There is a Way to be Good Again

    I watched The Kite Runner last night.  I had not read the book when it appeared a couple of years ago but had noticed the reviews.  The movie is good, if a bit unpersuasive at times.  But what stood out for me, as it was designed to, was the key line (which is repeated a couple of times and which concisely states the central theme of the story):

        There is a way to be good again.

      This struck me as a fundamentally Confucian attitude.  The "again" implies that we all are originally good, as Mencius would tell us, and we can find our way back to that basic goodness through right intentions and actions, which pretty much sums up the life's work of both Confucius and Mencius.  However selfish we have been, whatever our mistakes in life, we can do the right thing now, and that will put us on a path to being good in an active, performative sense.

     I wondered, however, if there was a Taoist angle in this.  My reading of Taoism is bound up with my understanding of Confucianism, and vice versa, so I somethings roll things together in my mind (not a bad thing...).  I imagine, however, that some would reject a Taoist claim on this sentence/sentiment, because Taoism would eschew judgments of "good" and "bad."  Those are human-created moral categories that can take us away from the natural unfolding of Way.  Things, in Way, are neither good nor bad, they just are.   That's a fair point.  However, I think it misses the redemptive promise of both the Tao Te Ching and Chuang Tzu.

        It is more obvious in the Tao Te Ching, when the text takes a critical stance toward the exploitation of the weak by the powerful and the wastefulness and futility of war.  In calling our attention to the unnecessary and un-Way-like qualities of such behavior, the text is, at least implicitly, suggesting to us a better way forward.  "There is a way to be good again," it almost seems to say.

        Chuang Tzu is subtler.  But his acceptance of death - and his counsel to us to accept life and death as they ebb and flow - has a liberatory implication.  We can get ourselves free from the anxieties of death or worries about what we may or may not accomplish in our lives, and in that freedom we can find a certain solace and comfort and, perhaps, goodness.

       But even if the Chuang Tzu connection is a bit of a stretch, it is a line worth remembering:

        There is a way to be good again.

Comments

[China Law Blog]

Don't most religions believe this, including Christianity, Judaism and Islam?

[Sam]

Yes, you're right. But I tend to think in Chinese philosophical terms...

[China Law Blog]

Ok. Makes sense. Just wondering.

[Dirk Gently]

Most religions do believe this, but (except possibly for Judaism) such roads back to goodness are inextricably tied to god and ritual. This "way to be good again" is not about sins against god but about moral crimes against a fellow human.

[khany]

hello.

i was under the impression that in judeo-christian though man is born essentially sinful. this seems specially highlighted in the christian that the sin of man is so great that man could not have been redeemed by anything within his own capacity which necessitated the sacrifice of christ... one is redeemed by witnessing to this truth.

i believe the expression could have found inspiration in islamic philosophy with which the author is likely to be most familiar. muslims believe that all being living and otherwise are created 'pure'. only man has the choice of walking the straight path or heading off astray. this straight path is identified with submitting to god's will. since all objects in the physical world are subject to physical laws they are in this sense submitting to god's will. when one embraces the path of islam he is referred to as a 'revert' (as opposed to the more typical convert) since he is believed to have returned to the path. 'islam' is derived from the root verb which means 'to submit'. peace, 'salam' in arabic, is derived from the same root. the clear implication is one enters peace with god, with himself and becomes harmonious with nature when one chooses to submit.

peace!

[Bill Bixby]

Blah christ this and blah Lao Tzu that. Are you invoking discourse for enlightenment or truth? "Again" is simply a reference to the childhood that was cut short by pervasive poverty and a survival reality manifest in an Indian slum. Please, don't make a reference to "the good old days" a guideon for spiritual and philisophical armies. If you want a litmus test for humanity, compare yourself to a dog. If you come out ahead I will be surprised.