The necessity of reading, expanding our vocabulary, and engaging in critical thinking grants us the ultimate freedom to determine the path we should follow. Exposure to new ideas that challenge our existing beliefs is crucial for gaining both knowledge and wisdom, enabling us to better navigate the unknown into what is known. This is why self-cultivation in what we refer to as the arts holds such profound importance. Why following the history of new thought from generation to generation becomes key.
Recently, the term “new thought” has gained traction as a way to describe how we arrive at fresh conclusions to reinterpret traditional perspectives, aligning them better with contemporary times. Each generation, drawing upon the accumulated knowledge and wisdom of its predecessors, endeavors to close the gaps and facilitate the transition from what was once deemed “unknown” to what we now comprehend. This is why history, and the written word became crucial for discerning the best path forward. At its core, it emphasized the necessity of living our best lives while fostering an environment beneficial to our neighbors.
The principle of “doing unto others as you would have them do unto you” became universally recognized due to its profound moral and ethical significance. Before the advent of the word, myths and legends from earlier times served as a medium to illustrate cause and effect These narratives emphasized self-preservation by teaching individuals to avoid actions that could end themselves or harm others. Why the teaching of Confucius about filial piety to family, benevolence and virtue have withstood for over twenty-five hundred years. Not only in China, but throughout Asia.
Confucius was not interested in individual salvation or individual rights. What he cared about most was the collective well-being of society. He promoted virtues such as courtesy, selflessness, obedience, respect, diligence, communal obligation, working for a common good, social harmony, and empathy. The code of behavior he described was based on a system of harmonious, subordinate relationships based on the notions of filial piety, a well-ordered family, a well-ordered-state and a well-ordered world.
This meant that, over time, we came to understand that we were governed by something called the inherent nature of all things, which needed “complementary opposites” to achieve the best outcome for all. I am reminded of the stories I could talk about visiting villages and families of my students in the countryside in Shandong Province that was home to Confucius. I was honored as being a teacher who would help my students to navigate in a new world. That I knew of the teachings of Confucius was also important.
My travels with Lieh Tzu / Interpolations along the Way
Chapter Two – The Yellow Emperor
27. Discovering the Magic
Coming into the realm of others, one is asked to complete feats of magic. Poked fun of and cited as different and out of the ordinary only for the benefit of all assembled.
Dragon’s dancing above the clouds Shanghai Museum
Asked to jump off a high building for gold, you jump unknowingly to the ground unharmed. Asked to retrieve a hidden pearl from the river’s bend, you jump in and find the pearl no one knew really existed.
When the great stores burn, you are asked to save that of the highest value. You enter the flames unknowingly and retrieve what has been asked. In wonderment others marvel at your magic. However, in your heart you do not know how you accomplished such great feats. You can only reflect and wonder.
In coming, you came only with the hope of improving your lot in life. Arriving, you felt everything everyone said was true and knew no difference either way. Fearing only that you would fall short in believing and acting on whatever was already known by all, you explain: “I forgot benefit and harm, becoming single‑minded. Therefore, nothing could cause me harm. Now that I know that what you requested was in simple jest, worry and suspicions now fill me. How can I ever go near fire or water again”.
It is said that a perfect man can with faith make other things react to him. He moves heaven and earth making spirits respond to him and fills the universe in every direction with nothing standing in his way. This being so, how do you suppose that things can stand in the way when trusting a lie, much less when others are seen as sincere as oneself? 1/22/95
Number twenty-seven of one hundred fifty-eight entries.
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