"Golden Mean": an impossible state of perfection
In 2009, Lao He and his friend surnamed Fu from Zhuhai went to Zhongling Mountain in Taiwan to attend the Huang Ting Chan meditation class. While studying, I had the chance to listen to Mr. Zhang Qingxiang, the founder of Huang Ting Chan, explain the Confucian classic "The Doctrine of the Mean". Most of the contents of "The Doctrine of the Mean" are now forgotten, but "the destiny is called nature, the will is called Tao, and the practice of Tao is called teaching" and "the joy, anger, sorrow and joy are not expressed in the expression, but they are all in the middle." However, it left an indelible mark on Lao He throughout his life. For more than ten years, when Lao He meditates every day, he will naturally think of the above famous saying in the Confucian classic "The Doctrine of the Mean".
However, recently when I was studying "The Doctrine of the Mean" in the course "Learning Confucianism with Hua Shan", Mr. Hua Shan's wonderful interpretation of the Confucian classics gave me a new understanding of the Doctrine of the Mean. The knowledge and understanding of Confucianism is really a shocking feeling of enlightenment and enlightenment. Moreover, the seven requirements of the Golden Mean are the operational guide for us to study and practice Confucianism. It is very worthy of serious study and thinking by interested friends.
Lao He’s elementary and middle school years were spent during the Cultural Revolution. The cultural mainstream at that time regarded the golden mean of Confucius and Mencius as a feudal idea used by the ruling class to maintain its imperial dominance. Or simply regard the golden mean as mediocrity, the middle way of doing nothing and not offending all parties, etc.
Teacher Hua Shan believes that moderation is not mediocrity, but perfection. The ultimate perfection is perfection without any difference.
What is moderation? Cheng Yi, a Neo-Confucian scholar in the Northern Song Dynasty, believed: "Being unbiased is called the middle, and being unbiased is called the mean. The medium is the right way of the world; the mediocrity is the law of the world." Being impartial means being impartial. There is no mistake at all, and there must be no fault. , nothing is too much, nothing is not achieved, it is just right; it is not easy, it will never change, and following the eternal theorem can set an example for all generations. This is the right way of the world, the theorem of the world, and the legendary truth of the universe. In layman's terms, the golden mean means that there is nothing wrong with it at all, it is flawless and has no shortcomings. In other words, moderation is an impossible state of perfection.
To approach moderation, Teacher Hua Shan summarized the following 7 executable operating standards:
1. Be cautious: in a place where others cannot see or hear, the sky When you are the only one who knows the world, your behavior is also ethical (highly self-disciplined).
2. To be neutral: "The Doctrine of the Mean": "The joys, anger, sorrows and joys are not expressed in the middle, but when they are expressed, they are called harmony." People should deal with things and others every day, and do what they want. It is human nature to be happy, angry when things do not go your way, sad when you lose what you like, happy when you get what you want. When something has not happened yet and the emotion has not yet aroused, neither joy nor anger, neither sadness nor joy, and no bias, this is called "centeredness". When something happens, emotions are activated. When you are happy, you are happy, when you are angry, you are angry, when you are sad, you are sad, when you are happy, you are happy, but all of them are within the natural mode and there is no excess. This is called "harmony". In short, be happy when you should be happy, be angry when you should be angry, be sad when you should be sad, be happy when you should be happy, and let your emotions express themselves just right, which is neutralization (self-emotion management).
3. The way of loyalty and forgiveness: The way of loyalty is to establish others if you want to be established, and to reach others if you want to reach yourself. The way of forgiveness is to do not do to others what you do not want to do to yourself. The way of loyalty and forgiveness is to start from the inside out, extend yourself to others, and work from near to far. (Compare your heart to your heart)
4. Pay attention to words and deeds: learn to speak and listen. When speaking, don’t say what you can’t do; to be obedient is to listen to yourself, listen to what you say when you criticize and ask others, and then Ask yourself to do it first (match your words and deeds).
