Confucius said, "Reviewing the past and learning the new can be a teacher."

Confucius said, "Reviewing the past and learning the new (1) can be a teacher."

To annotate ...

(1) Review the past and learn the new: So, everything is over. New, newly learned knowledge.

Interpretative translation

Confucius said: "Reviewing old knowledge can lead to new experiences and discoveries, and you can become a teacher."

This chapter is about how to learn. This temperature is revised. So, what you learned, what you learned. This freshness is what you have learned and gained. For example, when we read a book, we should read what we have read and recite our thoughts. The ancients said that commenting on books means commenting on old books. Books that have not been read are now being studied in order to understand the truth contained in the book, that is, to know the new. Therefore, to review the past and learn the new is to absorb new knowledge at any time and study what has been learned. A freshman must be promoted on the basis of what he has learned. It is easy to learn to keep "reviewing the past and learning the new". If you are so studious, you can be a teacher.

Zhu's Collection of Notes says that it is "warm, easy to find and easy to interpret". This search means reviewing and learning. What you have learned is what you have heard and learned in the past. "Newcomers have what they have today", and now they have to. Zhu's talk about "making the past serve the present" is very novel. What did he say? "You can learn old news when you talk, but there are new things every time. You should learn from me and should not be poor, so you can be a teacher. If the husband learns to ask questions, he gains nothing from his heart, but his knowledge is limited. Therefore, learn to remember that he is "not a teacher", just like this. He created new meanings by reviewing old stories.

He said, "Learn old news when you have time." After knowing the truth, you can review it often. This habit, in a word, is to review, and further, to practice and implement. That is, you can apply what you have learned to your daily work and life, and you can apply what you have learned to dealing with people. This is called "learning old news if you can learn". As the first chapter of "Learning and Writing" said, "Learning from time to time" means looking back on the past, not that you can just write it down and put it in your mouth. This is the place where you really put your heart into your own behavior, and then you will gain something new every time. Only when the knowledge of sages can be implemented in your attitude towards people and things can you achieve new achievements. This new achievement is that you are conscious, and you can really prove the truth of sages. This sage's truth is not just a sage's realm, you have turned it into your own realm.

Learning includes four stages: belief, understanding, action and proof. First of all, we can believe that what the sage said is true, and then you can understand. If you only stay on faith and reconciliation, you can't call it real learning. This is the "learning from the back, not being a teacher" mentioned later. What is real learning? If you want to go, fine, if you want to do it. For example, the sages taught us "filial piety and faithfulness, courtesy and sincerity", and you really put it into practice. If you really do it, you will get something, which is what Master Zhu said here. You have to prove it. What is the certificate? Prove it, prove that what the sage said is true, and you really have experience.

Then what I have learned is on me. This kind of learning is practical learning, which has become my own real learning, not the learning of sages, but my learning. In other words, you unconsciously entered the realm of sages. The application of these sages should be endless. In daily life, you can use them bit by bit and in all directions, and you can invent the way of sages. This kind of talent can be called a teacher, and you can really be a teacher. Therefore, Zhu's insight is very rare, not to say that I am reading the classics of sages and constantly reviewing and reciting, which is called review; Constantly learning some new knowledge is called knowing the new, which is superficial. Zhu realized that learning from old knowledge means that you really need to implement the knowledge of sages, and then you get something new. This new experience is to learn new things. Where does intimacy come from? Looking back on your past, what you get is to practice and work hard after you really study. Only in this way can you gain new knowledge.

Then Zhu came to the bottom, which in turn confirmed this argument. He said, "If you study by leaning back, you will get nothing in your heart." What is "anti-topic learning"? When we read The Analects, we can read every word, recite it well, understand the meaning after listening, and even tell it to others, but we can't do it ourselves. "It's unpleasant to study all the time", unpleasant. Without this experience, it can only be called learning to ask questions, you remember. You have a good memory, and you remember more. If you don't understand, you ask and you listen, but it doesn't really become your intention or your behavior, so it just stays on the surface. This is called the knowledge of asking questions. There is nothing in my heart, and there is no real experience in my heart.

Our teacher gave a nice name to the questioned knowledge, called Confucianism. You study Confucianism, and you learn it well. The Analects of Confucius can be recited from beginning to end, and it can be made clear. Even said a lot, but in daily life, it is still very annoying. The sentence is magnanimous, a petty man is anxious and worried.. ",he is still sad and his heart is full of worries. The heart in "University" is full of happiness, resentment, fear and trouble. The heart is wrong, the body is not repaired, and the family is not harmonious. Why can't a family be together? You see, I have learned a lot about The Analects, but couples often have conflicts and don't get along well with their parents, brothers and children. This family is not harmonious. It is not only pleasant but also troublesome for us to learn the way of sages. How can this be said to be rewarding? That's called the study of questioning and practice, not learning Confucianism. Confucianism and learning Confucianism have completely different meanings when exchanged. What is learning Confucianism? Really learn from Confucius and Old Master Q, learn from the sages and enter their realm, and you will really get it. Therefore, the knowledge of inquiry is limited, and what is learned can only be called knowledge. Rich in knowledge, you can remember more when reading, but it's not yours, it's Confucius' and it's a saint's. And what you know is limited. You know something, you don't know something. The study of sages is the study of harmony, and everything is connected.

