The legend about him, or I should say one of the many legends about him, is that he was nine feet tall.
No one now believes that the great Chinese teacher Confucius was really nine feet tall.
Nine is a magic number. That number was chosen for a reason.
Saying that Confucius was nine feet tall meant, and means, that his ideas, and his presence, were nine feet tall.
We live in an age when our technological brain has grown out of control like a Frankenstein cancer, while our innate symbolic understanding has shrunk to the size of a pea, a pebble, a grain of sand, a puff of wind, or less.
Such a situation results in two dire consequences.
ONE: fundamentalism. An irrational belief in impossible fantasies.
TWO: secularism. An irrational belief that the only thing there is in this world is materialism (both scientific, and economic).
Neither of those two things are true, and both are EQUALLY dangerous: horrifically so.
It’s said that Moses lived to be 120 years old, and that when he died, his eyesight and his physical strength were undiminished, the same as they had been when he was 40, or younger.
He died on the mountain looking out over the Promised Land.
He never made it to the Promised Land, after forty years of leading his people in that direction through so many tribulations, troubles, and trials it is truly epic and astonishing.
He didn’t reach the Promised Land; but he could see it stretched out there before him from the top of the mountain.
Everything, and that means everything, about Moses’ death, as we know it now, is SYMBOLIC.
It is a historical fact that Confucius worked many small jobs throughout his life, such as being a shepherd, and being a record keeper.
It’s also a historical fact that he died as a “failure.” He only ever had seventy-seven disciples while he lived (and only ten who were truly close to him, but who were, in the end, more than enough), and no one in power, anywhere, was ever willing to implement his policies about how society should be run.
Had we (meaning humans) done so, many centuries of needless bloodshed, horror, oppression, conflict, and toil could’ve been avoided.
Confucius once said that he’d been too busy studying to notice himself growing older.
And he emphasized that the studying was done FOR THE LOVE OF STUDYING, and not for any other reason.
He believed that if you followed your own inner voice (which the Romans called the daemon) and turned yourself into the best possible person you could ever possibly be, no matter what else, and without worrying about the consequences, or lack thereof, that arrived, or did not arrive, from “the world,” then joy would come your way, and a kind of ultimate satisfaction, too.
Chasing down the material pipe dreams of the world is always a lost effort, according to Confucius. Like Jesus, he offered all of his teachings for free.
He also said that if a man (a person) has rough food, enough water, and a bent elbow to lay his head on, this was all one needed to attain happiness and satisfaction, IF these basic material necessities were/are accompanied by the burning spirit to live inside that comes from inside, and that can’t be taken away from the outside – by anyone, or anything, ever (unless you let them). (A Stoic philosopher once said, “Nero can kill me, but he can’t harm me.”)
I recently saw a “homeless” man standing outside his dilapidated and falling-down tent on the West Side of Chicago, Illinois, USA, in a green, sunny field, otherwise known as an abandoned lot.
He looked healthy enough in his own way, and he had a bottle in a paper bag in his hand, and HE WAS DANCING in the sun.
Just that, and it was enough.
All by himself, outside his tent, homeless and probably alcoholic, in a ragged field, the black man danced, and sang.
The sun and the bottle and the green grass do not last forever, but they are enough, if you are enough, inside. All three of these things are real.
AND: SYMBOLIC.
Hi Dale
Thank you for another insightful document. Funny you should speak of Moses, for I am currently in Exodus. It was his temporary pride with the Rock and the Staff and forgetting (however briefly) who really was in charge that left him gazing at the Promised Land. In a very real sense, he may still be up there, waiting.
Confucius was unfairly smeared by fortune cookie Charlie Chan racism early in the 20th Century. You get that when a Chinese detective is played by a Swedish actor. But things get better. And the “dudeism” founded by The Big Lebowski has done more to bring the way of the Tao into popular culture than any B movie ever did.
It is a strange strange strange world and both Moses and Confucious and you know it!
Leila
P.S. To all, please check out more of this writer’s work on Saragun Springs today.
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LA
Yes, the stereotypes of racism have done much to destroy peace in our time as in all times. In many ways, we (humans) haven’t progressed much further along than the days when the Vikings would travel around from village to village (and monastery to monastery) slaughtering anyone who was the slightest bit different from them.
The Dude abides as a model we can all ponder (and even follow). Many of us have always known who he really is (in comic form); as well as who the character called THE STRANGER in that movie also really is (the Stranger who is also the Narrator and the Creator of the Story, played by Sam Elliot).
