Alo and De Outward #93
(PD) Alo and De Lake on Land.
Copyright ©2018 December 19, 2018
Yan: I was thinking about Emma and the land man... when I walk the paths of our community, there is no trash... no dirtiness... no ugliness... everything is clean... soothes my heart... I feel more of harmony with Nature, because, we care for all things... some city neighborhoods are similar in a way, with clean streets, tidy yards... the neighborhood people care... and I thought of the land man's beliefs... the beliefs' teachings say to express one's self outwardly with harmony... a good teaching... but, look at the culture from where the teaching came... dirty... trash everywhere... ugly... smelly... people suffering because of the culture's rudeness... little or no effort given to one's own environment... the first master might have had good ideas, but the students failed... the cultures, that follow the teachings, do not follow the teachings...
Alo: Yes... common... most people, only recite words... still live as if no teachings...
Yan: Contrast... a different master, spoke, of, something like, 'if a sage completely abandoned knowledge, then the nation's people would benefit hundreds of times'... makes me wonder... was one master right and the other wrong, or, were both masters right, but only for different cultures? Or maybe both not fully right?
Alo: Interesting contrast... if, knowledge, were abandoned today in this nation, the nation would quickly collapse... the nation's culture, is as a shared worship of book knowledge... remove the knowledge, and the culture dies... also, the nation exists within a culture of hunger... buy, buy, buy... without knowledge, outsiders would choose a more lazy way of life, not buy much... but, this nation, has no sage knowledge already... obviously not advantageous because the nation is very ill. But, sounds to me, that the master might have been talking about a different culture, one that would be bettered to not have teachings of sages'... perhaps a culture of good hearts...
Yan: Yes, that is the interpretation that I also chose... a following sentence spoke of something like 'if benevolence completely abandoned righteousness, then the nation's people would express filial compassion'... that one is obvious... remove the fake and pretentious behavior of righteousness, and what would be left, would be honorable compassion...
Alo: I like that one also... actually, somewhat surprising to hear the words being said... most people, believe, that they ought to put-on a show of righteousness, while believing the outward show is itself the act of compassion... an eyebrow-raiser, to hear a master know properness...
Yan: Agreed... numerous similar good thoughts from the master... one, 'sage take advantage of culture, not foot'... good thought... let the people learn, by choosing what is right themselves... 'lack selfish, widow desire'... very good phrasing of words...
Alo: Yes, I like that also... apparently an ancient master... the words, patterns, mirror the main ancient author's words...
Yan: Yes... said to have been written during a similar time as when the ancient author wrote his words... apparently no one knows who the master actually was, nor when he actually lived... but, it might be, the main author of the ancient texts, he might have read the master's words, and formed a similar pattern... but then further elaborated. No way of knowing the origins of any ancient texts... might have actually been the same man for all I know... but, good result either way...
Alo: Agreed... but here, look... the contrasts you gave... an east culture's teaching taught to be of harmony, but no harmony exists within the culture... a west teaching taught to not teach, and yet, another west man may have used the west teaching to teach his own thoughts, and the west cultures that follow the west man's teachings now have a degree of harmony... interesting...
Yan: Three different systems of teachings... peculiar indeed, that the east culture with the most teachings, is least harmonious... the west cultures with very little teaching, are most harmonious... I am now beginning to suspect that the old master was indeed wise, and, also, the people were themselves worthy...
Alo: Back to the land man's beliefs... you said that the teachings speak of expressing one's self outwardly with harmony?
Yan: Yes... the teachings have many words... more words than I cared to listen to... but the teachings' general idea possessed no hints of harmony with one's environment... the teachings were, as, if, like, 'do this', 'do that', move and act as trained...
Alo: Ah, yes... if, harmony existed, then creativity would spawn... the culture's environment would become beautiful...
Yan: Precisely... the original teaching might have possessed honorable thoughts, but, followers did not attain harmony... the followers' outward behaviors, are not of harmony... obvious...
Alo: Agreed... if culture land, dirty... if culture air, dirty... if culture water, dirty... then no harmony... no chidao... this nation, example...
Yan: Precisely... but more obvious within the teachings is an absence of first attaining a quality inner heart... instead, the teachings speak the very common way of all systems of belief... 'do not lie, do not kill, do not steal', and the many others... no, the teachings are not correct... the teachings begin with outward movements of body, and do not begin with inward qualities of heart... cannot attain harmony by dancing like a trained circus bear... but still the believers believe it possible...
Alo: Agreed...
Yan: Numerous other examples... ten-thousand things examples... teachings teach things like speaking lovingly... as if it were possible to speak with love from a cold heart... as if speaking were possible to possess a love that does not exist... as if, only one kind of love... the authors of the teachings obviously did not know what love is, nor could observe their own inner self with awareness... over and over and over, same nonsense... and still the people who teach the teachings, are not able to hear the deceit within voices spoken by cold hearts... all false...
Alo: Agreed... inward harmony... chidao... becomes, natural outward harmony... chidao... creates, quality self... chidao... creates, quality culture... chidao... creates, harmonious world... chidao... 'do this', 'do that', has no harmony... outward motions, not in agreement with inward heart, all false, all lies... no harmony... can only self-destruct...