Confucius Analects – Wisdom and Awareness – 孔子论语 – 智慧，觉力

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3 responses to “Confucius Analects – Wisdom and Awareness – 孔子论语 – 智慧，觉力”

1. 

   妮姬

   2013-03-04

   Are we ready?…. What does this mean?

   Does this mean one needs bravery? If so, is this bravery like that of the archer in the picture… being brave in the face of some great difficulty/ opposition…. or is it the bravery required to be at the receiving end of the archer’s (sage’s) arrow… symbolically allowing part of one’s self to die, so as to change/ evolve into something more enlightened?

   Or perhaps being “ready” means something completely different…..

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   1. 

      Derek

      2013-03-04

      Courage is needed to face the world, and to face one self. When one start the the process of self inquiry, one will get to know deeper and deeper what one is, good and bad, desirable and undesirable, physical and non-physical, true and false, illusive and everlasting. It takes courage to face them, wisdom to discern and contextualize them, compassion to embrace them, concentration to be freed from them, willingness to surrender the illusive, and humility to dedicate one’s life to the highest good of all. These qualities take time to cultivate, and therefore, depending on one’s level of cultivation, Buddhists say that while insights, understandings and realizations can be spontaneous, often it takes great extended period of time for one to perfect these qualities to be at one with the Buddhist destination of full enlightenment. Therefore, to equip oneself for the spiritual endeavor, we need to be cultivate these basics qualities. This is what i mean for ready.

      Reply
2. 

   妮姬

   2013-03-04

   Is part of this process of facing ourselves… like what the the archer (孔子) above might advise…”When the archer misses the center of the target, he turns round and seeks for the cause of his failure in himself.”

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