The sage understands the connections between himself and others and how all things constitute one body. He does not know how this is brought about: it is due to his nature. whether he is acted upon or is acting, he follows the direction of heaven; Therefore people refer to him as a sage. If…
There are peoplewho are complacent and conceited,indolent and impatient,and ambitious and distorted. The complacent and conceited acquire the words of one master and in their privateself-satisfaction think that they know all that is necessary to know, when in realitythey have not yet begun to understand a single thing.That is what makes them complacent and…
The marquis said, “I have wished to see you for a long time. I want to love my people and with the practice of righteousness put an end to war. Will that be adequate?” “Certainly not replied,” Replied Xu Wugui, “Loving the people is the start of hurting the people. Practicing righteousness to put…
“Do to others, as you’d desire others doing to you”, my down and dirty paraphrase of the ‘golden rule’. Jesus said it… ergo for many there’s no greater authority. “All we need is love, love, love…” is another variation of the idea. So wrote Paul Mccartney and John Lennon. Come on people now Smile…
Today is the 2nd day of February, Groundhog day. The sky is gray as if a canvas were stretched horizon to horizon. Groundhog day is a wistful anticipation of an early end of winter’s cold. According to the German legend, the groundhog emerges from its borrow and has a look around. If the animal…
Chui the artisan could draw as precisely as if he had used a circle and square. His fingers moved with the changes without requiring the attention of the mind. His Tower of Intelligence was intact and not impeded. The feet are forgotten when the shoes fit. The waist is forgotten when the girdle fits….
The memory remains when I was twelve or thirteen years old. That memory shimmers, a glow of experience from a time which by and large I cannot recall. The Engineering School at Duke University sponsored an annual open house for an evening. The community was invited to observe and to admire the work which…
I joined an online book club at the beginning of the year. I was motivated by the accountability entailed by membership. At the end of every month a zoom session, moderated by Jared Henderson, a philosopher-convener is offered to members. I figured this was sure to motivate me to read each of the monthly…
…what is noble and what is base is determined by what the time requires –there is no absolute rule. A battering ram can be used to storm a city wall but it cannot be used to fill a small hole. –the uses of the implements are different. “therefore the saying, ‘Shall we not follow…
Well then,may I consider heaven and earth as greatand the tip of a hair as small? “No,”replied the Ruo of the North Sea. “The capacities of things cannot be defined,time never stops,all is in constant flux,and the ends and the beginnings of thingsare never the…
