Personalities of the Grand Universe

Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Book 6: The Cynics

On Talk. The seventh volume contains the following: On Education, or On Names, in five books. On the Use of Names: a controversial work. Of Questioning and Answering. Of Opinion and Knowledge, in four books. Of Dying. Of Life and Death. Of Those in the Underworld. Of Nature, in two books. A Problem concerning Nature, two books. Opinions, or The Controversialist. Problems about Learning. In the eighth volume are: On Music. On Commentators. On Homer. On Wickedness and Impiety. On Calchas. On the Scout. On Pleasure. The ninth volume contains: Of the Odyssey. Of the Minstrel's Staff. Athena, or Of Telemachus. Of Helen and Penelope. Of Proteus. Cyclops, or Of Odysseus.

Diocles records the following sayings of his: To the wise man nothing is foreign or impracticable. A good man deserves to be loved. Men of worth are friends. Make allies of men who are at once brave and just. Virtue is a weapon that cannot be taken away. It is better to be with a handful of good men fighting against all the bad, than with hosts of bad men against a handful of good men. Pay attention to your enemies, for they are the first to discover your mistakes. Esteem an honest man above a kinsman. Virtue is the same for women as for men. Good actions are fair and evil actions foul. Count all wickedness foreign and alien.

There is also his widely circulated day-book, which runs as follows: Set down for the chef ten minas, for the doctor One drachma, for a flatterer talents five, For counsel smoke, for mercenary beauty A talent, for a philosopher three obols. He was known as the "Door-opener" – the caller to whom all doors fly open – from his habit of entering every house and admonishing those within. Here is another specimen of his composition: That much I have which I have learnt and thought, The noble lessons taught me by the Muses: But wealth amassed is prey to vanity. And again he says that what he has gained from philosophy is A quart of lupins and to care for no one. This too is quoted as his: Hunger stops love, or, if not hunger, Time, Or, failing both these means of help, – a halter.

Discourses 3.22: On the Calling of a Cynic

But the Cynic, instead of all these defences, has to make his self-respect his protection; if he does not, he will be disgracing himself naked and out of doors. His self-respect is his house, his door, his guards at the entrance to his bedroom, his darkness. For neither ought he to wish to keep concealed anything that is his (otherwise he is lost, he has destroyed the Cynic within him, the man of outdoor life, the free man; he has begun to fear something external, he has begun to need something to conceal him), nor can he keep it concealed when he wishes to do so. For where will he conceal himself, or how? And if this instructor of us all, this "pedagogue," chance to get caught, what must he suffer! Can, then, a man who is afraid of all this continue with all his heart to supervise the conduct of other men? It cannot be done, it is impossible. In the first place, then, you must make your governing principle pure, and you must make the following your plan of life:

" You are the sun; you have the power, as you make the circuit of the heavens, to produce the year and the seasons, to give increase and nourishment to the fruits, to stir and to calm the winds, and to give warmth in moderation to the bodies of men; arise, make the circuit of the heavens, and so set in motion all things from the greatest to the least. You are a calf; when a lion appears, do what is expected of you; otherwise you will smart for it. You are a bull; come on and fight, for this is expected of you, it befits you, and you are able to do it. You are able to lead the host against Ilium; be Agamemnon. You are able to fight a duel with Hector; be Achilles." But if Thersites came along and claimed command, either he would not have got it, or if he had, he would have disgraced himself in the presence of a multitude of witnesses. So do you also think about the matter carefully; it is not what you think it is.

When he sees that he has watched over men, and toiled in their behalf; and that he has slept in purity, while his sleep leaves him even purer than he was before; and that every thought which he thinks is that of a friend and servant to the gods, of one who shares in the government of Zeus; and has always ready at hand the verse Lead thou me on, O Zeus, and Destiny, and "If so it pleases the gods, so be it," why should he not have courage to speak freely to his own brothers, to his children, in a word, to his kinsmen? That is why the man who is in this frame of mind is neither a busybody nor a meddler; for he is not meddling in other people's affairs when he is overseeing the actions of men, but these are his proper concern. Otherwise, go call the general a meddler when he oversees and reviews and watches over his troops, and punishes those who are guilty of a breach of discipline. But if you censure other men while you are hiding a little sweet-cake under your arm, I'll say to you: Wouldn't you rather go off into a corner and eat up what you have stolen? What have you to do with other people's business? Why who are you? Are you the bull in the herd, or the queen bee of the hive? Show me the tokens of your leadership, like those which nature gives the queen bee. But if you are a drone and lay claim to the sovereignty over the bees, don't you suppose your fellow-citizens will overthrow you, just as the bees so treat the drones?

