The topic of man's mission is an old and ready-made topic. This is the subject of Fichte, the philosopher who inherited Kant's doctrine and laid the spiritual foundation for the revival of the German nation in Germany. Fichte wrote a popular book called The Vocation of Man. Most young people are very concerned about life issues, so I especially put forward the mission of life, that is, I hope that young people can determine their lifelong mission as soon as possible.
To discuss the problems of life, it is necessary for people to study themselves, reflect on themselves, and understand the most difficult things in understanding themselves. Therefore, the problems of life are really the most difficult and difficult to study. It can also be said to be the most important, largest, and most difficult to answer question. It is easy to get bogged down in broadness and emptiness when talking about this issue.
Secondly, the question of life is related to being a human being, that is, how much it is about moral cultivation. For this kind of personal issue, it is best to have a private conversation with a friend who is closest to you and the closest teacher, so that you can have cordial guidance and there is no need for open discussion. And this kind of personal life problems, all to their own reflection, observation, and self-seeking solutions, others can only do their duty to remind and enlighten at most, and there is nothing else they can do.
Thirdly, in a certain sense, it is best for a person to immerse himself in life and struggle, forgetting that he has problems with life and moral cultivation, and that is the happiest thing to do. People's mental health is the same as physical health, there are many people who pay attention to hygiene every day, and use scientific methods to maintain health anytime and anywhere, and they are prone to get sick every time. On the contrary, a very busy person, listen to nature, do not pay special attention to hygiene, nor is he particularly a thief's body, but is healthy. In the same way, many people who talk about their outlook on life and self-cultivation every day, and who talk about moral terms, are not always morally good. And many people who never talk about life and morality live happier and have better morals (for example, the morality of scientists is no worse than that of moralists and missionaries, and the health of ordinary people is no worse than that of doctors). Therefore, on the one hand, we must attach great importance and take the issue of life very seriously, but on the other hand, we must not talk about it as an empty talk.
Man's mission or vocation can also be called the ideal of life. But the mission is certainly ideal, but it is also realistic, and it is the mission that we are carrying out here and now, that is, we must carry out it. Ideals are free, and I am free to propose this ideal or that ideal; The mission is decided, or it can almost be said that it is a destiny that people cannot voluntarily or fail to obey. The ideal is subjectively established, and the mission is given objectively, by the state, by the times, or by the boss.
Man's mission, in a sense, is the purpose of life. Mission is the content of the purpose, the purpose is contained in the mission, and it can also be said that the purpose of life is to complete the mission of the person. The mission is more specific and practical than the purpose. With the mission of being a man, life has purpose, meaning and value. Without a concrete, practical, and indispensable mission, it would be empty to talk about the purpose of life.
And the mission contains the meaning of command, and the mission of the person pursued by a person is like the military order of a soldier. If a soldier violates a military order, he will be punished by military law, and if a person violates a person's mission, he will also be mentally punished by a special punishment, sometimes called heavenly punishment or heavenly punishment. In any case, it is inevitable that you will be rebuked or punished by your conscience.
Is it meaningless and too late for us to study the mission of man? Because people have been living in the world for twenty or thirty years, it is not a joke to discuss the mission and purpose of man, just as a ship has sailed far from the sea, and only those who sit on the ship come to discuss the purpose and mission of sailing? If the war in Europe has already begun, is it too late and ridiculous for Britain and Germany to come to debate the purpose and mission of the war? For example, when Japan had invaded China for almost three years, a member of the National Assembly of Japan suddenly came out and boldly asked the government about the purpose and mission of the war against China. It is no wonder that the Japan government wanted to expel this uninteresting parliamentarian from the parliament.
The above question can be answered in three points:
(1) Since man is already living, he is already unconsciously carrying out a certain kind of human mission, and the purpose of philosophical thought is to make this unconscious mission formally become a conscious mission after being studied.
(2) If a person never asks about people's mission, it is like a rudderless ship, floating on the sea, only to go with the current, and to rise and fall with the world, then is not life meaningless and worthless? Further, if a person does not have a mission, he has no personality and cannot be regarded as a real person.
