Knowledge
“The philosopher Tsǎng said, ‘I daily examine myself on three points: whether, in transacting business for others, I may have not been faithful; —whether, in intercourse with friends, I may have not been sincere; —whether I may have not mastered and practiced the instructions of my teacher.’” Analects 1:4*
Knowledge (Gentle Lessons)
Be gentle and kind to yourself, give yourself grace, keep striving.
The morning pages whisper
as sunlight turns each character
into something warm and living
not just words, but quiet teachers.
Three Soft Examinations:
Did I help with patient hands today?
Did my smiles reach my eyes?
When wisdom spoke, did I listen
with my whole self, not just my ears?
Some doors open when we knock,
others when we simply wait.
The oldest knowledge isn't loud -
it lives in teacup stillness,
in the space between thoughts.
When the ink fades (as ink will do),
the lesson remains like morning mist:
What matters most was never on the page -
but in how you carried it.
So, I begin again, not perfectly,
but willingly - tracing each character
until it feels less like reading
and more like remembering.
*James Legge, trans., The Chinese Classics Vol. 1: Confucian Analects (London: St. George Press, 2024), II: XXIV pg. 139.