PureInsight | May 21, 2006
[PureInsight.org] Confucius (BC
551- 479) is regarded as one of the greatest teachers and philosophers
in Chinese history and has had a very significant influence on Chinese
morality and arts. In his latter years, he travelled with his students
to various states (ruled by warlords) to spread his teachings but was
not very well received at the time.
Once when Confucius and his students were in the State of Chen, they
ran out of food and all of the students fell ill. One of the students,
Zi-lu, also a famous scholar, complained, "So, it is possible for a
righteous person to become destitute!" Confucius replied, "A righteous
person can guard his morality and virtue even when he is destitute;
whereas a wicked person will resort to all sorts of vices when he is
destitute."
Our moral standard shouldn't change according the situation we're in.
We are sometimes tested to see whether we can stay unmoved and hold on
to our principles in tough situations. Many people will compromise
themselves according to the situation, and they gradually and slowly
move away from their own principles.
Confucius taught us the standard of being human that has maintained the
morality of the Chinese people for over two thousand years. The
so-called modern people, however, deride the teachings of Confucius.
That's because the moral standard of the modern society has slid down
tremendously.
When practitioners of Falun Gong want to "be good people", some people
become suspicious and think that the practitioners have ulterior
political motives or are mentally ill. Nowadays many people no longer
know the standard of being human.
Translated from: http://zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2003/8/28/22601.html
