"There Are No Secrets" by Wolfe Lowenthal
OK...I was reading this book and this chapter had huge resonance for me. Consider this a "book preview", as it's been a pretty good read so far.
Note: if there are any rules about quoting copyrighted material...even though I give full credit to the book and author...let me know and I'll erase this thread.
From: "There Are No Secrets" Chapter 6 by Wolfe Lowenthal
"The philosopher Tsang said, 'I daily examine myself on three points: whether, in transacting business for others, I may have been not faithful; whether, in intercourse with friends, i may have not been sincere; whether I may have not mastered and practiced the instructions of my teacher.'"
-Confucian Analects, Chapter IV. James Legge translation
Tam and I were alone at the school one afternoon, talking about his study of Chinese when Professor came in.
"Lao Shr," Tam said, "there's a word in this passage I'm studying that I don't understand. Here the translator has written 'friends' but the Chinese word is not 'friends'. What is this word?"
Professor looked at the passage. "This passage is about what we are doing here, the study of GUNG-FU, the study of TAO.
He asks himself whether each day he does three things:
First, is he honest with people. He does not tell them lies.
Second, is his heart open with-this is the word you want- 'comrades in the same discipline.' This is the word you're asking about. You're right, it's not 'friends'. It's a different, special kind of relationship. It's what you two guys are, 'comrades in the same spiritual discipline.' It's a different reationship than friendship and in many ways higher.
What he's saying here is that for you, it is not enough that you just be truthful, that you not lie, as if you were doing business with people. Here you have the obligation to go further. Your heart must be open. Tam, if you have thoughts about Wolfe, you must tell him, you can't hold them to yourself. It goes far beyond the obligation you have in normal relations with people.
In the last part he asks, 'Daily, do I rekindle -like you would light a candle- do I daily rekindle the teaching that has been passed down to me?' Not just that you think about the teaching, but that it's alive. Even more, that it BURNS."
I have thought about that day and the Confucian text many times; thought about my inability to "open my heart." How many times, out of fear that I will be rejected, or that I will hurt someone I value, have I kept my thoughts secret?
In doing so, I deny my own truth. The resentment that builds inside me usually causes the relationship to deteriorate- the very thing I was trying to prevent.
Keeping my thoughts to myself also denies important, perhaps crucial, information for my "comrade's" growth. Even if someone would be hurt by my words, the fact that we are on the same spiritual path requires me to help him -and me- to become strong.
The obligation to help your comrade grow and become strong requires courage, but the "closed heart" denies itself the path.
