Dealing with Modern Times Through Spirit

...(continued)...This integral perfection is again an extension of the Hindu tradition. As the Bhagavad Gita inspires its followers to relinquish the fruits of action, so to does Aurobindo urge us to leave behind our selfish action because it hinders action in union with the Divine. As in the Gita, our actions are no longer our own. For Aurobindo they are Divine. When Aurobindo speaks of bringing the divine down into the mundane realm, it is more of an allowing of spirit, as opposed to ego, become the actor. It is this allowing, allowing the connection to a higher mind, through dispersing the veil of a separate ego identity, to become the source of our all our action, the source which we can embody in the mundane. This spirit in action will naturally breed recognition of the spirit inherent in all things and naturally help allow for greater reception of spirit in all aspects of the self. Aurobindo thus succeeds in expanding, and making central this primary concern of associating spirit with the mundane life, of connecting and uniting the two. This concern which weaves in and out of the Indian tradition becomes foremost for Aurobindo in the true spirit of Tantrism. Because of the social and political climate in Aurobindo’s life, however, he expands Tantrism to become wider in its relation to modern concerns.

In his relation to modernity Aurobindo is a powerful thinker. He shows the many of the same tendencies that historically permeate the traditions of Hinduism: diligent commitment to the highest realms of human existence, a supreme all pervading Divinity within all creation, discipline in uniting with the Divinity, furthering the relationship of others to the Divinity through sympathy, and intense inner concentration upon the various realms of consciousness, these among many other similarities. However, Aurobindo becomes the exemplar of the Hindu tradition, an ambassador to modernity by expanding its ideas, refocusing the emphasis, while adhering to the tradition of welcoming new ideas innovations. Aurobindo incorporates evolution, secular materialism, social and political concern into the vast tradition. Perhaps any talented Hindu, throughout history, would have pursued the same innovations if faced with the same crisis, such is Aurobindo’s embodiment of the tradition. For Aurobindo, because social and political concerns came to the forefront he faced them with intense introspection and found that in the end, the ultimate answer was actually to adhere to the same fundamental precepts that had helped shepard India through the centuries. Remaining true to the commitment to Divinity, elucidating how the Divinity can manifest itself through humanity and thus allowing humanity to harmonize the concerns of modernity was the natural conclusion a natural progression. For Aurobindo, face to face with the seemingly insurmountable social and political difficulties, the answer remained the same as it always had been, the One answer, the One truth, the One harmonizing Divinity had to enter into these new arenas, new frontiers through its perpetual facilitators, ever evolving humanity. For Aurobindo the ultimate act of social concern was immersion in spirit and the manifestation of spirit in all realms. In union with spirit, guided by spirit, one would naturally find the best course to take when confronted with strange and difficult modernization. For Aurobindo, the ultimate social agency remained Spirit, and the propagation of Spirit in others. This union with Spirit, Spiritual teaching and its manifestation was the One ultimate, incorruptible answer to all social concerns past, present and future.

Integral Yoga and Social Concern

...(continued)...Just as Aurobindo shows us the social-political ramifications, outer ramifications, Western necessity, for pursuing the divine for the sake of fulfilling a sort of divine evolution, he also examines the inner tradition in terms of Yoga. Aurobindo refers to the various Indian traditions in which we find inner experience such as the Kundalini experience. He examines the various yogas as separate and distinct paths that must become synthesized. He explains that as we advance in one arena of spirit its effects manifest themselves in the other arenas. If we advance in the mental we will see the fruits of our relation to spirit manifest in action and devotion as well. Aurobindo ties these together with the additional benefit seen in Tantric yoga, the benefit of enjoying the outer universe as an extended experience of the Divine. Again we see the pattern of Aurobindo to synthesize the ancient tradition, and again we see him take it to its logical conclusion. If the yoga benefits the practitioner in all arenas of experience then would not, from the modern, global perspective, the yoga benefit humanity as a whole? Wouldn't Tantric yoga have implications in the broader social and political realms of experience. Aurobindo asks the practitioner of any yoga to, upon the growth in relation to spirit in the realm of the personal exercise, begin to seek the growth of the spiritual relation in all realms of life. Yoga for Aurobindo is the discipline by which the individual may free the self from the many egoic veils that obscure the manifestation of spirit.

SOCIAL CONCERN

Again, if this is the possibility for the individual why then is it not also the possibility for the group? In this sense Aurobindo believes that Integral Yoga is the ultimate of social activism. To lower the veils obscuring our relation to the Divine through discipline, to begin to see those veils being lowered in integral life, and to begin to see the possibility of lowering those veils through sympathetic, or better, empathetic action, is the beginning of the next stage in evolution. Again this is where Aurobindo simply extends the spirit of the Hindu tradition into realms that were not as widely understood in the 'smaller' ancient world. Aurobindo simply applies the spirit of the tradition to suit his experience with the modern world, a world in which social, global questions are increasingly significant. Many efforts are made by many people for social justice, Aurobindo’s own philosophy arose partly out of grave concern for changing India. But his answers come in the form of intense spiritual practice, a synthesizing practice that plays within the outer world but always remains rooted in its relationship to Divinity. The cultivation of spirit in oneself and in the larger social sphere is for Aurobindo the ultimate act of social concern. If, as the Gita illustrates, each human no matter their transgressions has the capacity for spiritual achievement then the logical extension of this would be the capacity for large scale group achievement...(conclusion to follow)...

The Bhagavad Gita and Aurobindo

...continued...This imbuing of spirit into the physical is rooted, for Aurobindo, in the Bhagavad Gita, while his adherence to evolution still distinguishes him from the Gita. Upon analyzing the Gita Aurobindo finds that it recognizes the significance of physical life but dissuades from its exclusive pursuit at the expense of moral, intellectual, aesthetic values. Aurobindo find that the Gita acknowledges the significance of established moral and aesthetic principles as significant in the growth of spiritual understanding but that ultimate truth is beyond such rigid standards. Organized religion and spiritual traditions, for Aurobindo, hold rays of light, glimpses of beauty and perfection, but, ultimately, one must find these truths in a personal manifest reality. Sri Aurobindo also saw in the Gita a respect for the path of the ascetic, the one compelled away from social life to live in sole union with the Divine. However, this also falls short of the steepest pinnacles of spiritual perfection in which the divine enters into all the realms of humanity including social and political. The life of the ascetic, in the Gita, fails the ultimate task of embedding all human action in the will of Divinity. The Gita, like Aurobindo , elucidates the divine human who has the ability to perform the work of God, like the soldier Arjuna, firm in transcendent worldly action. From here Aurobindo extends the Gita into evolutionary possibilities for the liberation of all humanity, for as the Gita brings hope to the individual for liberation why not also the collective?

Here again we see a slight expansion from Hindu tradition. Aurobindo is inspiring in his ability to take the tradition into modernity adapting for the purpose. Aurobindo remains true to the heart of the tradition and it seems that he succeeds in carrying out the spirit of Hinduism to its simple, logical, spiritual heights. If, according to the Gita, there is hope for every human no matter how wretched in their transgressions against the will of Spirit, why not also provide hope for humanity as a whole. Just as Aurobindo succeeded in offering the spirit of acceptance, inclusion and adaptation from the tradition to modernity, he succeeds in transmitting the message of the Gita and further the spirit of its cause by adapting it to the global community and the modern subject. Aurobindo seems to have the vast tradition, the yogis, the gurus of the past cheering him on into modernity. Aurobindo, at the same time, exemplifies the spirit of the Western exploration by pioneering new territory for the Indian tradition...(to be continued)...

Spiritual Evolution Continued: Inward and Outward

...(continued)...If, in his synthesis of the modern West with ancient Hinduism, Aurobindo succeeds in embodying the spirit of Hindu inclusion, he does so in contrast to one of its central concepts. This concept, the idea of the outer world as illusory, hindering our spiritual recognition, is common in many forms, in many Hindu traditions. It was a powerful tool to show the seeker that the finite world of sense pleasures and material acquisitions is a perilous place to expend one’s life force. In other words, concepts like 'Maya' helped the seeker to understand that the material world should not be the sole and primary arena for one’s action. For one, we will inevitably be torn from this material world by death. This tool helped prevent many thinkers from falling ill to the Western disease of spiritual, inner atrophy. Because so many people are easily entangled in the illusion of the permanence of material success, concepts liked Samsara act as warning signs against such entanglement. These concepts inspired great spiritual accomplishment, great mystical achievements. However, Aurobindo challenged them.

