Aernest Suarez Relatorres Oriental Philosophy Commentaries on some of Mencius Texts 1.

Mencius said, All men have a mind which cannot bear the sufferings of others. My meaning may be illustrated this way: if men suddenly see a child about to fall into the well, they will without exception experience of alarm and distress- not so they may gain the favor of the childs parents, nor to seek the praise of their neighbors and friends, nor from fear of reputation of having been unmoved by such thing. Comment man is born to be good and have a sense of care to others. It is just but natural for us to sympathize to the feelings of others and show love to others. Human as we are, we cannot endure or bear to witness the suffering of others not because we wanted to be praised by others, but because it is just natural for us to feel what they felt. 13. The disciple Kung-Tu said, all are equally men, but some are greater men and some are little men. How is this? Mencius replied, Those who follow that part of themselves which is great are great men; those who follow that part which is little are little men. Comment Paulo Coelho in his novel The Alchemist said that If you want to achieve your dreams, all the universe will conspire at you. It means that following ones desire and dreams with determination and strong will can make us great men. While those who do not follow their hearts desires are considered little men; all may be equal, but all also differ in their disposition and acquisition of their dreams and desires. 6. Therefore, if it receives it proper nourishment, there is nothing which will not grow. If it lose its proper nourishment, there is nothing which will not decay away. Comment A flower can only reach its full beauty when it receives proper care and nourishment. In the same way, if a man feeds and nourish himself with all the good things such as values, words of God and etc. , he can surely reach his highest potentials and there is nothing in him that will decay. On the other hand, those who does not feed

themselves with proper care and nourishment, their life would be in a chaotic state, for the reason that there is already lacking in their growth. 7. Mencius said, The great man is he who does not lose his childs heart, the original good heart with which every man is born. Comment Jesus said in the Gospel that those who wants to enter into the Kingdom of God should possess a heart like that of a child. Jesus and Mencius seems to have the same notion of the childs attitude. A child is humble to accept his mistakes. A child is honest and truthful. It is important for a man to be humble in accepting all his mistakes because it is the only way of improving himself- that is, by first accepting his imperfection. To be honest both to our self is also can make us more effective in our lives because it would make us recognize our own capacities and limitations.