Extrapolating the Analects
Jan. 21st, 2010 04:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sathorConfucian Laws of a Superior One
I: The superior one bends their attention to the radical.
II: Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue.
III: If one be not grave, one will not call forth any veneration, and one's learning will not be solid.
IV: Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles.
V: Have no friends not equal to oneself.
VI: When one has faults, do not fear to abandon them.
VII: When the parties upon whom one leans are proper persons to be intimate with, one can make them one's guides and masters.
VIII: The superior one will not be afflicted at others not knowing them; They will be afflicted that they do not know others.
I: The Superior One Bends Their Attention to the Radical
In the history of our documented world, it becomes apparent eventually that there are at least two reasons that the words of a great many people have survived the ages.
At first, one sees the proliferation of their works. Without physical copy, and a great many, surviving the passage of time is unlikely.
And secondly, one finds that it is almost without exception that a person without the attribute of radical survives.
Thus one can safely conclude that the chances of ones survival temporal increases with an increase of these attributes, and decreases inversely.
It is in study of the radical that the superior one finds ideas that hold a great deal of power. They hold the power to sway masses one way or another with ease. They also hold the power of keeping a people divided, more easily controlled, and it is only through the uniting, not dividing, that the people will one day take hold of their destinies as autonomous and benevolent reflections of heaven. It is therefore important to remember that the radical can be abused for good, and for evil.
I: The superior one bends their attention to the radical.
II: Fine words and an insinuating appearance are seldom associated with true virtue.
III: If one be not grave, one will not call forth any veneration, and one's learning will not be solid.
IV: Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles.
V: Have no friends not equal to oneself.
VI: When one has faults, do not fear to abandon them.
VII: When the parties upon whom one leans are proper persons to be intimate with, one can make them one's guides and masters.
VIII: The superior one will not be afflicted at others not knowing them; They will be afflicted that they do not know others.
I: The Superior One Bends Their Attention to the Radical
In the history of our documented world, it becomes apparent eventually that there are at least two reasons that the words of a great many people have survived the ages.
At first, one sees the proliferation of their works. Without physical copy, and a great many, surviving the passage of time is unlikely.
And secondly, one finds that it is almost without exception that a person without the attribute of radical survives.
Thus one can safely conclude that the chances of ones survival temporal increases with an increase of these attributes, and decreases inversely.
It is in study of the radical that the superior one finds ideas that hold a great deal of power. They hold the power to sway masses one way or another with ease. They also hold the power of keeping a people divided, more easily controlled, and it is only through the uniting, not dividing, that the people will one day take hold of their destinies as autonomous and benevolent reflections of heaven. It is therefore important to remember that the radical can be abused for good, and for evil.
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no subject
Date: 2010-01-27 03:16 am (UTC)First of all there's the age-old puritanical "Hold faithfulness and sincerity of highest virtue." This one is simple to riddle with holes, because there is nothing in the world that is absolute. Holding faith in anything is being wrong. Cultivating sincerity is lying of the highest sort. To be fully honest, you should be as sincere as you are, and no more so, or you risk convincing people of things you yourself do not believe.
Being more sincere, or 'grave', than you truly are, is a demonstration that your words do not have the depth of merit to carry real sincerity in your own self - so why should you bother speaking them to others?
Fine words and an insinuating appearance are actually quite a good idea. If you wear them on top of being a person of intelligence and right opinions, then you will go far in life quite quickly, as you will be appealing to the right people and, since you are of high quality, they will not find you repugnant in your ridiculous dress. Low quality people in high quality clothes stand out like a sore thumb.
Second, any who think themselves superior are ultimately at many great disadvantages, the least of which being pride, and additionally they're just flat-out wrong. Thinking you're superior is part of an inferiority complex; it's a demonstration that you WANT to be superior, you WANT to learn, but in reality you're not there. So you are just acting the part, perfecting it, working out the details. But once you become superior, why call yourself such? A superior being needs no reminder of their power.
If you choose to never have friend who are not equal to yourself, you may find yourself greatly limited in choices of friends. Friends who are greater than yourself are great to learn from, although you risk following in their footsteps too closely. Friends who are less than yourself are also easy to learn from, and also bring lessons of love and understanding, compassion and a beneficence toward those who suffer. Friends who are different than yourself are the best friends of all, because they will show you the world that you always missed.
Also,
Perhaps it is not unwise to abandon those with faults if you are wandering on your quest for perfection, but if you are truly a superior being, it may be your duty and obligation to help those who are faulty and weak (or possibly not!) And, I would say it is part of the spiritual journey of those who are inferior-wanting-to-be-superior to help those who are weak, since they themselves wish to rise. Additionally, you should always fear abandoning those who have faults, as their very faults may easily decide to come and haunt your own journey.
