This "sweet" Confucius
5:26. Yen Ywaen and Ji-lu were in attendance. The Master said, Why does
not each of you tell your wish? Dz-lu said, I should like carriage and
horse, and light mantles to wear, to share them with my friends, and not
mind if they ruined them. Yen Ywaen said, I should like not to parade my
good deeds, or to cause others trouble. Ji-lu said, I should like to hear
the Master's wish. The Master said, The old, I would comfort; friends, I
would trust; the young, I would cherish.
(interpretation) Dz-lu wants wealth enough not to mind if his rowdy
friends spoil something valuable. Virtuous Yen Ywaen jabs at Dz-lu's wish
to "parade his good deeds" and himself wishes to be "no trouble to others"
(his parents; see 2:6). This filiality wins the round. Ji-lu, making a
last try, asks the Master's wish. The answer is a masterpiece of
reconciliation. He rebukes Yen Ywaen (better than mere untroublesomeness
is a positive wish to care for parents). He acknowledges Dz-lu (-it is
right to trust one's friends). Having thus redressed the balance, he
expresses his affection for both: "cherish the young (and guide them in
improving)." It is very touching. It also symbolically resolves the
rivalry between action and meditation. Brooks & Brooks, Columbia Press
Fragment from a poem
He tried to get hold
of all the lightness,
gave it balance
and showed the heavy hearted
that invisible content
moves the lightness of being.
I feel my slowly growing.
Leo M
Dear Pupils;-)
[Nothing that we presently attribute to Confucius points scholarship to
the conclusion that it was written down by him or his contemporaneous
disciples. (The schools lasted about 260 years).] General opinion is that
'situational flex' was the key value.
In a posthumous text this, "Disciple writes just-heard saying on the sash
of his robe."
"The Master said, there is teaching, but there are no kinds." 15:36
Interpretation. There is no difference between sage and ourselves, we are
of one kind, difference is by degree of cultivation.
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