The highest wisdom of man is ultimately virtue

Man must not be less intelligent, because without wisdom, it is difficult for him to live as he pleases; man cannot be less wise, because without wisdom, it is difficult for him to attain the realm of life; man cannot be less virtuous, because without good virtue, even if he is wise and wise, it is difficult for him to become a person in the true sense. Isn't the ultimate goal of living a human life a life of "human beings" in capital letters? A capitalized "person" is a person in the true sense of the word.

Wisdom is a talent that comes from the mind, manifests as the ability to survive, focuses on the details and the present, and is often small and shrewd; wisdom is a realm, comes from the heart, manifests itself as a matter of understanding, focuses on the whole and the long term, and is often moderate; and virtue is the foundation of life, the support of the edifice of life, the characteristic of the flash of human nature after the externalization of wisdom, which comes from cultivation, manifests itself as the realization of the meaning of life, focuses on the entire process of life, and has always been great wisdom. The relationship between the three of them is complex and delicate, but we can get some inspiration from Lao Tzu's parting words to Confucius, lao tzu said to Confucius, simple intelligence is like a blade without a handle, so that the person holding him hurts himself, and the sharper the blade, the tighter the grip, the deeper the wound. What Lao Tzu meant was that the top of wisdom is virtue.

If we compare life to a big tree, wisdom is the leaf, wisdom is the trunk, then virtue is the root of the tree. Only when the roots are deep can the branches be strong, and only when the branches are strong can the leaves be lush. If life is a pursuit, then the true meaning of life lies in inner spiritual growth, not in the accumulation of external wealth. There are too many reasons to say that the pinnacle of wisdom is virtue.

Socrates said, "Virtue is the character necessary for a happy and good life of mankind." Aristotle said, "The virtue of man is the quality of both making a man good and enabling him to perform his activities well." (The Modern Chinese Dictionary equates "virtue" with "virtue") In our country, the word "virtue" has appeared as early as the ancient Yin Shang era, and in the Pan Geng Chapter, Pan Geng himself repeatedly and vigilantly said: "I am not disregarding the virtue of my ancestors." "Nor do I dare to act in disregard of the virtues of my ancestors." Virtue, that is, the moral conduct within a person. "Zhou Li Di Guan Shi Shi": "Minde thinks that it is the basis of the line." Zheng Xuan's note: "Virtue, the name of inside and outside, is virtue in the heart, and giving is action." ”

Virtue, first of all, is virtue, and only with virtue can there be action. The meaning of "morality" is very rich. Chinese characters are hieroglyphs, and from the allegory of the pictographic structure of the character "de", we can have a deeper understanding of "de".

The word "de" is composed of "double side", "ten", "eye", "one", and "heart". The double side on the left represents the thighs, calves, and feet of the person, and by extension, the movements and behaviors of the person. On the right is the ten eyes and one mind, and it is especially important to pay attention to the understanding of "one" among them. We modern people understand "one" as a number, thinking that it is very simple. In fact, the number "one" is not simple, and it is quite complex, not as easy as we think. The Shuowen Jiezi explains the word "one" the most, and its interpretation of "one" is, "Only in the beginning of the beginning, the Tao stands in one, creates the heavens and the earth, and transforms into all things." Therefore, this "one" is the ancestor of all things. It is the ancestor and source of all things, deriving heaven and earth from "oneness" and evolving yin and yang. This horizontal in the word "de" actually separates the heavens and the earth, with heaven above and earth below. The "ten" is "ten square worlds, all directions". Cangjie made the word "de" very wonderful. Above "one" is "ten eyes", which means that the sky is full of eyes. The character "德" is written as "惪" in the Jin text, and some scholars once believed that "惪" was an ancient word for "de". Indeed, "惪" is more graphic than "de". Doesn't "straight heart" just be sincere and straight to the heart? Below the "one" is the "heart," which means the human heart. The connection between the two means that the eyes of the heavens look at the human heart. Folk people often say that "there are gods three feet above the head". "People are doing it, the sky is watching" means this. There is also "the dark room is bad, the god's eyes are like electricity" and the eyes of the old heavens are everywhere, staring at things on the ground.