5. Act according to your position: Teacher Hua Shan believes that envy of others is a big problem. "The Doctrine of the Mean" says: "A gentleman behaves in his position and does not want to be outside of it. A gentleman behaves in a wealthy and noble manner; he behaves in poverty and humbleness; he behaves in a barbarian style; he behaves in adversity and adversity; a gentleman has no access to it. Rather than being complacent. ”
To act in the same position means to be content with where you are now and work hard to do what you should do. Not wishing to be outside of others, wishing, is envy. This sentence means that a gentleman looks at his own position, does what he should do, and does not envy others. (Be content with the situation and act according to your position)
6. Don’t complain about nature and others; "The Doctrine of the Mean": If you rectify yourself and don’t ask for others, you will have no complaints. Don’t blame Heaven when you are above, don’t blame others when you are below. Baidu's explanation: Correct yourself and not be harsh on others, so you won't have any complaints. (Above does not complain about heaven, and below does not complain about people).
7. Sincerity without interest: Sincerity without interest means that extreme sincerity has no end, and it will last forever if it does not end. "The Doctrine of the Mean": "Therefore, sincerity has no rest. If it does not rest, it will last for a long time. If it lasts for a long time, it will be conquered. If it is long, it will be far-reaching. If it is far-reaching, it will be profound. If it is broad, it will be wise. It is broad and thick, so it can carry things; wise, it can cover things. It has been long, so it can become things. Ye. Bodhisattva matches the earth, wisdom matches the sky, and it has no boundaries. Such things are formed without seeing them, changing without doing anything." Baidu's explanation: Extreme sincerity has no end, and if it does not end, it will last for a long time. If it lasts for a long time, it will be revealed. After it is revealed, it will be long-lasting and long-lasting. If it is long-lasting and long-lasting, it will be broad and profound, and broad and broad. What is deep will eventually become tall and bright. Because it is broad and deep, it carries all things; because it is tall and bright, it covers all things; because it is far and long, it generates all things.
The breadth and depth can be compared with the earth, the height and brightness can be compared with the sky, and the distance and length are endless. If such a state is reached, then what is not shown will become obvious, what does not change will be changed, and even if you do nothing, you will achieve something.
Hello, I am Hua Shan. Welcome to my course "Learning Confucianism with Hua Shan".
In this lecture we begin to enter the "Golden Mean". I said before that "The Doctrine of the Mean" is the peak of Confucianism, and now we begin to climb this peak.
What is the mean and what is the golden mean? A few years ago, I saw an advertisement for a design company on Caoyang Road in Shanghai. It had eight big characters written on it: "Reject moderation and pursue perfection." When I saw it, I misunderstood the "middle" in moderation as "zhongbuliu" and replaced "zhongyong" with "zhongyong". "Mediocre" has been misunderstood as mediocre. On the contrary, moderation is not mediocrity, but perfection. It is the ultimate perfection, and it is perfection without any difference.
Some people understand the golden mean as being middle-of-the-road and not offending others. This is also a wrong understanding. No one is allowed to offend, that is called Xiangyuan, and is called a good gentleman. Confucius said: "Hometown wishes are the thief of virtue." Hometown wishes are thieves, because these people talk about people when they see people, talk about ghosts when they see ghosts, and talk about myths when they are not people or ghosts. They are people without a position.
So, what is moderation? Cheng Yi said: "Being unbiased is called middle, and being unbiased is called mediocrity. The middle is the right way of the world; the mediocrity is the law of the world." Being impartial means being impartial, without any mistakes, and even without any mistakes. There is nothing excessive, nothing unachievable, just right; not easy, it will never change, and following the eternal theorem can set an example for all generations. This is the right way of the world, the theorem of the world, and the legendary truth of the universe. To put it simply, the golden mean means that there is nothing wrong with it at all, it is flawless and has no shortcomings.
In the past, I talked about moderation and often used beautiful women as examples to make it easier for everyone to understand and remember.
"Deng Tu Zi Lu Lu Fu" says that the beauty's height "increases by one point, it is too long, decreases by one point, it is too short", which means that if it increases by one millimeter, it is too tall, and if it decreases by one millimeter, it is too tall. She is too short; she also said that her face and skin were "too white if she applied powder, and too red if she applied blush." ??If she applied powder, she would be too white, and if she applied some blush, she would be too red. She cannot wear makeup, and any makeup would be too natural for her. The destruction of beauty.
