Alo and De Scholars #25
(PD) Alo and De Lake on Land.
Copyright ©2018 October 02, 2018
Alo: 'Scholar ambition to truth, and humiliated of bad clothes and bad food, person have not to follow, take part in discussions also'. The concept appears obvious... 'A scholar whose ambition is for truth, and yet he is ashamed of bad clothes and bad food, no person ought to follow the scholar, nor ought a person take part in discussions with the scholar'.
De: Many mixed emotions with that thought... the sentence is very accurate... I would guess that the idea is not liked by the outsiders today...
Alo: No, likely not... the people of today, who give to themselves the title of 'scholar', few of the individuals truly are scholars... most of the individuals are mere word-reciters... ... which is very obvious, because none can describe the definition of any of their words... none of the individuals care about truth, nor so much as care about useful knowledge... all they care about is social status, and material wealth.
De: And, of course, good food!
Alo: Ha! Yes, of course, that also! It is interesting to me also, that the ancient word for 'scholar' was surely used in the historical sense of being a scholar-official, of an individual whose knowledge and understanding was admirable, skillful... that he was commendable... honorable... traits that almost never exit in today's cultures. Today, the ancient word also implies an intellectual... intelligensia... but look... how many intellectuals amongst the outsiders are not ashamed of bad clothes and bad food?
De: Good question... I remember seeing old films of intellectuals who dropped-out of society in the 50s... beatniks some of them... but today, no, I have not seen one myself... nowhere...
Alo: Ah, but... my big grin, is because I am looking at one right now...
De: Oh! But, then... my grin is for me also looking at one!
Alo: Ha! Ah, but this is silly... we are very normal, not intellectuals at all... although, only normal for our culture... not normal for the outsiders.
De: But the item of interest here, is that neither of us are concerned of wearing the types of clothes that outsiders wear... we do not wear robes, nor the other uniforms that most all followers wear... and our food... our food is organic, maximum quality, fresh from the gardens... not old, like in stores... although, the outsiders would surely say that our food is bad because it is not bought from a filthy store, nor served in a filthy restaurant.
Alo: Also, our home... small, no city electricity, no telephone, no cable, no satellite... wood heating, no air conditioner... we grow our own cotton, weave our own clothes... most people would judge us to be living primitively... almost all outsiders would be ashamed to live as we do... but we are also clean, we have clean water, clean air, clean food, clean clothes, clean home... none of which does any outsider have... theirs is filth...
De: But there, there is the difference... we are not like the outsiders... they value the memorizing of words... they believe that memorizing many words is all the knowledge that can be possessed... we value the living a correct way... we understand the way... and we create... the outsiders create nothing... none are worthy of being followed, nor worthy of a discussion of important topics.
Alo: But the sentence's words... it could also be argued that the outsiders' scholars are not interested in truth, nor a dao, nor a correct path... which would permit the sentence to not be speaking of scholar outsiders...
De: True... it could then become an ad hoc excuse for the outsiders... they could then claim that it is proper for them to be the masters of all people, and to hunger for expensive clothes and expensive foods...
Alo: But still the outsider scholars will always claim to be speaking truth...
De: Yes... the ad hoc excuses would contradict themselves...
Alo: The sentence is merely a sentence... one or many people's opinions... which does not mandate that the sentence must be true, but... the sentence is true, because no individual who is sincere in their goal of correctness, will let the truth be swayed by a higher desire for material gains.
De: Which, immediately, renders all of the scholars' claims of possessing truth, to not be true...
Alo: Yes... agreed...
De: A long time ago, I had a dream... I was sitting on the floor of the small living room in the house where I first lived... my facing the west... it was a pleasant afternoon... several other people were there also... sitting on the floor near to me, their facing east... one of the people handed to me some money... my happiness of the dream, and of now, is that I was already so happy and content in the dream, and when I looked down at the money in my right palm, I thought to myself of how great was the sum... the sum was larger than all that I owned... thirty-five cents... a quarter and a dime... ... ... I was so happy with life, and still am, that money has no importance in my life... and I just now realized, that today, right now, the thirty-five cents would still be judged to be a sizable sum of money...
Alo: Our pockets are empty right now...
De: Yes, as almost always...
Alo: When we sell produce by the highway, one day a year, to pay for land taxes, and sometimes a needed tool, or to help others... the sum seems to be huge to me... hundreds of paper dollars... we keep none... perhaps, maybe, in some ways, we are close to living your dream?
De: Yes... but much better...