A Brief Discussion on "Cultivating the Self"
(Clearwisdom.net) In the semi-divine Chinese culture, improving one's
character and morality, also called "cultivating the self," is the
basis for managing a family, administering a government, and bringing peace to
the entire world. The Great Learning (Da Xue) is one of the Chinese scholarly classics. It
only has about two thousand characters, yet, due to its important moral
teachings, is revered as one of the four most essential books of Confucianism. The
Great Learning was written about two thousand years ago. During the Song
Dynasty (12th century), it became one of the required textbooks for
all academic examinations. The Great Learning focuses on cultivating the
self as a prerequisite to administering a government; the goal for an
administrator cultivating the self was to rule the country wisely and bring
peace to the world. It illustrates the relationship between improving oneself
and administrating a government. The opening line of The Great Learning says, "What the Great
Learning teaches is to illustrate illustrious virtue; to renovate the people;
and to rest in the highest excellence." "To illustrate illustrious
virtue" refers to promulgating the great virtues heaven bestowed upon men;
"to renovate the people" means managing the people through compassion
and kindness; "to rest in the highest excellence" sets the standard at
the pure kind realm discussed in Confucianism. The Great Learning further says, in order to promulgate great virtues,
the country must be administered properly. To administer the country properly,
one must be able to manage the family well. To manage the family well, one must
cultivate oneself. From the emperor to ordinary citizens, everyone must start
from cultivating the self. There is no exception. Then how does one cultivate oneself? The Great Learning says,
"Wishing to cultivate themselves, they first rectified their hearts.
Wishing to rectify their hearts, they first sought to be sincere in their
thoughts. Wishing to be sincere in their thoughts, they first extended to the
utmost their knowledge. Such extension of knowledge lay in the investigation of
things." "To rectify their hearts" refers to constraining deviated emotions
and desires. It is normal for human beings to feel anger, fear, happiness, and
sadness. However, one should try to curb inappropriate emotions and desires. "To be sincere in their thoughts" refers to being honest and
self-disciplined, whether with others or alone, both in one's mind and actions. "The investigation of things" and "extension of
knowledge" are the foundation of the process. The "things" and
"knowledge" refer to ethics and moral principles. In other words, one
can only be truly sincere when he understands the moral standard; only then can
he rectify his heart, and begin to cultivate himself. "Cultivating themselves" is the goal of investigating things,
extending knowledge, being sincere, and rectifying the heart. Only when one's
character is perfected, which is the highest standard in The Great Learning,
is a person able to manage their family, rule the country, and bring peace to
the world. What does cultivation of oneself include? In conversations with Count Lu Ai,
Confucius listed fifteen points. Mencius summarized the character of a moral person as, "unable to be
lewd or corrupted by money or power, not swayed because of poverty and harsh
conditions, and not bent by power or force." Besides having kindness, cultivating the self also includes doing things with
appropriateness. Confucius taught his students, "Don't look, listen, speak,
or take action unless it is appropriate." He required his students to act
appropriately and courteously. The sincerity, trustworthiness, diligence,
frugality, self-discipline, and kindness of ancient Chinese people were all
closely related to their education in appropriateness and courteousness.
Chinese version available at
http://minghui.org/mh/articles/2005/7/28/107147.html
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