What is it all about in life? In other words, what is the meaning of being alive?
Lao Tzu has a sentence in the Tao Te Ching, "for the belly, not for the eye", in the vernacular, the purpose of eating is to fill the stomach. It can't be compared with Confucius's "six don't eat", Confucius said that he didn't eat out of season, didn't eat if he didn't look good, and didn't eat when he didn't eat.
It is how the world faces the world. What kind of worldview and values you have, what kind of attitude you will have. Lao Tzu said that the purpose of eating is to solve the problem of food and clothing, and Confucius said that "you don't get tired of eating", which is the difference between the two people's views on the world.
I don't know why I went straight to the point when I came up today, and I didn't even write a foreshadowing.
I like to be direct and no longer like to be subtle. I won't say that Confucius is bad, I'll just talk about Lao Tzu.
Why eat? This is an essential question. The purpose of eating is to solve the needs of the body, if you don't eat, you will go hungry, and if you don't eat for a few days, you will die.
The essence of eating is to be able to live. Eating corn tortillas and white flour steamed buns have the same effect on solving the problem of food and clothing.
So why do some people like to eat white flour steamed buns instead of corn tortillas? Because of the good taste of white noodles. Then there is discriminating mind, and desire arises.
From eating to solve the problem of survival, it began to change to the pursuit of texture and taste. This is getting farther and farther away from the essential meaning of eating.
The material world is understood by the human senses. What is heard by the ears and eyes, and enjoyed by the mouth, where is there an end? How many days have you gone from tortillas to white rice? When the white rice is full, I think about it again. There is no end to human desires.
Lao Tzu saw this shortcoming in human nature and gave his own opinion, that is, "take the saint as the belly and not the goal", let go of the attachment of desire, do not chase the pleasure of sound and sex, abandon the temptation of material desire, and keep himself in a stable life.
When many people hear the Tao Te Ching, they will think that it is a classic of metaphysics. After reading the Tao Te Ching a hundred times, I found that Lao Tzu was a wise man who entered the world.
He rode a green ox to Hangu Pass, and Yin Xi asked Lao Tzu to leave a proverb. If you don't write, Yin Xi won't open or close the door.
I understand that Lao Tzu does not want to write. Things in the world have their own destiny, and Lao Tzu has long seen through human nature. It's just that seeing Yin Xi's persistence, he had to agree to Yin Xi's request.
I imagined it to be like this. Lao Tzu sat cross-legged with Yin Xi, and the green ox was grazing on the side.
Yin Xi asked, and Lao Tzu replied.
On that day, Yin Xi asked Lao Tzu for advice. Today's tax eaters are clothed in fine clothes and food, the canopy on the temple is like a cloud, and the cold food outside the Zhumen is helpless, what is the explanation of such things?
Lao Tzu smiled: "There is no solution." ”
Yin Xi sighed and asked, "In the opinion of Mr., why is he good?" ”
Lao Tzu then said: "The five colors make people blind, the five tones make people deaf, the five flavors make people feel refreshed, the galloping hunt makes people crazy, and the rare goods make people get in trouble." It is not the goal of the saint's belly, so he goes to the other and takes this. ”
Lao Tzu warned Yin Xi that in the face of the temptation of the outside world, he must learn to make trade-offs.
The choice depends on one's values and worldview.
How to make trade-offs also determines a person's future.
I always thought that Lao Tzu's heart was sad. Seeing that the Zhou Dynasty was falling apart and the general trend was about to go, he knew the result, but he couldn't say it clearly, so he had to ride a green ox and find a place for himself to live.
If there is no Yin Xi, Lao Tzu will ride a bull across the Han Valley and escape to the world. There is no Tao Te Ching in this world.
Lao Tzu wrote the Tao Te Ching, which left wisdom to the world and provided another way of life for the world.
Many people cling to their own circumstances, which may have been cultivated for decades, or may have been built for them by others. In fact, if you can see the true face of the world like Lao Tzu, you can sigh and sigh, but that's it. Maybe there will be a new way out of life.