There is a legend - which, although of dubious reliability, nevertheless serves as a cautionary tale - that the Greek philosopher Speusippus, son of Potone (who was Plato's sister), was known in his youth for his excessive debauchery. At that time, his mother thought it convenient to leave his upbringing in the hands of his brother and take him to live with him.
Speusippus then continued with his licentious behavior, and people expected Plato to correct the young man. However, Plato did not say a word about it.
After a while, seeing the nephew's behavior, and seeing that he did not correct him, some people began to criticize Plato for his permissiveness. Still, he remained silent.
But as time passed, and even though Plato said nothing to him, Speusippus' attitude slowly began to change. He put aside his excesses and gradually became more and more interested in philosophy. The change was so great that, upon Plato's death, Speusippus became his successor as head of the Academy of Athens.
Plato said nothing to him, yet it drastically influenced him.
Why do I tell this story? Because I think it's a good example of being versus doing.
Somewhere I read, although I cannot find the source, that some Taoists believe that for a kingdom to be in order, all the ruler has to do is to practice virtue in his palace. As long as the ruler practices virtue in his palace, the kingdom will be on the right path. Whether they said this or not, for me it is completely true. In some sense I think there is a quasi-magical factor to this, but there is also a logical one. I can see that if a ruler practices virtue in all his actions, the actions he will take will be the right ones and therefore the whole kingdom will be in order, just to continue with the example. The king who acts in this way will take care to make all his decisions with good as his guide and will even appoint only ministers and officials who are also virtuous, thus generating a chain reaction.
The point is that the king does not have to focus on "doing" anything specifically. It is not necessary for the king to do this or do that, the king just has to focus on whatever he is going to do, he has to do it with virtue. As long as he practices virtue, everything will go well.
This ties in with the story at the beginning in that, Plato did not "react" to the actions of Speusippus, nor did he "react" to the actions of other people, nor to circumstances. He simply focused on doing what he was doing right. On practicing virtue, so to speak. To put the focus, not on others, but on himself. That is what implicitly underlies this story, as I understand it. The way I see it, virtue is excellence. If we do something with virtue, we do it right, and to practice virtue in general, is to live life right, is, in some sense, to be excellent as a human being.
He only focused on his own practice and thus indirectly influenced his nephew.
Now, this advice, to practice virtue "within the four walls", is not just for kings. I think it is for everyone. Many people would like to change the world but feel they lack the power to do so. The truth is, in my opinion, that people have more power than they themselves realize. The problem is that they are too focused on what others are doing, what the rulers are doing, what the rich are doing, and so on. In my opinion, none of this really matters.
In my view, both the rulers have less power than people think, and the people have more power than they themselves realize. And I'm not even talking about "people" as a collective, I'm talking about people as individuals.
The truth is, if you completely forget about what the rulers are doing, if you completely forget about the news, if you forget about all that for a moment and live your life, at least in my experience, you will realize that those people have much less influence on our environment than we usually think. They have an influence, but much less than we use think. And I think you come to realize that, if you stop projecting power onto those people, not only do you realize that they are not as powerful as they would like to be, but you are effectively taking power away from them. They are losing real power if you don't give it to them.
It's like in relationships, there are people who project power to others and allow themselves to be manipulated, used and so on. But if you change and realize it, you will begin to see that this person can no longer control you.
In fact, simply by ceasing to give power to a tyrant, for example, I believe you are helping to bring him down from the throne. You don't have to "do" anything. It's not a matter of doing. It's a matter of "realizing". Of being different. All the actions you do after you become aware of it, in fact, are "dissident" at this point, because you are simply not in harmony with everyone else, and you are not doing what everyone else is doing, and you are going against what is established, even if you are not doing anything specific, yet everything you do is different.
When you stop focusing on others, you stop giving them power over you, and when you start focusing on yourself, you start claiming that power as your own.
As far as I am concerned, if one focuses on practicing virtue in our "four walls," one will indeed change the world in a positive way. Just focusing on what is in our control, and having faith about the rest. This is the responsibility that we do have, it is not necessary that we fix the world I think, it is only necessary that we practice virtue at home.
For me, the universe is gigantic and vast, and yet the details and the little things matter. It's like a good novel. A novel is not good because it has virtues in broad strokes, but because it is neat and well cared for in the small details. That differentiates a good novel from a not so good one. So is the universe. The beauty of the universe as a whole is not simply because of its magnitude, but because even in the smallest details, in the smallest things, we find the highest level of care. Even the ants in the garden play their part in the grand scheme.
So, by practicing virtue inside our home, we are in fact changing the world for the better. We can change our environment just by our presence, just as in Plato's story. It is not a matter of specifically "doing" anything. It is simply a matter of being. Of being different.
I know I'm maybe kind of going back and forth here, but I hope I'm clear.
People, I think, often focus too much on "practice". On doing. But I think a lot of times it's not about doing something specific, it's about being something different. It's like, be compassionate. If you are compassionate you don't ask yourself what action you should do to show compassion, but whatever you do, regardless of the action, you will naturally and spontaneously be compassionate. It is automatic. It is not something artificial or pre-planned.
It is about having an understanding, which makes us different, and consequently, makes everything we do different.
So I think it's a good thing to "practice virtue in our four walls". There is a logical part, as I said, but I also think there is a quasi-magical part to it that I also think is important. The universe, I think, works pretty well.
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