Tuesday, December 2, 2014

With great politeness, comes great sacrifices...

"Tzu-kung wanted to do away with the sacrificing of a lamb at the ceremony in which the beginning of each month is reported to ancestors.  Confucius said, “Tz’u!  You love the lamb but I love the ceremony.”  [Analects 3:17]".


Such statement above shows the importance of ritual politeness; the modesty which must be observed in a specific ritual/ceremony. Like Yi (Righteousness), it involves an expense, a certain sacrifice. Perhaps in Yi, we are to sacrifice our personal biases to establish what is righteous in a way, the same with the practice of Li,  what is needed to be sacrificed is also something that would somehow, once gone, will be beneficial for a specific ceremony/ritual. Therefore, It is indeed, yes, a sacrifice to one's own wild-spirited freewill, because you are to follow a certain circumstances which is therefore, of control over you.

What is the Master trying to say here is that, yes, it is also to be considered that we have our own personal preferences (like not to sacrifice the lamb), but if it is for the betterment of a certain rite, one must not be selfish enough to not to cooperate and exercise such practice. In other words, in matters concerning about the rituals, nothing is more important than the ritual itself. Let us say that, if the lamb is to be sacrificed for the ceremony, it must be done accordingly. 

Nevertheless, we are to comply such need to sacrifice matter/s that will, if not being get rid of, encumber the said practice. By showing that you are willing to give up something for the greater good of the ritual then you are really of a good chance to be considered as a Chun Tzu/ noble man. 

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