Aurobindo challenged the notions that the physical world was somehow faulty by opening up a discussion on the nature of the physical Universe as a sort of Divine play. Aurobindo argued that the world should not be looked at as a distrustful illusion because that would render the ultimate God, within us and everywhere around us, as in the Upanishads, as a deluded hallucinator. Concepts such as Maya do help to discourage entanglement within the material world at the expense of the spiritual. However, as one begins to witness the growth of spirit within so should one begin to see that same spirit within the myriad material manifestations. If one can play in the world of materials, while simultaneously understanding the world’s inherent Spirit, then the inner and the outer merge as one, as manifest Spirit. More than this, the natural world, the world of external appearances, was forever evolving for Aurobindo. He succeeds in merging one of the basic tenets of Western scientific observation, with the life and spirit of Eastern mystical observation. Man’s place in this divine play is as the closest creature to realizing the inherent Self Divinity. Humanity is the current height of a sort of spiritual evolution and humanity must realize the full potential of spiritual Self realization for this evolution to continue.
Although Aurobindo seems on the surface to break from Eastern tradition by asserting claims that were rooted in concepts as such as evolution, linear time and the material world, he remains consistent with a central theme of the mystical tradition of India, that the inner Atman, God at the center of the Self, God as the truest sense of the Self, is united with the true physical world. In other words this world is permeated by Spirit. This universe, this Creation, has divinity within everything. Aurobindo asserts that we are indeed part of the one ultimate reality as in the ancient example of the salt in salt water, and that we just need to transcend the limits of our invented personalities in order to live in unity with divinity. Aurobindo believed that humanity as a whole moves ceaselessly toward greater and greater spiritual understanding, that involvement in the physical world can help facilitate that advance and that the natural world stimulates us to further growth. This idea is more than a superficial break from tradition. This idea is truly a synthesis of Eastern with Western, unique in the major traditions of Indian thought. This spiritual evolution, and its manifestation, working itself out in the physical universe, is where Aurobindo distinguishes himself from most of standard Hindu tradition. Imbuing spirit into the physical evolution is also where Aurobindo distinguishes himself from most of accepted modern Western scientific thought...(more to come)

Spiritual Evolution, East and West

...(continued)...Aurobindo’s ability to include such ‘Western’ values into his philosophy is true to the Indian tradition which throughout history has made possible the inclusion of widely varying ideas. Few places in the world have fostered such diversity of thought over time. Hinduism adopted many concepts from Buddhism even though the Buddha’s teaching were partly formulated in critical response to some of the Orthodox Hindu concepts of the era. Hinduism included much of Jain thought which may have helped to encourage the devoted vegetarianism even though vegetarianism is contradicted in many ceremonial passages from the Vedas. Christian missionaries found great tolerance and respect for their work in India. Indians thought that the concept of Christ as the one God was perfectly in harmony with their many other traditional ‘one Gods’. Historically even the tensions with Islam were often harmonized and Muslims were befriended into Hindu culture. Aurobindo’s work is (in harmony with his own evolutionary conceptions) a natural extension, evolution, innovation of Hindu thought to include Modernity into its varied systems. Even as Aurobindo is expounding a doctrine of evolution he himself is embodying the ultimate spirit of Hindu tradition by harmonizing Modernity in the West with the strength of the Hindu spiritual tradition. His work seems to graciously invite the strange outward seeking tradition of the West to make itself at home in the vast house of spiritual inward seeking that is Hinduism.

Ironically as Aurobindo acts as the gracious host inviting a stranger into his vast traditional home, he acts as pioneer and explorer for the West trying to make sense of the perplexing mystical traditions in India. He embodies the pioneer spirit of the West which seems to be forever seeking new places to conquer, and, in turn, new harvests to reap. In this case the frontier is India’s mystical tradition, and the harvest is the Spirit that, for Aurobindo, permeates all existence. The West has continuously approached the lands of the world and its peoples as places to explore, conquer, and ‘tame’. This led Western culture to explore even beyond the limitations of our own atmosphere with vast space exploration. The work of Aurobindo encourages the Western mind to continue it exploration, to conquer the realms of Spirit, the realms of inward seeking. To explore the inner, to understand and tame the forces that are the inner frontiers, the world represented by the tradition of Hinduism, is issuing a challenge that should be enticing to the expanding West.
In this great meeting of East and West, Aurobindo at once praises Hinduism’s greatest strength, the exploration of all things spiritual, while at the same time exposing its greatest weakness, the tendency to become stagnantly preoccupied with bodiless mysticism. The answer to this problem is the tradition of outer development in the material realm as embodied in the Western model which Aurobindo at once praises for its material development while exposing its great weakness in the realm of Spiritual Devotion. Most problems in the Western model expand out a lack of insight into the Spirit beyond the form, the lack of attention to the motives behind outward material exploration have brought us such physical monstrosities as the atomic bomb. The ability of Aurobindo to synthesize the two world views is an impressive feat. In hindsight this synthesis as a solution to the difficulties of the two cultures seems like an obvious one. Perhaps, according to Aurobindo, this is precisely why the two worlds are meeting in such a way: natural evolution has brought them to the point where they must synthesize through spiritual evolution, this evolution bringing about the manifestation of Divine consciousness...(to be continued)...

Sri Aurobindo: Hinduism and Modernity

Indian scholars during the days of the British empire’s Indian occupation were faced with many philosophical dilemmas. The root of these dilemmas was a reexamination of the role of philosophy and religion in growing modernity. Indian thinkers, who had long been at the forefront of inner expertise, were now faced with growing outer, social and political, upheaval. Most aspects of daily life were rapidly changing and thus the significance of the outer life in relation to spiritual pursuits was also rapidly changing and growing. A number of innovators responded to the cultural upheaval with new approaches to the thoughtful life. These approaches incorporated much of ancient wisdom, tailoring it to fit a new era. The prominent philosophy of Sri Aurobindo was especially responsive to the new intersection of old and new, East and West. His clear vision of the role of the spiritual scholar emerged from a synthesis of this massive cultural transformation. His ideas provide a distinct guideline for the role of the scholar in unfolding modernity and post modernity. As many ideas and systems became submerged in the growing tide of Western expansion Sri Aurobindo focused on Spirit as the unifying evolutionary force that could harmonize the cultural transformation.
The movement of Europe and subsequently America into the sphere of traditional cultures fascinated Aurobindo. In this he saw an evolutionary emergence of higher spiritual realities that could become manifest in tangible social and cultural realms. While some saw the need to overcome the hindrance of outdated systems, others felt compelled to protect tradition in isolation. Aurobindo, on the other hand, transcended the dualism to seek to establish a synthesis of the old with the new, the inner with the outer, East with West. He oriented his philosophical practice toward fusing the pursuit of spiritual experience with the pursuit of material advancement, ‘progress’. In this sense ‘scientific evolution’ became a ‘social-spiritual evolution’. Aurobindo focused on infusing the Life into the Western mode of growth, while simultaneously inspiring movement into the analysis of material growth, change, evolution in the Eastern models of spiritual, religious devotion. In this sense he was an Ambassador to both the traditional spiritual East as well as the materialistic scientific West.

To better act as Ambassador, Aurobindo accepted ideas such as linear, progressive time that had previously been quite rare in traditional Indian thought. Many traditional cultures perceived time in cycles; cycles of sunrise and sunset, summer and winter, full and new moon, birth and death. However, Aurobindo has become a modern exemplar of the inclusive values inherent in Hinduism by allowing linear, progressive time to co-exist with cyclical time. The concept that two ‘mutually exclusive ideas’, in Modern terms, can both be equally and harmoniously true is a signature of Hindu thought. For example, that there are many ‘one and only Gods’ poses no problem for traditional Hindu thought. Aurobindo can at once look at the world as cyclical, waxing and waning, as well as linear, evolutionary. It is obvious to anyone with eyes that time is cyclical. We see the sun rise and set, the seasons and moon wax and wane. It is also obvious to anyone who is born, grows into adolescence and decays with age that time is linear. It is equally obvious that trees, plants and animals also are born grow and die. The ancients emphasized the cyclical nature of reality because they were very closely related to the intricacies of natural, cyclical time. They intuited that memory, to the spiritual adept often feels like an illusory dream. Modern man emphasizes linear time because he is closely related to acquisition, growth, ‘progress’, and development of materials...more to come on this subject...check back in the coming days...

Spiritual Energy: 'Righteousness Ch'i' from True Understanding

When we cultivate the understanding of the superior person, we can observe the outside change with detachment. The comings and goings of outside change are just ripples on the surface of a spiritual ocean. When we can achieve this sort of spiritual objectivity we can see the world as it is, without being swayed by desire for pleasure or aversion to pain. It is then that we can feel the wind of the one ch’i blow through this world. From this perspective we can feel free and confident to do what we must do, to practice 'i', righteousness, without attaching to the results, achieving a spiritual energy that Mencius called 'righteousness ch'i'. Our Heaven’s destiny, our frame, is the field of our action. When we take what we cannot or should not change as fate and act on what can or should transform as our destiny, we need not be perturbed by the comings and goings of change. When we can clear away attachments and live accumulating 'righteousness ch'i', accomplishing our daily work, returning to our true life. We can continuously let go of all the aspects of life that we should not use and remain loyal to our destiny. We can let outside people and things go their own way, so that they will naturally move with the changes, moving towards what they are drawn towards without our obstructing them, moving towards what they have attracted into their own lives, leaving them freer, as well as ourselves. Superior people do this by allowing unwholesome influences to pass and moving closer to the good. This way they keep to the constancy of their true path.
Everyday people are coming and going, crossing paths. People are on the move. Different paths, different influences, different desires cross and re-cross each other. Superior people simply return their minds to the root of the principle of change, 'the same source' that is the origin of all paths. Superior people follow the simple and easy, concentrating on their own path as the Way to bring about transformation. When we understand the principle of change and our position in it, then we will understand the value of practicing virtue, as superior people to deal with change.

Adding blog to 'Technocrati'

Egypten charter

this post is just to add a code that will allow this blog to included in a blog search engine 'Technocrati' KJ65NZK9B3VB









K�penhamn Flyg

Heaven's Destiny, or 'Ming': 'Spiritualizing' Daily Life

Just as superior people see the spiritual in the world, we should see Heaven working in our destiny, the principle of change unfolding to spiritualize our lives. Our Heaven’s destiny is what is set before us in our true life. Returning to reality, we can instead observe the principle working in our daily life, the work of the spiritual in our position, destiny in our responsibilities. We can meet what is around us and respond well, respond in harmony. We can contemplate the metaphysical in and around us and act in the phenomenal. Repeating this over and over again we gradually 'go up.' When Heaven dictates the time, we can move up in our position accordingly. Avoiding deviation, avoiding exhaustion, takes a cautious mind. With caution we can avoid going to extremes. When we return to this true life we return our consciousness to our immediate surrounding and our immediate self. In this way our lives, our immediate surroundings and our immediate selves, through investigation, become spiritualized. This investigation, this observation, this proper contemplation, emphasizing our Heaven’s destiny, shows the Way of the superior person in our life.
This constant Way, in and through life, is true life. It is the easiest and the simplest. It is continuing the source, the life-giving principle. Each thing manifests this source in the phenomenal. All things grow through change enlarging the Way into new directions and new times bringing true life into being.
The philosophy of Confucius as outlined in his commentaries on the principle of change, the Ta Chuan, emphasizes following our position and manifesting the Way of Heaven. In this way we maximize our potential for transformative work by using our energy to enliven and spiritualize our unique opportunities, our unique responsibilities, our unique time and space. When we accept our position and cultivate it we follow the principles of change and the principle of our true life. Through observing our position, we deepen our understanding. Through studying the principle of change we are always moving up in our knowledge. Through moving up in our understanding and knowledge our position becomes more and more enriched.

