The Ideal Person

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The Ideal Person One concept that rings true through all eastern religions is the idea of virtues and of kindness. They all hold an aversion to concepts, such as violence, and teach individuals to hold certain social virtues to help them to become more ideal individuals. It is the idea in eastern religions, such as Confucianism, that individuals live simple and harmonious lives. The virtues that the individuals follow help them to live a more ideal life. According to Confucius, the ideal person must have certain virtues and put these virtues in to practice constantly. Some of these virtues and concepts include ren, li, shu, xiao, and wen. Ren For such a small word, ren has a plethora of meaning. However, it can be most simply looked at to mean, “to think of the other” (Molloy, 2010, p. 241). It can be looked at as having empathy for others and consideration. This simple virtue, which is missing from so many individuals in the world, can go so far in helping to make a person more ideal. It is also a virtue that seems so easy to achieve, it simply takes acts of kindness and politeness in order to be possible. Although this virtue seems easily achieved, not all individuals find it easy to practice. Li Li is another virtue that is necessary to possess in order to reach the idea of being the ideal person. According to Molloy (2010), “it means knowing and using the proper words and actions for social life” (p. 243). This translates into not only acting properly, but having the right intentions behind those actions. Individuals are taught that their actions and words should reflect a certain level of humility that the situation calls for. This value appropriately follows ren because once an individual learns how to think of others first, possessing the correct behaviors and expressing the appropriate words should come easily. Shu The third virtue necessary to

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