The original text asks: "Scholars in' universities' used to think that adult learning was enough. Dare to ask why the learning of adults lies in showing virtue? " ? Yang replied: "An adult is a person who integrates the universe. It regards the world as one family and China as one person. If the husband is ruined and splits himself, he is a villain. The ability of adults to integrate everything in the world is unintentional. If their hearts are kind, they will be integrated with everything in the world. Only adults? Although the villain's heart is nothing else, he cares about his ears. Therefore, when a willing son goes into the well, there must be compassion, which is the fusion of his benevolence and his willing son. Obedient people are the same kind. When they see the cries of birds and animals, they will have a patient heart. This is the integration of their benevolence and birds and animals. There are people who are aware of birds and animals, and they will have compassion when they see the destruction of vegetation. This is the fusion of their benevolence and vegetation. There are still merchants in vegetation, and when they see the rubble destroyed, they will have pity, which is the unity of their benevolence and rubble. It is also the benevolence of its integration, although there must be a villain's heart. Rooted in the nature of destiny, the natural spirit is not ignorant, so the heart of the villain called "Mingde" has broken away from humility, and its integral benevolence can still be ignored, because it is not moved by desire, but does not hide it privately. Moreover, it moves in desire, hides in private, interests attack each other, and anger inspires each other. It will destroy things by hook or by crook, to the point where flesh and blood eat each other and one body dies. Therefore, if you are covered by selfless desires, you are a villain, but being a Jew is also a benevolent; When there is a cover of selfish desires, it is an adult's heart, but its separation is still despicable. Therefore, the husband is an adult scholar. He only needs to get rid of his own selfish desires, and he can understand his own virtue and restore his nature of integration of heaven and earth. I can't be outside, but I have also gained something. "

Q: "But why are you' close to the people'?"

A: "Those who are clearly virtuous will establish a body that integrates heaven and earth; People who are close to the people can achieve the integration of heaven and earth. Therefore, it is clear that virtue must lie in being close to the people, and being close to the people is therefore clear about its virtue. So my father, the father of man, the father of the world, and then my benevolence and reality, and my father, the father of man, the father of the world are integrated. It is an organic whole, and then the filial piety will be clear! Kiss my brother, brother of man, brother of the world, and then my benevolence will be integrated with my brother, brother of man and brother of the world. It is an organic whole, and then it is obviously wise and prudent! Your Majesty, your husband and your wife, your friends, even mountains, rivers, ghosts, birds, animals and plants have the kindness to kiss each other, thus achieving our unity. Then my virtue is unknown, and I can really integrate everything in heaven and earth. The world says that her husband is obviously virtuous, but that running the country is the best. "

He asked, "but why is it the' best'?" "

A: "The best are well-known and close to the people. The essence of destiny is the essence of goodness, and its spirit is not ignorant. This is the essence of virtue, called conscience. The best development is not what it is, but what it is, not what it is, heavy and thin, responsive and changeable, all of which are its own nature and the extremes of people and things, and it is impossible to discuss whether it is increasing or decreasing. Few people put forward to increase and lose during this period, which is personal filial piety, not the best. Since a person is not careful, but the only one is fine, how can he compare with this? The people behind just don't know that the best is in my heart, but measure it with their own private wisdom, thinking that everything has its own theorem, which is based on ignorance of its right and wrong, and it is fragmented. People want to die arrogant, and the people know that the world is in chaos. The man who made the past naturally wants to know his virtue, but he doesn't know how to stop at perfection, but he is too selfish, so he loses his emptiness, and his family has nothing to do with the world, so there is no family. Those who naturally want to kiss others, but don't stop at perfection, drown their selfishness in meanness, which is a loss of strength and wisdom. Without the sincerity of love and fear, five utilitarian people will be gone. Yes, I don't know how best to stop. Therefore, the best Mingde Yu, people-friendly, and Jewish rules are also in the countryside, and the scale is based on length and weight. Therefore, Fiona Fang does not stick to the rules, but it is cool; The length is not limited, and you should be good at it; The weight doesn't stop at weighing, losing its accuracy; Obviously, being virtuous and close to the people does not stop at perfection and is destroyed once. Therefore, it is said that the learning of adults stops at being perfect and close to the people, and knows its mingde. "

He asked, "What can Zhi Zhi say?"