Understanding Change: Heaven, Earth and the Cultivation of Virtue

Just like an on and off switch that can control the complexities of electricity, so too can the practices of sincerity and humility deal with the complexities of life's changes. (Yi Wu, Book of Changes and Virtues,1998) Sincerity is the virtue of yang energy, Heavenly energy. The moving, Heavenly, metaphysical, subtle, sincere, the easy, the transformative, the bright, the spiritual, the vast, Heaven gives life to all things. Humility is the virtue of Earth energy. The resting, Earthly, phenomenal, accomplished, humble, simple, changing, dark, physical, specific aspect of change, Earth; these give shape and substance to all things. The Book of Changes. or the I Ching, outlines the movement of yang and yin change. Studying the principles of yin and yang change and observing the principle at work all around us allows us to deepen our insight into the subtleties of any situation. Observing these changes around us means remaining aware of, attentive to, open to, flexible with the movement of change through the phenomenal world.
Observation is the key to experiencing these two principles and their dynamic interaction. The better we learn how these two principles complement and harmonize each other through observation, the better able to use, practice and cultivate them we will become. When we see their timely response around us, we can imitate and emulate them.
In some situations we should use soft, indirect methods. In others we should be firm and direct. One example from Chinese Philosophy is ‘making our mind easy’, in which we need to stop and use non-action, ‘before speaking’, which is a form of acting, moving outward: In this case speaking the active, the sincere, the yang energy is only done well after cultivating in a yin way, stopping waiting settling, through non action. So in this example we can see yin and yang complementing each other. Superior people use these methods, these principles appropriately, according to the time and according to their position.
Superior people work to emulate Heaven, in its giving of life to the various positions. They observe the Way of Heaven, its virtue of giving life, and they bring it to their own position. They use gentle methods to open the Way for life to enter into all positions. Superior people observe the metaphysical at work in the phenomenal as they observe movement and rest, the original and the end, the changes, the subtle beginnings, the spiritual and the transformative, and learn to have true understanding. This understanding informs their experience, enriches their lives and inspires timely action. Through observation they catch deeper and more subtle beginnings. As they learn the principle of change they become better able to respond appropriately thus restoring and continuing the originally good, harmonious principle. They work to remove obstructions and become adept at opening the Way for this harmony to continue far into the future. Superior people observe, and then return to themselves, return to the original, to the source and connect with Heaven. They work to open the Way of Heaven in the world, spiritualizing and transforming all things.
Superior people continuously return, reevaluate, and reexamine, themselves. They constantly rejuvenate their connection to the Way to avoid deviation and continue their work. Through practicing their own proper way superior people harmoniously benefit all things. They observe the phenomenal to understand and enlarge the Way for the metaphysical. Through observation and investigation superior people can see the pattern of the Earth. In one example, we can understand the pattern of the Earth in the seasons. Everything comes out of winter into new life, working producing, moving at a greater and greater rate expanding into the peak of summer before returning again, slowing down and resting in the stillness of winter. We too need this rest, this stillness. We need to allow the old to fall away, to return to simplicity and contemplate the source of life before going out and gradually expanding again. Superior people are able to empty their thoughts. They decrease thought and decrease action, returning to the space ‘beyond thought’ and ‘beyond action’, allowing the original source to arise into prominence in their consciousness. In this way they contemplate the original, the oneness that permeates all things. Once they return to this principle superior people can again observe it in all forms with a purer perception. Emptying their minds, emptying their perceptions, they return to the source and open their view of the spiritual in the world, in all forms, as well.

Beyond Karma and Rebirth: Humanity and 'Heaven's Destiny'

The practice of restricting one's attention from the various outer forms of change, karma, and instead orienting oneself to the unchanging self in its immediate relations reveals this our immediate circumstance as our Ming , or Heaven's Destiny. Instead of being filled with the desire of manipulating outside change one begins the process of contentment. One learns to be content in any situation because one has a sense of inner value. One has a sense of inner worth and a sense of the value of one's actions. When restriction becomes habitual, normal, the scholar will begin to see any situation in its potential for harmony. This scholar will strain and fight to escape in an attempt to leap out from propriety. Instead the scholar will seek to gain a true understanding of his/ her situation, learning about the relation of the situation to the true self. What was formerly seen as a field for benefiting selfish desire, as the so called inferior person would, is now seen as a field for establishing harmony, practicing virtue and right action, as the superior person. This virtue is action from seeing reality from the true mind. This is the antithesis of the desire mind that misses reality seeing only the development of changing desires.
If we focus on the unchanging true nature that each of us possess, that can be accessed at any given moment, that illuminates desire as illusory then we can be infinitely encouraged. This is part of why Confucius emphasized humanity. Through the cultivation of humanity, propriety, and filial piety, Confucius shows us that we each can learn the significance of our own position, our "Ming". Confucius did not emphasize nearly impossible tasks that only recluses and hermits could achieve, but the simple cultivation of our most common daily relationships. Through the practice of restriction, or restraint, we can begin to see the vast wisdom in the simplicity of Confucian philosophy. Through restriction we begin to see the importance of our daily affairs and relations. Confucius, and subsequently much of Chinese philosophy, has helped illuminate the simple and clear way to live successfully within change. This way is to practice our philosophy in the field that will never change; the field of humanity, of our social relationships, and of our daily affairs. The cultivation of understanding the unchanging will allow us to face any change. If we restrain the desire that seeks to manipulate change, seeking a better "rebirth", and instead attempt to harmonize with change through propriety, we can transcend change, and time. The unique unchanging quality of humanity will become the foundation from which we can better understand the changes around us. Restriction that allows us to focus on our own action, or non-action, in our immediate life can allow us the spiritual energy to deepen our understanding of our relationship to the unchanging within and around us.
The repetition of restriction gradually illumines manifestations of our relationship to ourselves. As we end the pursuit of desire, we return to our immediate life. As we cease giving energy to manipulating outer change, we have excess energy to see our daily lives with clarity. The force of karma is the force of repetition. If we continue to seek outer change, without a deeper understanding of the forces which most directly influence us, we will repeatedly suffer the same mistakes and misfortunes. When we begin to seek within our own orientation toward our own actions we can "rectify our minds" and avoid these mistakes, avoid the repetition of misfortune. It is in this sense the outer force of karma is totally is illusory, because the force that we must understand for deep transformation, true change, is our relationship to ourselves.

Beyond Karma and Rebirth: Action, Non-Action and Transcendence

As in the I Ching, or Book of Changes, yin and yang, action and non-action are the two keys to unlock the significance of daily life. Just like an on-off switch can control something as complicated as electricity, so do action and non-action, movement and rest allow us to respond properly to life's change. (Yi Wu, I Ching: Book of Changes and Virtues, 1998) In each instance the understanding the transcendant source is what is important. As long as we choose to either act in sincerity or receive in humility appropriately, without desire, without preconceptions, we stay true to this source. In each case, moving or resting, outside change, the surface, karma, is most important as seen in relation to the transcendent source. If we do not return to the source then we again delude ourselves in the surface world of karma. Here we see again that it is not the surface world of change and interaction that is important but it is honoring the source within ourselves and other people. As long as we concern ourselves with the thin veil of outer change, as opposed to the infinite world of the source within ourselves and within others, we live in the illusory, disconnected world of karma. So when we act, we do so from deep sincerity, creating in the receptive world. When we practice non-action we do so with complete humility, allowing all the creative influence of outside objects to perform their deeds without obstructing them. In each case the surface world is not the important thing. It is desirelessness, true self, true nature as manifest through sincerity and humility, which is the primary concern. It is this true self with which the true scholar is concerned. It is this true self manifest as we cultivate to become a Sage within our inner world, and King without in the outer world that is significant. The superior person remains with this deeper unchanging self in every circumstance.
Thus we see in the Hua-yen, T'ien-tai, and Ch'an Schools of Buddhism the one truth, the one mind, and the inside nature as the highest level of learning. This infinite unity, the underneath, is the inside nature of all things. Thus understanding of the unchanging is to gain a transcendent perspective on change, or Karma. This is a perspective from which we can see more clearly our responsibility and our unique role in this life. One thought can lead to 3,000 worlds. The scholar must seek the way to non-thought and embody non-thought in this life in order to reach the one transcendent thought. Grounding ourselves upon and returning to the one transcendent thought, we can know the essence of 3,000 worlds. If the True scholar trains his/herself in this way then he/she has the unchanging key to understand and respond to the changing world before him/her. This scholar can become timeless. This scholar understands the essence of his/her life, the change around him/her and his/her responsibility.

