The so-called "inaction" is not "inaction", not lying in bed, resigned to fate, or doing nothing and doing nothing. On the surface, Laozi's "inaction" is a negative attitude towards life. In fact, it has a positive "spiritual core", that is, don't interfere with the law of the development of things with personal subjective consciousness, and don't deliberately pursue anything that goes against the law of natural development. On the contrary, it will make a difference and eventually achieve the goal of "hope" or the goal that "hope" is difficult or even impossible to achieve.
Laozi's "doing nothing without doing anything" actually dialectically illustrates the relationship between doing nothing and doing something. Literally, it is to achieve "doing something" by doing nothing. Inaction is a means and a promising expedient; Doing something is the purpose and development trend of inaction.
Some wise monarchs in ancient China, such as Emperor Gaozu Liu Bang, Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty, Emperor Jing of Han Dynasty and later Emperor Taizong, were all influenced by Laozi's thought of "governing by doing nothing" and made remarkable achievements. Liu Bang, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, was very wary of Qin's "death in the second year". He asked scholar Lu Jia to summarize the experience and lessons of the rise and fall of the Qin Dynasty and other dynasties. Lu Jia wrote twelve articles, arguing that "many things are chaotic, and many times are chaotic; The law is greater than the child, and the rape is greater than the blazing; There are more troops and more enemies. Qin Fei doesn't want to rule, but the loser is violent and the punishment is too extreme. " Put forward the idea of "governing by doing nothing". Later, "governing by doing nothing" became the political guiding ideology of Lv Hou, Wendi and Jingdi, and the rule of "governing the country and keeping the people safe" appeared.
In life, we will also see this situation: the more we want, the more we can't get it; The more you think, the less you do; The more you are afraid, the more you are afraid. If you adopt the attitude of "doing nothing, doing nothing", you will get the desired effect and achieve the expected purpose. During the Three Kingdoms period, Liu Bei always had the ambition to revitalize the great cause of the Han Dynasty. However, when there is no climate, he is not as impetuous as Yang Xiu, Zhang Song and Mi Fei. He just wanted to do something, but he did nothing. But to keep a low profile, keep a low profile, be your own vegetable farmer with peace of mind, and not give people an excuse to add sin. Once the time is right, he will be like a duck to water and become a generation of heroes.
In life, some young people, especially those with certain intelligence and professional knowledge, do not understand the dialectical relationship between inaction and inaction. As soon as they enter the society, they want to make great achievements. With temporary enthusiasm and impulse, they rely on their talents to show their abilities, or struggle hard, most of them are unable to do so. After the failure, he was disheartened, went into the sheath, pursued nothing, and became mediocre. This kind of inaction is not what Laozi said, but a negative, pessimistic and unproductive inaction. True inaction is a kind of positive and calm progress, and its offensive is not sharp, but it has potential driving force.
Bell Laboratories is a world-renowned scientific research institution, which was once led by a doctor named Chen Yude. He is a Chinese-American, probably influenced by Laozi's thought, and especially advocates Laozi's inaction in scientific research management. There is a banner in his office that says "Governing by Doing Nothing", and an English note is added below: "The best leader never forgets to help his subordinates, but he won't make them feel inseparable from him." When talking about his own ruling experience, he said: "The performance of a leader's ability is that when leading others, others will not feel the intervention of the leader; All the work of the institute is under your leadership, but people in the institute can't feel your existence. " It can be seen that inaction is not only a method and strategy to treat people, but also a wise attitude towards life and a lofty realm of life.
What a person does is not in form, but mainly in substance. On the surface, people who are vigorous may not make a difference; On the surface, ordinary people may make a difference.
Some people are bent on doing one thing, like to attack head-on and expose themselves, so they are often easy to become targets of public criticism. Of course, the resistance to progress is much greater. Once you do something, you are afraid that others will not know what you have done and brag about it everywhere. Really annoying, easy to be envied.
Some people are also bent on doing one thing, but take circuitous tactics, like to find another way and don't want to expose themselves. Even if they do something, they don't show off.
If you want to accomplish nothing, you must first do something, that is, have ideals, ambitions and specific goals; Without "promising", there is no "inaction". Inaction is inaction based on promising.
What to do, it is best to do nothing. Inaction is not only the general plan of governing the country, but also the way of living.