Why worry about how others perceive us as we journey through life, always moving from one place to another? Indifferent to wealth and power, as though our destination is already determined and the need for possessions and pretenses left far behind. Now older, with the days ahead growing shorter than those already passed. We have seen it all and now simply wait, with time resting in our hands. No rush to leave, because we know where the path leads. Eager only to share stories again with old friends, as you find yourself dancing once more on the clouds with dragons.
I often find myself thinking and writing about the people I look up to as my mind turns to the passing of Jane Goodall. When we look beyond ourselves, we find inspiration in others, recognizing qualities we aspire to develop but haven’t fully embraced yet, often turning to our mentors for guidance. It’s not just about us passing time but making things better than how we found them. Viewing the world we’ve shaped as if our impact never existed yet making it better simply through our presence.
Endeavor and destiny still echo in my mind, even as we debate their significance. Does it really matter when someone passes away, if we can look back and see a life well-lived? What a privilege it is to witness the spirit of such a person, the impact they’ve made, and to understand the true essence of immortality. It makes us think about our own journey, the path we take, and the legacy we may leave behind… if we leave one at all.
Of course, the recent passing of Jane Goodall brings to mind the deeper significance of what we understand as reputation and its true and final meaning.
When you read about her accomplishments and how she was ultimately a great storyteller and teacher. Showing us the way to love nature as we should love ourselves. She spoke and wrote tirelessly about those things she became passionate about as we could only read and say… yes me too! We think about how if only we could find such passion for nature and the world and act in a way that we could make such a difference as well.
We wonder why and how such a spirit could exist solely for the improvement and education of other so that we too might grow to understand the true meaning our own role and to go there… To find our passion and learn how to express it. Jane Goodall above all other attributes was a trendsetter… and she told a great story as she set the stage for us and a legacy of hope.
My travels with Lieh Tzu / Interpolations along the Way
Chapter Seven – Yang Chu
106. The Central Argument
What can reputation be but the pretense of showing some concern over how others will perceive our actions and deeds? In what place can reputation care to meet the reality each of us are given?
Yang Chu was traveling in Lu and lodged with Mr. Meng. Mr. Meng asked Yang Chu:
“If we are simply the men we are, then why be concerned with reputation?” Yang Chu responded that a reputation would help one to get rich.
Mr. Meng then asked:
“Once you are rich, why not be done with it?” Yang Chu then added that with money we can obtain high rank.
Mr. Meng then asked:
“Once you have obtained high rank, why not be done with it?” Yang Chu responded that rank would help my descendants when I die.
Mr. Meng then asked:
“What use could our reputations be to our descendants?”
Yang Chu then stated:
“Caring about your reputation vexes the body and effects one’s heart; but the man who can take advantage of his reputation can prosper his whole family, not to speak of his descendants.”
Mr. Meng then responded that:
“If one cares about his reputation, he must be honest and if he is honest, he will remain poor. A man must remain humble, and if he remains humble, he will not rise in rank.”
Yang Chu then argued:
“Remember when Kuan Chung was released from his chains to become Chief Minister of Chi. He was lewd when his ruler was lewd, extravagant when his ruler was extravagant. He did the right thing in thought and deed and by following his way the state won hegemony. But after his death the Kuan family remained simply as the Kuan family. However, when Tien Heng became Minister of Chi, he behaved unassumably when the ruler was arrogant, behaved generously when the ruler was grasping. The people went over to him, and he won possession of the State of Chi, and his descendants have ruled to this day.”
Mr. Meng countered:
“Therefore, can it be said that if you live up to your reputation you will be poor, but if your reputation is pretense, you will become rich?”
Yang Chu continued:
“Reality has nothing to do with reputation and one’s reputation has nothing to do with reality. Reputation can only be pretense. Remember when Yao and Shun pretended to resign the empire to Hsu Yu and Shan Chuan but did not really give it up and were blessed with its possession for one hundred years.
When Po Yi and Shu Chi, who really resigned the fief of Ku‑Chu, did end up losing the State and died of starvation on Mount Shou‑yang because they would rather live as hermits after rejecting the Imperial throne because they refused to burden themselves with worldly cares.”
Where can reality truly lie when caring for one’s reputation gets in the way? Does not striving for acceptance end with our accepting who we are to become in the end? Does it not cloud our inner vision of who we are truly to become? How can we be concerned with reputation when those we seek to impress have no concept of the proper way? How can we seek the respect of those who care not for honesty and living in a humble way of life that brings no attention to ourselves or our actions? Is it not better to care not about who we become when reputation and ego are allowed to come forward as reputation and recognition?
Are not your new‑found friends or companions peering at you now through the clouds as you come to meet them? Are not they scoffing at any sense of self acclaim you bring along the way? Is not the answer that you cannot care for a reputation in worldly affairs and any pretense that comes with it and keep to the reality of your journey? Are not the points and counterpoints made by Yang Chu and Mr. Meng the central argument that brings reality into focus. Letting the difference between reality and the worry that a reputation and its pretense become you.
As the knowing sage you have now become in your travels with Lieh Tzu, you know that any concern for reputation and its pretense is now left far behind. 6/26/95
Number one hundred six of one hundred fifty-eight entries.
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