Roland L.

Aparece Ancient Chinese Philosophy

MAT Philosophy, ADMU April 25, 2008

Reflection Paper on the Analects Text: 7:6. Confucius said, “Set your will on the Way.
Have firm grasp on virtue. Rely on humanity. Find recreation in the arts.”

It seems to me that Confucius sets a deeply reflected step by step procedure for the
person to live and grow according to the Moral Way.
“Set your will on the Way.”
Upon analysis, I think that there are two very important dimensions of this
imperative: the subjective pole which refers to the personal act of setting one’s Will on the
Way, and the objective pole which refers to the nature of the Way. I think the two
dimensions may be distinct from each other but they are inseparable. Strictly, no subject
exists without an object and no object exists without a subject who will give meaning to its
reality. For this reason, instead of dichotomising the two, I discerned to integrate them in
my analysis since they are supposed to be united.
The first dimension is the setting of one’s Will on the Way. This involves focusing, the
act of concentrating one’s will on the Way. In metaphysics, we investigate human intellect
and will as the highest dynamisms of human existence. Accordingly, the intellect refers to
one’s receptor to know the truth, the drive to know all that there is to know about all that
there is, and the will refers to our internal inclination to the good. But as regards the
imperative at hand, we are called instead to focus on the Way, on virtues, and not the
metaphysical concept of the good. At this point, the most important question for me is,
what is the importance of focusing one’s will on virtues?
I believe this first step is very important to my setting in life right now as I am about
to take the comprehensive examination in MAT Philosophy. Honestly, focusing on my will is
my greatest concern right now. I find it hard to focus myself as I prepare for my
comprehensive examination while I also need to study and meet the demands of my regular
classes this summer. Indeed, it is only this summer that I encountered so many challenges.
I even ask myself, why now when I am about to take the comprehensive examination? Why
not there in Bohol where I feel so comfortable and relax? Why do I find it so difficult to
focus myself on my studies? These questions simply reflect the present reality that keeps on
bothering me. For the first time my dormitory has an internet wireless connection or wifi.
Thus, I have almost unlimited access to the internet. Oftentimes I succumb to the
temptations of surfing the net because I have my laptop. The internet is very engaging. I
usually start with good reasons like doing research, checking my emails then in the end I
too find myself opening up some irrelevant and naughty sites like chatting, and others. This

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consumed a large amount of my study time last week. At a certain point I could not contain
anymore my failures vis-à-vis my inner struggles. So, I really visited my confessor last
week and received the sacrament of reconciliation. Now I’m a little bit happy. There might
be some backlash but I’m now on the flow, I’m now on the process of enjoying my studies.
Reflecting from this sad experience, I realized that my will is very weak. It seems
that I have a servile will. A will which is free yet it allows itself to be enslaved, to be
enslaved by the internet. More so, I think the structure facilitates this addiction because of
the availability of the wireless internet connection and the opportunity of having access for
the first time, even in the privacy of my room. Reflecting deeply, I realized that my personal
relationship with God and my career is at stake if I will not stop this vice. So, I really prayed
for God’s help and even ask my friends and family to pray for me to gain this strength of
will that I needed in order to focus on my studies. Good enough last night, I accidentally
changed the setting of the wifi connection in my laptop. My wireless connection has stop.
Great! I’m so happy and I deliberately choose not to fix it. It was a blessing in disguise
because here am I starting to do my obligations first like doing my reflection on the
Analecs. Interestingly, I really chose the aforementioned text because it fits my present
disposition. Concretely, the aforementioned question pops up in my mind again as I started
to reflect in prayer: what is the importance of focusing one’s will on virtues? More so, what
will strengthen the will of the person?
Ultimately, I believe it is the objective pole, the nature of the Way that grounds the
greatest motivation to strengthen the will of the person. The Way refers to the Moral Way.
This includes four (4) virtues: propriety, wisdom, righteousness and love for humanity.
Strictly, the Moral Way refers to virtues, habits and not metaphysical values. However, it
seems to me, basing from that recent experience, that the effects of living out these virtues
are somehow similar to the experience of possessing the qualities of higher values.
Concretely, it is by trying to live the Moral Way that I experienced a certain depth of
contentment. I feel contented with what I’m trying to live. Indeed, I just feel good now even
if I’m still on the process of practising these virtues in my life. This “good feeling” is due to
the Moral Way which is good! This felt depth of contentment refers to my sense of peace
and self-fulfillment that I experience upon living out these virtues. I think the will must be
grounded on good virtues to make this peace of mind and self-fulfillment possible.
Moreover, this simply implies that there is a mutual attraction between the
subjective pole and the objective pole. The subjective pole has this inner longing for the
Moral Way and living according to the Moral Way is also good and valuable in order to
satisfy this inner longing. Conversely, if the objective pole is not good and valuable, then

