Part III How Should the Desire for Fame and Wealth Be Settled?
When desires remain unfulfilled, suffering inevitably follows. The vast majority of people spend their entire lives trapped in the cage of their own cravings; the more intensely they pursue them, the deeper their misery becomes. Human desire should, as far as possible, be kept within the bounds of natural necessity—though, of course, no absolute or universal standard exists. Only when kept within this limit can satisfaction naturally pave the way for genuine happiness. Cultivating desire for its own sake serves only to deepen one's suffering.
This desire manifests primarily as the pursuit of fame and wealth. Yet, both can only be attained by navigating the intricate and tangled web of social relations. When an individual remains entangled in these collective dynamics for too long, their inner life inevitably becomes desensitized in unpredictable ways.
The ultimate consequence of this spiritual numbness is a profound form of ignorance.
This ignorance is not merely a lack of intellectual capacity. Rather, it reveals itself as a crushing psychological pressure, a persistent suffering, born from insatiable desires once a person has lost the capacity for independent moral judgment. This state generally leads to two direct outcomes:
- A cold-blooded cruelty accompanied by an encroaching inner darkness.
- A complete moral collapse and a willingness to employ any means necessary.
As previously noted in our discussion on art, "fame" is largely the degree to which an individual is validated by the collective. Yet, most of those who offer praise possess no independent judgment regarding what they are celebrating. If the person seeking recognition actively chases this kind of fame, they only confirm their own ignorance. Attached to that ignorance is nothing but a chronic, unconscious torment.
This phenomenon permeates almost every field. True, meaningful recognition that resonates across history requires the rigorous test of time.
As for "wealth," it is fundamentally intertwined with fame; both serve as vessels for human desire. Everyone must survive, and a material foundation is undeniably necessary. However, each person’s actual needs and material circumstances naturally vary. We need not even debate how much one personally craves or currently possesses.
Many believe that happiness and joy flow from material possessions. Few realize that material satisfaction is primarily the gratification of bodily instinct. While true happiness may encompass instinctual satisfaction, it ultimately treats such pleasure as an optional grace rather than an essential requirement.
The further one's material demands drift beyond natural necessity, the more certain their suffering becomes.
Measured against the values of human culture, we can hardly impose a single standard for wealth. Yet, once basic instinctual needs are met, an unchecked desire not only rots the self from within and blocks happiness, but also leads to the relentless encroachment upon the resources of others. This inevitably provokes conflict, intensifying the crisis surrounding the desiring individual.
Thus, the essential evil of desire lies chiefly in the mutual injury that human beings inflict upon one another.
We previously examined the philosophies of life embodied by Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism. These are not merely Eastern concepts; they encompass virtually all possible human orientations toward worldly existence.
While there may be no universal standard for possessing fame and wealth, a crucial question remains: How can one possess them in a way that genuinely brings happiness? How do we attain true fame and true wealth?
True fame must consist in being understood and recognized by a select few who are truly wise. To be merely celebrated by a crowd parroting one another is not only a display of collective ignorance or hypocrisy, but also a profound desecration and humiliation of the person being praised.
Wealth is equally difficult to standardize. However, it ought to be grounded in the satisfaction of natural needs within a harmonious cultural order, allowing for individual differences in a manner akin to the Confucian concept of "appropriate measure" or Zhongyong.
Individuals should abandon their conscious obsession with immediate gain, abide by shared social rules, and allow their differing abilities to express themselves naturally.
Faced with the complexities of human nature and the compounding pressures of society, if individuals cannot honestly reflect upon and confront the true value of fame and wealth, and embody those judgments in daily practice, they will harm both themselves and others. In doing so, they risk dragging everyone around them into the anxieties and disasters of ordinary life, or perhaps even together into the living hell of war.