01
Know how to live
In order to live a good life, it is necessary to understand what life is and what should and should not be done in this life. The sages of the ages have taught these truths, and in all nations there have been people who have taught how to live a good life.
The teachings of these philosophers all boil down to one. The only teaching that applies to all is what a person's life is and how one should live one's life, and this is true faith.
Only by doing what he thinks conforms to the laws of life can people truly understand the laws of life.
People's lives tend to be good or bad, depending only on how they understand the true laws of life. The clearer people understand the true law of life, the better their lives are, and the more vaguely they understand this law, the worse their lives will be.
02
Grasp the present
There is no time, there is only an instant. And that's all we have to live in, in this instant.
Therefore, in this unique moment, we should do our best.
We often say that time passes. This is not true. It is not time that passes, but us. When we were on a boat on the river, we felt that it was the riverbank, not the boat we were on. The same is true of time.
It is right not to think about tomorrow; but in order not to think about tomorrow, there is only one way: to remind myself every moment of whether I have done what I should do on this day, at this time, and at this moment.
You don't feel good – and you think it's because you haven't been able to live the way you wanted to, and if you lived your life the other way, you might be able to do what you think you should do with ease.
This thinking is wrong. You have everything you could wish for. In every moment of your life, you can do the most perfect thing you can do.
03
Make an effort
You say, "It's not worth the effort: no matter how hard you try, you won't be perfect." "But know that your mission is not to attain perfection, but only to get closer and closer to perfection.
Pinning the hope of salvation and happiness on something that is not an individual effort—there is nothing more lax than that.
If you see that the social system is bad and you want to transform it, then you have to know that there is only one way to do this, and that is to make everyone better. And in order to make everyone do well, there is only one thing you can do: do it yourself.
Don't expect your efforts to be good to be quickly successful, and maybe you'll never see that success. You will not see the fruits of your efforts, for the perfection you are tending to, as you move, it moves the same distance.
The effort of the mind – not the means to attain happiness, the effort of the mind itself gives you happiness.
04.
Forge ideas
If man loses the ability to think, he cannot understand why he lives. And if he doesn't understand why he lives, he can't know what's good and what's bad. Therefore, there is nothing more precious to man than to be able to think well.
Whether our lives are good or bad depends on how we think. And the mind can be adjusted. Therefore, in order to live a good life, people need to transform their minds and avoid indulging in bad thoughts and unable to extricate themselves.
When you look back, if you find that your life has become better and better, and you have been freed from sins, evil thoughts, and superstitions, then know that these achievements can only be attributed to the efforts of your own thoughts.
The Chinese philosopher Confucius said this when talking about the meaning of thought:
True doctrine teaches people the highest goodness—to transform one's mind and attain the state of supreme goodness. In order to attain supreme happiness, it is necessary for all people to be properly resettled. In order to properly resettle the entire population, families need to be properly resettled. In order to properly settle the family, it is necessary to properly resettle oneself. In order to properly place yourself, you need to straighten your heart. In order to straighten out one's heart, one needs clear and sincere thoughts.
05.
Look directly at suffering
Just as only night can show the stars in the sky, only suffering can show the true meaning of life.
When people do not see the meaning of life and are angry about suffering, they still have to live, and the reason is that they believe in their minds that life is physical, but in the depths of their soul they know that life is soul, and no suffering can deprive people of true happiness.
Every man carries his own cross, which does not mean that he carries a heavy burden, but that he carries the mission of life, and if we do not regard this cross as a heavy burden, but as the mission of life, then we will carry it easily; when our hearts are docile, humble, and peaceful, it is easy for us to carry it.
Remember that what you call misfortune is sent to you so that you can be put to the test, so that you may learn to endure it with humility and love, so that you may live a better life by relying on it. And the task of your life is to make life better.
06.
Feel happy
Man is unfortunate because he does not know that he is happy.
A philosopher once said: I have traveled all over the earth in search of happiness. I searched tirelessly day and night for this happiness. Once, when I had completely lost hope of finding it, a voice inside me said to me: This happiness is within you.
I listened to this voice and found true, unwavering happiness.
People break their stomachs and always complain about food. The same is true of those who are dissatisfied with their lives.
If you see what you don't have in your grasp as happiness, you will be unhappy forever. Understand that happiness exists only in what you have at your disposal, and that your happiness cannot be taken away from you by anyone.
Life, whatever it is, is a supreme happiness, and if we say that life is suffering, it is only in comparison with another better life imagined, but in fact we do not know what other better life is, nor can we know, so that whatever life is, it is the supreme blessing that we can obtain.
07.
Learn to love
Loving all people seems like a difficult thing to do. But when you don't learn to do things, everything seems difficult.
Everything is learned: sewing, weaving, ploughing, harvesting, forging, reading, writing. In the same way, we should learn how to love all people.
It is not difficult to learn this, because human love for one another has been implanted in our souls.
The survival of all people does not depend on their self-planning, but on the existence of love for each other.
Everyone's life is to improve year by year, month by month, day by day. The better people's lives become, the more closely they are united with each other. And the more closely people are united, the better their lives will be.
If you understand that the most important thing in life is love, then when you meet someone, you don't think about what this person might do to you, but how you can benefit that person.
Only then will you achieve more in all areas than when you only care about yourself.
Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy, one of the greatest Russian critical realist writers, thinkers and philosophers of the mid-19th century, whose representative works include War and Peace, Anna Karenina, resurrection and so on. Lenin once commented that Tolstoy was "the mirror of the Russian Revolution", a "genius artist" with "the most sober realism". Roman Roland called War and Peace "the most magnificent epic of our time" and "the modern Iliad", and his works intertwine love and hatred for the world, integrating the fiery vitality of the heart with the times, thinking about the love of the heart, the people and the faith. In 1910, this beautiful soul was finally liberated, ending the eighty-two-year battle of life. His great love, too, broke free of the last shackles and shone forever on all mankind.
Text 丨 From Tolstoy on Happiness, [Russian] Tolstoy, translated by Wang Zhigeng, The Commercial Press, January 2016
Source: Yan Xiao'er Shu Zhewen Appreciation
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