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the search for other realities to satisfy one’s heart’s desire will not stop because the person
is not contented. Concretely, this is what I encountered at friendster.com in the internet. I
searched for beautiful ladies with the hope that they will become my friends or girlfriends.
Objectively, it’s good to have friends and keep in touch with them from time to time. But,
the search goes on and on till it becomes personally addictive and time consuming. It has
become a vice in me, it is engaging but no sense of satisfaction is achieved. I felt superficial
and empty last week because of this. The thought that I did not study much because I keep
on surfing the internet keeps on bothering me. So I have no peace of mind and self-
fulfillment. Indeed, it was only when I receive the sacrament of reconciliation that I
experience peace and so I was able to move on. I’m now on the process of focusing myself
on the Way. Therefore, I resolved to do my obligations first before entertainment. No
matter how appealing the entertainment is.
Secondly, how to focus and strengthen the will? The moment a good motivation has
been established, then one can now ask on the procedural steps, the correct process of
strengthening and focusing one’s will. There are many procedures intended to make the
intellect and will strong. From a military point of view, a certain distinction about the means
of achieving this end is worth noting for. In military training, there is a heavy stress on
physical exercises to strengthen the body as well as the will of the person under training.
On the other hand, religious formation is quite different. In my experience, we used to have
exercises and games for physical conditioning, character building and community building.
But more so, I was puzzled why our spiritual director before implemented a fasting every
Friday lunch all throughout the Lenten Season and sometimes even outside the Lenten
Season. At first I was protesting because we only eat champorado during breakfast and no
meal will be served at lunch time. I was even rebellious that when given the chance I would
sneak to the kitchen and eat something to address my hunger pangs. Honestly, it was only
during my postulancy-novitiate formation that I came to realize the value of penance and
fasting in strengthening the will of the person. When I reached the theological formation,
my spiritual director, Fr. Thomas Green, instructed me that human will is like a muscle. It
needs some form of exercise to make it strong. In this case, penance and fasting plays a
very important role in strengthening the will of the person. He added, to strengthen one’s
will, one has to avoid what one enjoys the most. In my case, I really enjoy eating delicious
food. Thus, to strengthen my will, I have to eat less than what I naturally inclined to. It is
indeed a sacrifice, but a strong will is needed to fight against temptations. Honestly, it was
only when I become a lay person, an educator, when I face so many temptations in the
academe that I realized that penance and fasting really help to be firmed to one’s principles

