It is said, "One rarely lives beyond a
century" and "Human lives are ephemeral as morning dew." In the
limited time that we have, we should use the
difficult-to-come-by human form to pursue knowledge and practice
benevolence, cultivating both blessings and wisdom. If we
constantly worry about this fabricated "stinking skin bag,"
buzzing about in a daze for the sake of living comfortably, then
our banal life will be over soon enough. The result would be a
futile life devoid of accomplishments and a sullen legacy in
posterity. Wouldn't that be miserable!
Then how do we cultivate both blessings
and wisdom? To advance our virtue is to cultivate blessings; to
advance our scholarship is to cultivate wisdom. All talk and no
action is not to make progress in virtue; we must practice what
we say. Reading whenever we please without commitment from
beginning to end is not to make progress in scholarship.
Erudition without application is as if listening to others talk
about food-you don't ever become full. Implementation without
scholarship is as if you are a blind person feeling an
elephant--you never quite get it.
What does "One never becomes full
listening to conversations about food" mean? Since we don't
apply the knowledge we've learned, it's useless to have had the
education. The cunning ones may become articulate con artists;
the obtuse ones may become nerds who bury themselves in books,
failing to realize the benefits of practicing what they've
learned. Isn't this similar to hearing people talk about
delectable delicacies? Even if you hear the menu of an entire
imperial banquet, can you honestly curb your appetite ?
Next, on taking action before a thorough
understanding of the situation. The zealot turns into a ruthless
brute who could care less about his or her life. The
conservative becomes a stubborn mule who corners oneself.
Neither of them experiences the joy of connecting one's spirit
and the mind; furthermore, they don't obtain any benefits from
practice. Isn't that like one blind person who reaches for the
elephant's leg and claims that an elephant is like a pole while
another blind person who touches the elephant's ear alleges that
an elephant is like a fan? Even if these sightless individuals
feel the elephant hundreds and thousands of times, they will
hardly know the whole truth. Both the con artists and the nerds
wanted to cultivate blessings but failed. They wanted to
cultivate wisdom, but failed too. They lost on both ends!
福慧双修，悲智双运的中庸之道，真的是那么难知难守吗？
Is it
really that difficult to navigate the middle way of cultivating
both blessings and wisdom and operating both compassion and
intelligence?
In today's world, superficiality and
drama are in vogue while the language of wickedness reigns
supreme because we've got more and more hippies who fail to
implement what they've learned. During the latter years of the
Warring States period, Zhao Gua specialized in "warfare on
paper." He was proud of the fact that he was considered the
ultimate champion. Zhao' s father had personally combated in
hundreds of battles and was the only person who did not
patronize Zhao. As Zhao's father had expected, Zhao lost all of
his battalions when he personally led the troops, dooming the
nation Chao to an early death by the strong nation of Qin.
As to bookish nerds who can only study
but not act, there have been more than plenty since ancient
times and not too few in the present day either. These people
either go insane or become sociopaths. In short, these
categories of individuals who do not practice but only collect
impractical knowledge portray the two extremes of our artificial
world today.
On the other hand, stubborn old mules who
only work, pull rank and never desire updated knowledge become
the ball and chain of social progress. In contrast, brutes who
refuse to learn yet wield a weapon and proclaim themselves
heroes are also everywhere. These two types of action-takers,
time bombs that threaten societal peace, blindly exercise their
strength and demonstrate two radical reactions in our society.
Why do we have these two extreme responses? It is because these
individuals are domineering and self-righteous. The boorish ones
may follow others' ideas while the obstinate ones only follow
their own views. Those who follow others' ideas are obstructed
by ignorance; those who follow their own ideas are obstructed by
knowledge. Both types are obscured from and confused about
truth. In short, delusion envelops these individuals!
Zi Lu once asked Confucius, "Could you
ignore tradition and just follow the call of your heart?"
Confucius answered, "No! In the past a tribal native east of
China really admired the rites of China. When his son-in-law
died, he taught his daughter to not remarry according to the
rule that widows should not remarry. However, he clandestinely
allowed his daughter to be with a man. Although the woman didn't
remarry, she had already violated the principle of chastity in
reality. A tribe member of Cang Wu in southern China married a
beautiful wife but conceded her to his elder brother. Outwardly
these brothers appear to confer generously, but in actuality,
they failed to abide by the true meaning of giving. That's why I
believe that if you abandon traditions and do as you please, you
may do what seems correct, only to find out too late that your
actions were wrong, as illustrated by my two examples."
In teaching his students, Confucius
strongly emphasized humaneness as the foundation of one's
character, the study of rites to demonstrate one' s erudition-a
scholar and a gentleman. Confucius counseled the basically
wholesome Zi Lu who disliked propriety and culture, with an
analogy. " An arrow made with the bamboo of Southern Mountain
may be straight and beautiful, however, if one mounts a sharp
metallic arrowhead and append feathers to the tail of the arrow,
then the arrow will shoot even faster and farther!" He
encouraged Zi Lu to study more rather than spend all his time
working. Conversely, to the cultured and debonair scholar, Zi
Gong, Confucius commended him on his understanding of the idea,
"to devise a plan then follow suit," encouraging Zi Gong to work
on the fundamentals of quality character.
All these explain the sequence of
character and education. One must first develop morals and
integrity before studying academically. Mr. Chu's Aphorisms on
Managing a Household said, "Even if your children and
grandchildren are stupid, they must read." Since people before
us have compiled their wisdom for us in books, we are
essentially absorbing their experiences by reading their books;
thus we can avoid some wrong turns on the road.
Those who aren't so bright by nature will
understand many principles if they are willing to learn. Those
with promising aptitudes and study well are like tigers with
wings. Reading can change people's persona. Only those with a
pure and unadulterated mind can penetrate their subject of
study. Once they have comprehended their studies, they will
surely be visionary and embody both depth and breadth in their
thinking. In opposition are individuals who use their education
to help others breed errant sprouts. The Discourses on
Vegetable Roots put it well, "One can only study and learn
about antiquity with a clean mind ground. Otherwise, one will
see a good deed and seize that credit for oneself; one will hear
compliments and attempt to disguise one's weaknesses. In other
words, they borrow bandits to steal grain." Therefore, if one's
mind is filthy and vicious, then not only will scholarship fail
to alter one's persona, but one will actually borrow morals out
of stories to feign decency and cleverly pilfer principles out
of books to mend misdeeds. This is comparable to handing muggers
some weapons or lending food to thieves-danger looms at-large.