Therefore, Confucius said: "The golden mean is impossible." No one can achieve the true golden mean, not even Confucius. If it can't be done, what can it do? You have to know that there is this standard and know that you have not met it, so you have to be alert and work hard to do it. To put it more vividly, the mean is like a limit value in mathematics. You can approach it infinitely, but you can never reach it.
A saint becomes a saint because he always realizes that he is making mistakes and always works towards an endless goal; a villain becomes a villain because he always feels that he is always right and never reflects. people.
The pursuit of the golden mean can also be reflected in the details of life. For example, when we eat according to the golden mean, assuming that the standard of health is to eat 70% full, and how much protein, vitamins, and salt should be consumed in the most precise and perfect amount. Then if you eat one point more, it will be too much, and if you take one point less, it will be too much. Less, no more or less of each element, just right, this is the golden mean. You can't do it, but if you know this standard, be careful and don't overeat or overdiet. < /p>
What does it mean? The country in the world can be equalized, and half of the country can be given to brothers; the title and salary can be relinquished, and high officials and noble titles can be relinquished; the sword can be cut, and swords and fire can be thrown; but moderation is impossible, that is to say, one must always adhere to the golden mean. , that is really impossible to do.
Now that we know that the golden mean cannot be achieved, and that we need to examine ourselves at all times and approach it infinitely, we must understand that such a difficult golden mean, what are the specific and enforceable requirements?
In fact, it is very simple. There are 7 main points:
Be cautious about independence
To achieve neutrality
The way of loyalty and forgiveness
< p> Pay attention to words and deedsAct with integrity
Don’t complain about others
Be sincere and sincere
The truth is very simple. Once you say it, you will understand it immediately. If you understand, you will do it immediately, but the difficulty lies in the unity of knowledge and practice, and the difficulty lies in treating these as a lifelong practice. In order to help you practice it better, I will break it down and explain it in detail. In this lecture, I will first talk about the first two items: "be cautious about independence" and "achieve neutrality".
Let’s talk about “being careful” first. “The Doctrine of the Mean” says: “That’s why a gentleman is wary of what he doesn’t see, and fearful of what he doesn’t hear. Don’t see what’s hidden, don’t show what’s subtle, that’s why a gentleman Be careful not to be alone. "
Be careful not to see, be afraid not to hear: not seeing is where no one sees; not hearing is where no one hears. Even in a place where no one can see or hear, remain vigilant and self-disciplined, and don't be presumptuous. This is being cautious and independent.
Don’t see what is hidden, don’t show what is subtle: see, read “show”; hidden, is a dark place; micro, is a subtle thing; alone, is a place that others don’t know, only you know .
Why should we emphasize caution on independence? You think, people will pay attention to their behavior when they are in a place where others can see them, because we have to look to others. On the contrary, in a place where no one can see you, when you don’t need to pay attention to others, you know best whether your thoughts are good or evil. This is the best way to see in the world, and it is the most clear time, so it is called Mo Jian. Almost hidden. The most obvious thing in the world is the most secret place where you are alone.
Similarly, the most obvious things in the world should not be revealed in the subtle. In other words, the more subtle things, the trivial things that are not worth mentioning, have little impact no matter what, and no matter how you deal with them, others will not notice them. The more you do, the more you can show your values ??and accomplishments.
So people who are truly observant, when judging a person, don’t look at big things, but at small things. Because everyone will pay attention to big things, but it is the inadvertent little things that can best reveal a person's integrity. If a person cannot keep the small rules, then it is difficult for us to believe that he can keep the big ones.
Therefore, the principle of caution is very simple, that is, in a place where others cannot see or hear, and only you know, your behavior is moral. Cultivating independence is easy to get started, but if you can persist in doing it, you have to ask yourself.
Then let’s look at the second article: “To neutralize.” This article talks about the management of one’s own emotions. "The Doctrine of the Mean" says: "Happiness, anger, sorrow, and joy are not expressed in the middle, but when they are expressed, they are called harmony." You will be angry when you get what you want, sad when you lose what you like, and happy when you get what you want. This is all human nature. When things have not happened yet and the emotions have not yet aroused, neither joy nor anger, neither sadness nor joy, and no bias, this is called "centered". When something happens, emotions are activated. When you are happy, you are happy, when you are angry, you are angry, when you are sad, you are sad, when you are happy, you are happy, but all of them are within the natural mode and there is no excess. This is called "harmony".
