Becoming

 

Sensei:  There are two men.  Society has labeled both men good.  They are found in the same situation - one in which their actions have caused another grievance.  The first man having realized this immediately aborts his action, takes it upon himself to repair all difficulties, and goes on to provide the aggrieved man with luxuries of the heart/mind.  The second man holds to his actions, attempts to calculate how he can reduce the aggrieved man's discomforts while continuing in his own position, and when all things have equaled out, he leaves as if nothing has happened.  What is the question we can ask from this?

Deshi 1: We can ask, "Which man is right?"

Sensei:  True, but not enough.

Deshi 2:  We can ask, "Why is the first man right and the second man wrong?"

Sensei:  True, but not enough.

Deshi 3:  We can ask, "What are the necessary virtues the first man holds, and what virtues are absent from the second man?"

Sensei:  Even more true, but still not enough.

Deshi 4:  We can ask, "Which man are we becoming?"

Sensei:  The truth at last!

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