NEW ACROPOLIS Ethics according to Confucius. By Lúcia Helena Galvão Good evening, everyone Today, our little chat is to talk about Confucius. Evidently that in 50 minutes you can only talk about some main features of his philosophy. Confucius, since some years ago, have been emerging and going into fashion, if it is possible for a philosopher, who lived in 551 BC Christ, "come into fashion". But we have a mechanic in today's world: when people emerge economically everything that concerns him also goes up together. So, today, it became fashionable to talk about Confucius. Even games that compare the
thinking of philosophers and business administration, a thousand things like that have been done because China has called a lot of attention and brought their values back. But we can say that China does not have much of Confucianism today. Maybe now, this is really happening - since China wants to conquer an image with the external public, Confucius becomes a great ambassador for this. But until very recently, 10 or 15 years ago, Confucius was very little taught in schools inside the political regime that China lives today and now it starts to come back again. So, Confucius is
a character that has a huge impact on the West. You will see that he is brought to the West, curiously, by the Jesuits. Approximately, in the 17th century. Jesuits themselves recognize that what they had seen from Confucius’s work and his ideas, it was much more about a Moral Philosophy than Religion. Therefore, it did not compete at all with Christianity in force at that time, in the West. So, they bring Confucius' philosophy to the west without any major problems. He really has this characteristic: Confucius does not worry about metaphysics. On the contrary, he refuses to talk
about it. Confucius doesn't talk about life after death, of soul existence, he talks about life! And whenever asked, he gives the same answer: "Understand life first, then understand death, understand men first, then understand gods. " He believed that man has a focus, which is the field of action where he is now, and have to try to live it in the best possible way. His concepts are beautiful, let's see if we can understand a little bit, including breaking some of the stigmas created in the Western mentality, rigidity and inflexibility, for example. We'll see that he was
definitely not rigid, dogmatic, or inflexible ... Quite the opposite! He had a great love for intelligence and flexibility in his disciples: he highly valued this attribute. So, very quickly, because we can't go into too many details, we know that he lived in a very troubled political age, And he walks around China at that time, in various kingdoms, trying to spread his idea, he even suffered an attempt on his life, some people tried to kill him. It was a very curious time. And he says: "Well, what I am, no one can take from me, it comes
from the decrees of heaven and nothing that is of the earth can take from me. " But he and his disciples suffered death attempts. His thinking was considered subversive, and in fact, it was exclusively moral philosophy. It was not connected to any theology, nothing. But in that China, where many states were corrupted, virtue was subversion. In fact, this is a timeless principle, right? Whenever we live in very corrupted times, virtue is subversion. And he has lived it very intensely. Well, continuing ... It is said that his origin was noble, but he, himself went through great
difficulties, he narrates it. In his childhood and youth, he lives a very modest life, it seems that his family had to flee from another kingdom. He is born in Lu, around 551 BC, and in that reign, he already lives a very modest existence. You must take into consideration ... There is a biography of Confucius by Tse-Ma-Tsien, but it was written almost four centuries after his death. Confucius was already a personality so considered an icon within China at the time, so there was already a tendency to fantasize. Most of what is in Confucius' biography It is
more fantasy than grounded in real facts. Almost nothing is known. The story that he was the 11th brother, and that his mother was 15 years old when she got married. These are all of Tse-Ma-Tsien's assumptions. What is known, is what he, himself says and Mencio says shortly after also, is that he had a modest childhood and youth, that's for sure and that it was not, shall we say an easy existence. At no point in his existence, he had great facilities materials, not even to be very well understood by people. Well, it is said that at
17 years-old... It's something he says himself, that he really enjoyed being in the company of those men, that had some age or wisdom, or both, something to teach. How beautiful is this, when Confucius says that the greatest badge of his life it is a strong will to learn. He was a lover of learning and considered that as long life exists he would be learning Very, very beautiful when he says that. He said "Nothing distinguishes me more than that" and it seems that he was like that since he was a boy, almost a preteen, he looked
for the company of those who had something to teach him. In such a way, that when he reaches 17 years-old, he is hired by the Prince of Lu and begins to perform a service as a civil servant. At 20 years old, he was already considered an "intellectual", this concept did not exist as it does today, In the intellect detached from life, only theoretical. But he was already considered a person of an unusual culture at the age of 20. He had all the traits of genius from an early age. This is said a lot, but it
is also part of an imaginary. Nobody knows if it was real: Did Confucius ever meet Lao Tzu? Tse-Ma-Tsien says yes, but there is no contemporary testimony. He tells the story and even talks about dialogue, it’s difficult for us to know where he may have gotten such accurate information. It would be very curious if it had happened because they were two great men. For history, it would be amazing. Picture this in the west, Jesus meeting Mohammed. This is equivalent to China, as they were two founders of religions, They are two beings of tremendous greatness and very
important in the history of mankind. And it is said, he would have gone to the banks of the Yellow River to find Lao Tzu. And Lao Tzu, for those who have read Tao Te King, which is one of my passions, I love that book, Lao Tzu was tremendously abstract. He works with the idea that you should not waste time on things that go by, with things that are, shall we say, insurmountable. For things that are not spiritual, that all of this dissipates, all of this is dust, and as the Christian tradition says, it will return