The Dhammapada

Well-makers lead the water (wherever they like); fletchers bend the arrow; carpenters bend a log of wood; good people fashion themselves.

Those whose mind is well grounded in the (seven) elements of knowledge, who without clinging to anything, rejoice in freedom from attachment, whose appetites have been conquered, and who are full of light, are free (even) in this world.

Do not have evil-doers for friends, do not have low people for friends: have virtuous people for friends, have for friends the best of men. He who drinks in the law lives happily with a serene mind: the sage rejoices always in the law, as preached by the elect (Ariyas). Well-makers lead the water (wherever they like); fletchers bend the arrow; carpenters bend a log of wood; wise people fashion themselves.

The Bhagavad Gita

Earth, water, fire, air, ether, Mind, and Reason also and Egoism—these are the eightfold division of My nature. This the inferior. Know My other nature, the higher, the life-element, O mighty-armed, by which the universe is upheld. Know this to be the womb of all beings. I am the source of the forthgoing of the whole universe and likewise the place of its dissolving.

Desire, aversion, pleasure, pain, combination, intelligence, firmness; these, briefly described, constitute the Field and its modifications. Humility, unpretentiousness, harmlessness, forgiveness, rectitude, service of the teacher, purity, steadfastness, self-control. Dispassion towards the objects of the senses, and also absence of egoism, insight into the pain and evil of birth, death, old age and sickness, Unattachment, absence of self-identification with son, wife or home, and constant balance of mind in wished-for and unwished-for events,

Reason, wisdom, non-illusion, forgiveness, truth, self-restraint, calmness, pleasure, pain, existence, non-existence, fear, and also courage Harmlessness, equanimity, content, austerity, almsgiving, fame and obloquy are the various characteristics of beings issuing from Me. The seven great Rishis, the ancient Four, and also the Manus, were born of My nature, and mind; of them this race was generated. He who knows in essence that sovereignty and yoga of Mine, he is harmonised by unfaltering yoga; there is no doubt thereof.

Shinto Oracles

All ye who come before me hoping to attain the accomplishment of your desires, pray with hearts pure from falsehood, clean within and without, reflecting the truth like a mirror. If those who are falsely accused of crime come to me for help, within seven days their prayer will be granted, or else call me not a God.

Any one who makes a single obeisance to one Kami will receive infinite help: much more so any one who makes pure his heart and enters the great way of single-minded uprightness.

I refuse the offerings of the impure of heart. Some Gods are great, some small, some good and others bad. My name is Dai jizai wō bosatsu.

The Tao Te Ching

When a reconciliation is effected (between two parties) after a great animosity, there is sure to be a grudge remaining (in the mind of the one who was wrong). And how can this be beneficial (to the other)? Therefore (to guard against this), the sage keeps the left-hand portion of the record of the engagement, and does not insist on the (speedy) fulfilment of it by the other party. (So), he who has the attributes (of the Tao) regards (only) the conditions of the engagement, while he who has not those attributes regards only the conditions favourable to himself. In the Way of Heaven, there is no partiality of love; it is always on the side of the good man.

Favour and disgrace would seem equally to be feared; honour and great calamity, to be regarded as personal conditions (of the same kind). What is meant by speaking thus of favour and disgrace? Disgrace is being in a low position (after the enjoyment of favour). The getting that (favour) leads to the apprehension (of losing it), and the losing it leads to the fear of (still greater calamity):--this is what is meant by saying that favour and disgrace would seem equally to be feared. And what is meant by saying that honour and great calamity are to be (similarly) regarded as personal conditions? What makes me liable to great calamity is my having the body (which I call myself); if I had not the body, what great calamity could come to me? Therefore he who would administer the kingdom, honouring it as he honours his own person, may be employed to govern it, and he who would administer it with the love which he bears to his own person may be entrusted with it.

1. Colour's five hues from th' eyes their sight will take; Music's five notes the ears as deaf can make; The flavours five deprive the mouth of taste; The chariot course, and the wild hunting waste Make mad the mind; and objects rare and strange, Sought for, men's conduct will to evil change. Therefore the sage seeks to satisfy (the craving of) the belly, and not the (insatiable longing of the) eyes. He puts from him the latter, and prefers to seek the former.

The Analects of Confucius

To Chau belonged the eight officers, Po-ta, Po-kwo, Chung-tu, Chung-hwu, Shu-ya, Shu-hsia, Chi-sui, and Chi-kwa.