Zhu Xi called this "the virtue of temperament". The joy, anger, sorrow and joy must be just right. If the joy is ecstasy, it will become Fan Jinzhongzhe, ecstatic and crazy; if the anger is too much, it hurts others and hurts oneself; sorrow, when a loved one dies, the grief will be broken into human form and cannot come out. The ancients Saying this is unfilial; if you are happy, don't be too happy to be sad.
On the other hand, if your joy, anger, sorrow, and joy are intangible and have no emotions, that would be terrible.
In short, be happy when you should be happy, be angry when you should be angry, be sad when you should be sad, and be happy when you should be happy. Let the emotions be expressed just right, which is to achieve neutrality.
"The Doctrine of the Mean" says: "To achieve harmony, the heavens will have their place, and all things will be nurtured." The "zhi" here means pushing to the extreme; the position means finding the right place, and everyone is in their own place; and "nurturing" means All things grow and develop.
Happiness, anger, sorrow, and joy can be brought into harmony. If my heart is right, then the heart of heaven and earth will be right; if my Qi is in harmony, so will the Qi of heaven and earth. The sun, moon, stars, mountains, rivers, etc. all have their proper place, and everything in the heaven, earth, and everything is in its proper place. The young have their own growth, and the old have their support. Whether it is animals or plants, flying in the sky or swimming in the water, each one fulfills its nature and all things grow.
When it comes to emotional management, the people who need to reflect on themselves most at this point are managers. Confucianism talks about leadership to a large extent. In the past, it was about monarchs, but in the current context, it is about managers. Only when managers manage their emotions well can subordinates be in their proper positions and everything in the world can grow.
Heaven and man are one, the one above is the sky, the king of a country is the sky of a country, and the boss of a company is the sky of a company, not the sky, but at least the ceiling. It is the one on top who decides how high the sky is, how wide the earth is, whether the sky is in harmony, the earth is not harmonious, whether the Qi is smooth or not, whether the young can grow, whether the old can be cared for, and whether the mountains and rivers are the beautiful nature. Whether they will be destroyed or not, and whether wild animals will be protected or not, is all determined by the temperament of the person in charge. Therefore, the principle of cultivating the virtue of one's temperament and achieving neutrality is here.
The same is true in life. In a family, if the parents have a bad temper, the children's lives will be distorted and they will not be able to escape the sorrow of childhood; in a company, if the boss has a bad temper, the whole company will not be able to live in peace; in a country, if the monarch has a bad temper, then The people, mountains, rivers and vegetation all over the country will suffer. Therefore, the golden mean, to achieve neutrality, is to have emotions, but to be able to manage them well, and to manage them just right.
To briefly review, the mean is not mediocrity, the mean is the ultimate perfection. Just because it is the ultimate, we can only approach it infinitely and never achieve it.
The Way of Loyalty and Forgiveness: How to capture the core of "The Analects" in one sentence?
Hello, I am Hua Shan, and you are welcome to learn my course "Learning Confucianism with Hua Shan".
I said before that studying things to achieve knowledge is the first step on the door to Confucianism. The grid is a grid, a rigid grid, with rigid requirements for right and wrong, good and evil, with absolutely no selectivity and absolutely no exceptions. Do things absolutely according to the standards and scale of that grid. This is just like the tiger talisman for mobilizing troops. If it's right, do it. If it's not right, don't do it. The tiger talisman is the military talisman used by ancient emperors to mobilize their troops. The token is split in half, one half is given to the general, and the other half is given to the emperor. Only when the two halves of the tiger talisman are perfectly aligned, can the holder of the tiger talisman have the power to mobilize troops.
It can be said that being able to act according to the grid is the prerequisite for doing things. If we can do this, we can continue to practice; if we cannot do this, the rest will be false and have loopholes, and we will not be able to practice Kung Fu.
Now that the three programs and eight items of "The Great Learning" have been explained, when we study Confucianism, it is equivalent to having the highest program. At the same time, you will also get the essence of "The Great Learning".
