16.3 Three caution in three stages in life
孔子曰、君子有三戒、少之時、血氣未定、戒之 在色、及其壯也、血氣方剛、戒之在鬥、及其老也、血氣既衰、戒之在得。
Confucius said, ‘There are three things which the superior man guards against. In youth, when the physical powers are not yet settled, he guards against lust. When he is strong and the physical powers are full of vigor, he guards against quarrelsomeness. When he is old, and the animal powers are decayed, he guards against covetousness.’
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When young, energy is abundant but not stable, be careful not to lost one self in following different forms of desire in life, it is time to set our goal into something healthy and positive;
When mature, energy is strong and stable, be careful not to lost one self in competing and beating up of others, it is time to consolidate what we have achieved, and allow others to do the same.
When in the old age, energy is declining, be careful not to hold on to what is achieved, like health, fortune and fame, it is time to relax and pass over our roles to the next generations.
Confucius describe our desire very lively in this chapter. When we are young, we are easily swayed by various desires in life; when we are getting more mature, we are drawn to competition and status in life; when we have achieve money power and fame in late years, we want it to last forever. Isn’t it so? Even for spiritual student, there is desire to health, to knowledge, to experience, to power, to longevity, then we want spiritual enlightenment. While some of these qualities are healthy and necessarily, over emphasis and attachment would lead to dogma and enslavement.
Actually, temptation to various forms of desire is present in all age of life, much like the temptation the genius professor perceived in the movie – A beautiful mind. You just need to accept it and endure it in a non-attached manner, just like in meditation, and then the phenomenon will pass over time. Awareness, discernment, acceptance, and patience are key in facing one’s desires.
16.3 君子有三戒
孔子曰、君子有三戒、少之時、血氣未定、戒之 在色、及其壯也、血氣方剛、戒之在鬥、及其老也、血氣既衰、戒之在得。
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年轻人阶段，精力很充沛，但并不稳定，容易在各式各样的欲望中迷失自己，是时候建立健康和积极的人生目标;
成年人阶段，能量是强大和稳定的，但要留意，不要因为斗心去盲目的和人竞争和比试，是时候巩固自己已得到的成就，并让其他人也有空间去做他们的事。
老年人阶段，能量慢慢下降，不要抓住已有的，如健康，财富和名利等;是时候放下，并让下一代接棒我们的事业。
孔子在这一章非常活泼的形容了我们的欲望。年轻的时候，我们容易被生活中的各种欲望所左右而迷失，当我们越来越成熟时，又往往会为了名利去与他人进行无止境的斗争，当我们实现了金钱，权力和名声后，又希望它能永远的持续下去。我们的欲望是不是这样的？即使是心灵学生，也会有对健康，知识，体验，力量，长寿，成佛成道的渴望。 虽然适当的去寻求这些特质本身并无不当，过分的强调和执着，就会变成教条和束缚。
其实，各种形式的欲望的诱惑，在不同的年龄都可能出现的，就像诱惑在电影<美丽的心灵>中的天才教授一样。我们只需要接受它，但不跟随它（就像在打坐时遇到不同的现象一样），然后它就会随着时间而慢慢消退。面对个人欲望时，关键在于意识，明辨，接受和耐心。
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