to dust. That is, it is not worth a man to waste time on anything that is material. And Confucius, on the contrary, does not care whether this is dust or not. He worries about one thing: We are here now And we have to try to do well what we are doing now, what comes next, we see later. And according to this historian, who is Tse-Ma-Tsien, Confucius would have come back saying something similar with the fact that I found a man who flew so high that he resembled a powerful flying bird and that he preferred to
walk on land. They have no contradiction, but when you read both, you see it, Confucius never takes his feet off the ground. He speaks of a practical moral philosophy and experiential one, by any human being, willing to do so at the current moment, while Lao Tzu wasn't quite that. Lao Tzu was talking about a man who exhausted material reality And that seeks something more. (They were contemporaneous) That is, impossible is not, but not proven either! It would be spectacular, a meeting like this. But there is no proof. Well, then the central lesson of Confucianism is
basically this, that the spiritual man doesn't have to lead an ascetic life. Because the union with the superior can be achieved and maintained in his earthly life, since the obstacles to this union are not outside but inside us. You don't need to isolate yourself, you don't need a special condition To find a high level of consciousness, to find your human nature. And the obstacles to that are not outside of you, they are inside. Whether you're on top of a mountain, on the edge of an isolated river, in a desert, you will fight against the same
factors. Simply, less projected outside, but inside, but the same factors that you have to overcome, to become a gentleman, a perfect human being, what he calls "Ju man". You will find, wherever you are, wherever you go you will take the obstacles that are within you. So, he didn't spread the asceticism. He spoke of man's life within the State And committed to the State. One of the strong things about Confucius’s concern was brotherhood, life in society. He is famous for making a school that resembles, for the Orient Plato's academy a lot. After walking around the world,
he goes back to Lu State, and found a school with a few chosen disciples. Well, education, if it is still restrictive today, in our times, at that time, was much more. Very few people had access to education and the criterion, of course, was economic: Relatives of princes, authorities within the state and Confucius selects his disciples by an absolutely different criterion: those who already have some level of intelligence, imagination, and a certain basic moral level. Much like what Plato did at the academy. He generates a select group of disciples and pass on his teachings. He doesn't
write anything and everything that was collected and then became the Analects, which is the book that is more properly considered as authentic, because two other books are attributed to him, but that authorship is debatable. Analects are compilations of his disciples. He doesn't write anything himself. He came a time, before starts with his travels (nobody knows how much of this is folklore too), he came to have a very important position within the State of Lu, equivalent to the Minister of Justice, he was chief of police powers. It is said that he was extremely fair, and it
could not be different. But then it is said that the neighboring state, which was Lu's enemy, presented the prince of Lu with a set of several beautiful dancers and corrupted the prince. The prince stopped listening to him and stopped giving priority to public life. And he, very disgusted with this, withdrew from the kingdom. Mencio says that he would have retired for another reason, because he was not remembered in the sacrifices that were due to the State. He was tremendously attentive to the rites. Whatever it is, something happened. He was discouraged, took his disciples and walked
around the world, passing on his teachings. This story of the dancers is a little bit folkloric, it cannot be said whether it happened or not. He walked through the kingdoms trying to find princes and rulers who wanted to hear him, because one of the things he most wanted was to teach it was like governing men, How to lead men well, but he also taught anyone willing to listen. This was also a very unusual thing, because it broke an entire hierarchical order at that moment, when the teaching, education was an object of luxury and was not
given to anyone who wanted to listen. He walks around the world, as I told you. He suffers attacks and even his disciples suffer attacks. Your most beloved disciple, which is Yen, almost dies in an ambush. It is said that the people who learned from him, always wanted him to remain. He used to say this: "I am indebtedly indebted to all men, Because I consider everyone who lives on the land as members of the same family, where I have the sacred mission of an instructor. " He had a sense that he had come to earth to
humanize people, had come into the world to humanize people, and that he owed it to everyone who wanted to hear it. The way he puts himself is very beautiful and prudent. He is a man who combines several difficult virtues. He is tremendously intelligent, insightful, but prudent. When he asks "what is wisdom?" Do you know what wisdom is? To know in-depth the soul of man. To know how to deal with them, and, if necessary, to know how to lead them. He knew deeply the souls of men. It is an interesting thing that he lives until old
age, for his historical moment. And he lives exactly because he had diplomacy, an ability to deal with people, of never saying, more than people could hear, and it was something so unusual. A whole political strategy, very remarkable diplomacy. Later on, we'll see a little more about that. His death happened when he was 73 years old, in the state of Lu. He dies in the same place where he was born. Today there is a tomb, that was probably built a long time after his death. When he dies, evidently he didn’t have all that recognition, That he
would have two centuries later. But there is, where today is the region of Lu State, a built tomb, and is one of the most important characters in the history of China, if not, the most important. I think that to compete with Confucius, only Lao Tzu, really. Only Lao Tzu would be able to be considered of equal importance. As I said, he was a reformer, and he bases his reform on these two concepts: justice and fraternity. Confucius was so bold, that he will create an entire graduation what man would be, what is man's destiny, where could