When the parties upon whom one leans are proper persons to be intimate with, they will agree with everything and never provide any real worth to your person, except as such as a slave tends your moral calamities and spices your life with some slightly varied perspectives. Overall this study of philosophy has been unveiled a load of bunk... what do you expect of ancient philosophy... dude you should really get up to date. Was it you that I recently heard say that modern philosophy doesn't have anything on the ancient stuff? Bullshit. This shit is total crock.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-27 03:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-27 04:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-27 05:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-27 07:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-27 08:34 am (UTC)Being grave with regards to scholarship is taking it as seriously as it deserves to be taken, which a great many "scholars" fail to do at all.
Fine words and an insinuating appearance are a terrible idea. Most people do not understand the words of a scholar and the majority of people do not find it flattering when they are beset with an individual who dresses extravagantly.
If one does not believe one is superior, no one else will.
If one is not careful with who his or her friends are, one will find that they are influenced in ways that might have been circumvented had they been more careful.
The laws of a superior being can be used for good and for evil, like all things. There are some who walk the earth enlightened and who do not teach the people, because they know that you can not teach those who do not desire to learn, and if the people desired to learn, they would have already set themselves to the task.
You are making a rash statement with regards to persons to be intimate with. If one only befriends the superior and the equal, then they will find themselves at odds unless these individuals believe in the same ideals and ideas, which is unlikely considering the breadth of the world. Thus the definition of a superior individual, a contrast to the lesser and therefore creating conflict which results in evolution.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-27 06:25 pm (UTC)Scholarship doesn't deserve to be taken too seriously, either. I'm just saying be reasonable, I don't like the way these concepts are expressed as absolutisms.
Fine words and an insinuating appearance are not to be understood by most people, nor flattering to most people, but meant to be not only understood but enjoyed by those with the capacity to enjoy them. A good pun can be appreciated at quite high levels.
Do you actually want everyone to think you're superior? Think on that for a while before you decide. For me, the answer is 'hell no.' I already have to deal with people thinking I'm better than them, and it's not fun. I don't think I'm better than them, and they still do, btw, so so much for that.
If one is not careful with who his or her self is, one will find that they are influenced in ways that might have been circumvented had they been more careful. Again, trust me on this. You can get quite fucked up all by yourself. Being careful is a good idea, but being too careful will, again, leave you with NO friends. Which is worse (again, you can take my word.)
There's no law of a superior being. There's no such thing as a superior being. If you're better at something than me, then I'm better at something else. You posing like you're better than me is disgusting and turns me off. It makes me not want to be your friend. That's how I often regard so-called "superior" dimwits who don't even have enough ego to step aside to let someone else, who is CORRECT, BE right. But instead reject their conceptions in order to stay superior? Hah, that's hardly the act embedded by any kind of greatness I know.
Finding yourself at odds is a good thing. It shows learning, progress. You simply have to accept those odds as part of your own philosophy instead of rejecting them out of hand because you don't like their source.
Now let's look at some better ideals for a being like myself who actually is superior and thus above many of the petty values you have listed above. I'm not trying to be arrogant, but these are values that are appreciable by *other* humans. Just as important.
1. Always look and be prepared to help those less fortunate than yourself, without looking to yourself. Your self will be taken care of; you are superior, after all.
2. Choose your friends with wisdom and care, as if they are the map by which you plot your journey. Different friends for different times in life, different meanings and different adventures. Don't let anybody tell you what is right: sometimes no friends is right, sometimes embracing evil is right, and walking the golden road is not only boringly happy but also blinding, binding, and reprehensible.
3. Choose to embrace the solution rather than hanging around the problem. Focusing on what's bad about wrong ideas is good, but you must then turn around and offer what's good about the right idea, or you negatively balance yourself.
4. You can't fix everything, but you can do some good, generally speaking, in a lot of places. Still, it's usually best to stay out unless you really can help.
5. Hold charity and growth as highest principles.
6. Keep open eyes. Those who are right may need reassurance, and those who are wrong clearly need correcting. But in your quest to unify the ideology of the peoples, do no harm, have no ill will, and seek only to learn and educate, not to convince or mold. Seek to LEARN AND EDUCATE, meaning you can be wrong if evidence shows that you are. Allow that. It will make you learn faster and better.
7. Do not resist the flood of good things! I'm pretty guilty of this one, just a reminder for myself I guess. When things turn good, that doesn't always mean that the bad is coming, too, but it sure seems like it.
Okay seven points is leaving myself open enough for now I think ;)