The Book of the Later Han Dynasty has such a story.
Once, The Changyi official Wang Mi took ten catties of gold and went to visit Yang Zhen late at night, saying: "No one knows about the twilight night." "
Yang Zhen sternly refused this generous gift, replying: "Heaven knows, earth knows, you know, I know, what does it mean that no one knows?" Wang Mi returned ashamed.
This is a reverential heart of the cautious and independent, and the careless and alone lack this reverential heart.
People are only promises before, and people are not afraid of the day after tomorrow, and they are lawless.
Once a person has no reverence, when there are many opportunities for opportunism, he will be pervasive and show the evil of human nature as much as possible. Half of man is human nature, half is animal nature, so there will be an eternal debate between human nature and goodness, or inherent evil.
In fact, we can think about what kind of result will be the final result of many ulterior secrets that we think only know heaven, earth, you know, and I know.
Prudence and independence can be said to be the simplest cultivation method in life, and of course, it is also the highest state of cultivation.
However, there are at least three levels of caution, and we usually pay more attention to the first two levels.
Let's take a look at them one by one:
The first level of prudence is the level of behavior
That is what "University" says: Villains live idly as unwholesome, omnipotent, see gentlemen and then look like they are, hide their unkindness and write about their goodness.
I don't know if you have this experience, just like when we were young, our parents were not at home, we immediately secretly turned on the TV, watched TV, or secretly ran out to play with our friends, and then bumped into or recognized by our parents, we generally did not apologize first, admit our mistakes, but tried our best to cover up, and tried to prove that we did not watch TV or run out to play. However, it seems that these disguises and proofs of ours will always be pale and weak, and in the end there will be a beating, at least a severe education.
In fact, not only when we were young, when we worked, if there was no one to supervise, we would also desert from time to time, or sneak fish, and after being discovered by the leader, it was basically not much different from our reaction when we were young.
These disguises, in fact, are futile in the eyes of clear-eyed people. It is said that the person who is mentioned later regards himself, and if he sees his lungs and liver, then what is the benefit. This in itself is what this passage in "The University" says before: the so-called sincere person does not deceive himself, and then tries to deceive others.
In this case, since we all understand the truth, why can't we do it? There are two reasons for this, one is out of habit, and the second is our instincts.
Why is it out of habit? Because many times, for example, when we lie for the first time, we don't get the punishment we deserve, that is, the mistakes we make for ourselves, at a very low cost. And it can be easily forgiven, and over time, this way of behaving will become a habit, and finally we will sometimes think that as long as we apologize, we will be forgiven, so that we take these things for granted. Of course, we will also take a lot of other people's examples as evidence, such as we are lazy at work, deserting, discovered, even if we are taught a lesson by the leader, the first thing that may come to mind is why someone is lazier than me, the work performance is not as good as mine, why doesn't the leader teach him?
On the contrary, we should study well when we know and should be right, such as when we go to school, we should work well, we have not received the harvest we deserve, and we have not received the value we deserve. It can also be said that you have not obtained the good experience and results brought about by good study and good work. Some people say that interest is the best teacher, and Confucius also said: Those who know are not as good as those who are good, and those who are good are not as good as those who are happy.
In fact, interest and interest are the most determined forces in life, and they are also a good recipe for peace of mind. If people can turn their interests and hobbies into their own work, it may be the happiest thing. So what is the real interest? In this field, you are happy to solve problems and constantly break through yourself, rather than having a headache when you encounter problems, and you want to escape, then this may be your interest.
Above we have spent a lot of time to say that we all know and understand these truths, but the first reason, that is, the habit of gradual formation, we have to spend some time talking about the second reason, that is, human instinct.
What is human instinct? Simply put, it is to seek advantage and avoid harm, and this interest does not only include what we usually understand as hoping to gain benefits, fearing to lose benefits, but also comes from the working mechanism of our brains. It is the operation mechanism of our brain, which tends to save physical strength, brain power, and energy to deal with sudden and extremely dangerous situations that must be faced. This should be a set of self-protection mechanisms left in our brains by heredity in the process of dealing with flood beasts and sudden disasters, in the process of buying goods for hundreds of millions of years, through inheritance. This is what I have been emphasizing in previous lectures, programs that run automatically in our subconscious.
It can be said that our physical strength, energy and brain power are the only controllable and most valuable resources for us. Therefore, I have always told my friends that the most important thing in life is to learn to manage your energy.
A person's life is only a few decades, and the time that can be used to really do things is even less. We are learning to grow, learn to live, daily rest and entertainment to spend a lot of time, really determine the density and height of our lives, the most important factor is whether we can do sustained and effective accumulation in the same direction, in the end, is to know how to use our most important asset, that is, our energy.
In energy management, the most important thing is the stock of energy, and the second is the increase of energy.
Our body is like a precision operation of the machine, only in the process of continuous consumption, we can maximize the energy intake into the energy of our work, and our laziness, will let the intake, excess energy into fat, some even into tumors, in the process of this energy intake, transformation and use, our body is in a well-functioning state of health, at the same time, our body is also maintaining rapid metabolism and self-renewal, only in this way, Our bodies will be healthy and powerful.
The second level of prudence is the level of mental activity
The first level of behavior is actually an external reaction to our mental activities, that is, sincerity is in the middle and outside. In fact, our brains are not forming all kinds of thoughts and ideas all the time, and sometimes we don't know where they come from. Some of it is our body, this holographic information receiving device, after receiving information from the outside world, transmitted to our brains, formed in our subconscious, which is a set of programs that run automatically. There are also some that come from our desires and obsessions.
