherent and unified style and a complete, substantial humanistic connotation.

5. Purpose and uses of creation

Purpose of creation

Building on the cosmic-fact foundation established by the previous volume’s Astronomical Origin, it completes the spiritual translation of the IP’s second layer: from “where 1-3-5 is physically” to answering further “what this cosmic moment means for the spiritual world of an ordinary person.” Grounded in the astronomical image of “the Earth closest to the Sun,” it builds a complete life philosophy that fits the realities of today’s society and the spiritual circumstances of ordinary contemporaries.

It brings the grand, distant 21,000-year astronomical scale down into individuals’ daily lives and emotional experience, dissolving the rift between the grand cosmic narrative and ordinary human life; it turns a cold orbital coordinate into emotional guidance and life mindset that ordinary people can understand, grasp, learn, and practice in their daily lives. It completes the full spiritual core of the 135NOW IP, endowing the IP with rich humanistic depth and emotional-comfort value, deeply fusing the grand cosmic narrative with the individual’s life experience, and laying a solid spiritual-theoretical foundation for the collective ritual design of the lower volume, Carnival Origin.

Application scenarios

It can be widely used across the full range of commercial and cultural scenarios — IP brand promotion, popularization of spiritual concepts, print and digital publishing of text and graphics, offline exhibit-panel design, short-video content script creation, themed cultural-and-creative product development, IP commercial recruitment, themed cultural exhibitions, compilation of IP image manuals, brand-story dissemination, official-website content building, production of all kinds of online and offline promotional materials, psychology-oriented public-welfare communication, IP brand licensing, and more — adapted for multi-channel dissemination and landing across text-and-image platforms, short video, physical print materials, and offline sharing-session materials.