The Great Supreme (5)

1 Yan Hui asked Confucius, “In handling bereavement, Meng Suncai is called the best one in Lu. However, I carefully watched his behavior in his mother’s funeral and I wondered that he factually is so-so.

2 First, he did weep ever but not wailed. He looked sad but not broken-hearted.

3 I doubted that he was not grieved indeed. Do you think he just get his reputation by fraud?”

4 Confucius smiled. “You have misunderstood him. He has been a man of perfect practice. His thinking has transcended all the wise and sage scholars in this world.

5 Though some worldly affairs still remained in Meng Suncai’s concern, he is fairly thorough in practice. As for the foundational questions, such as where we come from before birth and go after death, he has no exact answer yet; he is uncertain in the sequence of handling worldly affairs. Nevertheless, it is of importance that he is ready in mind to delightedly accept the future and whatever happenings after death.

6 Yan Hui, we can’t force ourselves to say no change to the things that will change soon.

7 I believe that the thing people consider would eternally unchange is changing even now.

8 We two are sitting here. Maybe we are virtually in the dream, not waking up.

9 The another point that Meng Suncai is more advanced in is that he believes fresh body is changeable but his soul and the thought are immortal. So he deems there is no so-called death. The death of human is just to change his appearance so as to find a new sustenance.

10 He just followed others to weep, as you watched, he factually had no grief in his heart.

11 Yan Hui, do you notice that we often say 'I', but what is 'I' that we often say on earth?

12 When you dream that you were a bird and you did a sudden soar to the sky. When you dream that you were a fish and you sank down to the bottom of sea. Are you exactly sure that we are discussing here, not doing in the dream?

13 Before smile, there must be an idea or scene to make a man to smile on spot. Hence the smile gives out naturally. The consciousness never instructs him how to open the mouth, to stretch muscle, and to beam in eyes. So the consciousness virtually is passive in our body and what it dominates is rather limited.

14 The problem is that we are long being told that the consciousness is the dominator of the conduct. Therefore, in our whole life, we let the consciousness being our master and let him leading us into a place where itself doesn’t know very well.

15 For this reason, we should wake up and make closely examine the essence of the consciousness. We should put the consciousness aside in handling the foundational issues and let the things happen in its sequence.

16 Such fixed changes as life, death, illness and aging, we don’t interfere with and let them be.

17 If we could reach this level, we would say to have a little of achievement in practice.”