the Chinese word “Shuo” consists of two part: one is “Yan” which means speak, the other is “Dui” which means fulfill a promise. You make promise if you can fulfill, and if you can’t, do not make promise. So Laozi said in the 63th chapter of Tao Te Ching, He who lightly promises is sure to keep but little faith If you make too many promises, others may think you are talkative. If you fail to keep the promises, people may think that you are worse than your words, and unfaithful, So he who lightly promises is sure to keep but little faith means that we make promise if we can fulfill, and if we can’t, don’t make promise. This is the fifth virtue : “sincere in speech.” The sixth virtue “establishing order in government”. As citizens, we all long for a government which is good at governing a country and leading people. What is a good government? Lao Zi thought that a good government is as clear as water. It mainly selects two important virtues of water. One is that water stands for justice. Look at the Chinese character “法”("Fa" which means law) the original character of the right part “灋”means unicorn using its horn to fight against evil things. But now it has turned into “去” means go or leave But the left part “氵” of the character can’t be changed Because “氵” which means water standing for justice. Another virtue of water is integrity. So there are only two important symbols for a good government namely, justice and integrity So “establishing order in government” just means the government should be as clean as water. We all expect a government with justice and integrity, which has been a wish since ancient time. What is the seventh virtue of water? That is “in deeds,effectiveness”; Water has a variety of abilities, and it can fulfill every task very well. It actually reminds us that we should be like water, which is versatile and expert in one and good at many things. Only we are knowledgeable and versatile can we stand higher and have a better development. Thus it is the seventh virtue of water, “in deeds, effectiveness” What is the eighth virtue of water? It is “in actions, timeliness” I’ll say something more about it. We all know that water is good at grasping the opportunity. in Liu Yuxi poem, Water,the clearest with ultimate beauty, From a drop flows to a thousand miles away. Nurturing people and things, running and pausing on its way. It moves and pauses when it’s necessary So water is still when there is no opportunity, and moves when there is opportunity. If you can read a Chinese map or world map carefully, You will find that there is not a straight river in the world. All the rivers are winding, but their goal will never change. All rivers flow eastward into the sea, {\fnSimHei\fs20\shaand no matter how winding it is, flowing eastward into the ocean is their goal.d0\pos(200,280)}不管多曲折 最后东流到海是它的目标 I’d like to tell you a story in order to help you understand that water is good at grasping opportunity. Once an eminent monk told his two disciples before his death. You two climb the ridge from the foot to its top. The one who got there first would be granted with the mantle and alms bowl which are the tokens of a group’s head. So the two disciples went to the foot of the ridge. One of them tried very hard to climb along the steep cliff. Although each time he fell off the cliff, he persisted in climbing up. The other one looked at the ridge carefully. He thought that the cliff was too steep to climb up, so he took a roundabout way to reach the destination. Now you may know the outcome. One was trying very hard to climb up along the steep cliff, falling off the straight cliff and persisting in climbing again and again. The other took a roundabout way, but reached the destination in advance. So in some cases, if we can’t achieve the goal directly, we can achieve it indirectly. Water also gives us such enlightenment. So “in actions, timeliness” means no matter how many obstacles it runs into, it will make a detour when necessary, but it follows its goal all the way. What I want to make you clear is how water grasps the opportunity. Sometimes water achieves its goal by using its tender characteristic to find another way to achieve its goal. In terms of moves, we take rain for example. Rainwater can make best use of opportunities. You know the rain in spring. When seeds start to sprout, a heavy rain will do harm to the seeds So the rain in spring is like this: Propitious rain knows the season, it occurs mostly in spring. It follows the wind secretly into the night, and moistens things silently. The life-giving spring breeze and rain, and it comes right in time. The rain becomes heavy when plants need to be irrigated in summer. In winter, water becomes more capable. It turns into snow and covers the ground, and even becomes ice and hides away. The colder the weather is, the harder the ice becomes. When snow and ice is melt, the spring comes. So, these are all the virtues of water mentioned in chapter eight. If we read the whole book, we’ll find that water’s specific of wisdom and virtue of softness overcoming rigidity, which I’ll explain afterwards. Ok, everybody, Now I’d like to give you a brief summary in vivid words. Water prefers staying at lower position is because of its modesty That all rivers run into sea is because of its grace. Dripping water wears through a stone is because of its perseverance. flowing eastwards into sea is because of its pursuit. Many things in nature can give us various enlightenment of wisdom and virtue, which is worth studying and pondering. This is the specific content of learning from nature. Ok, everybody, that’s all for today. See you next time