The ancient artificial characters have profound meanings, and the structure of the word "de" contains deep moral meanings. Admonish us that no matter whether there is anyone looking at you, whether there is moral restraint on you or not, whether there is a law that supervises you, your behavior must be worthy of heaven, worthy of the earth, worthy of conscience. Do not live up to the rules of heaven and earth, treat things with kindness, and serve people with sincerity. Only in this way can true "morality" be realized.

Virtue is about practice. Nedean laymanship is virtue in the heart, and externalizing virtue to the world is doing. Virtue can truly achieve its purpose only through the manifestation of implementation. The idea of "unity of knowledge and action" put forward by wang Shouren of the Song Dynasty, who is known as one of the two half-saints of China who have been able to make meritorious contributions and make three immortals in the past five thousand years, has made the best interpretation of virtue. "Knowing" in the unity of knowledge and action refers to people's moral consciousness and ideological ideas, and "doing" refers to people's practice and practical actions of morality. Knowledge is the inevitable condition of action, and action is the inevitable result of knowledge. We must not only be sensitive to morality, but also be able to do virtue. Only by stabilizing our correct view, practicing with our own body, and unifying knowledge and action will virtue illuminate our path of life and make us walk steadily and far without entering the wrong path.

Virtue, as the foundation of life, is difficult to quantify, but it has a tangible content. The content of traditional Chinese culture on human virtue has many expositions and summaries, but I think that the most worthy of respect should be the "Ten Virtues and Dimensions" that have been passed down from generation to generation, that is, "benevolence, righteousness, etiquette, wisdom, faith, loyalty, filial piety, honesty, shame, and courage."

Benevolence, benevolence, the foundation of man, the spirit of grace and fraternity; righteousness, justice, the direction of the right way in the world, the behavior of righteousness; etiquette, etiquette, the norms of interpersonal communication, sincere and respectful attitude; wisdom, wisdom, the guarantee of progress and development, the ability to contribute to society; faith, integrity, the basis of self-development, the character of honor and sincerity; loyalty, loyalty, forgiveness, the responsibility of serving the country, the consciousness of returning to the duty; filial piety, filial piety, the love of giving back, the fashion of passing on the family with virtue; the foundation of honesty, honesty, innocence and righteousness, The habit of self-frugality; shame, shame, man is the bottom line of man, the awareness of shame and shame; courage, bravery, self-improvement and unremitting anger, the shoulders of self-discipline.

It is precisely because people are human beings that they have practiced these "ten virtues." If a person lacks "ten virtues", then it is really difficult for this person to be called a real person. The "Ten Virtues" is also the core of traditional Chinese culture, which has not turned the page with the progress of history and become obsolete, on the contrary, after the test of the times, it shines like the sun, moon and stars in history and the current sky, and shines forever. The cultivation of virtues that we use to guide us in life is still fruitful.

Virtue is usually reflected in the moral character of the person, which in turn is expressed in the form of upbringing. People with good moral character are often also cultured people. A man's upbringing is the externalization of his virtues. Therefore, from this point of view, virtue is actually the measure in a person's words and deeds, the tolerance in communication; the gentleness between demeanors; the kindness in the heart; the depth of the soul that cannot be hidden, and the height of life that cannot be pretended.

Everyone comes into this world with his own pursuits. Whether it is glory and wealth, or idyllic freedom; whether it is content with the present, or the pursuit of non-stop. No matter what kind of life, the ultimate hope must be peace and smoothness, no disasters and few disasters. No blessing is not terrible, ordinary and ordinary. No riches and no worries, less disasters and no disasters are also blessings. Man's pursuit depends on himself, and man's fate depends largely on himself. It can be said that each person is a direct beneficiary or victim of his own moral cultivation. Although the blessings of people are not directly determined by virtue, the correlation between them is very large. Because lifespan and blessings are both energy, man himself is an energy body. In most cases, people suffer because of their inferiority, so it is futile to seek dependence and possession outwardly, and only by improving their own virtue is the way to salvation.

