Confucian Legacy

The Confucian Legacy was the teachings Kung Fu Tzu (Confucius)

who is a Chinese philosopher, ethician and values teacher.
Confucianism is a moral philosophy and values teaching which
strongly emphasizes the individuals place in society.
Later developments in Confucian philosophy tried to broaden the
scope of philosophical system.
Confucius followed the middle course between Taoism and Mo Tzu.
Confucius taught the importance of moral imperfection called Chin
Shan for the individual and of social order called li for the group.
The way to attain moral values is through natural means: (1) being
true ones nature (chung) and (2) applying those principles in
relationship with others (shu).
It also teaches that man is the ruler and the master of the universe.
Mans duty is to see to it that nature must serve human ends.
Mans obligation is to preserve right human relationship.
Confucianism offers three contributions in the field of values and
moral philosophy.
Doctrine of the mean. Moral values lies in the middle. All
excesses are basically evil.
Natural Law. Every person supposed to have within himself the
four natural law principles: humanity (jen), justice (yi),
wisdom (te), propriety (li).
The Golden Rule. Stated affirmitively, the golden rule says Do
unto others sa you would want others do unto you.
The Analects of Confucius contains his teachings and sayings.
Confucius fought for education for all.
Three objectives of moral education: the promotion and
development of a man as a man, the training of good citizens and
official in service to other people and the transmission of culture.
Confucius taught four important things which are culture, ethics,
loyalty and truthfulness.
Analects gives us Confucius idea of what constitues good
government.
For Confucius, peace and security, economic stability and above all,
faith are requisites of good government.
To govern is to rectify
Confucius perceived the origin of the socio-political problems of his
time more as MORAL.
The four cardinal virtues: jen yi, chih and li. Fifth value- hsin.
Li- propriety, Chi- wisdom, yi-righteousness, and jen is humanity,
love, benevolence or manness.

Zen-Buddhism
Zen-Buddhism- Zen moral philosophy arose out of experience of the original and
spontaneous activity of the mind aimed at keeping the elemental and cultural life of
man in the state of element simplicity possessing the vigor of the spontaneous and
instinctive. It stresses intuition (satori). Wisdom is considered paradoxical and it only
valid approach to it is an appraoch that is anti-rational.
THE MAJOR ETHICAL AND SOCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF ZEN-BUDDHISM ARE
AS THE FOLLOWS:
a.) Essential Passivity- The principle of wu-wei or in action. This views man as
essentially passive and comparable to that inactivity of the bamboo that bends
when there is a strong wind but never gives up. That is why this morality is called
the way of the bamboo.
b.) Union of Contradictories- What seems logically rationally incompatible. (eg,
subjectivity-objectivity, attack defense, passive-active) are resolved in the mid of
satori.
c.) The Ordinary. Zen-Buddhism emphasizes what is my ordinary in our everyday life.
According to D.T. SUZUKI, It seems to me that the Japanese are great in changing
philosophy in art, abstract reasoning into life, transcedentalism into empirical
immanetism.
According to Zen- Buddhism, a man experiences non-attachment the moment he
awakens to his true-self. Awakening or satori is an intuitive, experiential knowledge,
beyond feeling, knowing and believing by a high spiritual faculty, of the absolute
oneness of all beings, the unity in which there is no separative, assertive self.
3 Stages Concerning the Way towards this Awakening:
a. Sila (Virtue)
b. Samadhi (Mental Culture)
c. Prajna (Wisdom)
Zazen or sitting mediation, with its basic elements of erect sitting posture,
correct breathing and concentration of mind, aims stilling the ceaseless waves
of sense images, imagination and thought that obsture the purity and clarity of
the mind, so that one can see his ture self. Its most important purpose is not
render the mind inactive but to quiet and unify in the midst of activity.
The interior posture consists neither in reflecting on something nor in ceasing
to use the mind. It lies deeper than both : munen-muso that is the absence of
concepts and thoughts, which is possible only when one penetrates to a
deeper state of conciousness, pure conciousness which is not limited by any
particular images. It is a state of no mindness which is not simply emptiness
of mind but non-graspingness.