you go. First was the wise man. He said: "Do you know who is wise? Nobody, not even me, I don't know any, but one day no human will get there. " Of course, he was modest, I believe he was wise. But he said: "The wise man is a man so perfect that he is difficult to find. Then you will see a complete man. Then, down there, you see a gentleman, the man Ju. This gentleman, man Ju, was what he proposed and said: "This is plausible, this can be achieved. And that's what I want to educate
you for. " And he will describe all the behavior of a Ju man, in detail. If you want to know what would be a perfect man for Confucius, this is very illustrative, I always recommend it to my disciples. Because when you read a sage of that size talking about what a complete man would be, you can dare to imagine yourself coming to that someday. Because one of the greatest powers that man has is imagination. Because if you don't imagine yourself, the collective unconscious will imagine you, and that image will infiltrate you. And when you least
realize it, you're walking towards it. If you dare not build within yourself, by an act of conscious will, where you want to go, and believe that, you can rest assured that society will impose a model. And you, without realizing it, will be imagining himself as a hero of the soap opera. A model will enter there, between the lines of your inattention. Either man chooses what he wants to be, or he will be chosen. And it’s hard for you to see a sage, that speaks so descriptively of what an ideal man is, like Confucius, In every
detail. "The way (Tao) and its virtue (Te):" Look how beautiful these phrases are: "He who died on the day he discovered the Way did not live in vain." I found the way today, if I died today, it was worth it. One day when I saw the Way, it already justifies a life. "I apply my heart on the way, I am based on virtue, I trust benevolence to support and find entertainment in the arts. " That was really his life. He was very fond of arts. Now let's try to understand a little what was this story
about the path, Tao and Te. They were concepts much earlier than him. Lao Tzu himself works with the same concepts in Tao Te King. The Tao, or the path, it is very similar to the eastern idea of dharma. This idea helps us a lot. It is a law that links all beings and leads them towards their destiny. In fact, India has an idea that I think is beautiful, which is the idea of sutratma, a thread. They say it goes through all the beings in the universe, as if the beings of the universe were beads of
a necklace. This thread runs through all of them, and leads them towards unity, towards your ideal, towards its destiny. There is a very beautiful passage, by a 19th-century philosopher, Helena Blavatsky, Where she says something interesting when she defines dynamic eternity that closely resembles this concept of Confucius. She constantly quotes Confucius, does a great comparative study. She says this about dynamic eternity: "Look at the sky and the stars, imagine the amount of life that must be spread across the ends of this huge universe ". She says: "I don't know what forms of life there must be
around the four corners of the universe, I don't know what language they speak, I don't know how they communicate or what form they have ". "But one thing I do know: there must be messengers there sending a message." "I don't know what words to say, but I know what they say." "Throughout the four corners of the universe, a single message echoes calling all the children back to the father's house, calling all beings back to unity ". "I don't know what language they speak, but I know what they say". There is a call to the four
corners of the universe calling the men back to the path, to the Tao. Now, like this message, this dharma, this sutratma manifests in the universe? It is through Te, which is your shadow, your virtue. The way it manifests today is different, for example, from what was manifested in Egypt because men today have another psyche, another way of seeing the world, Have other needs, there are other weaknesses as well. So Te, which is the shadow of Tao in the world, will have to adapt to the possibilities of understanding humanity at that time So it's like Dharma
and its shadow in the world. Timeless and temporal ethics. That is, the inexorable Law that has a unique destiny, takes beings back to unity, take the kids home, and its shadow, which is Te. And that shadow of Te, when it manifests itself in the world, it will generate something else, which is a concept that he loves too much: the rite. Remember that although religion was created in his name, Confucius' interest was not religious. His interest was practical, experiential ethics that humanized people. The rite for him was anything you did trying to shape the way in
the world, we tried to make a bridge between heaven and earth, that is, the whole life of man was sacred. Much like the concept of religion, although it was not religious. Religare, religio, reread. Bring together two separate worlds. So we'll see, that's the way he talks about the path, all the time he talks about the path. When your disciples receive invitations to participate in the state, because several of them were very wise. They are invited to occupy posts in the states, he says: "Never work for a state that doesn't follow the path, never be motivated
just by material gain or fame, never profane your wisdom by working for someone who is not at the service of the path, the righteous man works for the way ". And his whole life has been working towards that path. "Heaven and Heaven's Decree" Pretty much this concept too. Heaven (T`ien) and Heaven's Decree (T`ien ming) Look at the phrases he speaks: "Heaven is the author of Virtue in me." When they try to kill him it is said that he speaks this sentence: "So-and-so couldn't kill me, because what would kill me? The virtue? Heaven is the owner
of virtue in me. " "Who could attack Heaven?" For him, the Decrees of Heaven it is this Law, which is the Dharma, reduced to moral maxims. For example duty should be fair, the duty to be fraternal, the duty to respect the wisdom that one has, the duty must be consistent with the words that are pronounced, are Heavenly Decrees, which men couldn't argue with. And the deviations from Heaven's Decree Will generate the corrections of Heaven. It is more or less like the idea of Dharma and Karma. He will say that sometimes things happen to men and
that they cannot be avoided, because they are the corrections, they are the interferences of Heaven, when at a certain moment the Decrees of Heaven are not fulfilled. So, for him, man would have to learn to speak the language of Heaven's Decrees, always. The man who lives this way, who implements the Decrees of Heaven in the world, he is a man who lives a sacred life, lives the rite. He will talk a little about the issue. This sentence that I took is part of a larger section, that we will see at the end, which is beautiful.
