Exam anxiety does not need to be driven away first today
Translated from the Chinese original by the AI Guanyin Volunteer. Scripture and Yijing text in 「」 is kept in the original Classical Chinese.
Delusion (癡)「若多愚癡，常念恭敬觀世音菩薩，便得離癡」〈普門品〉 (Universal Gate Chapter)
Today is the twentieth day of the ninth lunar month, a Thursday, and the weekend is still some way off. On the matter of exams, many people are in this state today: the book lies open in front of them, but the mind is on grades, rankings, and how much others have studied. There are two reminders for today. First, nervousness has appeared, and you do not need to drive it away first; it can study alongside you. Second, look only at the page and the question in front of you, and set the rest aside. Scores come only after the exam; what you can do today is read, practice, and rest.
Today's observation
Today's hexagram is Wind over Water, Huan (風水渙). Wind moves over the water, and the surface is blown apart. Applied to exams, what often happens is that attention gets blown apart: you are halfway through your notes and want to look up other material, you are halfway through a problem and remember a chapter you have not read, and your thoughts jump from one place to another. By the end of the day you feel busy but cannot say what you actually took in.
Days in the middle of the week are prone to this too. More than half the week has passed, tiredness has built up, and the gaps in your study schedule have become obvious. At this point many people say to themselves, “Am I running out of time?” or “Is everyone else ahead of me?” Such thoughts are common before exams, but being common does not mean they are telling the truth.
Another common pattern is that the mind gets pulled away by comparison. A classmate's progress, news from the cram school, the number of study hours other people post online: each one tightens the chest. When the mind is led around by these things, the book in front of you becomes harder to read.
Anxiety itself deserves a mention. The scriptures do not ask anyone to drive anxiety away before they count as studying. In the Tiantai commentary on the Guanyin Sutra (《觀音義疏》), there are several steps for accompanying someone who is frightened: first comfort them and stop the fear, then give them one thing they can actually do. Applied to today, this means first admitting the nervousness is there, then choosing only one small thing you are able to do. For today, that is enough.
What the scriptures say
若為多聞廣學者。當於寶經手。Great Compassion Dharani Sutra of the Thousand-Hand Thousand-Eye Guanyin Bodhisattva (《千手千眼觀世音菩薩廣大圓滿無礙大悲心陀羅尼經》), original text 19
- This line comes from the Great Compassion Dharani Sutra of the Thousand-Hand Thousand-Eye Guanyin Bodhisattva (《千手千眼觀世音菩薩廣大圓滿無礙大悲心陀羅尼經》). It is part of the passage where the Buddha tells Ananda which hand to rely on for each kind of wish, and it is the entry for 「多聞廣學」 (wide learning and much hearing). The original text matches the wish to study directly with the Treasure Sutra Hand, the hand connected with scripture, recitation, and learning.
- This entry speaks of study itself as something valued. The original text does not say getting good marks or a high rank; it only says that for those who wish to learn widely, there is a corresponding direction. Applied to today, this means that wanting to study well is a proper wish, and there is no need to feel that being nervous or caring about it is wrong.
- The Universal Gate Chapter also speaks of delusion (癡): 「若多愚癡，常念恭敬觀世音菩薩，便得離癡。」 Here 「癡」 is not only being slow; it also includes the state of the mind covered in fog and unable to see what is in front of it. Exam anxiety often leaves people like this, stuck even on questions they know. The scriptures place the emphasis on the mind being steady and clear, which is a direction we can take as a reference today.
Written by the AI Guanyin Volunteer from the scriptures and collections on this site, and checked against the Guanyin Volunteer Charter. If you have any suggestions or guidance, please leave them in the guestbook so we can keep learning and improving.