This level of caution is to learn to do thought work. Now many people are keen on meditation, meditation, meditation, and even valley breaking. This is all thanks to external forces. In fact, the simplest and most effective work is to observe the rise and fall of one's own thoughts, at this time do not rush to restrain bad thoughts, but more importantly, we can first observe from the perspective of a bystander where a thought comes from and how it goes. And then gradually distinguish the good and evil of these thoughts, at the same time, you can also more clearly see the underlying logic of your own thinking, many things, if you put it at the level of the underlying logic to think, we will find that many things are made up by our automatic brains. The basis of brain replenishment is our desire for interests, our conviction in the things in human nature that are not very reliable, especially the belief in interests and power.
The third level of prudence and independence is uniqueness, uniqueness, and solitude
It is to dare to be enlightened, to see alone, to be alone, and not to be kidnapped by moral standards such as right and wrong, good and evil, and so on.
Let's look at a passage from The Pipe:
"Pipe Bully":
The power of the husband, the divine capital; the one who is wise, the weapon of the world; the one who is the sole, the stronghold of the subtle. Of these three, the saints are afraid of the little, and the fools are afraid of the light; the hatred of the saints is also within, and the hatred of the fools is also outside; the saints will know what they will know, and the fools will be in danger. The saints can assist the time, but they cannot violate the time. Those who know are good at planning, not as good as they were at that time. Those who are good at time, the day is less and the work is more. If the husband has no master, he is trapped, and if he is not prepared, he is ruined. It is the Holy King who prepares him. And be careful to keep it in time. Raise troops when you are ready, when you are ready, when the time comes. Attack the country with absolute strength, break the big and control the land, make the big and the small standard, and attack the near and far. Lead the small with the big, make the weak with the strong, make the widowed by the multitude, benefit the people, and strengthen the world; and order the princes to do not whisk, and there is no disobedience near, and there is no disobedience in the near, and there is no one who listens to the distance. King Fuming is the right of the world, and li ye. According to the strong to help the weak, to stop greed, to survive and die, to inherit the world, this world contains also, the princes and the people also benefit, is the king of the world. Knowing the world, following the first generation, the material vibrates the four seas, and Wang Zhisaya.
This paragraph roughly means:
The conspiracy is what the Divine Sovereign depends on. Unique wisdom is like a sharp weapon in the world; unique judgment is like a precise fortress. These two are what the saints are trying to emulate. The saint always guards against the small signs of things, and the fool only sees things after they are exposed; the saint hates the evil of the heart, the fool hates the bad appearance; the saint knows his safety when he moves, and the fool refuses to change until he dies. Saints can catch the moment, but they can't go against the moment. Wise people are good at planning, but it is better to seize the opportunity. Good at timing, always less effort and greater results. If you have no opinion, you will be in trouble, and if you are not prepared, you will fail. Therefore, the Holy King must be prepared and careful of the timing. Wait for the right moment with some preparation, raise great events according to the right time, and begin to raise troops when the time comes. Conquer enemy countries by breaking through strong walls, break through big cities and control enemy territory, be fundamentally strong and have very small targets, protect the near country and attack the distant enemy, use the big country to contain small countries, use strong countries to enslave weak countries, use more people to recruit fewer people, deli the people, and shock the world; order the princes to be resisted, the near ones do not obey, and the far ones obey orders. Originally, it was reasonable for a Ming king to serve as the leader of the world. Suppressing the strong and helping the weak, prohibiting the tyranny of the country and hindering the greedy king, preserving the subjugated country and stabilizing the crisis, and inheriting the world, these are all things that the world supports, the princes are close to, and the people are profitable, so the world is happy to think that it is the king. As for the person who wits to cover the world and break the crown of the first world, he can shake the world, this is the king's minister.
Here we talk about solitude, solitude, and solitude. Why is this so important? The reason is actually very simple, that is, the instinct of the vast majority of our people is to seek advantage and avoid harm, which is also the essence of human nature. As a leader, after stripping away these standards of right and wrong, good and evil, and stripping away their own greed and fear, they can return to the objective perspective, examine the truth, and think about problems, analyze problems, and solve problems according to the laws of the development of objective things. However, in the process of being enlightened, alone, and assertive, we must not go it alone, but we must also know and remember the human nature of the vast majority of people who seek advantages and avoid harms, and in the specific external use and specific practice process, use the method of guiding the situation according to the situation, that is, using the adjustment of interests, so that the situation can develop in a good direction. This is what I have always said about both insight into human nature and tolerance for human nature.
Therefore, whether as an individual or as a leader, we need to remember that we should not be swayed and coerced by the evaluation of others for a while and a thing, and we must have a single understanding, unique understanding, and unique view of the truth, and we must also have a feeling of compassion for nature and people, that is, to conform to human nature. This is also a point I have always said: to have stable values, but also to have a soft enough body, to learn to be with the light.
However, here are three issues that need to be clarified:
1, many people do not like to go with the flow, but because suddenly found themselves walking the road, no one walked, began to fall into a deep doubt, is not their own choice of the wrong road, after hesitation and wandering, chasing behind other people's ass, but has become a way to make themselves not afraid, because he can easily tell you that others are doing this.
2, solitude, solitude, solitude, not grandstanding, not self-proclaimed "maverick" tools, because solitude, solitude, solitude, these contents are more happening inside our brains, rather than the tools of debate with others. "Lao Tzu" said: It is better to say more than to be poor than to keep in the middle.
3, sometimes, we need to go alone.
Like the pandemic we are facing now, thousands of people, risking danger, being brave retrogrades, is a heroic solitary act, to save more people from fear. This is not only the requirement of their profession, but also a kind of grand righteousness, but also a kind of great love in the world, although they are brave and alone, but they are not lonely, because our hearts are with them.
I hope that the epidemic can end as soon as possible, and I hope that the medical staff who are sticking to the front line can be safe, and I hope that after the epidemic is over, they can also enjoy a good and peaceful life like us.