Standards of Perfect Human Nature (Ⅳ)

Xuefeng

Ⅳ. Modest, trustworthy and honest;

True modesty is seeking truth from facts, neither exaggerates nor disdains oneself. If Einstein says: "I am one of the greatest scientists, most scientists are not as good as I am, and some of them are not worthy enough to be my servant." We cannot say Einstein is arrogance, not humble, because that is the truth; if the Mao Zedong says: "I know little of politics tactics, I am no better than Qin Shihuang, Emperor Liu Che in Han Dynasty and Emperor Li Shimin in Tang Dynasty, neither am I as good enough as Lin Biao, Zhou Enlai and Liu Shaoqi." Then, it is considered as humble, because that's not the fact.

The sun is modest, the moon is modest, the peony is modest and the grass is modest.

The sun says: "I am not as tender as the moon." The moon says: "I am not as brilliant as the sun." The peony says: "I am not as easy growing as the grass." The grass says: "I am not as delicate and dear as the peony."

The sun says: "The moon is nothing. It is neither bright nor dark, neither near nor far, sneaks in and out, hides in the day and comes at night. How can it compare with me? See glorious and radiant, bright and open upright I am!" The moon says: "The sun is nothing. It hangs naked in the sky, it is defiant, insolent from the masses, it is neither reserved nor modest. How can it compare with me? See how considerate I am to allow stars to twinkle! "Peony says: "What? Are you talking about the grass? The mean and messily scattered grass? How can it compare with me? I despise the bigwigs and dare to fight with the emperor, can you? Are you qualified to do that? You know nothing except swing in the wind and being manipulated and kissing the ground and seeking for momentary ease. But I can bring the elegant, wonderful enjoyment for the people. Have you ever heard of the Peony Festival in Luoyang? That is specially designed to praise me! Little grass, are you able to do that? Useless thing!" Grass says:" Peony? You mean the "painted skin" who knows nothing but swindle by false pretences, seduce elite for its appearance, the showy, arrogant thing? Nothing to be boasting of! Were you not driven gloomily out of the Forbidden City by a piece of paper order from Wu Zetian? Just look at us! 'Wild fire cannot burn us all; when spring comes we are growing again '. When did you ever see we bend our noble heads to the human beings? Luoyang Peony Festival? Isn't it a narcissism farce of stealing the spotlight and relying on sensationalistic poor praise from human? Take a look at us grass, "Persistent through tremendous grinding and hardship, unbending no matter winds come from which directions" We have all traces in each and every wildness ,in each valley and gobi, how can a small Luoyang city hold our footprint? Are you kidding! "This is being not humble.

I know someone who was same as me and was brought up in a peasant family back ground. Later she got some fortune by borrowing money from someone and became a shopkeeper's wife. She often says something like this: "Look the ill-breed ghost of poverty! They are annoying me to death!" Every time I heard this, I felt like a fishbone in my throat, hard to spit out or swallow in. People forget the past suffering quickly and much quicker than the speed of the rockets. This kind of words forgetting one's class origin is just being not humble.

The truly modest people can reach this kind of state: everything in the universe is equal, I am nothing special. The universe is full of secrets and mysteries, and what I know is just a little. There are always bigger mountains than the one I know and the sky I see is not the entire sky, there are many turns in life, and there are still a lot for me to learn.

Being trustworthy is one of the significant symbols of perfect human nature. Being trustworthy is to fully to assume responsibility and obligation; Being trustworthy is to practice what you preach; Being trustworthy is not talking nonsense and deceiving others.

Parents raise children carefully is being trustworthy; children support the old is being trustworthy; the underlings do a good job is being trustworthy; superiors show concern and care to the subordinates is being trustworthy; strictly implement the contract, agreement is being trustworthy; keep one's word, and do not disappoint others is being trustworthy. Otherwise, it would be trustless.

A trustful man can be relied on and can be entrusted with authority; a trustful man has conscientiousness and won't fail you.

A trustless man is unknowable and cannot be entrusted. A trustless man is dangerous and enjoys quibble.

Honesty is the human nature. Simple is the nature of substances. Cunning is the nature of beasts and transcending is the nature of Buddha.

Honesty can be recognized as: practical and realistic, neither enlarge nor lessen, not knowing is not knowing, incapable is incapable, deer is deer, horse is horse, putting on "the emperor's new cloths" means wearing nothing at all, thirsty is thirsty and hungry is hungry, what says in the mouth is what keeps in the mind, not beating around the bush, nor steering according to the wind, or deceiving his superiors and deluding his subordinates.

Dishonesty can be recognized as: the true mingled with false, being speculative, pleasing someone against one's will, neither, confusing one thing with another, crossing the sea under camouflage, looking one way and rowing another, pretending to be obedient while looking for another way to escape, one face to God ,and another to the devil, putting a needle inside cotton, unmatched words with deeds, lying , quibbling, reneging a promise, deceiving, adulterating, giving short measure, lack of sincerity, promises were made to be broken.

Dishonest focuses on the four areas of battlefield, marketing place, official circles, love field where being honest means failure and elimination. But this is not what human intelligence and wisdom crystallization, but the exterior syndromes of evil and sinful human nature.

An honest man among a bunch of liars is just like a sheep enters a herd of wolves.

A dishonest man among a group of honest people is just like a wolf mixed in a herd of sheep.

An honest man might not do something big in a man's world but he can enjoy a life time serene and peace as well as the blessing from another life.

Dishonest people can have their days momentarily even a life time, but they cannot have a quiet and peaceful mind and cannot enter the one-thousand year world in the next life.

No matter how perilous the life is and how unpredictable changes of our destiny, if you want to have the perfect human nature and obtain good future of eternal, you must be honest and look further into the future and find more valuable life goal, and temporarily give up the lose and gain of "a city or town", you must take off the burdens of life and firmly stride towards a more brilliant future. Otherwise, the life can only be transmigrating in the lows life forever.