When history has a way, there is no benevolence, righteousness, or courtesy, because there is no need.
"Tsang Shik Keung's Daily Proverbs"
The full text of the | is 2300 words, and it takes 8 minutes to read in depth, benefiting | for life
Many people have such feelings, why are ancient Chinese people so smart and modern people so stupid.
In fact, it is not that the ancient people are smart, but that the current people are becoming less and less intelligent, and they also show a trend that one generation is not as good as a generation.
Why? After reading Lao Tzu's book, you will find that almost all of our self-righteous ideas are wrong.
Our schools and education today are teaching our children to be foreigners, not teaching them to be Chinese people.
And we're worried about the young people today, because their whole brains are dead.
The most powerful thing about Chinese is that the brain is very flexible, but now it is more and more dull than the next.
Many people think that this generation of children is a happy generation, but in fact they are misguided, a very bad generation.
01
Lao Tzu said in the Tao Te Ching: After losing morality, losing morality and then benevolence, losing benevolence and righteousness, losing righteousness and then etiquette.
We are now advocating that everyone should be polite and polite to others, but Lao Tzu has long said: those who are polite, the loyalty is thin, and the chaos is the first.
The source of chaos in the whole society begins with etiquette.
From the Confucian point of view, it seems that Lao Tzu's criticism is too harsh. In fact, Lao Tzu's meaning is really not what we think.
Lao Tzu is just looking at the evolving phenomenon, and he believes that in our human history, when there is a way, there is no benevolence, righteousness, or courtesy at all, and there is no need at all.
When the country is very peaceful, there is no need for patriotic righteous soldiers, because each of them knows that this is their own land, and only in a chaotic world should there be loyal subjects, and when it is calm, what do you want so many loyal subjects to do.
That is to say, when history has a way, there is no benevolence, righteousness, or courtesy, because there is no need. It's not that it doesn't exist, it's that there's no need for it.
In today's parlance, there is no market, no demand, so there is no goods.
After losing the Tao, everyone began to talk about morality. If we lose our morality, everyone does not believe in conscience, so we have to talk about benevolence.
We know that Confucius spoke of benevolence. He felt that there were many people who preached directly to him, and he did not necessarily understand it, of course, this was Confucius's kindness. So he said directly, if you can have kindness, it is good.
Benevolence is that you can't be utilitarian, we call it purpose today, utilitarianism is too strong, you can't.
But later, under the guise of benevolence and morality, there were many people who did unkind things.
Later, in the time of Mencius, the world was so chaotic that almost everyone did not believe in conscience, and almost regarded the benevolence of Confucius as an examination and an ideal.
Therefore, Mencius had to stand up and say the right. Righteousness is to do everything reasonably, and unreasonable is not to do.
But we are becoming more and more purposeful and utilitarian, so much so that now even profit and righteousness are becoming more and more universal.
After that, you have to preach politely, and then continue to be disrespectful and disrespectful.
The more it evolves, the more chaotic the society becomes, which means that people's loyalty to people is no longer there, and people's credit has become weaker and weaker.
The whole society begins to be chaotic because we attach importance to etiquette, which is not the sin of etiquette, but the sin of man.
Smiling, speaking very politely, completely without sincerity, without conscience, there are many such people.
Confucius said in those years that in ancient times, those who did learning did it for themselves, and now they do learning for others.
Confucius had such feelings at that time, and it is still the same today.
We should also reflect on it: Why are we not as good as a generation? What is the rationale?
It is because we have been tempted by the outside world too much, we can't control our own hearts, and we have made bad demonstrations from generation to generation, so that it is getting worse and worse.
02
What to do? It is to cultivate the body and mind and improve upwards.
Lao Tzu told us that one of the best basic skills for cultivating ourselves is four words: Du Wai Yang Nei.
"Du Wai" is to put an end to all the temptations that the outside gives us. "Yang Nei" is the invisible but eternal conscience in Yang Li.
We all had a very good conscience, but as soon as we were tempted by the outside world, our conscience immediately disappeared.
For example, when we don't see money, we feel that we must act according to our conscience. However, when we see money, those four words are very familiar to everyone, called seeing money and opening their eyes.
As soon as his eyes opened, his conscience ran to the back. The conscience is gone, and nature is getting farther and farther away from the road.
In fact, the Word is conscience. As long as you talk about conscience, you will soon return to your roots.
Just like Confucius said, "I want to be benevolent, and Si Ren is the best", you can control it one hundred percent.
Therefore, in dealing with people in ordinary times, we should start with etiquette and slowly improve back.
Etiquette is often asked of the other party, rarely self-reflection. Etiquette and exchanges often become a form of secularity.
You give someone a gift, and they just don't have any money at this time, or they happen to have something else, and they don't return the gift, and you get angry and start to have malice toward him.
We often tell a joke that if you have a birthday or be sick and hospitalized, you will not remember who gave the gift, but you often remember who did not give the gift, which is human nature.
Ritual is far from enough, and we should not be satisfied with it, because there is another level above the ritual called righteousness.
Righteousness is self-demanding, and we can't ask others all the time, that's something that can never be done.
I have to ask for myself, I want to help when I should help, I want to help when I should help, and I want to save when I should be in an emergency.
But righteousness, how much still has a heart, how much is still done for others to see, and how much still needs to be praised by others.
And how do you know if he's right? Whether he is reasonable or not is up to him, because you don't understand his situation at all.
Therefore, "righteousness" often makes us lose our "benevolence", which is the most terrible thing about "righteousness". So raise to benevolence.
What is Ren? Ren is sincerely opposite each other, sensing each other, comparing hearts to hearts, and then you and I become one.
Ren, there is nothing to praise or praise, just to do what I should do.
You think I'm doing good, that's your business, you think I'm just saying, it doesn't matter.
This is already much better than before, and then step by step to moral improvement.
If the Tao is conscience, virtue is to speak according to conscience, to do things according to conscience, and the result is to make you feel ashamed, to make you feel at ease, and finally to die well.
This is one of the most rewarding life processes.
We must stand at the root of the Tao and get rid of those things that are very flashy, very formal, very superficial.
Really get the real, very generous, very solid Way, and then you can follow the Way.
One day, you will elevate yourself to a high level and become a high-ranking person that everyone envies.
Contents of this article: Professor Zeng's Compilation of Wisdom
Zeng Shiqiang explained the Tao Te Ching in detail ¥66 purchase