CONFUCIANISM AND SELF-REALIZATION

K’ung-fu-tzu (551-479 B.C.E.), the man we know in the Western world as Confucius, dedicated his life to learning and teaching. To him, learning was an end in itself, something done to improve one’s character, not a means to an end, like trying to advance one’s status in society or accumulate wealth (Ming, 1993, p.142).

To love and seek knowledge for its own sake is another way of describing this philosophy. Note that one never ceases to learn. There is not enough time in a lifetime to gain all possible knowledge. Even if we had eternity at our disposal, I wonder if anyone could ever come to know everything. A true sage knows to be always alert for new insights. These may come from any source, including a master’s students.

Confucianism does not see the individual as a disconnected entity in the world, but as the center of a number of relationships. The family, the community, the government, nature, and the realm of Heaven all form part of that significant environment. The self, therefore, is not a closed system, but an open system that must seek continuous transformation to achieve self-realization (Ming, 1993, pp.142-143).

The Confucian ideal is not for people to seek spiritual enlightenment apart from the world. The way of hermits is not the way of Confucius. Communication with the outside world is inevitable and, over and above, desirable. Aside from our instincts, nobody arrives in the world with innate knowledge. We must learn from others. Not only do we learn from the present generation, but from our cultural traditions, the legacy of our ancestors.

The more learned and educated we become, the greater our sense of self-worth. That, in turn, enables us to participate in society and the world of politics as true moral agents, giving opinions and making decisions based on the knowledge and wisdom we have accumulated. We do not have to depend on others to lead us by the hand most of the time. Ignorant people face greater dangers. They become easy prey for fanatical leaders looking for a following, and they become the victims of unscrupulous business people and criminal elements.

Before reading about Confucius, I had already adopted an active disposition to self-realization. All my life, I had been a good student. When I began my religious journey, however, my desire to learn and to know intensified greatly. Now, I try to teach others what I think I learned, always ready to adjust my opinions in the light of contrary evidence. That I self-transformed is obvious to me, for I am not the man I used to be back then. Furthermore, I am aware self-realization will never end, and that makes me happy. There will never come a time when learning is no more. I will always have a future world awaiting my discovery.

Bibliography: Wei-ming, T. (1993). Confucianism. In Arvind Sharma (Ed.) Our Religions (pp.141-227). New York: Harper Collins Publishers.