Respect individuality.
No matter who the person, one must not underestimate them on first meeting. There is nothing that angers people more than when they feel they have been insulted.
Therefore, we must be extremely careful not to display speech or behavior that might be deemed insulting by others.
This is a very important rule for the conduct of life.
Because the average person is highly self-centered and unfailingly gives all of his attention only to the areas where he is superior to others, he will be quick to compare himself to his fellows in even the most trivial matters, and if he can find even a single small point in which he is superior he will become swollen with self-importance. If such a person encounters another who is better than him in a particular area, he will at all costs devise a way to find fault with this person, and failing this, he will most likely regard him with extreme umbrage.
No matter what his line of work, for a person to gain public acclamation he must first undergo a certain amount of hardship. However, once he makes a name for himself, people will praise him for no real reason at all. Were they not to do this, they would be deemed out of fashion and absurd, and besides, since everyone else is praising this person, they can hardly be ridiculed for joining in. If we reflect thoroughly upon this insidious thought process, such people come to seem truly repulsive.
Ours is a world of narrow-minded people, full of nothing but insincere and self-important talk. Thus it is only natural that it has become such a suffocating place. Although outwardly we pretend to be pure, deep in our hearts we are always envious of each other—this is a great shame. The desire to avoid having others think ill of us is always the first thing to come to our minds. Even in paying close attention to the clothing of others, our essential motive in doing so is merely to compare ourselves with them. Disregarding what others may think, follow the path you yourself believe in—if only more people possessed such an attitude as this!
If a person is filled with the desire to have their “superiority” acknowledged by others, then they are in fact forgetting the very means by which any measure of superiority may be attained, and so they put themselves in an untenable situation.
In all situations, there is no one we should pity more than the person who does not know even the slightest peace of mind.
A sharp and caustic personality is the most unpleasant of all. The warm and amicable person I like best of all.
Because as humans we must coexist with one another for better or for worse, we ought to live together with open hearts, peaceful relations, and mutual happiness.
We must not feel unwarranted suspicion towards someone on first meeting them, nor feel inclined to test their character. Instead we must be mutually trusting and respect each individual equally.
In all this world there is nothing more pleasant than a small and happy group of open-hearted close friends.
It is a great mistake to hastily judge a person as wise or foolish, kind or callous, simply on the basis of their outward experience and their passing behavior towards one.
“The relations of petty men are sweet and sticky as honey, while the relations of men of virtue are candid and clear as water” runs an old saying. No matter how much a self-centered person’s relations with others may seem cordial on the surface, the second his interests appear to be threatened, he will become openly hostile. On the other hand, simple friendly relations which are free from ulterior motives, while they may superficially appear to be lacking in intimacy, will actually last through thick and thin. This is because human relations originally consisted of material and spiritual exchange free from any personal objective.
The superficially-minded man observes and judges everything in a shallow manner, while the introspective man views and assesses everything in a profound way. However, though one person may believe his thinking to be deeply introspective, another may look upon it as utterly shallow.
If we hope to be at harmony with one another we must first come to know and understand one another. In this way, we can for the first time discover each other’s standpoints, and relate to each other with security and harmony. This does not merely hold true for relations between humans, but also holds true for man’s dealings with animals, plants, and all other living things.
If we wish to better know and understand one another, we must first become more intimate and tolerant in our relations with each other. With all things, being careful to cause no injury, we must keep in mind our mutual good and benefit. There are no doubt many materialistically minded people who fear that to give their own possessions to others will immediately result in their own loss and suffering, but these people are simply caught up in a very partial and limited approach to life. Looking at things in a more long-term way, everything we give to others extends the breadth of our own possessions, and the fruits of these gifts unfailingly come back to us.
From simply a materialistic and time-concerned point of view, the results of our good deeds do not return to us immediately as we perform them. Therefore, a person’s true wealth is wholly determined by the amount of good will and friendliness he bears towards all around him. Then, if many people invest their individual assets together in a common enterprise they can achieve great works and receive many benefits and good fortune.