(3) A person who does not have a real mission or has a mission that is not above board, but is afraid of being questioned by others, is afraid of being exposed, does not dare to reflect on and discuss, and publicly declares it, is to deceive himself and others. If you fight this method of self-deception, you will lose the war, and if you behave with it, your personality will surely go bankrupt.
In this way, humans are different from animals, perhaps because humans have a conscious mission while animals do not have a conscious mission. Good people are different from bad people because good people have a righteous mission, while bad people don't have a righteous mission. Great men are different from ordinary people because great men have great missions, while ordinary people do not have great missions. Therefore, we can know that the mission of seeking a self-conscious and righteous person is a function peculiar to man, a function peculiar to a rational animal.
To know what is the mission of man, we must first know what is man. If we first know the essence of man, we will know what is the mission of man.
But how do you know people? The direct way is to understand people from themselves. This is the approach that focuses on humanism in the narrow sense. However, there are many people who communicate with people every day, but they cannot understand life. Schiller, a great German poet, said: "Man has hidden man!" "So sometimes you have to jump out of the human circle to understand life. That is to say, to understand life, you have to go beyond life. As a joke, sometimes you have to go deep into the realm of no one to know what a person is. In the universe, heaven and matter are all superhuman and non-human. If we use the division of the three worlds of heaven and human beings, we may be able to see the true meaning of human beings, that is, if you want to know people, you can't be ignorant of things, and if you want to know people, you can't be ignorant of heaven.
Why can't one know things if you want to know? The so-called thing has three meanings:
In the first sense, things are nature. Nature and life are opposites. The comparison between nature and life is more sufficient to understand life, man is a part of nature, nature is the whole, and man is governed by all the laws of nature. Understanding the totality of nature leads to an understanding of this part of the person or life. This is what the natural sciences are studying.
In the second sense, things are practical things, such as industrial and economic things, which are tools created by human reason for their own use. From the knowledge of the tool, you can understand the owner of the tool. This is what the science of social engineering is all about.
In the third sense, things are cultural things, and cultural things, such as rules and regulations, cultural products, etc., are the expression and creation of the human spirit. The individual's personality can be understood through the spiritual creations of an individual, and the national or national character of a nation can be understood by the spiritual creations of a nation, such as rules and regulations, cultural relics, etc. This is the object of study in spiritual science.
In short, the study of nature, society, and spiritual science can help us understand what it means to be human.
Why can't a man be ignorant of heaven if he wants to know? This has already been proposed by the mean. Plato also said: Things human cannot be understood without knowledge of the divine. In fact, knowing things and knowing the heavens are opposite, we must know things, and we must also know geniuses. Heaven also has three meanings:
First, heaven refers to the beautification of nature, that is, the nature of non-scientific research with spiritual significance. For example, the Book of Changes says: "Heaven is strong, and the gentleman is constantly striving for self-improvement." The Analects says: "What is the heavens, the four seasons are good, and all things are born." This kind of life from flowers, trees, landscapes and rivers to understand the way of heaven is the artist's intuitive knowledge of the sky.
Second, Heaven refers to the way of heaven, which is the principle of all things in heaven and earth, that is, the reason why the universe is the universe, the reason why life is the basic law of life, and the great law that governs life in the universe. This is the intellectual knowledge of philosophy.
Thirdly, Heaven refers to the God with personality, that is, the most perfect ideal personality, and the highest model personality and the highest value that everyone desires. This is the supreme perfection of God on which human affection is placed, and this is the heaven of moral life and religious belief.
Saying that there is a so-called heaven or god in the universe is like saying that there is also a commander-in-chief in the universe. Zhitian is like directly negotiating and asking for instructions from the commander-in-chief of the universe. Later, he had already known the will of the commander-in-chief, set up his heart for heaven and earth, and spoke on behalf of heaven, and finally became one with heaven and a companion with God, which is what Zhuangzi called traveling with the creator and communicating with the spirit of heaven and earth. From knowing the sky to the sky, from the sky to the sky and the sky as one. It is not only saints who can hope for heaven, everyone can hope for heaven, and everyone can hope for heaven.
