"Set your heart upon the Way, rely upon Virtue, lean upon Goodness, and explore widely in your cultivation of the arts." (Book 7: 6) These key terms were previously commented and somehow explained, but now the Master talks about something that has never been mentioned: the arts. I personally describe arts as human creative skills applied in a visual form such as dancing, singing, or painting, but I would say that the meaning of this quote goes much deeper than the literal sense. In this case, the arts would be the fruit of the cultivation, which is also known as the Way. The Master might mean that you have to explore in the making of these arts, but what do the arts have to do with this anyways? However, the meaning of this quote is just so thoughtful for me to comprehend. The only thing I do understand is that Confucius thinks that the arts are important and he supports them as long as they are appropriate for Goodness.
We are all here to learn. We learn from others and we learn from our mistakes and even sometimes, we learn from the mistakes made by others. “When walking with two people, I will always find a teacher among them. I focus on those who are good and seek to emulate them and focus on those who are bad in order to be reminded in what needs to be changed in myself." (Book 7: 22) I think that this is something we should all do. We should look for virtues in those exemplary others in order to learn and follow them as well as we should focus on those who aren't as great in order to know and be reminded of what needs to be changed in ourselves. This isn't something very easy to do, and this is why you should do it because those hard things to achieve are the ones that are actually worth it.
"Is Goodness really so far away? If I simply desire Goodness, I will find that it is already here." (Book 7: 30) Throughout what I've read, I realized that what everybody should be aiming for is Goodness. However, they make it seem as unreachable for some and as a very difficult state to get to for others. But why? Is it because of the great effort that it needs? This might be the reason for why we give up so quickly and giving up shows that we don't really want it. The only thing you need to do in order to achieve Goodness is to desire it.
"If you are respectful but lack ritual you will become exasperating; if you are careful but lack ritual you will become timid; if you are courageous but lack ritual you will become unruly; and if you are upright but lack ritual you will become inflexible." (Book 8: 2) I am not sure of the meaning of ritual in this, but I think that I understand what the Master wants to say by it. Everything in excess is bad and if you are not able to control your actions and their level, they will be seen negatively. I believe that ritual is used as a key word for it somehow reflects the culture and refers to its standards.
"May I inquire about death? You do not yet understand life- how could you possibly understand death?” (Book 11: 12) I agree with this completely and I find it extremely logical. In order for one to understand death, you must first understand life. If we are still working on giving life a meaning, why do we question about death? For there to be death, there must be life so in order for us to question death, we must understand life first.
I am actually learning. This is better than school.
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