Personal growth: Confucius – look within for the truth April 24, 2017
Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Concept of personal growth.Tags: Confucius, David Hinton, happiness, life, personal development, personal growth, philosophy, self-improvement
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By Dennis Mellersh
As wisdom writers both ancient and modern have told us, if we want to engage in universal personal improvement, we should start with ourselves – it is the path to understanding others.
And let us not give advice to others until we have thoroughly examined ourselves and taken steps to correct our own personal shortcomings.
Confucius succinctly reminds of these truths in The Analects:
“A person’s faults are all of a piece. Recognizing your faults is a way of understanding humanity.”*
“Adept Kung was forever comparing and criticizing people. The master said, ‘To have time for such things, Kung must have already perfected himself completely. As for me, I am not so lucky.’” *
* Confucius, The Analects, translated by David Hinton in his book The Four Chinese Classics
Personal growth: The power of the unsaid and the non-verbal April 6, 2017
Posted by Dennis Mellersh in Concept of personal growth.Tags: Confucius, David Hinton, inspiration, life, personal development potential, philosophy, spirituality
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By Dennis Mellersh
What is not said can have great power.
Similarly, a communicative force exists in the world of the inanimate and non-verbal.
Both circumstances can help smooth the path to self-actualization.
Eastern spiritual philosophies focused on self-improvement and personal enlightenment often emphasize the rewards of both personal silence and of observing that which is silent.
Consider this brief Confucius anecdote:
The Master said, “I’d love to just say nothing.”
“But if you say nothing,” said Adept Kung, how would we disciples hand down your teachings?”
“What has Heaven* ever said?” replied the Master. “The four seasons keep turning and the hundred things keep emerging – but what has Heaven ever said?” (1)
* The term Heaven in the writings of Confucius, as explained by David Hinton, refers to “Natural process. Or, more descriptively, the inevitable unfolding of things in the cosmological process.”
(1) Confucius, The Analects, in The Four Chinese Classics, translated, and with commentary by David Hinton, Counterpoint, Berkeley, California, 2013. http://www.counterpointpress.com
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