He talks about the moments in his life. He says that at 50 years old, he understood Heaven's Decrees. Imagine you, I have passed 50 years old and I still do not understand the Decrees of Heaven. And at the age of 50, he says: "I understood the Laws of the Universe." And as life goes on, he says that at 70, he didn't have to make any effort. That his taste never exceeded the Decrees of Heaven. Not a millimeter to the left or right of Heaven's Decrees. A man who achieves this in life. But since he was
young he keeps saying about his search, his great love for learning and your ability to learn from everything and everyone, not to miss opportunities. An interesting thing within the Scandinavian tradition, That Odin is said to be the wisest god because he learned from everyone. Everywhere he went, he asked questions and learned from everyone. Confucius has this same principle on the other side of the world. I learned from everything and everyone, I was always in the mood for learning. And he considered learning to be a sacred function par excellence. Now you will see that it is
interesting because there was not really that notion of learning without being applied to life. When we talked about learning, we talked about instruction, and nobody imagined a person who knew things and was corrupt, there was no such notion, either he knew or he did not know, and if he knew, he lived. Do you realize that this distance between these two things it was a little modern, contemporary concept, That has been happening throughout history. The knowledge that is not deeply understood or used. This would be somewhat incomprehensible for a philosophy of that time. For what? So
much work to have the knowledge and then not use it? It's like you have a huge job to collect money to buy a house and never step inside! It is not used for anything. It would be exotic and strange. See how interesting and beautiful this part when he talks about the rites. "Rite, then, is that moment where you apply the Decrees of Heaven to your life, and the moment you walk the path ". I commented that in the Greek tradition, they said that man or trivializes Or sanctify life. When he sanctifies life, it is as
if he is above time. He stole a Cronus moment for Zeus. Stolen moments from time to eternity. It is very similar to the idea of Confucius here. He will say that the man who lives the rite makes his life perfect, and that no moment could not be ritualized, and in this, he resembles the concept of Kantian morality. When Kant says that something that cannot be sanctified, it's a sign that you shouldn't be living. Do you understand that? If you can't do something, This act that I'm doing, in the name of something sacred to me, if
that wouldn’t serve as an offering, it's a sign that you shouldn't be doing that. Because in man's life, everything that is necessary is entirely sacred. That's what he will say: "Turn to the observance of the rites, overlapping the individual constitutes benevolence ". One virtue that is important to Confucius is benevolence. Benevolence is always a positive disposition towards the other. But benevolence along with intelligence. He says: "Benevolence without intelligence becomes foolishness". The benevolence associated with intelligence makes man beneficial to the whole life around him. "Turning to the observance of the rites, overlapping the individual, constitutes benevolence."
