Great Learning

Singapore time 9.34 am 26th August 2007

The Great Learning - Daxue

The Way of learning to be great consists in shining with the illustrious power of moral personality, in making a new people, in abiding in the highest goodness. To know one's abiding place leads to fixity of purpose, fixity of purpose to calmness of mind, calmness of mind to serenity of life, serenity of life to careful consideration of means, careful consideration of means to the achievement of the end.
(There is no details of how to achieve this end. My answer to this is meditation. Only this can calm the mind.)

Things have their roots and branches, human affairs their endings as well as beginnings. So to know what comes first and what comes afterwards leads one near to the Way. The men of old who wished to shine with the illustrious power of personality throughout the Great Society, first had to govern their own states efficiently. Wishing to do this, they first had to make an ordered harmony in their own families. Wishing to do this, they first had to cultivate their individual selves. Wishing to do this, they first had to put their minds right. Wishing to do this, they first had to make their purposes genuine. Wishing to do this, they first had to extend their knowledge to the utmost. Such extension of knowledge consists in appreciating the nature of things.

For with the appreciation of the nature of things knowledge reaches its height. With the completion of knowledge, purposes become genuine. With purposes genuine, the mind becomes right. With the mind right, the individual self comes into flower. With the self in flower, the family becomes an ordered harmony. With the family harmony ordered, the State is efficiently governed. With State efficiently governed, the Great Society is at peace.

(The repetition of events show the importance of the words. From the last four sentences, I draw three figures of body, one for self, one for family and one for country.)
http://www.geocities.com/alex_kew/image1/confucianism.gif .

So cultivating self consists in purifying the mind. When the mind is pure, our speech will be good, so will be our body healthy. Harmonize the family is by means of the perfection of the father. The father when perfect, the wife will be subservient and the sons (no son means no perfection) obedient. The country can be perfectly governed only when the king or president is perfectly pure. So the government is efficient and the citizens loyal. When this happens, the Great Harmony is in place throughout the whole world.
The men of old is referring to the new Sage, who will act (not talk) till perfection.

Thus from the Son of Heaven down to the common people there is unity in this; that for everybody the bringing of the individual self to flower is to be taken as the root. (Since that is so), for the root to be out of order and the branches to be in order is an impossibility. For a man to despise what he should respect and then be respected for having what he despises, is contrary to human experience. This is to be described as knowing the root.
(Cultivating self is the root of all good deeds. Start with mind purification first.)

As for what is described as knowing the root, this means the height of knowledge.

To know the root is to know Nature. That is also what I quote: 'The world is a stage, we are only actors'.
Nature creates this world and Nature can end this world. We as the created parts, cannot stop this Natural process.
Our duty is to do our part.

The above is also talking about One man who will perform his duty cultivating self, purify the family, cure the country and bring world peace or conquer the world. I hope I am this man. That is why I keep preaching my Confucianism.