Keywords: Tao Te Ching; Laozi; philosophy of life
About the author: Yan Yun (1982.6. 13-), male, bachelor degree, native place: Shangrao Branch of Jiangxi Medical College, research direction: language and literature, title: teaching assistant.
[China Library Classification Number]: I 206.2 [Document Identification Number]: A
[ArticleNo.]:1002-2139 (2012)-16-00-0/
First, it is beneficial to all things.
Laozi admires water most among many things in nature, and thinks that only the virtue of water is closest to Tao in the whole world. If a person's words and deeds can be similar to water, then he is not far from being a saint. The indisputable characteristics of water are mainly manifested in "being evil by all, so being a minority in the Tao". It can be seen from the words "number is in Tao" that Laozi linked the goodness of water with Tao. At the same time, Laozi also pointed out that "benefiting all things" is the expression of water in "goodness". The word "benefit" here should be understood as "compliance". Therefore, "benefiting all things" means adapting to all things. Its adaptation is manifested in that it does not have its own fixed "shape" likes and dislikes, and always changes its "shape" accordingly with the "shape" of all things. In other words, everything has or chooses a special "shape", and water can change accordingly with this "shape". The "all things" and "all people" here refer to all things, and Lao Tzu used anthropomorphic methods to express them. It is worth noting that Laozi pays attention to the intangible and intangible characteristics of water, and it is precisely in this respect that he is not bound by the body that he appears to be "a little more than Tao". Laozi called water "less than Tao" as "goodness".
Connecting with reality, we are in a highly competitive society. "The bustling crowd is for the benefit; In the eyes of the world, you can't be famous if you don't fight, you can't get rich if you don't fight, and you can't enjoy power if you don't fight. Then the "indisputable" advocated by Laozi requires us to "live in the evil of all". Is it self-indulgence that goes against our modern mainstream thinking? No, what I mean by "indisputable" is not giving up competition, but "indisputable", which is an efficient competitive means to pursue Excellence. People are social animals, and in most cases they have herd mentality. " Follow your feelings "is not thinking and doing things according to rational thinking." Most people in society tend to be attached to powerful celebrities, dragons and phoenixes, and they are supercilious when they see interests. If we fight for each other, we will be killed. If you blindly follow the trend and follow the crowd, as an ordinary person, you will only get very little, not worth the loss.
From this, we realize that there are two cleverest methods. The first way is to help others get benefits, not to compete with others. In this way, they will treat you well, regard you as a confidant and even follow you faithfully. Lao Tzu once said; "Powerful people are invincible in the world; Wise men are fearless saints. " If you can give up small interests in exchange for the support of others, your final achievement will be far above everyone else; The second way is to wait quietly and focus on the interests that others can't see or care about. This is also an "indisputable" strategy, and your gains will be far above ordinary people.
Second, keep quiet about the virtual pole.
"Extreme" and "Benedict" both mean extreme and extreme. Both "emptiness" and "quietness" describe that people's mood is empty and quiet, but due to the interference and temptation of the outside world, people's selfish desires begin to stir. Therefore, the heart is closed and uneasy, so we must pay attention to "emptiness" and "quietness" in order to restore the clarity of the heart and maintain the tranquility of life.
In the past, when we talked about Laozi, we always used to sum up Laozi's life vows with the words of quietism and indifference. The ultimate goal is to get rid of the temptation of material desires and return to the nature of emptiness and tranquility. Only in this way can we truly understand Tao, instead of fighting for power and profit and forgetting Tao. If you want to be empty, you must be quiet, because emptiness is noumenon and quietness lies in application. Sima Qian said: "Li Er is self-righteous and quiet." This is a very short summary. Static and dynamic are a pair of contradictions. In this contradiction, Lao Tzu emphasizes quietness rather than movement, and does not deny the role of movement, but advocates that we should treat the development and changes of everything with an open mind. "Extreme, quiet and faithful" can be said to be the most perfect ideological realm in Laozi's eyes. Laozi also put forward some views on how to achieve "extreme, quiet and sincere".
Third, for the stomach, not for the purpose.
Five colors are blind, five tones are deaf, five flavors are refreshing, and they are wild and crazy, and strange goods can harm people. A saint of the stomach, not a saint of purpose. Lao Tzu means: indulging in dazzling colors will make people blind; Indulge in the noise of five tones and six methods, which will make people deaf; Indulging in the five flavors of shame and delicious food will make people lose their appetite; Indulging in the hobby of wild hunting will make people crazy; Indulging in the desire for rare goods will hinder people's behavior. Therefore, saints attach importance to meeting the needs of the stomach and ignore the desires of the eyes. So get rid of those harmful desires and choose these harmless needs.
During the Three Kingdoms period, Wang Bi, a metaphysical scholar of Wei State, once thought that "a saint is a belly, not an eye." The annotation of this sentence is as follows: "For the belly, people support themselves with things, and for the purpose, people serve themselves with things, so saints have no eyes." The implication is to warn us not to be slaves to material desires. Laozi lives in an era of alternating old and new systems and social unrest, and the aristocratic life of slave owners is increasingly decadent and decadent. He has witnessed the life state of the upper class, so he thinks that the normal life of society should be for the sake of the stomach, not for the eyes, not for the outside, but for safety and satisfaction, not for indulgence. Laozi's remarks are an exhortation and a solemn warning to the greed, luxury and debauchery of the slave owners and nobles.
Fourth, contentment is not shameful.
Who is the name and body? Which is more important, health or goods? What kind of disease is acquisition or death? If you love it very much, you will pay a lot, but if you hide it too much, you will die. Therefore, contentment is not shameful, and knowing that it is not dangerous can last long. Which is more important, fame or life? Which is more important, property or life? Which is worse, fame and fortune or losing your life? The more people like something, the more they need to pay for it. The more precious things you collect, the more sad you will be when you lose them. Therefore, people who are content are less humiliated, and people who are moderate in everything are less likely to incur danger and live longer.
"Knowing enough is not humiliating, content is not dangerous", which is a high summary of Laozi's incisive views and dealing with people. Contentment means that everything has its own development limit. Beyond this limit, things will inevitably develop in the opposite direction. So everyone should have a clear understanding of their words and deeds, and everything can't be perfect. Contentment is a feeling, not how much fame and fortune you have, but how you feel. Everyone's attitude towards desire is the same, but everyone has different degrees. There is indeed an insatiable person in the world, and their insatiable behavior not only causes people's disgust, but also causes people's envy. It is these people who trap the whole world in a world of boiling desire and make the world magnificent and colorful. Their actions destroy the balance of nature but call for human progress, and human beings are still unable to make wise judgments and choices. On the contrary, there are some people in the world who are easily satisfied. They are not forced to satisfy themselves because of their lack of ability, but choose voluntarily after thoroughly studying the relationship between gains and losses. In other words, they have the conditions and the ability to be dissatisfied but voluntarily choose to be satisfied. Contentment makes people calm, serene, philosophical and detached; Dissatisfaction makes people restless, struggle, forge ahead and struggle; To be content with wisdom is not to do it knowing that it is not feasible, but to do it without knowing that it is feasible. If you know you can't do it, it will be in vain; If you know it's feasible but don't do it, it's depravity and laziness. In fact, it is a question of "degree" between the two. Degree is discretion, wisdom and level.
The way of life in Tao Te Ching tells people that the more you covet fame and fortune, the greater the price you pay, the more wealth you accumulate and the more you lose. He hoped that people, especially successful people, would possess enough wealth and be satisfied before they could bear the burden of humiliation. This is the outlook on life that Laozi preached. People should cherish their own lives, treat fame and fortune appropriately, and be content with themselves.