Curbing the Nature戒性篇

The Jingxing lu says, "The nature of a person is like water. Once water is spilled it cannot be gathered again, and once the nature is let loose it cannot be turned back. He who controls water must do it with an embankment. He who controls the nature must do it with ritual and law."

Bear one moment of anger and you escape a hundred days of worry.

If you can bear it, bear it first. If you can guard against it, guard against it first. Bear nothing and guard against nothing, and a small matter grows great.

All the vexations there are, every one of them, are born of not bearing. When you meet an affair and face what is before you, the marvel lies in seeing clearly first. The words of the Buddha rest on being without strife, and the books of the scholars hold being without strife dear. How good a cool, open road it is, and how few in the world walk it.

Bearing is the treasure of the mind, and not bearing is the ruin of the body. The tongue is soft and stays in the mouth always. The tooth breaks only because it is hard. Weigh this one word, bear (忍), and it is truly the way to live at ease. Fail to bear for a moment and the vexation grows longer day by day.

When the foolish and the muddled grow angry, it is all because they have not got through to the principle of things. Do not add flame on top of your mind. Make it only a wind beside the ear. Long and short are found in every house, and the world that warms and cools is the same everywhere. Right and wrong have no real form, and in the end they all come to nothing.

Zizhang was about to set out on a journey, and he took his leave of Confucius, saying, "Grant me one word, that I may make it the beauty of cultivating myself." Confucius said, "Of the root of all conduct, bearing is the highest." Zizhang said, "What is it to bear?" Confucius said, "If the Son of Heaven bears, there is no harm to the state. If a lord bears, he achieves his greatness. If an officer bears, his rank rises. If brothers bear, the house grows rich. If husband and wife bear, they finish their years together. If friends bear, their names are not ruined. If a man himself bears, he has neither disaster nor worry."

Zizhang said, "And if one does not bear?" Confucius said, "If the Son of Heaven does not bear, he loses his state — the corrected edition and the reprinted edition have 'the state is left empty' —, if a lord does not bear, he loses his body. If an officer does not bear, he dies by punishment. If brothers do not bear, each goes off to live apart. If husband and wife do not bear, they leave their children alone in the world. If friends do not bear, feeling and purpose grow distant. If a man himself does not bear, his worry is not taken away."

Zizhang said, "How good a word, how good a word! It is hard to bear, it is hard to bear. One who is not a human being cannot bear, and one who cannot bear is not a human being."

It lies in bearing and enduring.

The Jingxing lu says, "He who bends himself can live among the many. He who loves to win is sure to meet his match."

Zhang Jingfu said, "Small courage is the anger of blood and breath. Great courage is the anger of ritual and right. The anger of blood and breath must not be there. The anger of ritual and right must not be absent. Know this, and you can see what is upright in nature and feeling, and know where the principle of Heaven parts from human desire."

When a bad man scolds a good man, let the good man make no answer at all. If the good man scolds him back, neither of them has wisdom. Make no answer and the mind is clear and cool, while the scolder's mouth boils hot. It is just as when a man spits at the sky and it falls back on his own body.

If I am cursed, let me feign deafness and not sort out right from wrong. It is as when fire burns in empty air and goes out of itself without being put out. The fire of anger is like this too. It catches on whatever another has, but if my mind is like empty air, you are only wagging your lips and tongue.

Laozi said, "The higher scholar does not contend. The lower scholar loves to contend."

Leave some human feeling in every affair, and later you will meet again on good terms.

Someone asked Huian (Zhu Xi), "What is destiny?" The master said, "The nature is what it is. Anyone whose character does not get through to others and does not come near human feeling is a man of thin destiny."

An earlier scholar said, "Only when you do what others cannot do are you called a rare man. Only when you bear what others cannot bear are you a great man."

To be gentle and yielding is the root of guarding the body. To be hard and strong is the cause that calls down disaster.