Beyond Karma and Rebirth: True Life and True Understanding

True life comes from a desire free orientation toward one’s surroundings and one’s resources. This is a free life. It seems that in many of the classics of Chinese philosophy there is an emphasis placed on the joyous description of the individual in the highest sense, living a life free from desire, beyond Karma. The I Ching, is such a useful, timeless resource because it resonates with the highest good in humanity, the unchanging to deal with change. When we are not deluded by desire for change, we can feel our heaven’s destiny in fulfilling our position/propriety.
Restriction in danger allows us to slowly return to a simple life. Through this restriction, this acting by not acting, we can settle our lives like the murky waters that settle in the Lao Tzu. Desires show themselves as the mere phantoms that they are, powerless to influence our True Life. By repeating restriction after restriction, desires arise, are made evident and fall away without creating Karma. As desire arises, we practice restriction, not following the desire, and it passes away. We can see that our True Life is immediately available and infinitely vast in comparison with narrow desire.
Our True Life, or Heavenly Life as it is called in Confucianism is a vast, deep and significant life based on simplicity; humanity, propriety and filial piety. This emphasis of our immediate life as being important in a set of relationships, and our individual cultivation being important only in regard to its right orientation to these relationships. Both Buddha and Confucius emphasized the potential greatness of humanity and refrained from discussing superstitious or confusing topics. Each person's immediate position, for Confucius, is a unique opportunity to make the Tao great. The cultivation of this heavenly mandate so absorbed Confucius that he felt other irrelevant topics were not even worth touching upon. It is ironic that the same wish to avoid complicating matters was ascribed to Sakyamuni in his original teaching, as in the story of the poisoned arrow. Sakyamuni described one who was injured by a poison arrow asking the healer all sorts of questions about the origin of the medicine, the technique for removal, the history of the physician before they began the healing and thus allow the poison to spread as being analogous to one who engages in limitless metaphysical speculation while neglecting the root of suffering. So while the founder of Buddhism, as did Confucius, refrained from talking about subjects of death and the after life, using the analogy of the poisoned arrow, the subsequent religion became defined, by some, as relating to karma and rebirth. Buddha sought to heal suffering and return humanity to its natural, harmonious way.
The simple, natural way, in humanity and in all life has always existed transcending the ebb and flow of empires and societal fads. To be able to continue in harmony with our surroundings regardless to superficial change is the focus of Chinese philosophy.
This is the perspective from which the I Ching discusses change. This is the perspective which the scholar of philosophy should cultivate gradually. This infinitely useful topic relates directly to everything, every change, and has always existed both in ourselves and in the cosmos; however it remains useless unless it is applied to the field of human affairs. This is the truth that Confucius understood in his emphasis on humanity. If humanity 'makes Tao great' then we must do everything for the furthering of humanity. The true scholar should recognizes change as the appearance of a surface upon a vast ocean. The surface still consists of the ocean’s water it is not separate. Thus the individual scholar becomes interested in the surface life only in its relationship to the vast ocean. Thus the scholar understands the surface life not in terms of karma and rebirth but only in terms of acting and not acting for the sake of enlarging of the Tao, the cultivation of harmony. His/her only concern is the potential for enlarging the Way for people to pass through to conscious relations with the depths. The scholar of true philosophy values the practice of understanding the surface gyrations, in himself and others, for the sake of turning toward the depths of individual experience.
The most awe inspiring thing for such a scholar is that everything he/she experiences is likewise an individual with its own depth to surface understanding.

Beyond Karma and Rebirth

(part one of a series of 'examining karma' posts)
It is said that the only constant is change. It is also said that the nameless Tao, that Tao of which we cannot speak is the eternal or constant Tao. So, change and something unspeakable beyond the phenomenal world of change, are simultaneously the only constants. The Book of Changes, the I Ching, simplifies all the possibilities of change, so that we, the individual, the perceiver, can learn the highest truths amidst the forms of change. The technique the I Ching prescribes for dealing with danger is restriction. In our modern world, in which we have access to mountains of information about any subject, the individual is increasingly in danger of “limitless speculation”. Through restriction we can come to know those forces which are closest to us. Through restriction we can focus our attention, our field of study to our immediate daily life and our action therein. It is in this field of action where we find the vast unchanging splendor of humanity. The Confucian concept of humanity, and its central significance, is illuminated through the practice of restriction as outlined in the I Ching. There are some fundamental constants in the human life that Confucius had the great wisdom to make central in his teaching. The Book of Changes addresses change so that we may come to know our unspeakable individuality, the unchanging within. The Confucian theory of humanity as illuminated through the practice of restriction is a bridge from the world of change, or Karma, to the world of that which is highest in humanity, that which unnamable, beyond change, or rebirth. Restriction of our inquiry to the most basic aspects of daily life, that which is common to all humanity, and the relationship of our personalities toward these events, allows us to focus our energy toward reality. Gradually this process of inquiry leads us to discover that which is beyond change, beyond karma and rebirth, in our immediate reality.
Our perception of our immediate reality is often clouded. We pick out what we want to perceive in our reality based on desire. We pursue change and rebirth based on desire. In this sense karma is desire. Rebirth is desire come to fruition. Life is typically lived in pursuit of desire. We orient our senses to pick out what furthers our desires. We ignore what hinders our pursuit. As long as our desires remain just below the surface of our awareness we suffer at the mercy of unknown forces. Desire colors our reality. The wheel of karma is powered by our volitional activity, desire. We create our future without knowing it. We put our values in everything we do. We use our resources to further some idea of ourselves. After these resources have produced what we wanted, we instantly create new desires for the future. This process of projecting our resources and desires into the future, then living the rebirth, the fruit, of that past orientation to life continues without our knowing it. Simply, we mobilize all the resources in our present situation toward some distant future world, some utopian vision of ourselves. Then we achieve it. Then we look back admiring where we were. We orient ourselves to achieve a distant future utopia as soon as possible. We are aware of the potential disharmony but are so convinced of the potential bliss of our rebirth that we ignore the risk and march on in pursuit of desire. Buddhism began with Sakyamuni and his Four Noble Truths. The notion of Karma, some would say, is central in Buddhist thought. I believe Sakyamuni would say that the mechanism of Karma is desire and thus the cause of suffering. He would also say that the cycle of rebirth is the ordinary life ruled by desire. Through the gradual practice of restriction in the midst of the deepening danger of desire, the path to a true life begins when we recognize our desire and guard against it taking over our life. When we recognize that which is free from desire, true self as opposed to desire self, we can begin to live a true life...

Meditation and Wisdom for the Bodhisattva and Superior Person

While previous posts since the very beginnings of this blog have discussed the superior person, the previous nine posts starting with the October 23rd post look at the bodhisattva as well. The bodhisattva in Buddhism is the one who, having reached the very threshold of Nirvana, refrains from entering and instead returns to help all beings reach the ultimate state. Shantideva, the 8th century buddhist scholar, wrote A Guide to the Bodhisattva's Way of Life, or the Bodhicaryavatara. This is the final post along the thread of comparing the traits of the superior person of Confucianism with some of the traits of the bodhisattva. Shantideva gives the instruction:

Strive at first to meditate
Upon the sameness of yourself and others.
In joy and sorrow all are equal.
Thus be guardian of all, as of yourself.

The hand and other limbs are many and distinct,
But all are one-one body to be kept and guarded.
Likewise, different beings in their joys and sorrows,
Are, like me, all one in wanting happiness.

Looking at the Humanity we saw that loyalty to one’s self and empathy toward others were its practices. Here Shantideva urges the bodhisattva to meditate upon the essential sameness of ourselves and others. Taking their pain as our own to dispel in with appropriate means, how could we ever become arrogant. How can we be arrogant with a deep understanding of our essential sameness, the principle of humanity within us all? To truly deepen our understanding of humanity, to meditate on that which is essential within all of us, we must seek to experience the principle of humanity in our daily relationships. We can then see all that is fleeting, all that is deluding ourselves and others from the essential principle. The bodhisattva meditates on sameness and becomes better able to see uniqueness. Confucius often had different answers for students asking the same question because he saw this uniqueness. The superior person understands the uniqueness of individuals by ‘meditating’ on their unique relationship to humanity. Confucius answered different students, when they asked him, ‘What is humanity?’ in different ways because he understood their uniqueness. Without meditating on that which is the same within us, we would have no frame of reference to empathize with others. When we hear, ‘What is humanity?’ without the frame of reference of an individuals relationship to the principle of humanity we will answer ineffectively. A parrot can answer that question, but without the insight gained from meditating upon the essential sameness of beings, the answer is entirely meaningless. Once we have an understanding of our deep sameness, we can cultivate the ability to empathize thus understanding uniqueness. We cultivate the ability to empathize by seeing how each unique individual relates to the essential, the sameness we share, within them.
When individuals begin to harmonize this relationship within it is the beginning of happiness. Shantideva urges us that, in order to harmonize our relationship with the essential within, we must cultivate an understanding, through meditation, that most things we identify with and yearn for are fleeting. The thing we really yearn for is the essence of life, or ‘humanity’ for the superior person. Through meditation, letting go of desire for fleeting material things, the essential principle can arise and a relationship with our true selves can begin. Confucius answered one student that ‘to restrain one’s self and return to propriety is humanity’. Here we can see that to restrain ourselves from overstepping our bounds we can return to what it is we should be doing and, in the end, what every one should be doing, in their own way, finding the way back to themselves, back to humanity.
Shantideva continually advocates this same restraint and return. The bodhisattva must continually examine his or her self and, if finding fault in their behavior or demeanor, discipline his or her self to return to their vow to benefit all beings. For the bodhisattva, meditation is the continuing return to the proper way of life. Meditation is the continual reinvigorating of the bodhisattva vow. Meditation is the discipline continually enforced upon oneself so that we may achieve the goal of benefiting all beings. Shantideva outlines many possible disorienting false priorities that can creep up and distract us from our goal. He shows one by one how they are void of any true meaning for the bodhisattva and how, through meditation on true meaning, on our vow, we can return to the proper orientation.
Shantideva reaches a crescendo culminating in the explication of wisdom in the final chapter. The bodhisattva, for the sake of all, should become the meditator, the one who continually seeks to live in connection with the essence of humanity. For the superior person it is their love of learning, the acknowledgement of a lacking, which brings them near to wisdom. It is this sense of lacking that propels the superior person to continue their learning, to continue their ‘meditation’ ceaselessly, until death.