That is, overriding your selfishness, to your thinking only in yourself. "Don't look unless you are following the rites." "Do not listen unless you are following the rites." "Do not speak unless you are following the rites." That is, not a word, neither to the left nor to the right. I like this passage, which has nothing to do with Confucius, this comes from the Indian tradition, Ramayana, where a character arrives before Brahman, earns the right to place an order and asks that you will never be one step to the left or right of the Dharma, In the
Hindi language. That's what Confucius says: Never a dot on the left or right rites are your life. Neither what you see, nor what you think, nor what you feel, nor what you say. This is the life. Now you are going to say, "You said he was not strict, how can he be so restrictive?" You will see that he is not at all rigid. May he even, although at no time say he is wise, at the level he had, he often has the right to create a new rite. More adapted to the historical moment he was
in. And advise that that rite was no longer appropriate. He said: "If there is no intelligence, there is no possibility of living the rites, there is rigidity. He reconstructs the rites. According to common sense, with discernment. And he sees it as a necessity. When there are no more men capable of interpreting the Decrees of Heaven, Heaven and Earth will stop talking. This is Confucius, this is Analects. Almost all of this I am taking from Analects, some small passages from the book of Mencius. Rite (Li) and Righteousness (Yi). Look what an interesting thing, he makes a
description, but nothing in Confucius is casual, everything makes sense. You keep thinking: What is he saying that for? But see how smart it is: "Rites prescribe a ceremonial linen cap; Today, we use black silk instead. This is more frugal and I follow the majority. The rites prescribe that the person prostrate himself before going up the steps; (temple steps) today, it is done after descending. This is casual and, against most, I bow before going up. " Do you understand that? I don't wear a linen cap. Why? Because it is much more frugal, much simpler, much more
appropriate, use the silk one so I reinterpret the rite. I adapt to something more frugal, something more virtuous. That is, in this, I follow what everyone does. Now, when it comes to prostrate yourself before the sacred before or after the staircase, it makes no sense for people to prostrate afterward. This is casual. It does not obey a law of necessity, it does not obey justice. So I prefer the rite. In other words, my discernment reconstructs the rite. Imagine you, a man capable of rebuilding that bridge. This is a pontiff. Although the idea of religion is
never mentioned, but he can rebuild. And he says, "The ancient men, the dynasty of the past, reconstructed a rite suited to their time ". And there must be men like that, that is, that which obeys the virtues I reinterpret the rite. In what does not obey the virtues, I keep a rite. And so I adapt life and I keep the path of Heaven projected on Earth, I keep Tao and Te. The Decrees of Heaven, read by a language of today, by a man of today. I was talking to you about a very interesting thing: when
we will talk about justice, will talk about love, which is a symbol, remember? We take the symbols of Greece, Rome, will have to get Artemis, the one with the scale in hand, or you'll have to get Aphrodite. Because our society doesn’t build its symbols, nor does it build timeless ethics adapted to a current language. We have legalistic ethics based on laws, which has much more to do with the interest of a moment than with something timeless. He says, "It always has to exist, men who interpret the Decrees of Heaven to be lived on Earth, pontiffs
". The society that has no pontiffs, has no dialogue between Heaven and Earth. Now see how interesting, he talks about his disciples, in several passages, he says this: "If I show someone a corner of a square and that person cannot find the other three, I don't show it a second time. " That is, I want men with sense, intelligent, able to understand the rite and apply it, able to understand the intricacies of the rite, and not simply apply them blindly. I don't want fanatics. He talks about his disciple, Yen, who in fact was a disciple
who suffered a tragedy because he died very young, that he who was the best of his disciples, he says: "I say one thing and this man plays a hundred. He is capable of applying in a hundred situations that I did not mention ". Do you realize that this is the symbolic mentality? Plato says that from a situation that works you can abstract a general law that you apply in a hundred other situations and it works too. He said: Yen, one thing I teach he abstracts a hundred that I did not speak. That is, he didn't
want to be rigid, he didn't want fanatics, he wanted men able to find the other three square tips, Men capable of understanding the Decrees of Heaven and applying them to today. And that alone breaks this view of Confucius' rigidity in the West. The gentleman or man Ju. He will start talking about this man, who is not the sage, who is far above, but this man he considers that humanity should have as a goal. And that's what his disciples teach, to be gentlemen, be Ju men. The first virtue he will speak of is benevolence. This benevolence,
as I told you, which has to be associated with discernment, it has to be associated with straightness, because any of those virtues that are lacking will unbalance the exercise of benevolence. "Do not impose on others what you don't want to yourself." Did you know that this phrase is Confucian? And then, it was adapted for the West and repeated a thousand and one times? Do not impose on others what you don't want for yourself. Take yourself as a measure. If something would not be nice, good, not make you grow, do not impose on others. This, what
you wish with high awareness, of course. What I wish for myself when my conscience is at its highest point. I want to grow up, I want to be a nobleman, I wish exactly that for others. Do not wish for others something that would not make you grow, would not bring good, would not make you noble. The idea of nobility is constant in Confucius' thought. "The practice of benevolence depends entirely on you, and not on others." That is, you don't need to be anywhere special, you can be in decadent China, or you can be in the
desert, the practice of benevolence does not depend on other's opinions about you. That, by the way, he had no favorable conditions. He had no money, he did not belong to any noble family in power, he didn’t have the support of any prince, and he said: "I never stopped practicing benevolence". But he also said, "Look, it’s difficult to find a man that can practice benevolence for a whole day ". Imagine you, a whole day without any selfishness! It's difficult to find a man like this. He said that his disciple Yen was able to do this, so
