Professional Documents
Culture Documents
East and West Thoughts
East and West Thoughts
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• The survival and success of the group ensures the well-being •Both collectivist and individualistic
of the individual, so that by considering the needs and feelings cultures have their failings. People in
of others, one protects oneself. individualis t cultures are susceptible to
• Harmony and the interdependence of group members are loneliness, and people in collectivist
stressed and valued.
cultures can have a strong fear of
• It sees the group as the important element, and individuals are
just members of the group. The group has its own values
rejection.
somehow different from those of the individual members.
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• The third social construct is the self being rational. In the western practice,
there is no time for the self to be weak and emotional. The self must not waste
3. The Self as Embedded in Relationships and Through
resources on meditation and other metaphysical cognitions but to be constantly Spiritual Development in Confucian Thought – Eastern
rational and reasonable. The self masters the causal relationships of things.
Everything must be explained by logic and reason. Phenomenon outside the Construct
• Eastern social infrastructures are mostly seen as contrary to the western
logical realm are simply discredited and rejected. This explains the western individualist ic construct. The eastern social construct is primarily viewed as
logical positivist movement. It contends that what is rational and reasonable collectivistic and is always grounded on nature. There were many eastern
are only those which can be logically viable. The successful self therefore, is traditions that flourished in the history of thought that were firmly based on how
grounded on one’s investment on reason and logical thinking. the self relates to others, to the Divine Being and to nature.
• It also necessarily follows that when the self adapts the rational-logical
conception of things, one must be scientific. The self marvels at the safety
measures of scientific procedures. Scientific researches ascertain the cause and • The eastern traditions are primarily composed of the ancient Asian philosophi es
effect relationship of things and phenomena. Safety is derived from the mastery from India, China, Japan and the Middle East. The Hindu and Buddhist traditions
of the phenomena concerning the self. This brings about the ideals of self- spring from India. The Confucian and Daoist traditions originate from China.
efficacy in which everything can be explained by science, and everything can be Japan also developed the Shinto traditions. The Judaeo-Christia n and Islamic
provided for by science. The successful self embraces the scientific conception traditions laid their foundations in the Middle East. However, in this particular
of things that affect one’s growth, psycho-physical development, intellectual section we shall focus on the Confucian spirituality and philosophy.
capacity, interaction with others and involvement in societal institution s and
infrastructures.
• Confucius or Kung Fu Zi ascertained the ancient Chinese civilization by • To carry out the transmission , one must have the correct procedures and
protocol. In Chinese philosophy, religious rituals are of great importance. The
establishing social order. The society will be led by wise leaders who word li originally means sacrifice. In time, the principle of li is better understood
guaranteed peace, prosperity and harmony. Here in the Confucian system as refined manner of spiritual rituals and sacrifices, and protocols in honoring
we can immediately notice the primacy of the society over the individual the ancestors. Li is both the restraining and the refinement of the self. The
person. In fact Confucius believed that the threat to social order is only virtuous self must be able to practice the correct customary procedures and
caused by the unchecked selfish desires of individuals. The self therefore protocols governing all of life.
in the Confucian system is a person within the society who exhibits
refinement and compassion.
• Another concept in Confucian philosophy is the principle of ren. Ren is the
character of the self that sincerely shows compassion for others. The self must
• The refined and compassionate person was what Confucius envisioned as embody human-heartedne s s by prioritizing the self-interest of others. The sage
junzi. It is the new self formed in the right education under the virtuous king – jenzi – is characterized by his practice of ren in putting others first before
teacher as the role model. Central in the educational formation of junzi are the self.
humanistic learning, refined personal manners and the capacity to govern
the community wisely and with compassion. In principle, the new self of • Although Confucius was not given the opportunity to become the leader of
junzi – the sage king – brings to life the virtues of the ancestors to the new China, his principles of jenzi, li and ren became influential all throughout China
order of society. The self therefore is the transmitter of the ancient virtues even unto many other modern civilizations of the world.
to the new world.
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• To conclude, we commonly hear the dichotomy between the east and the
west. The eastern traditions are known for their communal and spiritual
constructs. On the other hand, the western traditions developed a
construct of being individualistic, self-reliant, rational and scientific. In Hinduism
this chapter we were able to distinguish between the individualistic and
collective self. We clarified the many western constructs of the self vis-à- Who is the self?
vis the relational and spiritual construct of the east. The self is Atman, the innermost essence of the self,
whose destiny is to be Brahma in Nirvana. Attachment
• In this section we also discovered that there are still many other of the self to the material world called maya/illusion
traditions by which we can derive the conception of the self. We have leads to the suffering of the self called samsara. The self
initially identified the African traditions and conceptions of the self. We
also have noted the distinction between the traditions of the north versus then has to liberate itself from this ignorance by
the south. Our understanding of the self therefore, must not only be cultivating an authentic knowledge (self-realization)that
limited to the dividing differences between east and west. the self is NOT MAYA but ATMAN.
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ASSIGNMENT
1. Accomplish the Enrichment Activities on
pages 61, 62 and 77.
2. Quickie Survey: Interview at least 3
persons and ask them if they think they
are beautiful and ask them why they say
so.