Virtue

[china]

Can the mind be free from authority, which means free from fear, so that it is no longer capable of following? If so, this puts an end to imitation, which becomes mechanical. After all, virtue, ethics, is not a repetition of what is good. The moment it becomes mechanical, it ceases to be virtue. Virtue is something that must be from moment to moment, like humility. Humility cannot be cultivated, and a mind that has no humility is incapable of learning. So virtue has no authority. The social morality is no morality at all; it's immoral because it admits competition, greed, ambition, and therefore society is encouraging immorality. Virtue is something that transcends morality. Without virtue there is no order, and order is not according to a pattern, according to a formula. A mind that follows a formula through disciplining itself to achieve virtue creates for itself the problems of immorality.An external authority that the mind objectifies, apart from the law, as God, as moral, and so on, becomes destructive when the mind is seeking to understand what real virtue is. We have our own authority as experience, as knowledge, which we are trying to follow. There is this constant repetition, imitation, which we all know. Psychological authority—not the authority of the law, the policeman who keeps order—the psychological authority, which each one has, becomes destructive of virtue because virtue is something that is living, moving. As you cannot possibly cultivate humility, as you cannot possibly cultivate love, so also virtue cannot be cultivated; and there is great beauty in that. Virtue is nonmechanical, and without virtue there is no foundation for clear thinking.

 

[boagie]

China,is not virtue what the group,society,majority decides it is? In the absence of compassion can there be virtue,seems to me it is both a collective and subjective process? One might function in society on a different virtue morality, at ones peril.

 

[tamarin]

Virtue is the ability to do good when the latter has a cost.

 

[boagie]

Virtue is the ability to do good when the latter has a cost.

No choice,no virtue-I agree!

 

[china]

boagie ,tamarin

The understanding of what you are, whatever it be--ugly or beautiful, wicked or mischievous--the understanding of what you are, without distortion, is the beginning of virtue. Virtue is essential, for it gives freedom. It is only in virtue that you can discover, that you can live--not in the cultivation of a virtue, which merely brings about respectability, not understanding and freedom. There is a difference between being virtuous and becoming virtuous. Being virtuous comes through the understanding of what is, whereas becoming virtuous is postponement, the covering up of what is with what you would like to be. Therefore in becoming virtuous you are avoiding action directly upon what is. This process of avoiding what is through the cultivation of the ideal is considered virtuous; but if you look at it closely and directly you will see that it is nothing of the kind. It is merely a postponement of coming face to face with what is. Virtue is not the becoming of what is not; virtue is the understanding of what is and therefore the freedom from what is. Virtue is essential in a society that is rapidly disintegrating. In order to create a new world, a new structure away from the old, there must be freedom to discover; and to be free, there must be virtue, for without virtue there is no freedom. Can the immoral man who is striving to become virtuous ever know virtue? The man who is not moral can never be free, and therefore he can never find out what reality is. Reality can be found only in understanding what is; and to understand what is, there must be freedom, freedom from the fear of what is. The understanding of what you are, whatever it be--ugly or beautiful, wicked or mischievous--the understanding of what you are, without distortion, is the beginning of virtue. Virtue is essential, for it gives freedom. It is only in virtue that you can discover, that you can live--not in the cultivation of a virtue, which merely brings aisbout respectability, not understanding and freedom. There is a difference between being virtuous and becoming virtuous. Being virtuous comes through the understanding of what is, whereas becoming virtuous is postponement, the covering up of what with what you would like to be. Therefore in becoming virtuous you are avoiding action directly upon what . This process of avoiding what is through the cultivation of the ideal is considered virtuous; but if you look at it closely and directly you will see that it is nothing of the kind. It is merely a postponement of coming face to face with what is. Virtue is not the becoming of what is not; virtue is the understanding of what is and therefore the freedom from what is. Virtue is essential in a society that is rapidly disintegrating. In order to create a new world, a new structure away from the old, there must be freedom to discover; and to be free, there must be virtue, for without virtue there is no freedom. Can the immoral man who is striving to become virtuous ever know virtue? The man who is not moral can never be free, and therefore he can never find out what reality is. Reality can be found only in understanding what is; and to understand what is, there must be freedom, freedom from the fear of what is.

 

[hermanntrude]

once again, china, your very first statement is unproven and doesn't withstand investigation.

does being free from authority equate to being free from fear?

I say no.

 

[china]

The whole story of mankind is in you hermanntrude - the vast experiences, the deep-rooted fears, anxieties, sorrow, pleasure, and all the beliefs that man has accumulated throughout the millennia. You are that book.
The book man has lived under authority - political, religious, the leader, the guru, the man who knows, the intellectual philosopher - he has always conformed to a pattern of authority, the authority of law - whether you approve of that law or not there is the authority of law - there is the authority of the policemen, the authority of an elected government, and there is the authority of the dictator. I'm not talking about that authority. I'm talking, about the authority that mind seeks in order to be secure. Hope you follow hermanntrude .The mind is always seeking security. When you are seeking security psychologically, you are inevitably bound to create authority - the authority of the priest, the authority of the image, the authority of man who says, 'I am enlightened, I will tell you'. So it says, be free of all that kind of authority. Which means be a light to yourself, and don't depend on anyone for the understanding of life, for the understanding of that book. To read that book there is nobody between you and the book - no philosopher, no priest, no guru, no god, nothing. You are the book and you are reading it. And so there must be freedom from that authority of another, whether the authority of the husband over the wife, and the wife over the husband. It means to be able to stand alone, and most people hermanntrude ........................., are so frightened.

 

[hermanntrude]

my point was simply that, contradictory to your OP, one can be a slave to authority without fear being involved.

 

[china]

my point was simply that, contradictory to your OP, one can be a slave to authority without fear being involved.[/QUOT E]
Thanks for the post.Iis a difference between being a slave and/or obeying an authority ?.