Replying to LO30255 --
Dear Organlearners,
Greetings to all of you. I wrote last time
>Dear Andrew, i have given only my thoughts which are not
>meant to overrule any of yours. I do not know what set your
>thinking into action, but lately i often thought how much love
>is essential to humane living. It is the very essence (not
>essentiality) of humane living -- Homo sapiens amans. That is
>why i decided to call the 7Es the seven essentialities of
>creativity rather than the seven essences of creativity -- to
>distinguish them from all other essences of the living universe.
It may seem that i am becoming mad by responding to myself. But actually i
want to add something which i stumbled upon a few hours ago. It fits
nicely in with the above.
Mo Tzu probably lived between 470 and 391 BCE. Thus he was born about ten
years after Confucius' death. The following file has interesting
information on Tzu. < http://www.humanistictexts.org/motzu.htm >
Among other things Tzu wrote the following:
~~~~~~
3 But where did these calamities come from, from universal love?
Mo Tzu said: They arise out of want of universal love. At present
feudal lords have learned only to love their own states and not those of
others. Therefore they do not scruple about attacking other states. The
heads of houses have learned only to love their own houses and not
those of others. Therefore they do not scruple about usurping other
houses. And individuals have learned only to love themselves and not
others. Therefore they do not scruple about injuring others.
When feudal lords do not love one another there will be war on the
fields. When heads of houses do not love one another they will usurp
one another's power. When individuals do not love one another they
will injure one another. When ruler and ruled do not love one another
they will not be gracious and loyal. When father and son do not love
each other they will not be affectionate and filial. When elder and
younger brothers do not love each other they will not be harmonious.
When nobody in the world loves any other, naturally the strong will
overpower the weak, the many will oppress the few, the wealthy will
mock the poor, those honored will disdain the humble, the cunning will
deceive the simple. Therefore all the calamities, strife, complaints, and
hatred in the world have arisen out of want of universal love. Therefore
humanists disapprove of this want.
~~~~~~
It is clear that Mo Tzu also thought (universal) love to be the essence of
humane living, already some 2400 years ago! What is even more striking
is how he used leaders and their organisations from various levels of
complexity in his argument -- households and feudal states. It is almost
as if he saw both the individual and the organisational dimensions of love.
There is lots of other topics which Mo Tzu touched upon. I think fellow
learners will enjoy many of them. His wisdom address many problems of
modern society.
With care and best wishes
--At de Lange <amdelange@postino.up.ac.za> Snailmail: A M de Lange Gold Fields Computer Centre Faculty of Science - University of Pretoria Pretoria 0001 - Rep of South Africa
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