After talking about "The Great Learning", according to the established order of the four books, in this lecture, we will enter the "Analects of Confucius".
Someone once asked me: "Teacher Hua, can you sum up "The Analects" in one sentence?" I thought about it and realized that there is such a sentence.
There is a passage in "The Analects" where Confucius said to Zengzi: "Can! My way is consistent." Shen is Zeng Shen, the name of Zengzi. Confucius said, Zeng Shen! My Tao is a thought that is consistent and runs through the whole thing.
What did Confucius say about his consistent way? After he said this, he went out. The classmates were all confused and asked Zeng Zi, "What do you mean by the teacher?" Zeng Zi replied, "The way of the Master is loyalty and forgiveness." This means that the teacher has always been consistent. The Tao is just the way of loyalty and forgiveness.
What is the way of loyalty and forgiveness? Loyalty means "if you want to establish yourself, you should establish others; if you want to achieve yourself, you should achieve others." If you want to make a difference, you must also let others make a difference; if you want to develop, you must also let others develop. This is loyalty. Forgiveness means "don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you." Don't do to others what you don't want to endure. To practice loyalty and forgiveness consistently is the way of Confucius.
So, how do we understand the principle of loyalty and forgiveness, and how can we use it to guide our daily behavior? I will tell you about this in this lecture.
Take a look at the two words "loyalty and forgiveness": loyalty, the upper one is in the heart, the lower one is in the heart, and what you do is exactly what others expect in their hearts. This is the heart of others; forgiveness Well, the one above is like a heart, and the one below is a heart, like a heart. The hearts of others are just like my heart. Therefore, the way of loyalty and the way of forgiveness are the same way, which is the way of comparing one's heart to one's heart. Comparing one's heart to one's heart is the core of Confucius' thought. Is this simple? It is the simplest folk wisdom in China.
Loyalty is "If you want to establish yourself, you can establish others; if you want to achieve yourself, you can achieve others." What is this? It’s about achieving others, that’s leadership. Therefore, the loyalty mentioned in "The Analects" is not mainly the loyalty of subordinates to superiors, but the loyalty of superiors to subordinates.
There is also a passage in "The Analects" that talks about what "benevolence" is. Confucius said: "A man of benevolence, if he wishes to establish himself, establish others, and if he wishes to reach others, he can reach others. Being able to draw examples from others is the way to be benevolent." Benevolence is how you treat the people around you. If I can draw an example from something close, the nearest example is myself. Others are just like me. What I want is what others want, so I have to help them. What I want, I also help others get; what I want to achieve, I also help others achieve.
When talking about leadership at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, there is a similar description: "Always have the interests of your subordinates in your heart, and have the ability to make the other party realize this." You always think about your subordinates, and he also knows , feel at ease, this is leadership, loyalty, and benevolence.
Therefore, loyalty mainly requires leadership. As the boss of Hua and Hua, I have to always think about, am I loyal to my employees? Do you always think about their interests? If you want to establish yourself, you should establish others; I also noticed that there are two Zhongdao bosses in China, both of whom are good friends of mine. One is Zhang Yong, the founder of Haidilao, and the other is Jia Guolong, the founder of Xibei Noodle Village.
Haidilao’s values ????are called “Changing destiny with both hands”. Zhang Yong has changed the destiny of many people, or in other words, many people have changed their destiny in Haidilao. This is Zhang Yong’s loyalty and his establishment. People, experts.
The mechanism of Haidilao is also a level of loyalty from top to bottom. The store manager desperately wants to train his store clerks to become store managers, because he can get dividends from the stores run by the new store managers he has trained. The more people he trains, the higher his income. You see, he has made establishing and mastering people into a mechanism and the core competitiveness of the company.
This is true for employees, and it is also true for customers.
I work in brand consulting. In another course I got, "Learning Brand Marketing with Hua Shan", I criticized the concept of "three dimensions of brand". The so-called three dimensions are popularity and reputation. Degree, loyalty. I said that in a brand, only visibility is right, and everything else is wrong. Reputation is a result, not something we can control. The pursuit of reputation goes against the principle of "knowing what you are doing first" in "The University". Your intentions and actions come first, and your reputation and image come last. In other words, what kind of motivation and behavior you have will naturally lead to what kind of reputation you will get. Many people just don't pay attention to their own behavior, but they care about their own image. This is to reverse the order of things. Loyalty is even more absurd, because customers have no obligation to be loyal to the company, but the company has all the obligations to be loyal to the customer. Loyalty to employees is the loyalty of the boss; loyalty to customers is the loyalty of the company.
