their talents as if they were his own. If the people have wisdom, a minister of virtue would treasure it as if he possessed it himself. His great tolerance can protect the people and their descendants. If he embraces the nation, then the nation is benefited. A minister of the opposite persuasion will be jealous of people’s talents, create hindrances for people of wisdom, and be intolerant. Such a minister will not want others to succeed. He will not be able to protect the people or their descendants. Such a person is indeed a danger!”
Only one with impartial love can drive the wicked into the wilderness and not allow evil to remain in the midst of society.
Only one who is knows how to be kind to people and at the same time
If a leader holds to what is harmful instead of what is virtuous and wise, he is acting counter to human nature, and destruction occurs. The true way of a good leader is this: virtue allows one to gain; pride causes one to lose.
The way of material prosperity is this: production should be more, consumption should be less; production should be fast, consumption should be slow. This is like a person who makes more than he spends. His wealth will always be sufficient.
A virtuous being extends virtue with wealth. The unvirtuous virtue for wealth.
It never happens that if a leader practices impartial love towards people, the people will in turn practice unrighteousness towards him. Nor if a leader practices helpfulness towards the people will the people leave him stranded. The wealth of a nation is building each individual to be the asset of the nation; then the nation is truly powerful. Thus, the wealth of the country should be in the homes of all people. It is not the government that should control all the wealth; thus, the national wealth can never be stolen.
A leader’s profit should not be personal or material; instead, it should be that of support. Virtue is the real profit of the leader; material profits are not needed.
178 Chapter 10
The Fundamental Path of a Plain Good Life
I n C h i n a , , the end of the Chou Dynasty (1122-256 B.C.), came an era of confusion, competition and war which marked the decline of the spiritual origins and naturalness of human nature. All seemed to be lost, but fortunately a great student named Kon Tzu (Confucius, 551-479 B.C.) responded to the momentous task of preserving the essence of the ancient teachings. He exerted great effort in collecting and compiling manuscripts and writings of ancient developed human beings whose natural minds were unspoiled. This work was the essence of his old age and was written after he had interviewed Lao Tzu and had studied the Z so diligently that the three leather straps which bound
book wore out from use.
The important conclusion of his many years spent cultiva- ting the ancient treasures was ‘The Fundamental Path of Life.” Living a plain life is the most fundamental spiritual cultivation a person can do before achieving oneself, and has been in the lives of many developed ones in
Chinese history.
Lao Tzu, the great elucidator of the Simple Natural Path, has become widely admired by our contemporary spiritual world. Unfortunately, his simple message has been
derstood by many new spiritual students. For this reason, the work that follows is important in assisting those who follow the Integral Way to cultivate a better understanding of human relationships. Its primary importance lies in the fact that the Fundamental Path of a plain, good life endures for all times and for all of humanity.
1
What is innate within the universe and human life is nature. To follow nature, or to cultivate and regulate oneself, is the Fundamental Path of life.
One of self-cultivation must be attentive to what cannot be seen with outer eyes and humble toward that which
cannot be heard with outer ears.
There is nothing clearer than to know things which, to the masses. are hidden. There is nothing more explosive than to be things which, to the ordinary mind, are too small to be seen. Therefore, one of cultivation must be very cautious
Basic Guidelines for Daily Living 179 with what he cannot see or hear, what appears to be hidden, or what seems to be too small and superficial. All these are knowable and can be known by one with high awareness.
When joy, anger, sorrow and pleasure are not exaggerated, this is called harmony or being centered. When they are expressed in an appropriate this is called balance.
2
Centeredness in the sphere is like a seed before it develops: it is the greatest source of the universe. Balance is the underlying principle of all things. Therefore, the attainment of inner centeredness and balance reflects the order of the universe and the abundance of all lives.
The Balanced One says: “One who cultivates himself lives by the principle of centeredness and balance. One of inferior virtue goes against this principle. One of self-cultivation also lives by the principle of regulation. One of inferior virtue goes against this principle by indulging.”
3
The Balanced One says: ‘The highest virtue is to be inwardly centered and balanced. However, people are seldom able to maintain it.”
4
Why is the Fundamental Path of not widely practiced or widely understood? The wise miss it by being superior: the unwise miss it by not being high enough to reach it. Every- one eats and drinks, but there are few who actually taste their food.
5
The Balanced One says: “Shun was a great wise man. He was not assertive, but he was inquisitive. He always close attention to the discourse, letting go of what was not useful and absorbing what was. He avoided extremes and applied the balanced way to people. For this, he was a great wise man!”
Note: a former Emperor of began his the
380 chapter
6
The Balanced One says: people say, ‘I know’, when they are caught in nets, traps and pitfalls, but not one of them knows enough to stay away.
people say, ‘I know,’ when the Fundamental Path of life is shown to them, but not one of them can keep to it for as long as a month.”
7
The Balanced One says: was a good human being and followed the Fundamental Path. When he attained a new virtue, he thoroughly obeyed it and never lost it.”
Note: is the abbreviation Yeng who was the favorite student
of adored him because he was a truly spiritual
person who adhered to the way of a plain Life. Once
said., “Many people would worry about living in a narrow house with only a gourd ladle of water and a bamboo basket of yet never lost the happiness he attained by living in such a simple way.”
was used as an example of meditative practice the influential spiritual book written by Chuang Tzu)
was noted for never having transferred his anger to a third party and for never repeating the same mistake He was happy with a vey simple way of and did not deviatefrom the way in order
to improve himself materially. Nor did he trade his being for
glamour or undeserved To him, being truthful was more valuable than pursuing wealth or fame.
8
The Balanced One says: ‘The world may be made peace- ful, a noble position may be given up. a sharp may be trod on, but the Fundamental Path is not easy to follow con- sistently without deviating. This is why we place honest daily virtues above momentary miracles.”
9
Tze Low asked which people are stronger, and the Balanced One replied: ‘What strength do you wish to achieve? The strength of the South or the strength of the North?”
To guide people with gentleness and tolerance and not repay with evil is the strength of the South. This is where people of self-cultivation live.