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and convictions. But it is sad to accept that I fall again this summer. Why did I fall? What
should I do as I focus my will to the Way? This inquiry brings me to the next point of
reflection, the challenging imperative of Confucius: Have firm grasp on virtue. I believed
this imperative, has both intellectual and existential dimensions. It requires a clear
comprehension on virtue by using one’s intellect and the existential witnessing of what the
virtue demands.
First, the intellectual part is very important because knowledge is a function of
freedom. To know the virtues is important in living out the virtues in real life situation.
Thus, the more a person knows about the Moral Way, the four virtues, the greater will be
the range of choices available to him. Conversely, the more ignorant a person about the
Moral Way, the lesser will be the range of choices available for him. This is the reason why
conscience has to be informed. Otherwise, how could a person choose the good if that good
is unknown to him?
Second, the existential witnessing of the virtues that we grasp is equally important.
If virtue is about concrete life actions and habits, then it is by means of concrete life
examples that a person grasps what virtue is all about. So in the order of priority, one has
to experience virtue first before one could understand what virtue is all about. There are
several points under this existential dimension. First, I think the existence of good role
models to achieve this end is very important. Good models give us good examples. Good
examples from good models are significant because young people are very much formed by
those persons whom they admired. The crucial part here is that the object of their
admiration must really be objectively worthy of our admiration. Second, I think the call for
creating good habits is important in this existential dimension. Maybe this is one of the
reasons why I fall again this summer. If virtue is a habit concerned with a rational choice
then we have to keep on doing it until such extent that it becomes part of our second
nature. Personally, my day will never be complete without finding me doing such good
habit. Concretely, the more I study and prepare for the comprehensive examination each
day, the more the habit of studying becomes part of myself. It follows then that my day will
be incomplete if I will not be faithful to my habit of studying my lessons. In other words,
there is already a created proactive disposition in me to study so that whatever maybe
temptations will come along the way, I’m hopeful that I will continue to study. Third, is
about the humble acceptance that we human beings are living in the edge, we are frontier
beings. We are embodied spirit, not pure spirit, not pure body. An important discovery here
is the nature of human brain. As a product of evolution, evidence suggests that human
brain is a combination of the reptilian brain (brain stem and spinal cord), mammalian brain

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(midbrain, cerebellum) and the neo cortex or cerebrum. Sometimes when we are so sad
and stressed, our individual perspective is narrowed down to our family or worse, we
operate only on the basis of survival in moments of crises like what the reptiles are doing.
It’s quite disappointing to reflect that sometimes human beings, possessing intellect and
will, are acting like the reptiles because their goal is only for pleasure and survival. Or it
could be that we are acting like mammals who are only concerned for their kin and families.
The challenge therefore is to use our intellect and will in service for humanity and the whole
creation. This is the function of the neo-cortex or cerebrum which is in charged in
performing higher cognitive processes like thinking and reasoning. But since this part of the
brain evolved in the latest part of the evolutionary stage, its connection is not very strong.
So in face of difficulties, problems, our natural tendency is to seek what is pleasurable or
what will ensure our survival. Now the challenge here is, how to establish a firm connection
in our brain in such a way that our human intellect and will must always prevail in choosing
and doing what is good for humanity even if we are under problematic situations? Here I
think Confucius imperative was right: “Have firm grasp on virtue,” so that it will become
part of our nature. In other words, we must have the habit of doing good all the time so
that even if we are problematic, even if we lack sleep or suffering pain on the occasions of
having dysmenorrhea, still we will do good because it is already our habit, an established
part of our nature.
“Rely on humanity.”
The trust and love for humanity is one of my saving moments this summer. I really
appreciate the basic goodness of humanity. This is the reason why I keep on asking the help
of my friends and family to pray for me in my moments of crises. At times we really need
the help of other people. By relying on humanity, in the long run I also gain back my
humanity. If it appears that I acted like an animal before as I become addicted to the
internet, now I gain back my humanity because other people help me to be what I am
today. We really need a good support system knowing that human being is really living on
the edge, a frontier being: capable of degrading ourselves by acting like reptiles and
animals, but also capable of acting on the basis of reason like a true human being.
“Find recreation in the arts.”
To be human is both a gift and a task. Animals may have the ability to play as dogs
and cats tried to play with each other. But to find recreation in the arts is a purely human
act. To enjoy painting, literature, dancing, martial arts, singing, sculpture, musical play and
other art forms involves the use of intellect and will. “To find recreation in the arts,” I
believed, Confucius wants us to become more human. Why? Precisely, it’s because through

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the arts one can acquire virtues. Thus, he calls us to develop the gifts by making human
beings fully alive in their humanity and be aware of human responsibility also over creation.
Indeed, animals can play but they could not compose a song or paint. So ultimately, the
human responsibility to guide the proper flourishing of creation could not be abdicated from
us. We really need to follow the Moral Way. Therefore, Confucius was right: ”Set your will on
the Way. Have firm grasp on virtue. Rely on humanity. Find recreation in the arts.”