A: "People only don't know that the best is in my heart, but they seek outside, thinking that everything has a theorem, while the pursuit of the best is fragmented and confusing, but they don't know that there is a certain direction. Today, I know that the best is in my heart, but I don't pretend to look outside, so I have a direction, and I have no debris and miscellaneous troubles. If there is no debris and chaos, then the heart can be quiet. If the mind can be still, it can be at ease in daily life. If you can be safe, if you have an idea and a feeling, what is the best? Isn't it the best My inner conscience has its own careful examination, but it can be considered. If you can think, you can choose everything, there is nothing wrong, but you can get the best.

He asked: "Everything has an origin and an end. Confucianism is based on virtue, and Xinmin is the end. The two are opposed internally and externally. Everything has a beginning. The first Confucianism started in Zhi Zhi, which can be the end, and the beginning and the end are also related. As my son said, taking the new people for the people is close to the people, so the story ending also happened? "

A: "At the beginning, it was roughly like this." In other words, it is ok to take the new people as the people, which shows that virtue is the foundation and the people are the end, but it is not appropriate to divide the roots into two ears. The stem of wood is the foundation, and the tip of wood is the end. There is only one thing, called the beginning and the end. Two things said, just two things. How can I tell the ending of the story? The meaning of being new to the people is different from that of being close to the people, so the merits of preserving our sanity are two different things. If we know that Mingde means being close to the people, and being close to the people means that Mingde is clear, then how can we analyze Mingde being close to the people? The Confucian ancients said that they didn't know the essence of the Ming Dynasty and the people, but they thought that two things were one thing and had to be split in two. "

Q: "The ancient desire is so obvious that it is better than the world, so it is necessary to cultivate it first and know it with my son's knowledge of being close to the people." Dare to ask, if you want to repair your body and let yourself know that you are in trouble, how can you work hard? "

A: "This is a detailed statement of virtue, closeness to the people and perfection. Those who cover the body, heart, heart, knowledge and things are the organizations used in the work. Although each has its own place, it is actually just one thing. Style, dedication, honesty, integrity and self-improvement are the time spent on organization. Although they all have names, they are actually just one thing. What is the integration of body and mind? Its use is also called. What is mind and body spirit? Domination is also called. What do you mean, cultivate one's morality and eliminate evil? Can I do evil and do good? It must be clear that the owner should do good and eliminate evil, and then the body user can do good and eliminate evil. Therefore, if you want to cultivate your self-cultivation, you must first correct your mentality. But the noumenon of the heart is also natural and there is nothing wrong, so there is nothing wrong with the noumenon of the heart. Why use its positive energy? There is nothing wrong with the ontology of Gaixin. Since its concept has been introduced, there is something wrong with it. Therefore, those who think what is right in their hearts must think what is right. If you think about it and be good, good is like lewdness, and evil is like stink, you will be sincere and your heart will be right. However, there are good and evil, and there is no distinction between good and evil, and there will be truth and falsehood. Although you want to be sincere, you can't get it. Therefore, if you want to be sincere, you must know how to.