For example, from the 492nd chapter of The Analects of Confucius, we have come to self-nature. Through self-nature, what "university" clearly says is virtue. When you are enlightened, you will know everything. This is enlightenment. So if you bring any sage's truth, you will immediately understand its meaning, and you can tell people that it is absolutely correct. Even if you read books on any subject in the world, you can understand them as soon as you touch them. Why? Before wisdom appeared, this was the role of Mingde. You can define virtue, this role is useless. At this point, it is omniscient, and it is the knowledge that really reaches the mind. If you don't reach yourself, what you know is still limited. I know something, I don't know something, I know not much more than I know. There is an ironic saying in the Book of Rites that "it is not enough to ask for knowledge as a teacher". You are not worthy to be someone else's teacher. Why? You didn't even get through. Who is qualified to be a teacher? After understanding his self-nature, he was enlightened, he clearly realized his virtue, and he had completed the road to college. Only when this person is a saint can he be called a teacher. If you can't reach this point, call them students and sages.

So, study, your implementation, your practice. Let's get started. Let's not aim too high and use the discipleship rule. This is the beginning. Look at the sixth chapter of the Analects of Confucius, saying, "Disciples are filial, and younger brothers are younger. They are sincere and trustworthy, love others and be kind, and have spare capacity to learn." Disciples' Rules takes Chapter 6 of Xueji as the general program. Starting from the seven subjects, the first is filial piety, the second is filial piety, the third is honesty, the fourth is faith, the fifth is loving the public, the sixth is kindness, and the seventh is learning literature, all of which are taught us to implement. If you really do this, you are the true disciple of saints and Confucius.

Learning the classics of sages, you can learn by doing, and you can also learn something new and share it with others. This can barely be called a teacher. Because you review the past and learn something new, you really gain something. What you are talking about is not learning by asking questions, but your real practical experience, sharing your experience and sharing your new gains, but this teacher is still in the learning stage. You can't call a teacher without practicing. There is a saying that is a good example. You can talk about the classics of sages and can explain them correctly. This is called a master. You can write papers and books about this classic, and you can be rated as a professor and a teacher. The ancients also said that "teachers are easy to get, but teachers are hard to find." We should learn the way of sages and engage in the education of sages. We should not only stay at the level of being a teacher by example, but also be a teacher by example, which is what our teacher said: "Learn to be a teacher by example".

Your knowledge can be called a teacher, only you can practice it. Your behavior can be an example and model for people all over the world. Therefore, the meanings of "not being a teacher" and "reviewing the past and learning the new" in Xue Ji are mutually invented, so that we can understand what a teacher is. This teacher is the minimum standard, and learning the new by reviewing the past. Only by really practicing what you have learned can you have new experiences. This is called knowing the new. Being a teacher can be two words, and we can realize that this is the minimum standard that the master said, and we can barely call it a teacher and be a teacher. You can't be a teacher without practice. Even if we are knowledgeable, we can recite all the classics and explain them beautifully. You can't call a teacher. Why? No gains, no new gains.

Let's look at master Hu Yi's annotation. He said, "Mindfulness is to look back on the past, learn about the development from observing the past, get Dalani, and know something new. There is a profound truth in this sentence, that is, building the world is not forgetting what is in your heart, nor is it something new in your heart. Master Hu Yi said, "To look at the mind is to look back on the past. "You see, from the beginning, pulling the meaning of Confucius into my mind is really centering everywhere. Look at the heart, this heart can be called true heart or false heart. Honesty is the noumenon of the universe, which embodies the idealism of all things in the universe. This heart is sincerity. Sincerity, no phase, nothing. Lao Tzu called it Tao. He said: "The avenue is nameless and everything grows. I don't know its name, but it cries. " Laozi said that it is the ontology of the universe, but the avenue is invisible, and we can't touch it. That is, the eye, the eye root that you can't see; Ears can't hear; Can't smell at the root of the nose; You can't taste the root of your tongue; Body, this one of the body can't be touched; Meaning roots are beyond the imagination of the mind. Heart, eyes, nose, tongue, body and mind can't be related to the heart, so our contentment is impersonal and empty. You can't even think of it. When you think about it, it has fallen into an illusion, and this illusion is moving. The idea just moved. If you are false, there is no way to know and understand the truth.

