"I alone love the lotus, which rises from the mud yet remains unstained, and is washed by clear ripples yet is not seductive."
What is the signal that makes you realize, 'I'm getting swept along by the mood around me'?
The Neo-Confucian who wouldn't pull the grass outside his window
Zhou Dunyi was a Song dynasty scholar who wrote the Explanation of the Diagram of the Supreme Ultimate, seeking to explain the cosmos and human nature through a single principle. As teacher of the Cheng brothers, he is credited with opening the door to Neo-Confucianism, later systematized by Zhu Xi.
According to his student Cheng Hao, Zhou Dunyi never pulled the grass growing in front of his window. Asked why, he said its will to live was the same as his own. That calm, clear gaze runs through his famous essay on loving the lotus.