Dettagli
Leggi di più
Why am I reading this story to you? Apart from letting us remember a loyal and noble gentleman, I want you to remember that we keep the precepts and keep ourselves clean, but we are not obstinate. Understand? (Yes.) Jie Zitui was, of course, a very clean and uncorrupted man, but from my humble point of view, he was too obstinate. […] Yeah. Even if he didn’t want the award, he could have just come out and said, “I don’t want it. Thank you, my lord.” And then it’d be OK. And by the way, tell the King, “I heard that you have gained the world; it was due to the grace of God. I claim no merit in it at all.” Then he could let the King and his ignorant subordinates have some noble ideas to think about. No? (Yes.) If they didn’t think in that way, it’s their own business. He wouldn’t lose anything. […] Besides, it wasn’t just about him; it was also about his most respected and beloved mother. She was quite silly as well. Her son didn’t have the right concept, and she didn’t correct him. Instead, she supported him, which led to his tragic death, and her own death. […]
The Kings of China in the past all liked to commemorate those who were patriots and loyal to the King, in order to strengthen their own position. To encourage their citizens to die for the kings, they constantly spread this kind of message, elevating these improper figures into heroes for people to worship. This is a kind of brainwashing. Take Confucius, for example, he taught us many, many things. He did not just teach us to be loyal to the King and love the country. Is it not so? (Yes.) But those kings used loyalty and patriotism to brainwash our children. There were other profound and noble principles, which were not paid attention to. […]
Therefore, sometimes, when we look at the world, people’s concepts are upside down. They say it’s good when it’s not so good, and they say it’s not good when it’s good. Having your parents killed is not right. Is it? (No.) He let his mother die without any reason – not sacrificing for the country, or protecting the country. He just wanted to protect his reputation, just for a little integrity. What is so great about integrity? There is no particular reason, and he just killed himself for the sake of integrity, and forced his mother to die. I think that was just too ignorant. Therefore, we can’t follow these examples. […]
