Charlie Brown meets Confucius: The Analects (part 1)

Confucius is one of the world's greatest sages and philosophers. It is important that we understand him and his influence to make sense of China, Asia and philosophy today.

It is easy to get bogged down and confused about Confucius (so to speak). So we will have two sessions (May and June) to get some foundations settled.

I suggest, in order to prepare well (but not having to do a deep dive from which you can't surface), please read the Wikipedia entry on him. Make some notes of points that strike you. I will have a summary available of the key points.

We will focus this month on some quotes his work, the Analects (read that entry on Wikipedia as well) which are a great well of wisdom.

As always, we will try to get as good a feel of his thought as we can, and then we will have as free and open discussion as possible on how we apply that today.

Some starter quotes from the Analects:

“To be wealthy and honoured in an unjust society is a disgrace.”
He Who Knows And Knows That He Knows Is A Wise Man - Follow Him;
He Who Knows Not And Knows Not That He Knows Not Is A Fool - Shun Him”
“Fix your mind on truth, hold firm to virtue, rely on loving kindness, and find your recreation in the Arts.”
“If names be not correct, language is not in accordance with the truth of things.”

See you soon, Stuart 027 915 9805