For people, for people also, like a mass of sadness caused by grief. Well said, those who know it will know it, those who know it will know it, and those who know it will know why. To "know" what the cloud is, not to expand my knowledge as the post-Confucianism said, makes my heart and conscience deaf. Conscience, Mencius said,' Everyone has a heart of right and wrong'. The heart of right and wrong, knowing without worrying, learning without learning, is called conscience. Yes, it is the nature of destiny, the noumenon of my heart, and the natural spirit is clear. My conscience is full of people who don't know what I think. Only my conscience knows its goodness and its inferiority. The one that has nothing to do with others. So although the villain is bad, he has done everything. However, when he sees your son, he will hate to cover up his bad and focus on his good. It can also be seen that his conscience is intolerable to those ignorant people. Today, I want to say goodbye to good and evil sincerely, but I want to know what my conscience knows. What is this? When I think, my conscience knows that it is good, so that it can't be sincere and good, but when I go back, it is evil, and I don't know my conscience. My conscience knows that ideas are bad, so I can't be honest with evil. I repeat, evil is good, but I don't know about it. If so, I know, but I still don't know. Does it mean that it is available and sincere? Now people with good and evil conscience are sincere and evil, so they can be sincere without deceiving their conscience. However, if you want to cause conscience, will it affect trance and hang in the air? This must be true. Therefore, knowledge must exist in things. Where there is something, there is something. There must be something meaningful, and something meaningful is called something. Right is right, and wrong is right. Those who are right and wrong are also called evil. Those who return to righteousness are called good. That's what husbands do. As the book says, "Ge Yu Xia Shang", "Ge Yu Wen Zu" and "Qi Ge Fei Xin" are both true and meaningful.

Although the goodness known by conscience is sincere, if it is not its meaning, it is not qualified, and the meaning of goodness is still insincere. The evil known by conscience means that you really want to be evil, but if it doesn't mean this, it is unqualified, and the meaning of evil is still insincere. Today, the goodness that his conscience knows, that is, what he means, has no end. It is endless to get rid of the evil that his conscience knows, that is, what his intention lies in. Then, there is nothing wrong with everything, and the conscience knows that it can be done to the extreme without hindrance. Husband, then my heart will soon feel self-deprecating without any regret, and then the person who makes this intention can be called sincere without deceiving himself. Therefore, it is said that' things are known by people, knowing and being sincere, being honest and upright, being upright and cultivating oneself'. Although his kung fu has an order, his body has no order. Although there is no division of the order of its organized kung fu, its use is only fine, and it is very few in itself. This case leads to the truth, so it explains the true story of Yao and Shun, and it is also the seal in Kong's heart. "

Interpretation Someone asked Mr. Wang: "The book" University "used to be considered by Confucian scholars as a knowledge about" adults ". I venture to ask, why does the focus of adult learning lie in' Ming Ming De'? "

Mr. Yangming replied: "The so-called' adult' refers to the kind of person who regards everything in the world as a whole. They regard all the people in the world as a family, and all China people as one person. If someone distinguishes you and me according to their appearance, such a person is the so-called' villain'. Adults can regard the universe as a whole, not because they intend to do so, but because the benevolence in their hearts is like this, and they are a whole with the universe. Is it only for adults? Even the villain's heart is not like this, just think of himself as a villain. Therefore, when he saw the child fall into the well, he naturally felt fear and sympathy, indicating that his benevolence and virtue were integrated with the child. A child still belongs to his own kind. When he sees the sad chirping of birds and animals or the trembling of fear, he will have the heart to listen or watch, which shows that his benevolence is integrated with birds and animals. Birds and beasts are still spiritual animals. When he sees flowers and trees being trampled and broken, he will inevitably have pity and sympathy, which means that his benevolence is integrated with flowers and trees. Flowers and trees are still living plants. When he sees bricks and slates being smashed or smashed, he will inevitably feel sorry, which shows that his benevolence and bricks and slates are also one. This is the kind of sexual virtue that integrates all things, even in the minds of villains, this kind of sexual virtue is inevitable. This kind of sexual virtue stems from the innate nature of destiny. Born bright but not dark, it is called' Mingde'. The heart of the villain has been divided and become narrow and humble. However, his benevolence is the unity of all things, which can be displayed normally instead of being eclipsed, because his heart is not driven by desire or blinded by self-interest. When his heart is driven by desire, blinded by self-interest, blinded by conflicts of interest, blinded by unspeakable anger, he will destroy things and harm people, and even his relatives will kill each other. At this time, his inner love for everything will completely die out. Therefore, when there is no selfish desire, although it is a villain's heart, its benevolence to all things is the same as that of adults; Once there is a barrier of selfish desires, although it is an adult's heart, it will be separated like a villain's heart and become narrow and humble. Therefore, people who are committed to adult education are just doing natural benevolence to remove the barriers of selfish desires, show bright virtue and restore the integration of heaven and earth. It is impossible to add or subtract anything outside the ontology. "

Then he asked, "Morality is really important, but why do you emphasize' being close to the people'?"

