Contending for the Middle
As most of you know I have been away from facebook and the website for a while due to 
health reasons. I sincerely appreciate those who follow me here and am sorry for my absence. I’ve had a chance to reflect on the role of the Kongdan Foundation and it’s intended role going forward. How to express that we are all universal and connected in ways we don’t seem to understand or appreciate. We are not islands unto ourselves. This connection to nature and each other was shown again in the Houston area and in Florida the last few weeks with hurricanes and wind and water. Rather we believe in global warming or not, man’s (our) impact on nature is real. Cause and effect are still determining factors with universal law. Climate change is real and man’s impact on nature and our environment is not deniable and should not be debatable. My own reference points always seem to point to history and China. With all the talk today of “fake news” and somehow interpreting events with commentary to fit our own opinion of reality – either real or imagined – there must ultimately be some sense of unity that combines the needs of all.
The notion of the “Great Unity” first appeared in the Book of Rites, one of the Confucian Chinese classics, first codified by Ji Dan, the Duke of Zhou in Qufu in one thousand B.C. According to it, the society in Great Unity was ruled by the public, where the people chose men of virtue and ability, and valued trust and harmony. People did not only love their own parents and children, but also secured the living of the elderly until their ends, let the adults be of use to the society and helped the young grow. Those who were widowed, orphaned, childless, handicapped and diseased were all taken care of. Men took their responsibilities and women had their homes. People disliked seeing resources being wasted but did not seek to possess them; they wanted to exert their strength but did not do it for their own benefit. Therefore, selfish thoughts were dismissed, people refrained from stealing and robbery, and the outer doors remained open.
None of this occurred by accident. The I Ching was always the talisman, or guide, to how 
to see how things connected to each other. This is best illustrated by something called “The Dazhuan, The Great Treatise”, the 5th and 6th Wings of the Ten Wings that has guided Chinese philosophy from the time of Confucius until today.
Contending for the middle must become the mindset of all going forward.