Heroic Perseverence and Righteousness for the Bodhisattva and Superior Person

Heroic Perseverance and Righteousness
Virtue is the action of the superior person. When we talk of tranquility we talk of it not as some isolated state but as the essence of movement, the essence of virtuous action. Tranquility is the key to the vigorous uncorrupted action of the bodhisattva and the superior person. Here we again examine motivation for action. Heroic perseverance is the continuing action for the benefit of others, just as righteousness is virtuous action without regard to personal profit. Without selfish motivation, our heroes work tirelessly for the benefit of others. With ultimate, enduring tranquility the superior person can continue their work through difficulty and success without faltering.
When the superior person uses righteousness as their guide and asks ‘Will my action harm virtue or enhance it?’, then heroic perseverance immediately follows. This self examination and commitment to righteousness is essential for avoiding trouble. Shantideva also cautions that the bodhisattva be wary and guard against laziness, idleness and the pursuit of trivial activities. When we use righteousness as our guide we will surely avoid such trouble. One aspect of “I” (righteousness in english) is appropriateness. One should do everything at the right time, at the right place and with the right relationships. One should act according to these considerations making their action suitable to the situation. Shantideva calls for heroic perseverance, urging the bodhisattva,aware that even small transgressions can cause great harm to the goal of helping all beings become buddhas. This is the work of a practicing bodhisattva, establishing habits of righteousness:

“I will do this, myself, alone!”
These words define my pride of action.

Enfeebled by their minds afflictions,
Worldly folk are helpless to secure their happiness.
Compared to those who wander, I am able-
This indeed should be my chosen task.

When others give themselves to base activities,
How can I connive to as their companion?
But I should not refrain through pride or arrogance;
My best way is to give up such conceit.

…Therefore if I’m weak and feeble-hearted,
Even little faults will strike and injure me.

In Confucian terms the practice of the bodhisattva is to establish a personal standard for righteous action, avoiding the complacency of others to avoid injuring one’s virtue. Without arrogance the bodhisattva guards their virtue out of habit alone judging right and wrong taking right action as a happy accomplishment:

Thus in every time and place
I will not wander the wholesome path.

…The bodhisattva in their every deed
Will feel the greatest joy, exhilaration,
Pleasure that will never fade or pass.

The Superior Person's Tranquility and the Bodhisattva's Patience

Patience and Tranquility
The bodhisattva and the superior person both seek to act in the world for the sake of others, they both value gentleness in their action. But Shantideva urges that the bodhisattva cultivate patience to balance this sincere desire to enact change. This relationship of zeal and patience is essential for the bodhisattva to maintain equanimity and to avoid deviations that may occur from an over eagerness to ‘fix’ the world. To steep oneself in patience, to return to simplicity, to make the most of rest, to achieve a balance of action and non-action is an essential key for the superior person as well. Confucius himself took up the study of the I Ching and its principles of action and non action. The later tradition greatly valued the balance of tranquility and movement, or tranquility in movement. Tranquility is closely related to loyalty to one’s self for the sake of benefiting others. To maintain a deep rooted connection to one’s own essence of humanity is essential for effective action. The superior person should return to themselves continuously until the habit of remaining true to one’s self is natural. This deep abiding is tranquility.
From tranquility, akin to equanimity, the superior person can remain centered, grounded while acting for the benefit of others. This tranquility of mind is the discipline of remaining true to one’s humanity, loyal to one’s self, without becoming distracted or disoriented by outside stimuli. This tranquility, like patience, is the continuing practice of allowing distractions to dissipate without grasping at them. Erroneous thoughts and desires are continually abandoned so that one is deeply connected to what remains, our essential humanity. Practicing tranquility means that the superior person will always act effectively, mindful of the goal of helping others to achieve themselves, helping them to flourish. Acting from vast inner tranquility allows the superior person to detach from ineffective confrontation, argument, and other distractions from the goal of nourishing one’s self and others. The bodhisattva’s patience is, like the superior person’s practice of tranquility, a cautious, guarded, practice of waiting, waiting for tranquility to arise. Once tranquility arises one can act mindfully, focused on the effectiveness of one’s action.
The patience to wait for tranquility is essential in avoiding mistakes in the work of the bodhisattva. With tranquility the superior person can avoid petty, angry speech. With the patience to wait for tranquility to arise the bodhisattva can avoid the ‘single flash of anger’ that can destroy the accumulated merits of the past in a single instant. The superior people, the bodhisattvas, understand the immense danger of acting without patience, without tranquility, and have trained themselves thoroughly to wait in silence for the right response to emerge. This tranquility is what separates a superior person from others. Others react blindly without patience, without waiting, while the superior person waits for the appropriate response to arise. When we wait and see the appropriate response, each instant becomes an opportunity to perform the profound transformative work of the bodhisattva and the superior person, the work of benefiting others. Patience is the ground of the strong enduring will of the bodhisattva, and of the ability of the superior person to keep going with joy. When the superior person has waited and established their own tranquility, they have learned to endure the fleeting inner states. Just so, the bodhisattva can differentiate the essential from the non-essential emotions in the actions, motives and stature of others. The superior person, practicing inner loyalty to the essential within them, enduring the inessential within, awaiting the re-establishment of tranquility, can then do the same with others. This allows the superior person to see that which is best within others and helps guide others in nourishing their humanity. Whenever we practice tranquility in action we can be superior people. Whenever we can patiently allow fleeting anger to pass out, tranquility arises, and with it the equanimity and true insight essential for performing the work of a bodhisattva.

Shantideva's Vigilance and Confucius' Propriety

Vigilance and Propriety
In his chapter on vigilance Shantideva elucidates time and time again that which in Confucian terms is known as the importance of the practice loyalty to one’s self by acting in propriety: “Those who wish to keep a rule of life must guard their minds in perfect self possession…our fears will come to nothing, every virtue drop into our hands.” This self possession is like Confucian propriety. Propriety is the practice of taming ourselves to act within the appropriate boundaries, within our own frame. Restraining ourselves from acting inappropriately, returning to what it is we should do, avoiding action that may harm our virtue, is the vigilant practice of the superior person. This is self respect within and decorum without. When we act in accord with propriety, we cautiously and vigilantly guard our appropriate boundaries. We maintain and cultivate the energy that is accorded us for the appropriate circumstance. Tethering ourselves within the frame of propriety we maximize our spiritual energy, living in simplicity, growing strong within our space like bamboo grows strong within its joints. This is the same vigilant cultivation Shantideva praises.
In Shantideva’s chapter on vigilance another similarity to Confucius arises. This similarity relates to their style of teaching. Shantideva, like Confucius himself, is moved to give specific instructions, fit to daily life to help aid us in the guarding our minds. Shantideva describes the proper way for the bodhisattva to walk and to rest, the proper demeanor, and the proper way to protect virtue, living in the world among the people for their benefit. This is the essence of propriety’s practice for the superior person as well. The superior person must find their place in the world for the benefit of others in the same way, vigilantly following righteousness for appropriate action. Superior people must practice loyalty to their selves, guarding their minds against anything harmful to their virtue. Both the superior person and the bodhisattva take great care, acting cautiously, continuing to again and again return to the righteous way, to live in propriety.
The superior person sees what is presented to them in their outer life as their destiny from heaven. That is to say that their life situation is as it should be according to the principle of heaven manifest here and now in this very specific way. This specific way is their own frame, their propriety. In this way the superior persons follows propriety, step by step according to the time, without imposing their own desires or preconceptions onto life. The bodhisattva too understands that their life is not theirs to enjoy or despise. The bodhisattva and the superior person accept challenges without complaining. This means that the superior person has no use for judging themselves or others, only for acting to propagate true happiness for others. Thus the superior person acts within their framework of propriety to ensure harmony among those within their sphere of influence. The superior person takes action to correct potentially detrimental behavior but then returns to gentleness and harmony with tact. Shantideva insists that the bodhisattva follow this same gentle way in dealing with others in order to best cultivate their happiness.