When I chatted with Zhang Yong, he said: "What do customers expect? They expect delicious food, good service, low prices, or even free money. What do employees expect? They expect easy work and close to home. , the income is still high. Then their expectations are our goals. Of course, this goal cannot be fully realized, so what should we do? Start from this starting point and find where the balance is. ”
< p>His plain words sounded like thunder to my ears. This is the way of loyalty.When most of us are looking for that balance point, we start from our own greatest desires, slowly give in, move closer to the other party, and move slowly step by step very reluctantly. Zhang Yong's way of thinking is to start from the other party's greatest desire and then move closer to himself. This is loyalty, forgiveness, and the greatest benevolence.
Let’s talk about the principle of forgiveness - don’t do to others what you don’t want others to do to you. Everyone talks about this every day, and it comes as soon as you open your mouth. But who can do it? It is recorded in "The Analects" that Zigong once asked Confucius: "Is there anything I can say that I can practice throughout my life?" It means, can the teacher teach me something that I can practice throughout my life? Confucius said: "Forgiveness! Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you." That's the way to forgive, don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you.
Zigong said: "I don't want others to do anything to me, and I don't want others to do anything to me." I don't want others to do anything to me, and I won't do it to others. Confucius said: "Gift is beyond your reach." Confucius interrupted him and said, Zigong, that is not what you can do.
I can’t do it, it’s too difficult. We usually just ask for others when we open our mouths, but once we see it for ourselves and put it into ourselves, we cannot do it. what to do? That is, pay attention to self-examination all the time, every moment, and everything.
There is this passage in "The Great Learning": "If you hate those above, don't do it to those below; if you hate those below, don't do it to those above; if you hate those who are in front, don't do it in order; if you hate those who are behind, don't do it in order; if you hate those who are behind, don't do it in order. Don’t do it as before; if you do evil to the right, don’t do it to the left; if you do evil to the left, don’t do it to the right.” This means don’t do to others what you don’t want others to do to you.
Don’t do it to those below: If you don’t want your boss to be stingy with you, don’t be stingy with your nanny; if you don’t want yourself to work overtime all night, don’t treat Party B with When others look at you, ask them to work overtime for you all night long. This is the so-called principle, which is a rule of dealing with interpersonal relationships that respects oneself and others.
Don’t do what you do best: You don’t want your subordinates to work hard, and you don’t want to be lazy and slippery with your superiors and customers; you don’t want your suppliers to cut corners. , you also don’t cut corners on your customers.
Don't do it first, not first: You don't want the person in front of you to get dirty, and you don't want to squat on the toilet in the public toilet because you think no one will see it anyway. Spitting.
Don’t do what you did before, don’t do it before: If you don’t want people at the back to jump in when you’re in line, then don’t jump in line when it’s your turn to be at the back.
In short, remember to be considerate and consider yourself and others. Whatever standard you use to hold others to, you must take the lead in meeting it yourself.
In this lecture, we learned that the way of Confucius is the consistent way of loyalty and forgiveness. The core of Confucius’ thought is to empathize with others and think in their shoes. You see, these are the most familiar and common truths we are most familiar with. To use more professional Confucian language, it is called comparing oneself to others, inferring others from oneself, the center is like the heart, and comparing the heart to the heart. The Confucian way is from the inside out, from oneself to others, from near to far. This is the most basic principle of Confucianism. Once you have mastered this, you will be able to appreciate what Confucius said: "At seventy, follow your heart's desires without exceeding the rules." And you don't have to wait until you are seventy to realize it in advance.
Let me emphasize that you must remember these twelve words: "From the inside out, refer to yourself and others, from near to far." "Cultivation of one's morality, order of family, governance of country, peace of the world" is this principle, everything Don’t ask for anything from outside, only ask for it from yourself. Once you have cultivated yourself, all the good things outside will come by themselves, and they will come overwhelmingly.