Mr. Wang replied: "Mingmingde (showing innate virtue) is the ontology that advocates the integration of heaven and earth; Being close to the people (caring for the people) is a natural application of the principle of the integration of heaven and earth. Therefore, mingde must be embodied in loving the people, and being close to the people can show mingde. Therefore, while loving my father, I also love other people's fathers and everyone's fathers in the world. After that, the benevolence in my heart can truly become one with my father, his father and the father of everyone in the world. Only when they truly become one can the bright virtue of filial piety begin to appear. Love my brother, love the brothers of others, and love the brothers of all people in the world. Only in this way can the benevolence in my heart truly become one with my brother, his brother and all the brothers in the world. After truly becoming one, the bright virtue of respecting brothers and loving brothers began to appear. This is true for monarchs, wives, friends, even mountains and rivers, ghosts and gods, animals and birds, and plants. No one really doesn't love them, so that I can achieve the benevolence of integrating everything, and then my bright virtue will be invisible and truly integrated with everything in heaven and earth. This is what "University" said to show the virtue of light in the whole world, that is, what "University" further said was family harmony, national stability and world peace, that is, what "The Doctrine of the Mean" said was to give full play to the nature of people and everything. "

Q: "In that case, why is it so important to stop at your best?"

A: "The so-called' supreme goodness' is the ultimate principle of being virtuous and close to the people. The essence of destiny is pure and perfect, and its bright but not dark feature is perfect expression, which is the noumenon of mingde, which is what we call' conscience'. The performance of the best is to affirm right, deny wrong, be light, heavy, thick and thin, which can be expressed according to the feelings at that time. It is rich in variety but has no fixed form, but there is nothing unnatural in the middle, so it is the highest form of people and things, in which some slight design planning and gain loss are not allowed. If there is a little design planning and gain impairment, it is only out of selfishness and mental retardation, rather than' perfection' in the true sense. Naturally, if you are not a cautious and independent person (you are also cautious and always well-behaved) to achieve Excellence and consistency, then who can do this? Later people don't know that the key to the best achievement is our own heart, but try to measure it from the outside with their own wisdom mixed with selfish desires, thinking that everything in the world has its own theorem, thus covering up the standard of judging right and wrong, making the simple truth that the heart is the commander in chief fragmented, people's selfish desires flooded, justice and justice perished, and the education of Mingde and the people became extremely chaotic in the world. In ancient times, some people wanted Mingde to be known to the world. However, because they don't know how to stop at perfection, and their hearts mixed with selfish desires are too inflated and inflated, they are all vain and empty silence in the end, which is of no help to the real content of aligning the family, governing the country and leveling the world. This is true of both Buddhism and Taoism. There have been people who hope to be close to the people since ancient times. However, because they don't know how to stop at perfection, their selfishness is trapped in trivial matters, so they spend their energy on tricks, thus losing their sincere love and compassion. This was the case with these utilitarian people in the Spring and Autumn Period. This is all because I don't know how to stop at the best fault. Therefore, for Mingde and the people, it is just like drawing Fiona Fang according to the rules, measuring its length and weighing it. Therefore, if Fiona Fang exceeds the rules, he will lose the rules; If the length exceeds the scale, the measurement will be wrong, and if the weight exceeds the scale, the weight will be inaccurate. The foundation of mingde being close to the people will no longer exist. Therefore, it is what we call adult education to stop at perfection and be close to the people and make their morality brighter. "

Q: "I know I want to stop at perfection, and then my ambition can be determined;" Ambition is determined, and then the body and mind can be quiet; Peace of mind and body, and then you can be content with the status quo; Be content with the status quo before you can think carefully; Think about things carefully, and then you can get the perfect state. " What does this statement mean? "