he was rare. It's difficult to find someone who practices benevolence for a whole day. "The practice of benevolence begins in the family and extends to society: being a good son makes a good subject, being a good father makes a good ruler." He said that the state is an extended family. Where, for the prince, the whole society is his children. And the same filial love of the prince, for the people, it should be matched by the same paternal love of the people towards the prince. And that it would not be difficult. The prince doesn't have to
worry too much about making people appreciate and obey him, It's enough to worry about having an impeccable moral, that impeccable morality, sooner or later, will touch the hearts of men. He said: A moral example may soften the resistance of men, sooner or later it will happen". But the state for him was a big family, and if that love doesn't exist in a basic nucleus, doesn't have a center to expand. It is said that at that time when the parents died, there was the mourning of three years. And his disciple wanted to join him on his
trips to the world and did not want to mourn, and asked Confucius if he could reduce mourning to less than three years. He turned to the disciple and said: "Did your parents love you less than three years? No, then, use your mourning! " Was it less than three years that they dedicated themselves to loving you? No, then use your mourning! He worked hard with the idea of gratitude, recognition, respect. Chung (give your best): "What I did for the welfare of the other, did I fail to be chung?" This is a phrase that is attributed to
Yen. Every day, ask yourself, "Did I do my best?" "Did I go to the extreme?" As one of our poets, Carlos Drummond de Andrade, says: "Go to your heart, twist it and extract the sacred drop". "Take the best of your possibilities and go to sleep peacefully, sleep, the sleep of the just. " "I did my best". In what corresponded to me today, I did my best for humanity, for others, I was benevolent today. You'll see that it is not the only school. Pythagoras himself demanded this from his disciples, to examine conscience before going to sleep,
what we know as a journal. To ask questions and to force yourself to give answers, as a way to have a meeting point with your conscience, and an evaluation of your life. This was common in these schools. His disciples asked themselves: "What I did for the welfare of the other, did I fail to be chung?" Did I fail to do my best every day? That is, a moral standard of not haggling with life, always be surrender, your name should be surrender, go to the limit of your possibilities, and die even with the Heavens, and the
Earth, To have given everything I brought, haven't saved anything. Khalil Gibran says a very beautiful thing: "We are not owners of anything, we are a place for enriching the gifts of life". Do you understand that? A post of enriching of the gifts of life. Life passes by us and we add value and we send it forward. It is not ours, nothing belongs to us. That is the virtue of surrender. Very beautiful this part that I told you, when he talks about education and instruction. He will speak about the principle of some virtues, that is wisdom,
benevolence, and courage. "The wise man is never undecided". There are not many paths, as long as the man is a man. If the man really wants to be a man, the path is clear. When he has doubts and wants to be other than a human being, there are many alternatives. For those who want to humanize themselves, the path is clear and one. It’s like you’re climbing to the top of a pyramid, have many paths leading to the top? No, there's only one! You can be coming from anywhere, the origin is very diverse, but the end
is one. Just like the end of the evolution of all plants, all animals, all minerals, all nature advances towards the ideal. For minerals, an atomic organization that has more nobility. For vegetables, it was said that towards a dicotyledon. For animals, towards the most intelligent way of life, with greater capacity for survival, procreation, according to the theory of evolution itself. And for men, move towards virtue, human virtue. And there's no doubt. If you want to be human, the path is one, so the sage has no doubt. "The benevolent man is never afflicted" Affliction is always haggling
over what you should have given. Anguish and distress come from feeling that you didn't give everything you could have given, who did not practice surrender, who had reservations, who kept something for himself, selfishly, that didn’t flow, didn’t let life flow through you. A man who surrenders everything, he does not suffer from anxiety or distress, that is benevolent. "The brave man is never afraid." But he said a lot: "Watch out for the brave, because if the brave is just brave and it’s not also protocol, it is not also moral, it is not also benevolent, He can
become a rebel, he can become a cunning, he can become rude ". Courage is necessary because man does not grow without courage. Growth and facing the unknown, therefore, requires courage. Growth is a challenge in the dark; you don't know what's behind the curtain. You can't grow up without a good dose of courage, but if courage is not an ally of benevolence, if it’s not allied to coherence, if it’s not allied to a series of values, it can generate a crude, rude, or even selfish man. That is, these virtues work well together, not in isolation. Wisdom:
I will quote this phrase for you because it is very beautiful. "Meet men; promote the righteous and put them above the corrupt ones." This is being wise! Remember that Christian phrase: I'll know you by your works. By that, you'll know a sage. He deeply knows the hearts of men because he knows his own, and whenever he can, he puts wisdom above ignorance, inside and outside. Thus, it generates effects in which wisdom leads to humanity. He will speak of ancient men, of ancient dynasties who had been wise. Look who your ministers were. All honest, all consistent,
all good. The sage puts goodness above selfishness, integrity above corruption within and, consequently, outside, Whenever he can interfere in human history. He will say: "A good man, necessarily, when the opportunity arises, he must commit himself with humanity ". He will talk about leadership, about leaders. For a good man, if comes those who want to hear him, he has a moral obligation to speak. He cannot refrain himself from sharing his goodness, his discernment. That is if there is a state that wants a good man as a ruler, he cannot refrain from accepting it. Unless there are
some moral demands, and he has to give up his principles to take over. Otherwise, the fact that he has wisdom commits him to humanity. This idea that knowledge generates commitment is very common. True knowledge, generates commitment. We always exemplify with that story, of the man who knows how to swim. If you know how to swim well, don't you have a commitment to the person who is drowning? Now, if you don't know, you don't have that commitment. If you dive in to save him, you both die. It's not like this? Knowledge always compromises, always creates bonds.
