"Money & Morals"
April 9, 2013

The following is a Q&A for an Eastern Philosophy Class taken Spring 2013 at College of the Siskiyous.


TheEasternPhilosophyTeacher wrote:

If education made moral development its most important emphasis, would society improve more (compared, for example, to the contemporary emphasis on reading, writing, and arithmetical skills)? Draw from Confucian philosophy to craft your response. First reply due by Thursday.

Responded:

If the above statement were true, then things would already be resolved, and they actually are resolved.  This will be seen as everyone lets things be as they are and do not try to change anything, though even trying to change things is included in it.

The wise one gets to see that there is nothing to change in the world, even the wanting to change things is allowed, obviously.

The only way a moral code could work is if there were an individual that could abide by it, however, there is only One no matter what anyone thinks and it is experiencing life through the one reading this.  You have not ever once been in control of anything (try and not do what you do).

You have only had the "thoughts" that you have had control, but thinking something doesn't make it real - does it?  Thinking is behind action.  You are not the/a thought.  You can “think” you are a pink elephant and it doesn't make you one.  You think you are a man or a woman, but it doesn't make you one, you think you are in a body - but it doesn't make it true.  These are all lofty ideas and crazy talk until it is investigated fully.

Even once it is investigated fully, you will still seem real to you (why would you not want this to seem real?), but you will Know that you are/it is not.

If all placed the attention on what they Truly Are (what is before thought, what thought appears IN), then there would be no more talk of morality or there would be, but there wouldn't be a care about the talk.

Confucian philosophy is like all philosophy, it is just talk. Truth has no philosophy or religion or care for whether one practices or doesn't or educates or doesn't - is moral or isn't ... it (which is not an it) just Silently is Aware, Still and Aware of All.

The Truth of you is closer than your own breath.

And:

In regard to Confucianism, there is nothing wrong with education, although in the case of discovering who you are, it can be a hindrance. 

If you have a big brain, a large intellect, it can become like a giant weight that you cannot bring into the Kingdom (Stillness).  If one is full of who they "think" they are, the challenge becomes quite great to let go of who one thinks they are to discover who they actually Are.  Because there is so much invested (like education) in the creation of the identity and it is actually the identity that sort of hides/conceals the Truth of You.  Like a cloud over the sun can momentarily conceal the sun.  Such are beliefs and thoughts and concepts and ideas they are all clouds that cover over the sun (YOU).

Still one would be wise to educate themselves and not take it too seriously, use it to ask your own questions of yourSelf.  Don't just accept what is handed down to you as truth but investigate it fully, whatever you have read has been handed down to whoever wrote it from someone else, and so on and so forth.  All words are written on water, it is not the words themselves, but what the words appear IN that one must discover.

All religions spring forth around the Teacher or Teaching, but the Teacher has no religion or teaching. That as a good starting place for your own Awakening.  Do not follow someone else - let others open your mind to the possibilities.  

All Teachers had Teachers even if it was something withIN them.  One does not have to be something special or born under a sacred star...all stars are sacred...you are Sacred and you are as able to discover what Teachers have Discovered and be a Teacher yourself, but be authentic, use your education to educate yourSelf in who you ARE.  Let all things in the world push you back into the Stillness it all resides IN.

Confucius lived his life the way it came through him and many enjoyed his ideas and his ways of being, but they were his, and unless one is true to their own Self they cannot follow someone else's lead.  All one need to do is begin to watch themselves like they are being watched, which you are, you are being watched by yourSelf. (Notice the Noticer.) (This is where the idea for Santa Claus and spirits come from...but all that is watching you...is YOU - not the you that you think you are ... which leads to the question, if I am not who I think I am ... who am I?  Who’s Watching?).

TheEasternPhilosophyTeacher wrote:

Consequently, the government is printing money (billions of dollars each month) out of thin air, which is the hidden tax of inflation, reducing our purchasing power monthly.  This is an immoral use of our resources and talents, and will make your lives interesting, to say the least. 



Responded:  


My biological Father, who rarely spoke, took me to the United Nations when I was very young maybe around 6 to 8 years of age - I retained the memory.  He stood there in front of these very large buildings and advised me to not become attached to money.  That it is not real, it is an illusion and will not always be in our midst and the less dependent we are on it, the better. He said that money was supposed to be supported by gold, but that was no longer the case and that it would eventually collapse.

I did not know why he was telling me these things, but since he rarely spoke, they made a lasting impression and as I made my way in the world there were times I was surrounded by people with great amounts of money and material objects and other times by people that had little or no money and very few possessions. It was revealed that having money could make one miserable, if the happiness was dependent on money and objects, and yet a poor person could be quite happy finding that everything they needed always showed up.  However I have also met very unhappy poor people because the dependence was on money or material things.

What my Father ultimately offered, was the Gift of dependence on the Self.  Giving up the dependence on the world and what the world will do and placing it on what doesn't Move, doesn't Change, doesn't Alter and yet supports all things that do.