Your project of going all the way through the KJV chapter by chapter from cover to cover is one of the coolest and most awesome projects I have ever heard of or ever will hear of.
DB
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Cheers Dale, interesting one. His core teachings are timeless
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Thank you. Much of India is another model for this sort of thing, where so many (many many millions) admire Jesus, without exactly thinking about him in the way many Christians do.
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what a lovely image you paint of the homeless man dancing in the sun. His reality may be hard from many points of view but there is the sun and presumably his inner music. I stood at the Moses memorial a few times when we lived in Jordan. To quote a comedian (I think it might have been Billy C) You could see for miles. Don’t know if it actually was the spot but people believe it, there is a lovely little church like building with a beautiful mosaic floor. If only mankind would listen and learn and dance to silent music we would be in a better place. Sigh – dd
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Thank you, Diane.
Your phrases “inner music” and “silent music” are different versions of exactly what I mean. Thanks too for the description of the Moses memorial. In many of these cases, I really do believe that the STORIES are much more important than the so-called “FACTS” (although that, also, is always a very fine line).
I also believe that, many times, so-called uneducated people actually know more than the so-called educated (and intellectually arrogant) people do.
The world struggles on, getting a little worse and a little better every day!
Dale
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Dale,
Just outside my small town, there is an old house called ‘Pisgah’ (which as you will know was the name of the mountain from which Moses saw The Promised Land). I was told that it was called Pisgah because it was built for the nephew of the local laird, whose estate Pisgah overlooked. The nephew had expected to inherit, but to everyone’s surprise, his uncle married in his old age and fathered heirs. ‘Pisgah’ is a term often associated with envy. But surely Martin Luther King had it right in his famous speech, when he said, trembling with emotion, ‘I have SEEN The Promised Land.’ We should hope to see The Promised Land’, not for ourselves but for those that come after us. Surely that’s what our parents hoped for too.
bw
mick
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Thank you, Mick!
Your passion for, and rational knowledge of, history is always an inspiration. As we’ve talked about before, so many literary critics waver between being historians of a sort, and so many historians are (or almost are) a kind of literary critic as well.
The last two sentences of your comment/s here say it all, absolutely. Everyone on the Planet (and anyone watching us from above, whether they are or not) should read and ponder these two sentences.
Dale
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Hi Dale
This is a terrific essay!
So much good in it.
This line created an awesome image. “our innate symbolic understanding has shrunk to the size of a pea, a pebble, a grain of sand, a puff of wind, or less.”
I can see this understanding floating away. Genius! And it’s humorous in the great DWB way!
(A Stoic philosopher once said, “Nero can kill me, but he can’t harm me.”) It is what’s inside.
“HE WAS DANCING in the sun.” Another truly great image of the homeless man capturing the essence of this essay. All he needed was the green grass. some air, and a little libation in a brown paper sack.
Great symbolism throughout and thought provoking–Nine feet tall!
CJA
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CJA
I often think about how the ancient Romans believed that EVERYBODY, and that means everybody, has a genius, or daemon. Some were good and some were evil and some were both; and some were developed and some were not developed: and not developing your own daemon was seen as the greatest sin.
That does not, of course, mean that everyone is a literary genius or artistic genius.
I often think, as well, about how Confucius, Socrates, and Jesus 500 and 400 years after them all did their MAIN work FOR FREE. Because they believed, as much as they believed anything, that taking money for it would CORRUPT it.
DWB
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Another insightful and interesting essay. Confucius’ words rang true then and as they do now too. (Although I do prefer a pillow to my elbow.)
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Hi David
There were many times when Confucius was sent out on the roads by the powers that be (“Leave now or we’ll kill you now”), so he probably didn’t have access to a pillow at all times. Probably he was just trying to make the best of it, is my best guest!
Thanks for your consistent commentary on my work, it is deeply appreciated!
Dale
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Hi there Dale,
A very thought provoking piece of work!
I think it’s sad that the supermarkets have taken all the magical numbers of the desperation cards and put all the dearer scratch cards in those dookits.
I don’t mean to insult, my last few quid have went on them many a time! You see numbers 4,7,9, 13 being the expensive ones. Don’t you just love how the corporate arseholes have dug into our desperation and made money from it!!!
Regarding materialism – Whenever we asked my da’ what he wanted for his birthday and suchlike, he always stated ‘Peace of mind’.
