Knowledge and action are originally one, one, one, not two. As it is said in the Book of Transmissions, knowing is the idea of doing, and doing is the kung fu of knowing; knowing is the beginning of doing, and doing is the completion of knowing. Just like Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching": "Difficult and easy to become, high and low are inclined; long and short are dwarfed, before and after."
01
If the conscience in your heart is launched and originates from things, the heavenly truth in the thing will naturally appear, the heavenly reason will appear, and there will be induction in the human heart, which is the so-called "heavenly induction", and that "feeling" and that "should" are actually one thing, and there is no way to separate them.
Therefore, when the ancients said that heaven and man are one, and that heaven and man are inductive, they are talking about the induction of heavenly reason in people's hearts, the manifestation of heavenly reason in people's hearts, or the induction of people's hearts to heavenly reasons, and the reaction of people's hearts to heavenly paths.
Let's take an example, seeing that a child is about to fall into a well, there is a danger to life, the moment you see this scene, as long as the conscience is not lost, it is natural that you can't help but scratch your heart, and even disregard your own safety, go to the rescue.
This is the induction of Heavenly Reason and Heavenly Dao in people's hearts, and for people, it is both knowledge and action. Because as long as you are a normal person, you will naturally have a feeling of worry in your heart, and once you have that feeling, it is already OK, and if your ability allows, you will definitely come forward to rescue the child.
Although there is no external action, in fact, the heart has been hit by heavenly reason, and it is destined that you will not go astray or do things that violate your conscience; the action also includes the external physiological and physical action of "hair and middle section", which must be in line with the conscience of heaven.
Ordinary people only know the part of action in which knowledge and action are integrated, so they cannot understand why knowledge and action are one and the same thing. If we know that actions also include mental actions, it is easy to understand the unity of knowledge and action in the humanity of physical and heavenly beings in people's hearts.
02
Since knowledge and action are one and the same thing, why did the ancients, including Wang Yangming, put forward the two concepts of "knowledge" and "action"? This is also something that there is no way to do, because the world's selfish desires are smoky and stupid, and the ancients, in order to facilitate the understanding of the public, have to say a know, and then a line.
Because there are two kinds of people in general. One is to work hard and blindly, never introspecting one's own inner perceptions and thoughts, and practicing meditation in vain. Just like those who are conformist, who are fooled and brainwashed, do not know why, follow others and go, watch others do so, and do it themselves.
Like a crazy horse, running wildly with its head covered, this kind of person who makes a mistake does not know how he is wrong, and he will be flickered and lame when riding a bicycle.
The other kind of person is just the opposite, sitting there all day long in fantasy, suspenseful thoughts, flying in the air, never doing it himself, never knowing only "to conscience", not "practicing in things", but also slandering the study of the mind as "bitter Zen".
03
Wang Yangming proposed that "knowledge and action are one" in order to return to the right path, to return to the meaning of the ancients' meaning of the unity of knowledge and action. Because by this time, people have completely regarded knowledge and action as two different things, thinking that there is a knowledge first, and then there is a line.
In fact, if you really understand the true meaning of mind science, it is okay to say "one" and "two", whether it is one or two, it is all for the convenience of expression and understanding. At that time, if you have a hole in your heart like a fire, you will be able to "do whatever you want without overstepping your bounds" as Confucius said.
Therefore, in the end, it is still necessary to grasp the fundamentals, rather than clinging to the words and phrases, if you do not know the true meaning of it, saying one or two is empty talk, and how to say it is wrong.