Man's woes are directly related to man's virtue. The Zhou Yi ZhiXia says: "If virtue is not worthy of the position, there will be disasters; virtue is thin and dignified, wisdom is small and big, strength is small and the task is heavy, and it is rarely enough." This means that virtue does not match the position, and there must be disasters born; virtue is shallow and noble, intelligence is low and plans big things, strength is weak and responsibility is great, so there are very few who do not break into trouble. The Ming Dynasty scholar Wang Chuanshan, after reading through Sima Guang's Zizhi Tongjian, wrote a book called "Reading Tongjian Theory", in which he repeatedly used a phrase in the I Ching, "negative and multiplied, to Kouzhi" to explain the fate of ancient China from the Wei and Jin dynasties to the five generations and ten kingdoms emperors. From this, we can also confirm the truth that "if the moral position is not worthy, there will be disasters." From ancient times to the present, there are many such examples, such as the Sima family in the ancient Western Jin Dynasty, and the modern Guo Meimei.

The exertion of human talents and human virtues cannot be completely separated. When evaluating people, the two most commonly used criteria are talent and character, and it seems that the two are separate, but on the deepest level, the two are closely related. Contemporary philosopher Zhou Guoping said in "On Morality" that "character and talent cannot be completely separated." Character is not only good or bad, but also high and low, wide and narrow, which is related to talent. Talent roughly defines the style and capacity of a person for good and evil. Those who have virtue and no talent are mostly small good, which is called mediocrity. Those who have no virtue and no talent are mostly small evils, which are called indecent. Those who are talented and virtuous are mostly good, and they are said to be noble. The evil of the talented and the immoral is mostly great evil, which is called evil. "Heaven has endowed us with talents, and we should cultivate our own virtues, and only when virtue is matched can we become noble."

Man's wealth is closely linked to his virtue. The Book of Rites and Universities says: "Gentlemen are virtuous before, there are people with virtue, there are people who have soil, there are soil and wealth, and there is wealth that is useful." The virtuous are also the ben, and the rich are also the end. "Virtue is the foundation, and wealth is the end, which shows the relationship between wealth and virtue, and wealth can lead to wealth, and wealth is possessed by virtue." A person has virtue first and then wealth. An individual's wealth is usually closely related to his virtues. Business is humanity, and business is humanity. Without the realm of understanding human nature and serving the people, without the virtue of the way of gathering wealth and scattering people, I am afraid that it will be difficult to meet wealth, let alone the accumulation of wealth. Wealth is actually cultivated by one's own virtue.

Only the inner saint can be the outer king, and only the virtue can carry things. Wealth, status, fame and fortune are all blessings that people crave, which essentially belong to "things", while people's ability, quality, morality, cultivation, vision, mind, and pattern are "morality". Only by constantly cultivating their own good fruits can people bear the blessings that life has. If virtue is not enough, even if wealth and happiness are temporarily gained, it will be difficult to die well. How much "morality" a person has to carry is how big a "thing" can be, which is the rule of life. In the face of life, we must not be in a hurry to make quick gains, heavy wealth over morality, there is nothing wrong with wanting to make money, but first of all, we must make ourselves valuable in order to make money.

A man can never enjoy something that is not compatible with him. The best way to get something is through your own efforts, trying to make yourself worthy of it, otherwise, it is either delusional or disaster. Therefore, people have summarized the "four heavenly rules" of life, that is, fame cannot be greater than talent, wealth cannot be greater than merit, status cannot be greater than contribution, and position cannot be greater than ability. In our lifetime, we must not violate the rules of heaven and eat the bitter fruit of it.

If you compare life to a boat, virtue is water, without the water of rivers, lakes and seas, the boat cannot sail; if you compare life to a chess game, virtue is a chessboard, without a chessboard, there will be no chess game; if you compare life to a building, virtue is the cornerstone of the underground, and without a solid foundation, the building will collapse. Virtue is the hardest soft power in life; virtue is the best passport for life. As the saying goes: "Man has no character, not an adult." Man has no virtue and is not a tool." Virtue is the foundation of being a human being.

Therefore, a person's virtue determines the height of his life. A person can not be excellent, can not be rich, but can not be without kindness, can not be without wisdom, still less can not be without virtue. The highest wisdom of man is ultimately virtue.