Tag: Confucius

Three Truths of Wisdom: Confucianism and Christianity Explored

Confucian wisdom has three components:

cultivation of the person

meaningful action nourished by heavenly splendor

harmony of one’s wisdom with the wisdom of others

Christian wisdom knows the soul needs three truths:

knowledge of God’s goodness

knowledge of self

cure for the world’s woes in constant/humble/prayer

in Confucianism, filial piety

does not equal blind obedience/subservience

to age and authority –

a son will correct his father 

when he knows his father is wrong

similarly, the minister will correct the prince 

when the prince is wrong

in Christianity the beginning of wisdom 

and nondual consciousness

involves seeing not only the goodness of things

but also their weakness/failure/dark side

the ‘prosperity gospel’ on the other hand

tries to see only the good side of things

and divides everything into either/or

good/bad – there is no realism/

no middle ground

and so the ‘prosperity gospel’ weaves 

Christianity and the American dream of wealth together

breeding fanaticism and unbalance

the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965)

recognized that the institutions/laws/

modes of thinking of earlier generations

were not well adapted to contemporary realities

but the Council Fathers/Bishops/Archbishops

wanted to aid those trying to preserve three truths:

the holiness/natural dignity/greatness

of ordinary life and its superlative value

much as Confucianism does.

CHILDLIKE MINDFULNESS

Trungpa Rinpoche, like many Buddhist monks

never got trapped in unnecessary hope

or groundless fear

was never for or against results

not attached to things working out

just lived life freely/with curiosity/

as an experiment/like a child

 

children were always the models Jesus used

to teach his disciples the spiritual life

and the children’s story of Jonah in the belly of a whale

was Christ’s only metaphor for transformation –

you have to go into the dark

before you can see the light

 

if while practicing mindfulness we are not aware

of all the darkness/suffering in the world

it is not mindfulness but escape

and if we could peer into the minds/hearts/souls

of those causing suffering we would realize:

we could be just like them and they know suffering too –

peering always creates compassion/love for our enemies

 

we are somehow connected to all humans

no matter how despicable

and this reveals a fundamental truth about life:

mutuality/interdependence/connection

are woven thru and thru the cloth of creation –

even quarks can only exist in dyads and triads

 

if integrated wholeness/oneness/consciousness

are the heart of cosmic personalization

they naturally lead to selfless/altruistic love

and, contrary to popular belief, Darwin himself

saw the survival benefits of cooperation:

if I help others I get helped

 

the “Hsaio Ching”/“Classic of Filial Love” –

a Confucian approach to the Tao

sees brotherly/sisterly love

as the greatest taproot

into the mysterious

“Will of Heaven.”

 

INNER TRANSFORMATION IS NOT ENOUGH

The starting point of Master Kung Fu’s teaching

is that there is a transcendent/unchanging/objective reality

called ‘heaven’

and there is an immanent/changing/contingent reality

called ‘Earth’

and there is ordered and disordered human life.

Confucius (Kung Fu) knew

the Universal Christ in his own way.

If one does not reach the transcendent God

and a world-centric stage of development

then pluralism and multiculturalism

descends into ethnocentric tribal wars and oppression.

Likewise, the scientific attempt to control all of nature

combined with patriarchal consciousness

which refuses to confront its shadow –

the possible extinction of the human race –

means we will continue to destroy

our Mother, Earth.

What is needed is to face the chaos

and name our collective fears –

once Jesus knew the name of a demon

it lost its power.

But it is possible to overdue

facing the negative –

the great Protestant thinker, Reinhold Niebuhr

as great as he was

focused his Christology too much on Crucifixion –

not enough on Resurrection and Christ the Liberator.

Niebuhr emphasized sinfulness so much

the power of grace was obscured.

But humans are first of all grace-full

made in the image of God

endowed with a conscience which is

“the most secret core and sanctuary

of a human being.” – Vatican II

Still, the denizens of 21st century culture

are goal-oriented consumers, not prayer-full.

The purpose of prayer

is not to get anywhere

nor consume anything

except God

in whose presence we already abide –

God, not culture, is the believer’s center.

We are desire-full

but the Cloud of Unknowing says:

“Gather all your desires into one

simple and short prayer-word

that enables you to focus your love steadily

on God. This sacred word will be your defence

your flaming weapon of war

in conflict or peace.”

But inner transformation of our desires

is not enough – the whole Christian church

has a three-fold outward task:

fellowship/ministry/witness

or in the Greek New Testament:

koinonia/diakonia/martyrdom:

the kingdom/queendom of God

survives by drinking

the blood of martyrs.

Churches need people transformed

inside and out –

transformed people transform people –

conversion happens by attraction

to converted people

rather than self-promotion

of my ideas

over and against

your ideas.

The world will only be saved

if transformed people

live their faith.