To sum up, the history of Zhiwu and Zhitian can be represented by the following diagram:
self-discovery, i.e., discovering one's mission; Self-actualization, that is, the realization of one's mission. This kind of effort to know the heavens and things is the inevitable nature of man, that is, to do his best, that is, to discover himself and complete his mission.
At this point, we can give people the next level and say:
"Man is an existence with heaven as the body and things as the use."
Therefore, it is man's mission and vocation to know that people know things and things to use. This mission is based on the necessity of human nature. Knowing the sky and knowing things can get a world view, and knowing people is a world view. From knowing the heavens and things to knowing the people, this is what Mr. Cai Yuanpei called to obtain the correct outlook on life from the correct world view. Because the outlook on life must be built on the worldview, the knowledge of human beings comes from the knowledge of heaven and things.
The above is generally talking about the mission of man, that is, the mission of man. It is necessary to further talk about what is the special mission of a special individual at a certain time and place. In other words, the above has only talked about the mission of people, and has not yet talked about my mission, your mission, or the mission of every person and every youth.
In order to understand what my personal mission is, I must consider and reflect on my temperament, talents, environment, family, friends, the needs of society and the country, and the trend of the times.
The mission of the individual is the mission, position, life work and the greatest possible contribution of the individual in the whole human society, that is, the work that the person does, should do, cannot do, dedicate himself to and devote himself to the work.
Specifically, the mission of the individual is the lifelong career or lifelong work of the individual. On the one hand, this kind of lifelong work is a work that you freely investigate, choose, and undertake by yourself. On the one hand, it can also be said to be a mission given by the times and reminded by mentors or confidants. In accomplishing this mission, striving for this kind of lifelong work, on the one hand, we realize our own nature, and on the other hand, we are contributing to the mission of society, state, and humanity.
This kind of lifelong work to accomplish one's mission is decisive, it determines the fate of the individual, it is something that the individual cannot escape, and it is an order, responsibility or task that cannot be arbitrarily evaded. It is public, not a private matter of the individual, but a public cause, which is given by the age of the state; It is beneficial to others and to society and the state. It is permanent, because it is the only mission of the individual, and it is the mission of the individual's life, it is not a change that can be changed and given up at will, it is a permanent work. A permanent job is a good job that can be successful. A lifelong friend must be a good friend, and a lifelong job must be a good and valuable job. If you devote your whole life to a job, you will not fail. Even if the work is too great to be accomplished by one person in one lifetime, even if it fails, it will inevitably be a failure that contributes to the final great success. With this kind of lifelong work, you will have achievements and expertise, and you will not have to worry about not having the expertise or knowledge to be able to earn food and clothing on your own.
With this kind of lifelong work, people can continue to work hard, although the flesh is old, but the ambition is not weakened.
With this kind of lifelong work, people can stay true to their mission and not defect halfway. Anyone who defects halfway through is probably a small and talented villain, who just sells his wisdom and goes with the flow, and has no definite mission and lifelong work.
With a lifelong job, do not plan for yourself, continue to work hard, old and not decaying, and even after your death, this kind of work, there must be people who continue to work hard and carry it forward. Although he will inevitably die, and his mission and work can be inherited immortally, he will have a sense of immortality and the spirit of not being afraid of death.
To sum up, if a person wants to live and be a serious person, he needs to have a conscious and righteous mission, so that life can be meaningful and valuable. From the aspect of knowledge, in order to understand what is the mission of human beings, we must start from knowing things, nature, heaven or heaven, so that the outlook on life is based on the cosmology. From the aspect of action, in order to accomplish one's mission, one needs to have a lifelong job that has been done with dedication and death.
With this kind of lifelong work, you will feel the solemnity and meaning of your life's work: it can develop for a long time and will not be extinguished with the death of the individual.
Finally, I hope that we young people will define our life's mission as soon as possible and seek our own lifelong work.