I agree with Ni Ping’s point of view. Living a transparent life is the true knowledge and insight after seeing through the truth of society. It is the sudden enlightenment of calming down and seeing the world and oneself clearly. It is the self-awakening of not blindly following or following others’ opinions. It is sincerity. It is magnanimity, vigor, vitality, and the natural overall pattern of life.
This reminds me of Bu Zheng and Lao Tzu.
In the Chinese people's concept, it seems that being independent from the world, being kind to others, and simply tolerating without arguing means living a transparent life. This concept is often associated with Lao Tzu. This concept is wrong. Yes, it’s also unfair to me. Living a transparent life is not about being patient and non-competitive, but a kind of modest quality and great wisdom in dealing with people.
Lao Tzu's "inaction" refers to people's "doing". "Inaction" means following the Tao and letting nature follow, and following objective laws and not acting forcefully. , means not to act recklessly and not to do anything. Laozi's "not to fight" means not to fight in vain, but to "fight" in the sense of "not fighting but being good at winning".
Looking at the entire "Laozi", there is no suggestion of unprincipled tolerance or cowardice. The reason for being misunderstood is not only "blind obedience" and "following what others say" as Ni Ping said, but also due to misunderstanding and self-righteousness. As the main purpose of "the art of the king's south face", the "non-struggle" in Laozi's article all requires the princes to "take the people's hearts at heart" and not to extend their own desires to compete with the people. If princes and princes want to fight, who can win against him? However, fighting for the interests of the people will lead to chaos in the world. Therefore, Lao Tzu satirized the princes and kings to "love the people and govern the country" by "doing nothing" and not causing trouble.
Let’s take a look at Lao Tzu’s “non-dispute” and what kind of transparency and realm it is.
"The best is as good as water" is a well-known saying, but most people understand water's "no struggle" as "no struggle with the world". Water is the most good, "almost as good as the Tao", and good is good in "everywhere" and can "benefit all things", which leads to "it can assist the nature of all things, but dare not do it" and "accept the criticism of the country", which is called Sheji The king of the world is the king of the world."
Water has seven virtues: the goodness of being in one's position; the goodness of a heart that carries hundreds of rivers to the sea; the goodness of giving to all things; the goodness of sincere and concise words; the goodness of being kind to others. Kindness; kindness in doing things should be based on the principles of amity and harmony; kindness should be the decisive action of adapting to the times. Only in this way can we avoid detours and make no mistakes. If we can work hard to achieve these things, we can be considered a penetrating person with great enlightenment.
In this chapter, Lao Tzu focuses on explaining that the root of the world's strife, robbery, and people's confusion lies in "valuing the virtuous", "valuing goods", and "seeing and wanting". Anyone who is advertised, such as a sage Fame and status, luxury food and clothing, etc., must mean greed, leading the people to breed dissension, and it is the princes who flaunt these things. This is the "policy manifestation" of the princes competing for profits with the people. Therefore, princes and princes should not flaunt anything at will, and do not think that they are really saints, knowing everything and understanding everything. They should honestly "take the people's hearts at heart" and put the people in the supreme position.
When used in personal life, that is, don’t be ostentatious, don’t show off, and don’t show off your wealth. Only a sensible person can be low-key and restrained. Those who truly live transparently must be people with high spiritual levels, not people who have nothing but money.
Although Lao Tzu's thoughts are mainly aimed at princes and kings, he has unlimited universal applicability. Therefore, he is used as a means of governing the country, using troops, cultivating oneself, cultivating one's character, and being used as a power tactic. The purpose of this chapter is to teach people to understand the law of opposites and mutual complementation of things and the transformation of opposites. Only by mastering it can we live a transparent life. As far as the sage is concerned, if he adheres to this principle as the paradigm of world affairs, does not praise himself, does not think he is self-righteous, does not show off himself, and does not boast about himself, he will be able to live long. Precisely because he does not compete with others, no one in the world can compete with him, and he can become the master of the world.
The "non-fighting" in this chapter emphasizes the "junior virtue", which is the principle of princes and kings in politics. At the same time, this is a matter of "gentlemanship" related to the "workplace", that is, "employing people" and "gentlemanship" of "working for the subordinates", and how to treat the people.
When applied to personal cultivation, it means not to bully the weak by force, and not to ignore others. This is called "the virtue of not fighting", this is the correct "view of employing people", this is called "matching heaven" (conforming to the way of heaven) , this is the highest standard since ancient times. The "non-contention" mentioned here is an atmosphere, a pattern, and a humility quality, and has nothing to do with "not fighting against the world".
The word "not fighting" in this chapter refers to the relationship between the princes and the people. The "non-fighting" mentioned in this chapter still means that princes and princes do not fight with the people. Whether it is the official business of promulgating political decrees or the personal affairs of princes and princes, they cannot infringe on the interests of the people and must "take it behind them." Lao Tzu's main focus is on the monarch, but by extension, anyone who does good deeds and leaves behind will be praised by everyone. This is called living a clear and transparent life. But we must not hold an attitude of indifference in dealing with the world, otherwise we will deviate from the principle of being a human being. Lao Tzu's indifference is "harmony" based on "squareness".
The "way of man is to do things without fighting" here means that on the basis of the law of "man follows the earth, earth follows heaven, heaven follows Tao, and Tao follows nature", the way of humanity imitates the way of heaven for the benefit of others without fighting. Harmful, only doing things for the people and not competing for benefits with the people. If you isolate "non-contention" and use your own so-called "non-contention" to understand Lao Tzu's "non-contention", then you really don't understand it. When a person can put himself in others' shoes and pay for others, such as a mother for her children, or a lover for her spouse, is there any need to fight? This is called posture, and high posture means great transparency.
It can be seen from this that Lao Tzu’s thoughts are very transparent. His “non-fighting” is not only reflected in the requirements of government, but also has enlightenment significance for everyone: do not put your own selfish desires above Above the interests of others, there should be a "Tao" at any time and in any situation. We must live in harmony with the living environment, do not do to others what we do not want others to do to us, know how to hold back and not show off, and restrain ourselves to strive for strength. Have a desire to win, do not engage in unprincipled arguments, and do not judge others based on your own strengths or make rash comments.
Some people say that Lao Tzu's thought is a profound and mysterious "infeasibility report". They agree very much. He tells us what is great transparency, what cannot be done, and what should not be done. According to this If you do the "infeasibility report", you will have no disadvantages, live yourself, and live a transparent life.