Chien Wu went to see the madman Chieh Yu. Chieh Yu said, "What was Chung Shih telling you the other day?" Chien Wu said, "He told me that the ruler of men should devise his own principles, standards, ceremonies, and regulations, and then there will be no one who will fail to obey him and be transformed by them."~ from Chapter 7, Burton Watson translation ~
The madman Chieh Yu said, "This is bogus virtue! To try to govern the world like this is like trying to walk the ocean, to drill through a river, or to make a mosquito shoulder a mountain! When the sage governs, does he govern what is on the outside? He makes sure of himself first, and then he acts. He makes absolutely certain that things can do what they are supposed to do, that is all. The bird flies high in the sky where it can escape the danger of stringed arrows. The field mouse burrows deep down under the sacred hill where it won't have to worry about men digging and smoking it out. Have you got less sense than these two little creatures?"
For most of our lives, we focus too much of our attention outward: How to influence or force others to do what we want them to do! In a nutshell, this is how we define governance.
For me, this is why I've always been suspicious of "leaders". In our society, so-called leaders spend all their time trying to figure out how to maximize human capital. They utilize fuzzy math, subterfuge, manipulation of science and a whole host of other tools in the attempt to shape reality so that it fits into their explicit and, too often, implicit political objectives.
But how can ANY of us govern others, when we fail so routinely in governing ourselves? We are slaves to our egos and desires. We wound others through word and deed as we follow are insatiable wants. We engage in behaviors that cripple our bodies and compromise our minds.
A true leader -- what Zhuangzi would call the real man or woman of virtue -- is one who can successfully govern the self. Until a person has succeeded in managing the microcosm of self, how could we even think we could rule a group or a nation?
How utterly arrogant -- and delusional -- is that?
To read more musings about the Zhuangzi, you can visit the index page for this ongoing series.
For me, this is why I've always been suspicious of "leaders". In our society, so-called leaders spend all their time trying to figure out how to maximize human capital. They utilize fuzzy math, subterfuge, manipulation of science and a whole host of other tools in the attempt to shape reality so that it fits into their explicit and, too often, implicit political objectives.
But how can ANY of us govern others, when we fail so routinely in governing ourselves? We are slaves to our egos and desires. We wound others through word and deed as we follow are insatiable wants. We engage in behaviors that cripple our bodies and compromise our minds.
A true leader -- what Zhuangzi would call the real man or woman of virtue -- is one who can successfully govern the self. Until a person has succeeded in managing the microcosm of self, how could we even think we could rule a group or a nation?
How utterly arrogant -- and delusional -- is that?
To read more musings about the Zhuangzi, you can visit the index page for this ongoing series.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are unmoderated, so you can write whatever you want.