Answer: "people just don't know that the best is in my heart, so they seek it from external things;" I think everything has its own theorem, so everything seeks the best, so seeking the best way becomes fragmented and varied, but I don't know that seeking the best has a definite direction. Since you know that the best is in your heart, you don't need to seek it from the outside, so your will will have a clear direction, and there will be no fragmentation and miscellaneous ills. Without debris and confused troubles, then the heart will not act rashly but calm down. If the mind can be quiet and motionless, then in daily life, it can be leisurely and comfortable, thus being content with the status quo. You can be content with the status quo, so as long as you have an idea and feel something, it belongs to the best? Still not the best? The conscience in the heart will naturally observe carefully with the instinct of careful examination, so as to be considerate. If you can think carefully, then his discrimination will not be inaccurate and his work will not be inappropriate, so as to get the best. "Q:" Objects have roots and tails. Previous Confucian scholars took showing virtue as the foundation, and made people purify dirt and become new people forever as the end. These two are two parts corresponding to each other from internal cultivation and external hard training. Things begin and end. In the past, it was the same thing for Confucian scholars to start with knowledge and end with behavior. Is your statement of being new to the people and being close to the people somewhat inconsistent with the Confucian scholars' statement about the whole story? "

Q: "Objects have roots and tails. Previous Confucian scholars took showing virtue as the foundation, and made people purify dirt and become new people forever as the end. These two are two parts corresponding to each other from internal cultivation and external hard training. Things begin and end. In the past, it was the same thing for Confucian scholars to start with knowledge and end with behavior. Is your statement of being new to the people and being close to the people somewhat inconsistent with the Confucian scholars' statement about the whole story? "

A: "About the whole story, it is roughly like this. It is not impossible to say that showing virtue is fundamental and loving the people is the last, even if Xinmin is close to the people. But it should not be split in two. Roots are called roots and branches are called ends. They are just an object, so they are called roots and ends. If they are two kinds of objects, how can they be said to be interrelated since they are completely separated? Since the meaning of rehabilitating the people is different from that of loving the people, it is naturally two things to strive to show virtue. If we understand that Liangde is for loving the people, and loving the people can make Liangde shine, then how can Liangde and loving the people be completely separated into two things? The former Confucian scholars said it was because they didn't understand that Mingde and being close to the people were originally one thing, but they thought they were two things. Therefore, although they know that the root and the end should be one, they have to be divided into two parts. "

Q: "From the ancient people who wanted everyone in the world to carry forward their own bright virtues to the people who corrected their behavior first, we can get a correct and complete understanding based on your saying that you are' virtuous and close to the people'. Now I dare to ask you again, from' if you want to correct your behavior' to' if you want to improve your knowledge, you can analyze things and be poor', how can you work hard on these qualities? "

A: "It is here that we strive to be moral, close to the people and stop at perfection in details. What people say about body, mind, mind, consciousness and things is the consistency of cultivation and efforts. Although each has its own connotation, it actually only says one sentence. However, discipline, knowledge, sincerity, integrity and self-cultivation are the efforts of applied organizations in reality. Although they all have their own names, they actually only say one sentence. What is the integration of body and mind? This refers to the function of body and mind. What is mind and body spirit? This refers to the role of body and mind as masters. What is self-cultivation? This refers to the act of returning good for evil. Can our bodies do good and evil automatically? It must be the dominant spirit that wants to do good and eliminate evil, and then the concrete body can do good and eliminate evil. Therefore, people who want to cultivate self-cultivation must first straighten their hearts. However, the noumenon of the heart is sex, which is good, so there is nothing wrong with the noumenon of the heart. Then how do you need to do centering work?

Because there is no problem with the noumenon of the heart, there is only a problem after the idea is produced. Therefore, anyone who wants to be honest must correct his ideas when they arise. If a good idea comes into being, he will really like it as much as he loves beauty. If an evil thought arises, he will really hate it as much as he hates smelly things. In this way, there will be no dishonesty in his heart and his heart can be corrected. However, once ideas are introduced and produced, some are good and some are bad. If we don't distinguish between good and evil in time, we will confuse true and false with right and wrong. In this case, although we want to make the idea true and innocent, it is actually impossible to be true and innocent. Therefore, people who want to make their thoughts pure must work hard to get to know each other.