Study and instruction: In this part, he is very strict, too. "Perhaps, it can be said about me, that I learn without waning, and that I teach without tiring." He says that in these two things he is tireless. As long as I have life, I would dedicate myself to it. Learning and teaching, it accomplishes me. This other part is very beautiful too: "In a village of ten houses ...", (that is, a small village) "... there will always be those who are my equals by doing the best they can for others and as for being true to
their own words, but they will hardly be as eager to learn as I am. " That is, between half a dozen people you will find: a kind, And he says: as much as I do. (Exaggeration, of course) But a person who has the will to learn that I have, you will hardly find. So, my goodness will be increasing. Kindness, when associated with power, it will increasingly achieve good, promote well. Today it is a serious problem because we are prejudiced against the idea of power. We think that power corrupts. Power doesn't corrupt. Man is already corrupted,
and power only gives opportunities for this corruption to manifest. Remember that old phrase that I always quote, from Machado de Assis, where he says that the saying that "the occasion makes the thief" is wrong. The occasion makes the crime, the thief is born done. A man who doesn't want power is a stupid thing, because the archetype of God, is power. Do you imagine a weak God? Power is the power to be, the power to help, the power to accomplish, the power to build. So, when you look for kind men, make sure they also seek to
enhance your goodness through knowledge, because goodness coupled with ignorance cannot produce great things. In fact, anything combined with ignorance doesn't do great works, neither for good, nor evil. "Once, I spent the whole day thinking, without eating anything, and all night thinking, without going to bed, but I found that I gained nothing from it; it would have been better to spend time studying. " This is very interesting. Do not think that it is simply thinking and reflecting, because we don’t have that much wisdom, to start from scratch and reach big conclusions. Use the great classics from
the past as a starting point, as a trampoline from where your thoughts will start. But don’t think it’s just the trampoline, you need to think from there, You need to add that something more than your reflection. Not so much to the sea or so much to the land. Don't just think, this is going to get you nowhere. There is a teacher of ours, Professor José Henrique, who says something that I find very interesting. He says Plato's concept of justice, that is, give each one what corresponds to him, according to his nature and his actions. Imagine
if you hadn't read this in Plato, and I had to complete this alone by observing the things in my life, Where was I going to get this from? Do you think I would come to that conclusion? At the club, on a Sunday, having a barbecue, would I come to that conclusion? Where would I get that from? I start with what Plato spoke and add my reflection. This is what he will say later on: "If a man learns from others, but does not think, he will be confused. If a man thinks but does not learn from
others, he is in danger." In other words, a man always starts from where traditions, the wise men of the past, stopped. And learn from the past to leverage towards the future. And he inherits wisdom from the past because otherwise, it's as if he wakes up every day with amnesia, had to start his story from scratch. Now, don't think that it excuses you from thinking. Do you realize that this is like a fine irony in an intellectualism that didn't even exist yet? That man who thinks it is enough to know what was thought, without adding anything
creative, without adding anything of himself, Without advancing knowledge a trench ahead. Knowledge of the past is a necessary condition, but not a sufficient condition. It is necessary to reflect, to have depth, and to take a step forward. Because humanity advances with you. The generations of the future will inherit your step, however small it was. Remember what he said: "if you wake up on the Way, the day you die, you've already won something". It's for one day. In other words, many men have no day in their life, of being truly human. It's sad, right? But, unfortunately,
true. "One thing concerns me: inability, when told what is right, take action." What is the point of knowing that something is right and not immediately taking action on it? Therefore, he says that this is an incomprehensible gap for him, that worries him. That was rare in Confucious' time, that is, a person knows what is correct, and does not start living from there. There’s a passage from a platonic dialogue, I think it’s the political, that Socrates turns to a sophist with whom he was arguing and says: "Take this discussion seriously, because this is about how I'm
going to live from tomorrow." I think that is so beautiful! Imagine you, today, meeting a person who says: "Explain it to me correctly, because we're dealing with how I'm going to live from tomorrow." Do people take knowledge so seriously? From tomorrow I will live it, if you convince me, then take it seriously, don't run away from the discussion. It's about my life, it's about people's lives. The knowledge of life was a serious thing, it was not simply theory. "It is shameful to make salary your only goal (...)" "It is not easy to find a man
capable of studying for three years without thinking of receiving a salary." In other words, he says that study, knowledge, learning, it is the tastiest of rewards that man can obtain. Knowledge of the deep nature of man it's the most delicious delicacy he can taste. If he seeks this just by looking for a post in the government (at that time it was common to want a post as a civil servant in any State), if he seeks it with an interest to stand out, this knowledge has no value. He says that it is difficult for someone to