The men who have retired to privacy from the world have been Po-i, Shu-ch'i, Yu-chung, I-yi, Chu-chang, Hui of Liu-hsia, and Shao-lien. The Master said, 'Refusing to surrender their wills, or to submit to any taint in their persons;-- such, I think, were Po-i and Shu-ch'i. 'It may be said of Hui of Liu-hsia, and of Shao-lien, that they surrendered their wills, and submitted to taint in their persons, but their words corresponded with reason, and their actions were such as men are anxious to see. This is all that is to be remarked in them. 'It may be said of Yu-chung and I-yi, that, while they hid themselves in their seclusion, they gave a license to their words; but, in their persons, they succeeded in preserving their purity, and, in their retirement, they acted according to the exigency of the times. 'I am different from all these. I have no course for which I am predetermined, and no course against which I am predetermined.'

When the Master saw a person in a mourning dress, or any one with the cap and upper and lower garments of full dress, or a blind person, on observing them approaching, though they were younger than himself, he would rise up, and if he had to pass by them, he would do so hastily.

The Meaning of the Glorious Koran

Lo! Thy Lord! He is the All-Wise Creator. We have given thee seven of the oft-repeated (verses) and the great Qur'an. Strain not thine eyes toward that which We cause some wedded pairs among them to enjoin, and be not grieved on their account, and lower thy wing (in tenderness) for the believers. And say: Lo! I, even I, am a plain warner,

And there is life for you in retaliation, O men of understanding, that ye may ward off (evil). It is prescribed for you, when death approacheth one of you, if he leave wealth, that he bequeath unto parents and near relatives in kindness. (This is) a duty for all those who ward off (evil). And whoso changeth (the will) after he hath heard it - the sin thereof is only upon those who change it. Lo! Allah is Hearer, Knower.

And those who answer the call of their Lord and establish worship, and whose affairs are a matter of counsel, and who spend of what We have bestowed on them, And those who, when great wrong is done to them, defend themselves, The guerdon of an ill-deed is an ill the like thereof. But whosoever pardoneth and amendeth, his wage is the affair of Allah. Lo! He loveth not wrong-doers.

The Japji

Make contentment and modesty thine earrings, self-respect thy wallet, meditation the ashes to smear on thy body; Make thy body, which is only a morsel for death, thy beggar's coat, and faith thy rule of life and thy staff. Make association with men thine Ai Panth, and the conquest of thy heart the conquest of the world. Hail! Hail to Him, The primal, the pure, without beginning, the indestructible, the same in every age!

Numberless thy worshippers, and numberless Thy lovers; Numberless Thine adorers, and numberless they who perform austerities for Thee; Numberless the reciters of sacred books and Veds; Numberless Thy Jogis whose hearts are indifferent to the world; Numberless the saints who ponder on Thine attributes and divine knowledge; Numberless Thy true men; numberless Thine almsgivers; Numberless Thy heroes who face the steel of their enemies; Numberless Thy silent worshippers who lovingly fix their thoughts upon Thee. What power have I to describe Thee? So lowly am I, that I cannot even once be a sacrifice unto Thee. Whatever pleaseth Thee is good. O Formless One, Thou art ever secure.

Priceless are Thine attributes, O God, and priceless Thy dealings; Priceless Thy dealers, priceless Thy storehouses; Priceless what cometh from Thee, and priceless what is taken away; Priceless Thy rate and priceless the time for dealing; Priceless Thy justice and priceless Thy court; Priceless Thy weights and priceless Thy measures; Priceless Thy gifts and priceless Thy marks; Priceless Thy mercy and priceless Thine ordinances. How beyond all price Thou art cannot be stated. Ever speaking of Thee men continue to fix their thoughts on Thee. They who read the Veds and Purans speak of Thee; Learned men speak of Thee and deliver discourses on Thee; Brahmas speak of Thee, and Indars speak of Thee; The milkmaids and Krishan speak of Thee Shivs speak of Thee, the Sidhs speak of Thee; All the Budhas Thou hast created speak of Thee; The demons speak of Thee, the gods speak of Thee; Thy demigods, men, munis, and servants speak of Thee; How many speak of Thee or attempt to speak of Thee! How many depart while speaking of Thee! If Thou wert to create as many more as Thou hast created, Even then few of them would be able to speak adequately of Thee. Thou mayest be as great as Thou pleasest. Nanak, only the True One Himself knoweth how great He is. If any one were to speak improperly of God, Write him down as the most ignorant of men.

30:2.53

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