Stages of Formation

Human experience progresses through stages.  This simple truth has been recognized from ancient times.  Some observant travelers have described the stages in ways that help to guide and encourage others who are seeking to make a little progress along life's path.

During my year of teaching in Korea, I came to appreciate the influence of Confucianism on the formation of the Korean mind.  Some scholars of Christianity have even suggested that many of the teachings of Confucius provided fertile soil for the acceptance of the Gospel by the Koreans.

Confucius' account of his own progress along the journey of learning is one that provides helpful guidance to others who are also pursuing the path.  His students recorded his self-described stages of formation in The Analects, (Book 2.4), as follows:

"At fifteen I set my heart upon learning.  At thirty, I had planted my feet firm upon the ground.  At forty, I no longer suffered from perplexities.  At fifty, I knew what were the biddings of Heaven.  At sixty, I heard them with docile ear.  At seventy, I could follow the dictates of my own heart; for what I desired no longer overstepped the boundaries of right." 

It is encouraging to know that Confucius did not considered himself able to "follow the dictates" of his own heart until after fifty-five years of study and the cultivation of a "docile ear" to hear "the biddings of Heaven." Throughout all the years of study and the various stages of formation, he embodied in his practice the truths he came to understand. 

It is also worth noting that though at fifty, Confucius "knew" the biddings of Heaven, it took another ten years for his hearing of them with a submitted ear to form.  In my studies, may I not be seeking only the expansion of knowledge, but also an increasing sensitivity of my attentiveness, my mindfulness, and ultimately the submissiveness of my will to the will of God in Christ.