seek knowledge itself and itself, Without wanting anything other than it. Notice how current this is! Imagine that you say to a person: "You get a college degree without having to study for 4 or 5 years. It's guaranteed, I'll give it to you, there's no danger. " Or: "I put you inside a public agency without having to pass this exam. And it's guaranteed, there's no danger." Maybe some would back away out of fear, but by moral commitment, by an act of conscience, how many would retreat? Knowledge is a hindrance that stands in the way for you
to reach the good, which is the reward. Who loves the knowledge itself? Who enjoys learning as the most delicious meal? The knowledge of oneself, the knowledge of the mystery of life. Every day. And he said: "This is what I have most of my own, a deep love for learning". "The knight is ashamed that his words are more ambitious than his actions." It's the gentleman's modesty; he speaks slowly and acts as fast as he can. His words don't go faster than his actions; it would be a form of lack of modesty and that is something serious
for these traditions. Plato spoke about that too. When a man makes mistakes and feels ashamed, this is a positive sign of modesty. When he makes mistakes and is no longer ashamed, it's a sign that this society has lost a moral standard. When they show off their mistakes, they no longer have any modesty. This is a sign of serious decay of moral. A gentleman is very modest. And one thing he is modest about is that his words are never more pompous than his life. Always life first and then words. "Loving benevolence without loving learning can lead
to foolishness." You can see that it is not an idea of mushy benevolence. It’s knowing what to give people so they can grow, and knowing when to give nothing. Remember that popular saying: necessity teaches the frog to jump? Sometimes a person is going through a painful situation, life has put her against the wall for her to react. and you go there and cut the karma reaction. And enters sustaining that person's weakness through supposed piety. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen anyone experience that. In general, when you go in and buy people's karma, when realized
that you made a mistake and stops doing it, that person is not grateful. She thinks you have done no more than your obligation to support her. You didn't let nature do its job, this is not benevolence, it's demagogy. Knowing how to help, knowing how to be benevolent. Benevolence cannot be devoid of intelligence, because otherwise, it is foolish. Knowing how to help men is to make them grow and not do what they like, this is manipulation and demagogy. He will talk a little bit about the government. Already finishing, time is running out. About how to govern
the people. "Guide them by virtue, Keep it in line with the rites, ... "(ie, the sacredness of life, life as a way of channeling heaven and earth, of uniting heaven and earth) "... and the people, in addition to being able to feel shame, will reform themselves." Now, if you apply sanctions, he will do so as long as he is obliged. When sanctions end, he will do anything. He speaks clearly about the ineffectiveness of sanctions. Unite the people, and they will act correctly as long as the sanctions are valid. When they cease, they will be the
same. Now, give examples, and you will see that they will be ashamed of their weaknesses and will correct themselves. Look how beautiful this other sentence is: "The gentleman's virtue is like the wind; The virtue of the common man is like grass. Let the wind blow over the grass, and it will surely bend." That is, when the virtue of the perfect gentleman, the Ju man, blows in, Ignorance doubles, because it recognizes the wisdom and is ashamed of being so small. Contrast creates awareness. It begins to awaken in men a reference, a desire to be better. He
says that, in one way or another, men copy the rulers. Whether they know what they are doing or not, men copy the rulers. They want to be similar to them. And men know who their rulers are. They know how to recognize the conduct of a virtuous father. And always copy their rulers. Sooner or later, a virtuous ruler will make his people virtuous. Just like the grass bends in the wind. A small historical curiosity about when Confucianism reaches the West. They are the Jesuits, commanded by the mission of Father Ricci. And in the 17th century, in
1687, when the Jesuits arrived to begin the conversion to Christianity in China. They know Confucianism and conclude that it was not a religion, but a moral code and that the West needed it. They bring it, and it is translated into Latin in Paris, in 1687. They considered it as a system of practical philosophy and not a religion. What it really is. Confucianism exists to be a philosophy of life. And now one last sentence that brought it to you, which I think is very beautiful. It's a synthesis that he puts on Analects as to how he
managed his life. "At the age of 15, I dedicated myself to learning; at 30, I took a stand; at 40, I got rid of my doubts; at 50, I understood the Heaven Decree; at 60, my ears were tuned; at 70, I followed my heart without crossing the line." In other words, at 70 I could do what I wanted because what I wanted and what I owed was one thing only. I could follow my heart, which would never go out of bounds, Because I educated my heart to be in tune with the Decrees of Heaven. This
is a man who was formed, tuned, tuned to the laws of the universe throughout life, from the age of 15. Seeking to learn how to be human. As he said: "The great work of man is to build morally, it is to be human". Well, as I told you, this is a summary. Those who do not know this booklet, do not know what you are missing. I know that everyone is traumatized by the number of bedside books that I've recommended. You will excuse me, but I will indicate one more because you cannot lose the Analects. Wonderful.
This translation is very good, from L&PM. I recommend. And for sure, another good bedside book. Of course, next week I’ll recommend another one, but pretend it’s just this one. It's really worth it, it's a wonder, an unmissable classic. NEW ACROPOLIS