Humanity in Buddhism and Original Confucianism: The Bodhisattva's Bodhicitta and the Superior Person's Humanity

Humanity
Shantideva emphasizes the significance, the importance, the rarity of a human birth from a karmic standpoint. From this human birth we have the most tremendous opportunity. So too, for the superior person, is humanity supremely important. For the superior person, that which is most essential to our existence, our deepest self, our bodhicitta, our awakened mind, is called our humanity. Shantideva recognizes this power within human beings to achieve the greatest possible merit. He emphasizes the importance of making the most of our human lives. The superior person believes that accentuating the inherent goodness within a human being, and bringing it to fruition is to enlarge the Tao. To discover this ultimate goodness, to remain loyal to our deepest self and to empathize with others, from this deep connection we share with others, is to allow bodhicitta to arise. The superior person brings this to fruition within themselves and others, without bringing to fruition that which is unessential. This is the great work of the superior person as it is the great work of the bodhisattva. This is how the superior person endeavors to open the way for humanity, for bodhicitta, to arise thus enlarging the way, enlarging the Tao.
Humanity is also deeply significant because human action is the one of the most effective forces on this earth. To help bring forth the inherent quality of humanity is to engage in a great and noble work, the work of the bodhisattva with its supreme, universal, benefit. We see how effective the action of humanity can intensely influence the world, as with the environment impact of global warming for example, so we can imagine how bringing forth a greater quality of humanity can spread tremendous effective benefit. As human beings this is our natural sphere of influence, humanity is our field.
In order for us to engage in truly effective virtuous action we must understand the nature of humanity. An awareness of our own true deep abiding selves, our true humanity, that which makes us special, is necessary. To become truly identified with this within ourselves, to cultivate and nourish our virtue we must remain loyal to our deep humanity. To truly be aware of the depth of human relationships and the awesome transformative power of virtuous behavior, we must be empathetic. We must act out of loyalty to ourselves, maintaining, nourishing, cultivating virtue, and out of empathy for others. Only from this awareness can we effect true transformation. When we act toward ourselves and others in relationship to ideas, desires, and preconceptions, we act on an ineffective level, wasting our energy on phantasms and illusions. When we scold or argue or chase desires, we fail to become aware of the most effective form our action might take. When we are loyal to our deepest selves, our insight grows and our spiritual energy increases, we tap the tremendous power of virtue, of humanity. When we are empathetic to others we see the obstacles they face in achieving this same connection within themselves. We can use our energy to attempt to ease their difficulties, encouraging them, helping to find the way to overcome such obstacles. The superior person acts thus, bringing to completion that which is most virtuous within themselves and others.
Shantideva understood the significance of humanity and emphasized making the most out of this human life. He similarly emphasized the practical aspects of humanity, loyalty and empathy. Shantideva understood, as in Confucian terms, that to be loyal to one’s humanity meant to be loyal to what is most essential within us. In his terms, Shantideva asks us to try and find our defilements and answers that they are not to be found anywhere. He encourages us to take heart, that these defilements are mere mirages. When we restrain ourselves from identifying with such mirages, we will certainly find that our true humanity is arisen. Practicing such loyalty to our most essential selves we will be better able to fulfill our commitment to others. The bodhisattva commits to doing all he can to benefit all beings. He thus coveys his commitment to the practice of empathy, considering others in all which he does. The bodhisattva’s awareness of the lack of existence of defilements demonstrates his awareness of the essential humanity, the practice of loyalty to one’s self. The bodhisattva’s vow to benefit all beings demonstrates his consideration of others in all his actions, this is his empathy. The bodhisattva’s understanding of these two principles is deep. For the superior person this understanding and its practical implications is the way of humanity. This is the oneness that Confucius himself named as his own principle of action.

Shantideva's 'Commitment' and The Superior Person's 'Duration'

Commitment and Duration
While Shantideva emphasizes commitment, the Confucian scholar, the superior person, similarly emphasizes duration. The superior person should be satisfied to continue their work under any circumstances. This is where the superior person finds true happiness. Studying and bringing studies to life through practice is the commitment of the superior person. This commitment is the source of joy for the superior person. Because of this the superior person practices restraint from pursuing desire, restraint from deviation. This simple act of restraint is the root of simplicity. The superior person takes joy from their simple life. Enduring the ebb and flow of life, committed to taking righteousness as a standard for action, the superior person keeps going along the infinite path of spiritual growth. Recognizing a lack, cultivating virtue, continuing the work of a true scholar and teacher, the superior person fulfills their duties. This simplicity is the foundation for constant virtue. The superior person never stops at a point thinking, ‘Now, I have arrived at the goal.’ The superior person lives in simplicity, in order to cultivate themselves. This cultivation leads to greater and greater achievements as a scholar and a growing skill as a teacher.
The superior person, like Shantideva, has given up the profit as their primary motivation, seeking only to do what it is they should do, achieve what it is they are meant to achieve at a given time, seeking to fulfill the mandate that heaven has given them in their life. As Shantideva says:

Just as all the buddhas of the past
Embraced the awakened attitude of mind,
And in the precepts of the bodhisattvas
Step by step abode and trained,

Just so and for the benefit of beings,
I will also have this attitude of mind,
And in those precepts, step by step,
I will abide and train myself.

That this most pure and spotless state of mind
Might be embraced and constantly increase,
The prudent who have cultivated it
Should praise it highly

…In every way, then, I will undertake
Activities befitting such a rank.
And I will do no act to mar
Or compromise this high and faultless lineage.

(Shantideva. The Way of the Bodhisattva. Shambhala. Boston and New York, 1997. p. 52)


The superior person, like the bodhisattva, seeks to continue their work step by step. The superior person takes no short cuts. They take their very life as the grounds for practice, striving to see the depth of each stage in their lives, committed to continuing this process until death. To the superior person this is a great joy and a great relief. Constantly cultivating wisdom for the benefit of all, the superior person lives in peace and fulfills their responsibilities. The superior person is committed to continuing their studies, continuing their work because they are driven by a sense of lacking. This commitment is second nature and the superior person’s work has the power of duration.
The superior person takes righteousness as motivation, using it as a standard to gauge the effectiveness of each action. Looking to benefit others, the superior person acts to nourish that which is deepest within them so that they are at their best for the benefit of others. This deepest most profound aspect of themselves, the key to empathizing with others is the principle of humanity.

Reverence, Sincerity and Shantideva's 'Confession'

Reverence
The superior person should keep reverence in their mind as when Shantideva seeks to “gain this precious attitude” in his ‘Confession’ (Shantideva. The Way of the Bodhisattva. Shambhala. Boston and New York, 1997. p. 39). Confucius recommends that the superior maintain this sense of reverence regarding those who gave us life, dealings with our parents and extending back to our ancestors. So when we offer sacrifice (ceremonial sacrifice is common, but more important is sacrificing our own wishes for the sake of fulfilling our responsibilities and duties) to them as when Shantideva offers sacrifice to the buddhas we should keep reverence in our mind. This is to say, whether we believe in spirits, ancestors, or buddhas is not necessarily the important matter. Who knows whether these beings exist, the important matter is we honor them with deep sincerity in our mind. This is the same with one’s parents. Whether they are good or bad parents is not the important thing. The important thing is that the superior person maintains reverence for their own life, which, of course, is a product of their parents’ life. This life is a precious, precious gift inherited from our ancestors. Our parents are the most immediate link to this precious gift. The superior person values their physical life as such a gift, as when Shantideva emphasizes the importance of a human birth. The superior person reveres the past sages for a similar reason, except in this case we have inherited a lineage of learning and working for others beyond mere physical inheritance.
Shantideva shows this reverence when making his offerings to the buddhas, just as a superior person should keep reverence when making sacrifices to the ancestors. Shantideva maintains deep reverence bowing to the learned masters and abbots just as the superior person does to those teachers who maintain the lineage of the ancient sage kings. In the chapter on ‘Confession’ we can certainly feel Shantideva’s sense of reverence in his offerings. While his tone changes many times throughout the Bodhicharyavatara, the sense of reverence conveyed in the first chapters permeates the work. This sense gives the work a richness of meaning, a certain importance that inspires attentiveness in the sincere student. Shantideva acknowledging his deficiencies, his sense of lacking, confessing, shows that he is ready to learn. The superior person, the scholar, must too acknowledge this sense of lacking in order to begin to study. We will see later that for Confucius this sense of lack is necessary for wisdom. The arrogant fool who thinks he knows enough can never become a bodhisattva, a superior person, a true scholar. They will never pursue the path of learning because in their mind there is no sense of lacking to which to confess.

The Dedication of the Superior Person to the Way of the Sage-King

Dedication
A superior person is dedicated to honoring their lineage. This lineage is twofold. One the superior person continues the lineage of the sage-kings of ancient times. The second lineage is their ancestral lineage. The former would entail studying the way of the ancient sage-kings and continuing their work as best as we can. The latter is very practical. We look to the generation before us, our parents, and honor them in our actions. Their lives are the foundation for our own. The superior person should maintain a sense of reverence to their parents. This does not mean blind obedience. It does, however, include a certain sense of decorum. If for example our parents are mistaken, we should gently correct them so as not to do them a disservice by allowing them to continue in a wrong way. If they continue to persist, the superior person maintains a sense of reverence without pushing the matter. Ancestral lineage would also entail work for the benefit of this generation, benefiting others so that we can open the way for the next generation. The superior person should help open the way for future generations to flourish while at the same time connecting ancient times to present day.
Dedication to the ancient sage-kings is, for the superior person, the inspiration for effective scholarship. ‘Confucianism’ in Chinese is actually “Scholar”-ism. This type of scholarship is not scholarship for scholarship's sake. It is to embody the way of the ancient sages who worked for good of all people, to benefit and harmonize society. The Way of the superior person emphasizes a deep reverence for the good, useful and harmonious aspects of the past. The superior person honors the work of those who came before by dedicating themselves to continuing that work, just as the bodhisattva seeks to continue the work of past Buddhas, seeking to benefit all living beings.

The Bodhisattva of Buddhism and The Superior Person of Confucianism

A Confucian Commentary on Shantideva’s 'Bodhicharyavatara'

It was once a high complement paid to learned scholars in China to say that they understood the three religions; Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Confucius also said that the superior person is beyond factions and that they never dismiss nor praise what has been said because of the source. With this in mind one can appreciate similarities across religious boundaries. Indeed the virtuous exemplar’s of both Buddhism, the bodhisattva, and Confucianism, the superior person, have many deep similarities.
Working for the benefit of others is the ultimate goal to both the superior person and the bodhisattva. To practice the teachings of Confucius is like taking a bodhisattva vow to live and teach in society for the benefit of all people. The superior person practices loyalty to one’s self and empathy with others to better serve their vow. The superior person has this goal and feels a deep responsibility that influences their actions. The superior person is cautious so as to avoid any action that could harm their virtue thus harming their capacity for beneficial action. The superior person understands and practices humanity, the greatest function of a human being.
Shantideva emphasizes similar practices for the bodhisattva. Shantideva, like Confucius, goes into great practical detail to give, to those who may be of a like mind, instructions on practice for the benefit of one’s self and others. Shantideva addresses everyday occurrences and thought patterns. This emphasis on practical instruction is a signature of the Confucian dialogues. Shantideva’s description of the bodhisattva and the superior person of the Confucian tradition share common altruistic, empathetic motives to help others. They also share many practices of cultivation, ethics, and wisdom that fortify them to help achieve the goal of benefiting others. They each seek to honor the way of past sages and open the way for modern people to cultivate themselves at higher and higher levels. They each show dedication, reverence, commitment, duration, humanity, vigilance, propriety, patience, tranquility, heroic perseverance, righteousness, meditation and wisdom, qualities which we will explore further in coming posts.