"ambition" means to achieve, just like the word "sorrow is greater than death in the heart". The Book of Changes says that "knowing the best" means knowing, and "knowing the best" means achieving. The so-called' knowledge' is not to expand my knowledge as later Confucian scholars said, but to achieve my own conscience. This kind of conscience is the kind of intellectuality that Mencius said that' everyone has a heart of right and wrong'. This intellectuality of distinguishing right from wrong does not need to think. It knows that it can be done without learning, so we call it conscience. This is the attribute given by fate, this is the noumenon of our mind and the subject of natural consciousness. Whenever there is an idea, there is no conscience in our hearts that we do not know. Is this a good idea? Only the conscience in our hearts naturally knows that this is not good, and only the conscience in our hearts naturally knows that this is not good. This is sex that no one can give to others. Therefore, although villains do evil deeds, even to the point where they commit no evil deeds, when they meet a gentleman, they will be uncomfortable to cover up their evil deeds and try their best to show their good deeds. It can be seen that even the conscience of the villain has characteristics that cannot be buried. Today, if we want to distinguish between good and evil and make our thoughts sincere and innocent, the key is to act according to the judgment of conscience. Why? Because when a good idea comes into being, people's conscience knows that it is good. If you can't really like it at this time, or even do the opposite, then this is to treat good as evil, thus deliberately hiding your conscience of knowing good. When an evil thought arises, one's conscience knows that it is bad. If we can't really hate or even put it into practice at this time, then it is to treat evil as good, thus deliberately hiding our conscience of knowing evil. In this case, although I know in my heart, it is actually the same as not knowing. How can I make my mind true and innocent? At present, there is no insincere love for the goodwill known by conscience, and no insincere dislike for the malice known by conscience, so that his thoughts can become true and innocent because he does not deceive his conscience. However, if we want to use conscience correctly, how can this be an empty rhetoric that affects trance? There must be something in here. Therefore, if you want to know, you must work hard on things. "Things" means things. Where there is an idea, there must be a thing, and what is bound by the idea is called "thing". "Ge" means positive, which means correcting the incorrect and making it positive. Correct or not, that is to say, eliminate evil thoughts and words and deeds. Being a positive person means showing kindness, saying good things and doing good deeds. This is the connotation of the case characters. There are some sayings in Shangshu, such as "Ge Yu Wen Zu" and "Qi Ge Fei Xin". In fact, "elder brother" has two meanings in Wu Ge.

Although people sincerely want to like the goodness known by conscience, if the value of goodness is not really realized in the things where the idea of goodness lies, then the specific things have not been completely corrected, so it can be said that the desire to like goodness still has insincere elements. The evil known by conscience, although people sincerely want to hate it, but if we don't really get rid of the evil in the things where evil thoughts are located, then the specific things will not be completely corrected, so it can be said that the desire to hate is still insincere. Now, we should really do good in what our conscience knows to be good, that is, what our good intentions are, so that our good words and deeds will not be perfect. Get rid of the evil known by conscience, that is, what is malicious, so that all bad words can not be removed. After that, there will be no uncorrected components in specific things, and there will be no gaps and coverage in my conscience, thus achieving the ultimate of purity and perfection.

After that, our hearts will be happy and calm, and there will be no other regrets. This is the real modesty. Only in this way can we say that our thoughts are truly honest and innocent. Therefore, "University" said: "After the right department, knowledge will naturally be enriched; Knowledge is enriched and thoughts become sincere; If the mind can be sincere, the mood will remain fair; If you can balance your emotions, your behavior will conform to the norms. " Although there is a sequence between self-cultivation kung fu and organization, his thought and behavior are consistent, and there is really no sequence. Although there is no order between kung fu and the organization of the mind, it is impossible to keep the mind sincere and pure in life. It can be seen that the theory of respecting things, knowing and doing, sincerity and integrity expounds the true spirit of Yao and Shun's inheritance and is also the imprint of Confucius' theory.