? The Confucian thought of "self-cultivation, keeping the family in order, governing the country and leveling the world" not only shaped the character and life values of ancient intellectuals, but also deeply influenced us in modern times. I believe that everyone has the potential desire to "level the world", which is so radiant and beautiful. Then how to "cultivate one's morality" and level the world?
Can you do it simply by self-discipline and hard work? Obviously it can't be that simple. If we want to "level the world", we should also start from "learning things, knowing knowledge, honesty and righteousness".
? The eight items of Confucianism, namely, "respecting things, knowing and doing, honesty, integrity, self-cultivation, keeping the family in order, governing the country and leveling the world", are the ways to realize "being sage inside and king outside". From "Wu Ge" to "Pingtianxia" is a progressive and progressive relationship. Self-cultivation must be material-oriented, and the whole family must be self-cultivation-oriented.
? 1
? "Knowing knowledge from things" means mastering its essence, principles and laws through the research and practice of everything such as nature and human society, that is, "investigating and seeking truth from facts".
? Is a means to know things, the purpose is to know things. This requirement is quite high, because the nature, principles and laws of things are not so easy to explore, and it is inseparable from personal intelligence, hard work and luck. So far, aren't we humans still struggling to explore the mysteries of the universe?
Fortunately, in today's era, we don't need to master all human knowledge, and we can't do it all. As long as you can be the world's number one in this industry, you can still be famous.
So how to "grid things"? In fact, it is our modern people's research, experiment and practice, constantly correcting mistakes and re-examining.
? For example, when we study a tree, we need to know what kind of environment it can survive in, what kind of climate, temperature, soil and nutrients it needs, how much sunlight and water it needs, and what is its internal growth mechanism? How can these resources be matched to make it grow best? Do trees need the same resources at all stages from germination to growth? How far is the distance between two trees to grow best? What effect will it have on the surrounding environment when you grow up? What is its greatest value? These can only be concluded through constant observation and practice.
? This "tree" can be an individual, a product, a family, an enterprise, a country or any other objective individual. It's just that different individuals need different objective environments, resources and strategies in order to survive. Just like animals in water, land and air in nature, they have their own living environment, needed resources and survival strategies. As long as you can know what you are doing, you will be able to do things as well as an "expert in understanding cows."
? 2
? "Honesty is right" means that the intention must be sincere, not deceiving others or things, and the mind should be correct and free from evil thoughts. It is a process of inner moral cultivation advocated by Confucianism.
Why "sincerity and integrity"? Because people have an animal side, selfish, greedy, lazy, afraid of death and other passions, these negative passions are harmful to themselves and the outside world.
From the previous "knowing from things", we know that everything has its own laws of existence, growth, development and operation. What we have to do is to act according to the law, meet the conditions, environment and resources needed for the development of things, and create conditions even if there are no conditions.
? In this process, people as the main body are somewhat passive, and the initiative is only manifested in trying to find and create strategies and resources to achieve things, rather than doing whatever they want with their subjective hobbies, otherwise things may gradually die out.
Just like a tree, it needs certain conditions to grow. If we want it to grow, we can only satisfy it, whether we like it or not, no matter how difficult it is, or even sacrifice our lives. Otherwise, it will definitely grow badly. This is also the reason why ancient intellectuals, especially Confucian intellectuals, ignored personal safety for justice.
? "Honesty" means being sincere and honest with yourself and everything, not deceiving yourself or bullying, seeking truth from facts, and doing things according to law, not because of personal preferences, face, difficulties, fear, fear of death and so on.
? three
? "Self-cultivation" means constant "learning from things" and "sincerity and integrity". The understanding of the world is always being explored, and people's negative passions and weaknesses are always being overcome.
? With the continuous improvement of the realm of "self-cultivation", of course, this is a lifelong matter, so we can be more and more realistic and act according to objective laws without being influenced by our subjective emotions. This requirement is even higher. A person should be in a state of unremitting pursuit and constant struggle for human nature all his life. You can imagine how difficult it is. This is why there are only a handful of "saints" from ancient times to the present!
? "Self-cultivation" may require more of us in modern times. Because modern society is an era of information and knowledge explosion, and it is also an era of lifelong learning, full of temptations everywhere. If you relax a little, you may fall behind Wan Li or rolling in the deep.
Now knowledge acquisition is relatively easy, and our "self-cultivation" is more self-discipline. Know where your time has gone, where your energy has been spent, and what contribution should you make? Have you fulfilled your responsibilities in all roles? Reflecting on these problems from time to time, I believe we can also succeed.
four
? "Managing the family, governing the country and leveling the world" is the goal that self-cultivation should pursue and achieve, and it is also the answer to the purpose and significance of self-cultivation. From omniscient to ruling the country and leveling the world, it is from knowing the world to transforming the world. The relationship between home, country and the world is from small to large, and the system is constantly increasing. But "If you don't sweep a house, how can you sweep the world?" In the same way.
? Home, country and the world are all organizational units assembled by people. Of course, they have similar characteristics and similar operating rules, and of course each has its own particularity. Qijia is a family style and family harmony; Governing the country is the will of the people, and the government is harmonious; Even if the world is one, it is to manage the people's hearts.
? To do this, we should not act according to personal preferences, but do what many people want to do, or for the benefit of family, country and the world, individuals should follow the trend and not care too much about their emotions, interests, gains and losses.
The bigger your career, the more you can't help yourself and the higher your requirements. It is precisely because it is not easy to level the world that the importance of "respecting things, knowing and doing, honesty, honesty and repair" is highlighted. If these things are not done well, it is impossible to be a "foreign king." Start with small things first, and only by constantly honing yourself in small things can we achieve great things.
? five
? "Self-discipline, self-knowledge, sincerity, integrity and self-cultivation" is a process of knowing the world, knowing yourself and transforming yourself. "Governing the family, the country and the world" is the process of transforming the world. This is also a process of knowledge, practice and understanding. As long as everyone follows these eight rules, life will be good and not too bad.