More than anything in the world Confucius loved to look at the waterfall: transparent streams crash down from a great height with a crash, foam boils, raising splashes. The waterfall is formidable and impregnable. Woe to the one who dares to approach him. And then Confucius saw a man in the water. Of course, he thought that the unfortunate man was trying to commit suicide, and sent students to help him. But he quietly and without assistance himself got to the shore.
Surprised by what had happened, the sage said:
- I took you for a suicide, but now I see that you are not one of those. Let me ask you: are you not afraid of these deadly streams of water? Or do you know how to manage them?
- Why should I be afraid of them, - answered the swimmer. - I dive with a wave, I float up with foam, I follow the flow of water, without imposing anything on it. That's the whole secret …
The Chinese are strange people. They even eat differently from us - with chopsticks. After all, this is not a meal, but one torment … And why do they need it? But the Chinese don't even think about it. Dexterously wielding chopsticks, they easily bring crumbly rice, and fragrant shrimp, and naughty noodles to the mouth. This skill seems incredible to us, but they just know how to do it from childhood, and that's it.
A different culture, you say, a different civilization. And yet, we have a lot in common. Sometimes we, without knowing it ourselves, live by the rules and canons invented by the Chinese sages. And the rich and famous Europeans and Americans today are increasingly giving preference to Eastern philosophy, adopting the Eastern mentality and way of life. And this is no accident.
FROM POINT A TO POINT B
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Remember the proverb: "You can't catch a fish from a pond without difficulty." It was created in order to convey to the last dumbass a simple idea: to get something, you need to work hard and spend some effort. But which ones? On this issue, the opinions of Western and Eastern sages differ.
The advice of European and American psychologists can be found in
books from the series "How to become a successful person", "How to make money", "How to learn how to properly manage your life." The authors of these books will recommend that you first set a goal for yourself, then determine how far away you are from it. It is recommended to divide the distance from start to finish into several parts, these will be small, but quite specific steps that you must take in order to go from point A to point B. The first step, which, as you know, is the most difficult, is better do it immediately, until the desire is gone. Then you just need to follow your own plan - and you are guaranteed success.
Most adults and smart people have known this strategy for a long time, and some even successfully use it to achieve certain goals. One bad thing: a great planning idea has several disadvantages. First, there are many people in the world who hate routines, schedules, orderliness, and predetermination. Life for them turns into a routine, loses its colors and charm. Secondly - and this is the whole tragedy - it is generally impossible to achieve planned predetermination, because in our life, no matter how well-considered and thoughtful it may be, circumstances beyond our control constantly interfere. The proposed method is designed for an ideal, static situation. And she, alas, keeps changing.
Earlier than others, this peculiar pattern was noticed by the military. After all, they more than once had to deal with situations where impeccably thought out plans collapsed due to some ridiculous accident. But if the outcome of the battle depends on whether it will rain or not, is it worth planning at all?
Chinese sages answer this question unequivocally: worth it. At the same time, for the circumstances that can affect the course of events, they came up with a special term - the potential of the situation. And we learned to use it to our advantage.
TELL ME DAD …
Once in adolescence, my friend, faced with the need to make an adult decision for the first time, asked his father: "How often do you manage to achieve your goal, and how much effort do you put into it?" The father shrugged his shoulders in surprise and replied: "I just create a tilt to my side and I am not lost when it appears."
The slope of what, you ask? Situations, of course. And the speed with which the chance ball will roll in your direction with the created tilt is the potential of the situation. You do not slow down this ball or push, but create conditions under which it will certainly roll into your hands.
A Chinese sage would certainly have applauded a wise father. He would not agree with him on only one thing: there is no need to strain and create a slope. You just need to find an existing one. Indeed, absolutely in any situation there is potential, your task is to discern it, figure out how to use it and make it work for you.
For us, who grew up on fairy tales about Emelya, who did nothing but lay on the stove, giving instructions to the pike, this sounds tempting. It's good when you don't need to do anything … Moreover, the Eastern sages argue that any intervention in a situation only harms the business: because by our intrusion we only prevent events from following their natural path, which is the best.
So, the Chinese also recommend lying on the stove and waiting until everything is resolved by itself? Not at all. It's just that a European or American will direct his forces to open confrontation with the enemy - be it the enemy army, adverse weather conditions, or even inconvenient terrain. He will shoot at the enemy, tame tornadoes, drain the seas and oceans. And the victory will certainly be his. If he wins, his feat will be immortalized. If he loses, he will still be called a hero: after all, he didn’t chicken out, rushed to the attack, no matter what!
The wise Chinese do not approve of this behavior. In their opinion, a true sage spends his energy not on the battlefield, but much earlier. His goal is not to win the fight, but not to let it happen. The sage creates conditions (the same slope), studies a map of the area, analyzes weather forecasts, receives intelligence about the size of the enemy army, ponders the information received and, with its help, changes his initial tactics.
FLY WITH THE CURRENT
According to Chinese philosophy, you should never strain and swim against the tide. You only need to swim with the flow and wait for the opportunity to land on the shore or change the direction of movement.
The Russian proverb "A smart one will not go uphill, a smart one will bypass the mountain" is also the basis of Chinese philosophy. A wise person will not waste his strength and energy on a difficult and dangerous ascent. Having met a mountain range on his way, he will ask himself the question: "Do I really need to go where I planned?" And then he will think: "Could this mountain, which suddenly appeared on my way, be useful to me in some way?" And, say the Chinese philosophers, there will definitely be some benefit.
In other words, the Eastern sages suggest not wasting your energy on fighting and overcoming obstacles. All that is needed, they argue, is to thoroughly analyze the current situation and estimate possible options for its development. After all, nothing in the world stands still, everything changes. And the situation you are in now will certainly change - this is the law. You just need to go with the flow, save energy, and then use these changes for your own good.
Not to be afraid of changes, but to be always ready for them, to be sure that they will only benefit you - this is the main secret of Chinese philosophy.
The simplest example is you got fired from your job. You are worried, worried that you will never find a good job again, that such a salary may not be offered to you, that a new job is likely to be far from home, etc., etc. How the Chinese sage will behave in this situation ? He will relax and will, without haste, without excitement, look for a new job for himself. At the same time, being one hundred percent sure that it will be better than the old one and will give him new opportunities for self-expression.
Sergey BORODIN