Episode 30 of "This Is the Way": Confucianism and Reverential Reading

""Sit as though you were impersonating an ancestor, stand as though you were performing a sacrifice." "The head should be upright, the eyes looking straight ahead, the feet steady, the hands respectful, the mouth quiet and composed, and bearing solemn"-these are all aspects of reverential attention."

"...It's an extremely simple matter: just arouse the mind and prevent it from growing dim, and in one or two days you'll see the results. It'll be easy and save you trouble. It's simply a state somewhere between thinking and not thinking. Why is it that you find it difficult and don't do it?"

""Generally speaking, in reading, we must first become intimately familiar with the text so that its words seem to come from our own mouths. We should then continue to reflect on it so that its ideas seem to come from our own minds. Only then"

Reverential attention requires disciplined bodily comportment: upright head, steady feet, respectful hands, composed mouth, and solemn bearing. It requires sustained mental arousal that prevents the mind from growing dim and cultivates a state between thinking and not thinking, yielding quick results. Reading practice begins with close, repeated familiarity until words feel like one’s own speech, followed by deep reflection until ideas feel like one’s own thought. After understanding, persistent doubt and questioning prevent complacency and enable further progress. The combined method aims to shape character through reading while maintaining critical distance to reduce distortion by personal bias.

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