So Master Liu Zu talked about this heart. His name is self-nature, and he said the same thing. When he said that "self-nature is self-nature, it is self-purity", it is originally pure. When does it mean unexpected arrival? I didn't expect that self-nature is self-purity, that is, it is invisible and has no phase, and six roots are not available. When we are self-sufficient, we are all self-sufficient. "Self-nature should be, do not exist and do not die", do not exist and do not die. "Since when, never waver." It has never moved, never been in the future, and never been there. "With self-nature, all kinds of laws can be born", and all kinds of laws are phenomena in the universe, all of which are mental knowledge. How to achieve it? Liquidate as soon as you act. This move is a false heart, and it shows up when it is false. The so-called "what idealism reveals and knowledge changes" is what Hua Yan Jing said. Now, it's about its capabilities and functions. True nature has this present function, but it must have a destiny. What is this fate? A false heart. If you move your heart, it can change and realize the realm. Changing this function still comes from this sincerity. Therefore, everything that is realized in the universe can be said to have been really changed, or it can be said to have been changed in vain. Because you can't tell true from false, and true is one instead of two. In terms of liquidity, it is the ability of mind and sincerity, and it is a career. Fate? It is humbly moving, and it appears when it moves. The cause and effect are consistent, but it is impossible to tell the truth from the truth. Because without the truth, there is no illusion, that is to say, without the function of the mind that can be present, illusion is gone and useless. There is no falsehood, I can't find it, because I am empty, so I am really false. All these cosmic phenomena are realized together with truth and falsehood. Therefore, Hua Yan said that "idealism exists, but knowledge is changing". This knowledge is false and changing.

You can really look at this heart and knowledge and understand that everything in the universe is realized by heart and knowledge. It's called looking back. Looking directly at the physical body of the universe, the original idea suddenly appeared in an empty mind. This is an illusion, and the idea continues, leading to the continuation of everything in the universe. If you look at your heart like this, "Look at your heart and solve it, and you will get Dalagni", you can solve it. What can you solve? Everything in the universe is true. How did the universe come from? How did life come from? Where is it going? All these are clear, and this is what Zhu said about poverty. Poor reason means knowing everything, that is, a round solution. Development and openness are enlightenment; What is hair? Invent. You know all the truths in the universe.

"De Dalagni", Dalagni is an Indian language and a Buddhist term. Translated into Chinese means "can be installed" and can be translated into "can be covered". Mr. Jiang Qian's "Supplementary Note" said: "You can't lose the good order, and the evil order can't be born." This is Dalagni. That is, our minds are all good, and we cling to good ideas so as not to lose them. This is what the master said: choosing the good and being stubborn. Thinking about good thoughts is continuous. Thinking about good laws day and night can often make all good laws grow up, and there is no room for confusion between bad laws. This is to keep good orders without losing them. Then Dalagni has the meaning of being able to cover up, that is, covering up evil can't survive. For evil laws, evil thoughts can be stopped, evil is not born, and evil is not done. This is Dalagni.

We know that the nature of the heart works as a virtue, and the performance of virtue is pure goodness, so we can truly prove the nature of the heart, that is, we can understand the truth of the heart and develop our own nature. Then all evil will be broken forever, and all good will last forever. Master Hu Yi said, this is called knowing the new. He also said, "If you want to cover the world, you must not forget your original heart and be new to the world." I know this truth. What I know is not centrifugal, but what I don't know is heart. The unknown is now known, and the unknown is not centrifugal. All laws are inseparable from self-nature, impossible outside the heart and unintentional outside the law. Therefore, it is not centrifugal to review the past and learn the new.

In Jiang Qian's Supplement, he said, "People who look back on their past will know their unchanging bodies. He who knows something new makes good use of it. Looking back on the past is the truth of mindfulness, and knowing the new is the convenience of good deeds. " This "supplementary explanation" is well compiled. He said that looking back on the past is to clear the mind, and the unchanging body is the mind. It doesn't waver, it doesn't live or die, it's the same. Body and mind remain the same, so looking back on the past is to understand the essence. Knowing the new, understanding the mind and body, so that it can be used indefinitely, he can follow the fate, with what fate? Being willing to cling to all sentient beings separately has an infinite realm, so it can give birth to various laws. How can it be born? With the fate of the afterlife, with persistent delusion, this is false, with a false heart, true and unchangeable, and can follow the fate. This fate is based on use and remains body-oriented. The universal law is its aspect, body, aspect and use, which is incredible. Therefore, a truly enlightened person, with a clear mind, can be indifferent to all laws, but can adapt to everything. This is the clever use of fate.