Sincerity in the 'Doctrine of the Mean' or 'Chung Yung' -Part 2

‘Ch’eng’s way is the way of the self,’ shows that when we follow sincerity we follow what is most essential for our development. Sincerity is the feeling, a certain reverence, a trustworthy response that precedes the insight of the righteous path. The heart/mind, hsin, is originally sincere, and when we connect an action to this clear mind, or act from this mind, we know righteousness. ‘Without sincerity there would be nothing’, explains how sincerity is the only origin of true success. Any attempt to build from motivation other than sincere motivation will, in time, decay. Any perceived benefit or perceived success outside of sincerity is illusory. Sincere action is a manifestation of the Heavenly principle (The life-giving principle in all things). As such it gives spiritual life to this world. Sincere action imbues the spirit of humanity into this world. Sincerity resonates infinitely, producing a great, or Heavenly benefit. When we choose to learn and grow our lives from the root of sincerity, we move Heaven into the Earth, our action produces Heavenly benefit, our result is vast and ceaseless. The second aspect of practicing sincerity is to benefit all things, to ‘complete things’:
Ch’eng means not only to complete oneself but also to complete things. To complete oneself is humanity; to complete things is wisdom. Both are the virtue of nature. This is the Way which is a union of the external and the internal. ( 141) [italics added]

Wu comments: “to complete things is to let other people and things develop…according to their own natures” (141). Sincerity, completing oneself and completing all things, is the ‘virtue of nature.’ Practicing sincerity is letting oneself and all things develop according to their own natures. Through sincerity the self can emerge, this pure, true self responds with the deepest root of all outside things and unites, internal with external. In this union, or deep response, there is vastness that allows more time and more space for authentic development. Remaining grounded in this space of sincerity, responding to other things in this way, we can meet and complete all things in a pure space, which allows real growth.
Growing from ‘the beginning of all things,’ from such purity things are rooted in the vastness of Heaven. This root, this perfect sincerity, nourishes growth that is ‘ceaseless’, and ‘godlike,’ or Heavenly. This perfect sincerity is very profound but it begins with a simple and heartfelt practice. Sincerity includes basic morality such as truth, honesty, faith, and trust. These virtues arise from and are the extensions of sincerity. As we become more deeply, or more ‘perfectly’ sincere, the profound implications that resonate from virtuous action become clear. It is through continued practice that sincerity become clearer. While ch’eng is defined in the Doctrine of the Mean as the Way of Heaven and the way of humanity, there is also the more specific definition or instruction: “The next level of perfect sincerity is to go by bending, through bending one’s sincerity appears” (Wu 1992, Doctrine of the Mean Ch. 23, p30). Wu, commenting on this line in Concerned Mind Tea, says:
The Chinese word for bend is ch’u (曲), and it may be translated as small, partial or bent. Therefore “going by bending” can be described as not pursuing a goal directly but solving a problem by turning a corner, by bending. For example, when our friends make a mistake, we advise them directly; this is sincerity. But sometimes they do not accept our advice. If we give up our effort because they refused our advice, this is not real sincerity to our friends. Therefore we must turn a corner and use a different way to advise them; this is a real expression of sincerity. (Wu 1992, 30)

First Wu uses the example of advising a friend directly about a mistake that friend has made as sincerity. This is an important example in itself, because it illustrates the simplicity of sincerity in practice. Although sincerity has metaphysical roots and implications, its practice remains simple: honesty toward a friend. If we do not tell the truth to the friend then we show a lack of concern, we allow that friend to proceed with mistaken behavior that in time will bring misfortune. This simple act, out of concern for the friend, carries with it all the profound metaphysical implications. The tricky situation of telling a friend something they might not want to hear becomes even trickier when that friend does not take the advice to heart. As a sincere friend, you cannot give up and must now use indirect methods. You must proceed by bending around the roadblock to advice that your friend has put up. In time you hope the friend understands his or her mistake, but if not you continue the subtlety of ‘going by bending’ as a good, sincere, concerned friend.
Through this sincerity friends help ‘complete each other.’ Through sincerity we fulfill our responsibilities, learning, completing ourselves. Following this sincerity in daily life is following the way of humanity. Fulfilling our responsibilities in this timely way is following what Heaven has set before us. It is following the Way of Heaven.

Sincerity in the 'Doctrine of the Mean' or 'Chung Yung'

While sincerity generally meant truth, honesty, faith and trust, Sincerity, ch’eng,(诚) in the Doctrine of the Mean, takes on a metaphysical meaning as well:
“Ch’eng is the Way of Heaven; to become Ch’eng is the Way of Man (Humanity).” (Wu 1986, 139)

The author of the Doctrine of the Mean shows the connection between simple human honesty, truth, faith and trust and the Way of Heaven. When people are sincere, in this way, they are fulfilling their highest function. Sincerity encompasses a balance of truth, honesty, faith and trust and while peoples’ level of understanding may differ and their characteristics may be unique, their ability be ‘sincere’ is always there. This means that anyone, regardless of talent, can manifest the Way of Heaven through practicing sincerity. Sincerity is animated in us through Heaven’s life-giving power. Humanity and sincerity are in harmony with the principle, the movement of Heaven. When people are sincere they are practicing the way of humanity, the Way of Heaven. This is the function of humanity, to be sincere. When we are sincere, we are doing our part in Heaven’s work on Earth. Each of us can work to accomplish this in our unique way in our unique position, with our unique characteristics and when we do endeavor in this way we, quite simply, work to make the world a better place. This Heavenly origin is why, as Wu points out in Chinese Philosophical Terms (1986), according to the Doctrine of the Mean [Ch. 24] perfect sincerity is like Heaven in these two ways: perfect Ch’eng is godlike and perfect Ch’eng is ceaseless. Perfect sincerity is godlike because it is:
being able to foreknow. When a country is about to flourish, there are surely some fortunate omens; when it is about to perish, there are surely some omens of weird and monstrous things…Whether calamity or blessing is immanent the good and bad can be foreknown. Therefore, perfect ch’eng is like a spiritual power. (140)

And perfect ch’eng is ceaseless, “the function of ch’eng is the same as that of Heaven and Earth, which give life to all things without ceasing” (140).
This sincerity is emphasized in the Doctrine of the Mean, or Chung Yung, because it is closely related to chung, the Mean. Chung, meaning “central” or “the mean,” is the central quality of humanity, which enables us to bring balance and harmony to their affairs. While the term humanity encompasses many virtues and characteristics, chung is the specific attribute, the center, the Heavenly space within us, or more correctly the essence or substance of Nature:
“Before the emotions of pleasure, anger, sorrow, and joy are aroused, it is called chung” [Doctrine of the Mean, Ch. 1]. Here chung means the essence of Nature, which is in equilibrium and without emotional implications. (Wu 1986, 25)

Chung as the essence of nature, in equilibrium, is beginning of perfect sincerity because it is the pure ground, without deviant motivations clouded by emotion. Motivation and emotion that arise from chung are in equilibrium with the situation and are sincere. These emotions and motivations arise from a pure space beyond any selfish, illusory, identity we may have of ourselves. Motivation from chung is the beginning of righteous action, the action of returning harmony to daily affairs. This motivation is what differentiates superior from inferior persons. Sincerity originates in chung.
Sincerity is the beginning of the path or way of righteousness, which we discussed in a previous post. It is described in the Doctrine of the Mean (Ch. 20) as the way of humanity, which is the origin of righteousness, “To become Ch’eng is the way of humanity” (Wu 1986, 139). Wu points out that there are two ways of practicing this Way, this virtue, first, “one practices virtue and improves knowledge and wisdom with ch’eng in order to complete oneself” (141).
Ch’eng is self-completion, and its way is the way of self. Ch’eng is the beginning of all things. Without ch’ eng there would be nothing. Therefore, the superior (person) values ch’eng. (Doctrine of the Mean, Ch.20 141)

Empathy and Faithfulness: Understanding Buddha Nature

Never Disparaging
‘You are all treading the path. You shall all become Buddhas!’

