Alo and De Hide Evil #52
(PD) Alo and De Lake on Land.
Copyright ©2018 October 30, 2018
Yan: We have been approaching this topic, for weeks... we already knew that our words were leading us here... toes in lake, feeling warmth, or chill... a hard question to ask... not easy. About King Shun... concealing both bad and good... how much bad, and good, is to be concealed? If we hide all bad things, then people will not know to be cautious to not accidentally do the bad things... if we speak too openly of the bad things, then the words cause harm... hurt hearts... negative thoughts that linger... but good things also, if all praise, then, the praise becomes vainglory, vanities, fake... deceptive, fraud, pretentious, exaggerated, hollow... and also, what of the people who are not praised? Again, hurt feelings... a sense of injustice... injustice destroys a nation and people... people give-up, not try anymore... extremes of any direction, cause hurt hearts...
Alo: The ancient words, their answer, was, in the same sentence... loosely, 'Shun, his knowledge was great, Shun fine inquired and fine examined close, Shun's speeches concealed badness as well as praise good, Shun held in his hands both extremes, used its center for citizens, it cleave'... the idea, is to learn, discover what is good, discover what is bad... hold knowledge of both extremes in one's hands... then give to the people what is not extreme... give to the people a way of life that is capable of being done... some people will not reach the way, junzi exceed the way... but, for citizens, the mid-way is capable.
Yan: Agreed... but, a gnawing question, is that I am concerned of not cleaving the balance properly... if we hide all outsiders' words, then our people's children might later hear the outsiders' words, and believe in the words because we did not warn of the words... the children would then be seriously harmed... we warn of snakes, warn of wild dogs, warn of centipedes... we give knowledge, to help prevent harm... how can we not warn of outsiders' words?
Alo: Weigh the balances, and observe... how much good, remains good, before it becomes bad?
Yan: Ah... yes, there... even good becomes bad if too much... an extreme... there, I point at Jun, say 'Praise perfect strand of hair... praise another perfect strand of hair... praise another perfect strand of hair... praise another...'
Jun: Ha! Enough! I have far too many strands of hair to endure hearing each one being praised! Once was nice enough... three, not nice... Ha!
Alo: Ha! Yan's example is good... a little praise can be beneficial, but if always praising, it becomes harmful... also as Yan said... hollow... it would make a king appear to have a thinking problem, and not be a great king at all...
Yan: Precisely! Unfortunately, too much bad does not somehow become good...
Alo: Yes...
De: Physical world... has balances... root not have...
Alo: Very much agreed... goodness itself has no boundary... creativity has no boundary... bad things have boundaries... good things have boundaries... too much of any physical thing, pushes boundary, becomes bad... root of Source, extreme remains good.
Yan: Then how much should we speak of bad words? Already we hide the worst words... hide bad words spoken by people still living... hide details of bad things in popular beliefs... hide the things that would cause embarrassment and ridicule of other people... but what of the east man? Have we said enough, or too much?
Alo: Perhaps, enough... if people cannot hear what we have already said, then more words cannot be understood also... we, naturally, know how much is enough... but, sometimes, there is so much bad, that the balance reaches beyond what we feel comfortable saying...
Yan: To me, it seems that the balance, often hinges on the person listening... what we feel to be enough, or too much, other people see as being little... of no importance... not seen as bad words at all...
Alo: Agreed... and easily proven... I point at De... 'De, you are the universes' only perfect person...'
De: Ha! That, is supposed, to be praise? Ha!
Alo: Ha! Precisely the point! Good people do not want praise... cannot accept praise... humble... embarrassed by praise... the only people who want praise, are not good people... if, as some outsiders have claimed, King Shun had praised people, then his praise would have had an opposite effect... however, the ancients wrote that King Shun hid both bad and praise... and, if so, then King Shun was indeed a wise king...
Yan: Sounds as if, the middle way, can, sometimes, also be the better way for good people... not be blamed, not be praised...
Alo: Agreed... no extremes of words... but, perhaps the key difference here, is that a king's words are mere speeches, not the king's own heart... there is a difference between speaking a thing with the mouth, and expressing the thing with one's heart... words are things, have boundaries... heart harmony, no boundaries...
Yan: Yes... true...
Alo: Also, we hide the extreme of good, as much as we hide the extreme of bad... it is a lesson that we learned, to not speak of too much goodness... we do not openly speak of the goodness within chidao... more do we not speak of creativity... to say what creativity creates, the outsiders cannot attain creativity, and the outsiders become angry, claim that our words cannot be true because the outsiders themselves cannot attain creativity... the choice, then, is to not speak the words... hide good as well...
De: Imagination... not new...
Alo: Yes... if a thing can be imagined in the mind, then the thing cannot be a new thing... when a person alludes to a new thing, we can then know that the person has experienced the new thing in their own lives... their words, then, are true, and not mere recitings of heard words...
Yan: A lot of responsibility... many ancients surely held similar responsibilities also...
Alo: Likely so... perhaps, even, some wise kings...