He wasn’t a man who looked beyond what he could understand and was a tad sceptical. But I absolutely pished myself when a lovely but very frightening Gypsy Lady came into our place of work, pointed at him and said, ‘You are a man that only wants peace of mind!’ I had to leave. He bought a lace table cloth but never told us how much he had paid!!
I also love a quote from the most brilliant ever piece of TV writing, (John Sullivan) ‘Only Fools And Horses’ when Del. the main character stated, ‘I only need a ha’penny more than I can spend.’
Your wonderful piece of writing did make me remember that anytime I am in The Highlands, and I look wherever, I quote a friend of mine…’Is this no a bit good!!!’
Excellent as always!!!
Hugh
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Hi Hugh
It is a noble thing how you keep your father’s spirit alive by writing about him. In truth, this kind of thing was/is indeed the main core of Confucius’ teachings.
And I believe that all Gypsy women do indeed know whereof they speak, all except the fake ones, that is!
Dale
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Find what is beautiful within yourself and be proud of that.
I don’t normally watch TV, got rid of cable, etc. and I’m watching a lot of football this week, with all the money, and all the commercials, and I do love the sport.
But I’m starting to think that maybe everyone is getting a little tired of this. The cars, the jewelry, the ‘superstars.”
Maybe it’s time for something new.
Or something old.
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This is brilliant commentary! Thanks for reading, thanks for writing in, and thanks for THINKING. We (humans) need more, much more. The technocrats get all the press but the philosophers (who often appear in the guise of underground artists these days) are much more important at every level.
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Thanks DWB. This morning I woke to five different AI editors critiquing my work in progress on WP, so that’s a new angle from the technoverse. The glee of new readers was QUICKLY replaced by sheer sweat-dripping horror. I will continue to write on WP, and I will continue to read on WP. And I will continue to be human, in spite of everything. No money, no machines.
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Yes. There are new forms of slavery arising right before our eyes. The worst part of the whole thing is that almost all of it is VOLUNTARY. I do not only blame a handful of sociopaths in San Francisco.
And yet, it is unethical (and should be illegal, hugely illegal, but is not at all) to perform vast experiments on billions of people without their permission, just so you can monetize it all and make yourself more and more rich and famous when you’re already rich and famous (and that’s the sociopath part).
The good news is (ironically) that the collapse is already happening, all around us.
And there are some of us who are still okay in the middle of all this (mostly).
You are right. We need something new that is also old. What a brilliant way to put it.
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money is a big part of it. remove money and a lot of the evil falls away. unfortunately, we humans are always fascinated by it, and willing to be lured into the trap.
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This one struck a nerve with me. I live and work in China most of the year, as a teacher of university students in their first year, and this being the ‘home’ of Confucius really made me reflect. Over here there is a rapidly increasing move for students to study subjects that are more scientific in nature, or business and finance focused – essentially an education that leads to good salary. Studying for the sake of studying is an honourable quest, which pretty much can’t fail, but sadly it’s a quest less and less seen in our modern reality.
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I’ve never been to China and never will go to China because of my health (I’m okay but can’t travel that far under the stress of all the airports, etc.), but I’ve studied it a little bit.
One thing I’ve heard about it is that it’s a place with very little crime that’s also the worst surveillance state in the world (with some exceptions like North Korea and possibly (but maybe not for sure) Russia, etc.).
Ending crime is a great idea but ending freedom along with it is perhaps not a great idea.
And yet, the twin team of the UK and the USA, I believe, should not be so SCARED of China as they are. In many ways, China is a better actor on the world stage (it seems to me) than the USA is. They are NOT all plotting behind the scenes to take over the world (I don’t think). And they are smart enough to know that thinking about the future is a good idea (UNLIKE the USA).
The USA is still way richer than China. But if China surpasses us, I am not going to weep any tears. Such things are as natural as the winds and the tides.
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I would say that both fundamentalism and secularism have some truth, they are not completely untrue, though I find idealism to be the worst when put into action – it always falls prey to human nature. At least with secularism there’s some tolerance of other views. When the philosophy of Confucius is described, “when you turned yourself into the best possible person you could ever possibly be, no matter what else, and without worrying about the consequences, or lack thereof,” this sounds rather Nietzschean, the exertion of the will brings personal power. Maybe these philosophies were not so far apart, though I don’t know much about Confucius. And I think that watching, or experiencing, the vision of the dancing homeless man might be much more intriguing than actually being that man. Being a writer I am big on the observations. Confucius himself believed that empirical and reflective observation are both critical for knowledge. Thought provoking essay!
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