True empathy with others and true faithfulness to one's self come from true understanding. When we understand our own buddha nature we can be faithful to the deepest aspect of ourselves. We can also understand the inherent buddha nature, the essence of others and thus empathize with them at the deepest level. In the Lotus Sutra ch.18 we meet a fascinating bodhisattva Sadaparibhuta, ‘Never Disparaging’. This bodhisattva treats all those that he meets with great reverence. He treats them all as future Buddhas. Whether or not he sees their buddha nature he treats them as though he does. When we see buddha nature, when we see true suchness, all others are truly walking Buddhas who do not yet know that they are. Their idiosyncrasies and personalities are just the faintest coverings. Their perception is just pulled slightly away from suchness into a realm of shadows. Like the residents of Plato’s cave, our attention may be disoriented into a realm of unreality, our egos, our desires, our distractions, draining pursuits. But, if in one moment our awareness turns toward the reality of buddha nature then in that moment we are buddhas. The more we live constantly in this perception, the more we will benefit the world. If we can, at least, maintain the knowledge in our disoriented moments that we and those around have the potential to see buddha nature in any given moment, then we will certainly refrain from making disparaging comments even when deeply perturbed. When we see the world for its true suchness, non-disparaging comes naturally. When we are disoriented , without this insight, we can at least hold on to the knowledge inspired by the bodhisattva, ‘Never Disparaging’, that those around us are potential Buddhas and worthy of our deepest reverence.
To truly benefit any other being we must begin with buddha nature, the experience of which naturally fosters great reverence in any given moment. We can achieve merit in many ways, but with buddha nature in our sights we can achieve infinite merit helping beings in a way that is immeasurable. Perhaps we begin to learn about buddha nature as an idea, but as we begin to grow in our practice, we begin to experience buddha nature shining through our ideas, our thinking mind, our brain-half of our mind. Perhaps through continued practice we can begin to experience buddha nature permeating our being, exploding through the heart-half of our mind. This is the beginning of all things. This is the origin of all beings, the foundation of true reality. With the inspiration of the great bodhisattva ‘Never Disparaging’, we can begin to contemplate the inherent quality latent in all beings. We can train our thinking mind to revere all beings. But as we begin to advance we can begin to peer into the true nature of others, the intangible reality that is the root of beings. When we can see this, in those moments, we can achieve empathy. In those moments we can perceive how individuals are oriented, or disoriented, as the case may be, to their foundational, authentic nature.

Righteousness and Humanity in the Book of Mencius

Mencius coined the term jen-i (humanity-righteousness), which has become recognized as the essence of Confucianism. He did so to use i, righteousness, as a bridge between the inside and outside of mind, between humanity and propriety. One of the most impressive and effective characteristics Mencius’ philosophy is its capacity to show morality, or righteousness, as a faculty, an ability, of humanity. Another impressive characteristic is Mencius’ ability to show the spiritual power of righteousness. The first characteristic Mencius shows that the humanity of Confucius, the natural ability and potential of each person to practice virtue, encompasses an innate sixth sense, of sorts, a sense of morality. Each person can cultivate this sense through practice. Righteousness is like a second sight; it is the ability to ‘see’ the right thing to do in each of life’s situations. Through contemplation, reflection, and continuous practice people can improve their dexterity in this skill. Through a better understanding of humanity and deeper sincerity, this skill can be applied instantaneously to seemingly complex scenarios. Mencius connected righteousness to humanity, because he understood that its skill was rooted in this vastness innate in the mind of humanity. As described in previous posts, this limitless Heavenly principle of endowed within all people, humanity, is a manifestation of Heaven. Cultivating humanity is like cultivating a Heavenly mind. This high view, this vastness, provides us time and space in the mind within which we can be free to contemplate, understand, and apply righteousness to each of our affairs. This process, through repetition and practice, can become natural and instantaneous.
The second impressive and effective characteristic of Menius’ philosophy becomes apparent when we rest on this righteousness, when we take it as our life’s purpose. It is then that we find we have an energy, a ‘ch’i’ that can merge with the universal. This energy of accumulated righteousness can go anywhere. With a clear conscience and sense of courageous confidence built up from continuing practice, we will be in the right place at the right time and be capable of understanding the right path, following it easily. This energy can ‘go anywhere’, because it is built from past success leading us to the right place at the right time. This energy can go anywhere because it responds appropriately to the world around us. Our righteousness ch’i finds the right place and the right time and we accumulate even more every time we follow it. Cultivating this ability is of infinite, or ‘great,’ benefit. Following righteousness has harmonious repercussions that reverberate through all our connections. The superior person is defined by their relationship to righteousness. They are of harmonious and great benefit to society.
While this righteousness is this grand, and powerful ability of each individual, it is not incompatible or contrary to others:
I (righteousness) originally meant expression of personal or individual attitude, because the character has the radical for “self,” meaning self as a model. “I is self’s majesty” (Hsu Shen, Explanation)…
Because of the relationship of i with self it is all too easy to judge another by one’s individual opinions…Two qualifications help in avoiding this situation and understanding the true meaning of i. (Yi Wu Chinese Philosophical Terms, 1986, 135)

Those two qualifications are ‘benefit’, or ‘great benefit’, and appropriateness. Wu points out that the first hexagram of the Classic Book of Changes, the I Ching, says ‘benefit is the harmonizer of all i’, each person’s path of righteousness furthers harmonious benefit (1986, I Ching). All individuals’ ‘righteousnesses’ are united in this ability to harmoniously benefit all things. Each thing on this Earth has its function from Heaven and fulfilling Heaven’s mandate they are in harmony with the Heavenly principle of all other things. Fulfilling Heaven’s mandated function, each of us can embody and exhibit the virtues of Heaven in our lives. Sublime beginning, perfect communication, harmonious benefit, and proper Way (元，亨，利，貞) are four characteristic virtues of the movement of Heaven as described in the I Ching (Hexagram 1). We manifest the movement of Heaven in our own affairs when we embody these four virtues; we manifest this ‘harmonious benefit.’
The second qualification for avoiding self-righteousness, is the consideration of appropriateness in the practice of i. Because righteousness includes performing the right action at the right place and at the right time through the right relationships, it is appropriate and compatible. Following righteousness fits any situation because it takes appropriateness into consideration, and self-righteousness is never a useful tool and is never appropriate. Righteousness as described by Mencius, is a practice that takes all factors into consideration. It allows others the space for their own ‘i’ to emerge. Actually, when we practice righteousness, we harmonize with the higher principles within others and open the Way for them to practice their i. This appropriateness is more than just compatibility with others, more than just being in harmony with others; it is of great benefit to others because it helps open the Way for them to see their own ability.
Following righteousness, following what is appropriate and of great harmonious benefit, one can know the path of the superior person:
“Humanity is the mind of man; i is the path of man” (Mencius, Bk. VI, Part 1, Ch.11). “I is the path; propriety is the door” (Mencius, Bk. V, Part 2, Ch.7). Here, Mencius saw i as the path which brings the humanity of mind to the door of propriety, through which it passes into action. To Mencius, i was the way to practice humanity. (Wu 1986, 136-137)

Seeing this path becomes easier and more alluring with practice, as its spiritual power becomes evident. For example, this path is easy to see in the most basic practice: When we wake up we walk through our house and begin making breakfast. We eat. We clean the dishes. Cleaning the dishes is the right action, the appropriate action to take after eating breakfast. While this is a very small and simple situation, it is in such situations where we learn to understand and build momentum for right action in all areas of life. While it may not seem like a great benefit that we clean our dishes in this example, cleaning the dishes trains our mind to follow righteousness, and in that place at that time it is our destiny to clean those dishes. When we follow our destiny, follow our righteousness, we do our unique part. Furthermore, as we take care of our own responsibilities like washing the dishes we open up to righteousness and accumulate energy, righteousness ch’i, in our lives. With a clean kitchen, we are unburdened with dirty ch’i. We can move on unencumbered to our next situation. Righteousness may dictate that we should sit for a minute and take a rest, or continue to tidy, for example. But in this simple act of learning what is appropriate according to our i we train ourselves, we work out this ‘righteousness muscle’. We do what is timely, resting or continuing, and accumulate energy, as well as practice using our sense, our righteousness faculty. With the righteousness energy accumulated from such simple acts, we will have surplus energy to deal well with our family members. With the energy built up from dealing well with our family members, we will be able to go out and deal well with the day’s affairs. The more we practice righteousness, the more right things happen. The more right things happen, our destiny, the more righteousness energy accumulates and the better our ability, the stronger our sixth sense of righteousness.
With this connection to righteousness, Mencius gives a heroic energy to Confucian philosophy. By using righteousness in this way Mencius is honoring Confucius’ emphasis on practice. Through repeated practice righteousness can break through all selfishness and all ignorance. Mencius puts up a strong barrier to selfishness by stating that righteousness and profit are mutually exclusive motivations. Selfish desire for personal profit is incompatible with righteousness, because righteousness is its own motivation. While profit may or may not come, it is not a consideration in the cultivation of righteousness. The superior person learns how to follow righteousness in all actions and by doing so becomes a pillar of society. The next chapter will show that in many ways righteousness defines superior people, it differentiates them from the inferior person. This righteousness is the standard by which superior people live their lives. Through repeated practice, they gain trust in getting the right result and from following righteousness and they are emboldened. This courage inspires them to consider only doing what is right and this becomes their path in life. Superior people continue to be in the right place at the right time with the right understanding and the right abilities. This appropriateness is beyond anything we can contrive. It is the way of humanity, mandated by Heaven.

Humanity in Daily Life

Confucius' goal was to open the way, to transmit, the culture of the ancient sage kings into his time. The ancient ruler Duke Chou established the system of music and propriety to benefit the inner and outer lives of the people. Propriety stabilized people's outer lives while music enriched people's minds.
Previous posts described humanity; loyalty to one's self and empathy with others, which was nourished under the system of Duke Chou. Confucius sought to enhance ethics and spirituality in the most common affairs of daily life. Confucius set up the virtue of filial piety. Confucius told his students to follow the spirit of filial piety which requires not empty ritual but sincerity and reverence. Sincerity and reverence are the natural feelings that emerge from a deeper understanding of daily life.
Confucius said that the great virtue of heaven was giving life which can be seen as embedded in the daily activities of the family. Confucius encouraged imitating the way of heaven. Parents give physical life to their children. They support and nourish them. Parents have this great responsibility to nourish and enhance the lives of the children. The most ordinary, family life, becomes the most sacred.
Honoring the life-giving principle, showing sincerity and reverence in fulfilling the responsibilities of daily life is the most embodied and lasting form of spirituality. Understanding the depth of daily life, the importance of continuing the natural harmony underlying all things is the work of humanity. It is the work of emphasizing and restoring harmony in all our relationships that gives spiritual life to the world.