Therefore, reviewing the past is the principle of mindfulness, and mindfulness is proved to be mindfulness, which is called mindfulness. Knowing the new is convenient for doing good. It is infinitely convenient to think of following fate and contacting all sentient beings, depending on what sentient beings should know, what their bodies should be and what their bodies can be. This is called knowing the new. From here, we can see that Master Hu Yi raised his old and new knowledge to the height of his mind. Only at this level can he become a teacher. This teacher is a teacher of heaven and man. He is respected as the teacher of heaven and earth, and the teacher of the three realms. There is a title in Buddhism called Buddha, Buddha, so Buddha is called master. Why? He is aware of this. He has unlimited use of fate.

So we should know that it has an extremely perfect state, which is our goal. And where to start, we still have to step by step. According to the second order, we can't reach the sky in one step. One step into the sky, so ambitious, what is that? Step by step in your mouth, step by step. I can say that I can let go of my delusion, be persistent and prove my mind, but I haven't even done it in my daily life, full of delusion and persistence. At best, this kind of person is called learning Buddha, not learning Buddha. To learn Buddhism is to let go and see nature clearly. Actually, it's nothing more than putting down your kung fu.

Look at this nature. Now our nature is failing, and we can't get the magic effect of fate. But although it doesn't work, it's still there, and it won't disappear for a moment, unshakable and immortal. Therefore, after becoming a monk, Sakyamuni Buddha said in Hua Yan Jing: "Awesome! It's amazing! All sentient beings have the wisdom and virtue of the Tathagata, but they cannot prove it because of their obsession. " He sighed and marveled. All sentient beings, including you, me and him, have the wisdom and virtue of Tathagata. If the Tathagata is complete in wisdom, the virtue will be complete, and the lover will be complete. This is about good fortune, good fortune and wisdom, but why can't it be shown now? This is because of delusion and persistence. Although there is no difference here, they are all included. I didn't want to be persistent, but now I have to put it down. Can I put it down? It's decided, no. Originally, you said that you couldn't let go, which made sense; If not, you can definitely put it down.

Sakyamuni Buddha suddenly put down all his delusions and obsessions, and his heart was completely proved, that is, he did it at once, and immediately learned something new, and his experience was fully displayed, which was very useful, ingenious, convenient and complete. Then our roots are worse than his, and we can't let go at once. The Buddha told us to step by step, starting with breaking persistence. Persistence is a must. Strong personality, strong desire for control, strong desire for possession, strong desire for domination, these ideas are persistence. Adhere to the clear distinction between good and evil, first of all, we must let go of evil, get rid of evil, cultivate good, and change all our problems and habits from here. Let go of selfishness, fame and fortune, the enjoyment of five desires and six dusts, greed and laziness. This is to break evil, and to break evil is to cultivate good. In addition to evil, you stick to good, choose good and be stubborn.

Next, put it down. okay If you stick to the good aspects, you can't improve. At best, he can be called a gentleman in the world, but he has not yet reached the standard of a true saint. Then put down the idea of being good, and you won't be persistent. How can we let go of our obsession with beauty? Be a good person instead of clinging to the idea of being a good person. Doing good is right and should be done. I don't think I'm doing a good deed. Who is benefiting from me? I'm giving something to others. Let go of all these thoughts. This is doing good and not doing good.

Next, break the separation. Persistence is weak. We should let go of the differences between good and evil, right and wrong, good and evil, good and ugly. This is good and evil, good and ugly, everyone is good, everything is good, every day is a good day, and it will always be good. There is no difference between good and bad, they are all good, prosperity and adversity are all good, and there is no such persistent idea in my heart. Further promotion, let go of our minds and keep our minds still when the realm is presented. This kung fu is so high that we mortals can't reach it. How can a mortal not think before he sees the realm?

For example, if I show you a book and you see it, you must have an idea. This idea is wishful thinking. Then I thought, this is the Analects of Confucius, this is the Analects of Confucius, and this is the difference. Then the Analects of Confucius is a good book with strong differences, so there are ugliness and good and evil. There is a difference between good and evil, and there is a difference between good and evil. Further down, this is a good book. I want to read it carefully. I want to study it carefully. I like this good book very much. This is perseverance. But this persistence is good. If you can do this, the good people in the world are gentlemen. It's better than people who insist on evil, and it's better than people who like evil books. But we can see from here that the delusion of separation and persistence comes from this.

Here, Mr. Jiang Qian said that "those who review the past must know their unchanging body", but they will not move their thoughts. Seeing the book coming is like a mirror, which shines clearly with my heart, but there is no thought in it. The book has been taken away. Keep it clean. When you took a photo, did you have the illusion that it was a book? No, after the book was taken away, there was no impression in the mirror, so I used it with luck. Reviewing the past and learning the new, to such an extent, can be described as complete. This kind of knowledge is called perfection here. Without it, the most complete and extreme knowledge, then you will become a great saint.

Comment and analysis

"Make the past serve the present" is a great contribution of Confucius to China's pedagogy. He thinks that we can acquire new knowledge by constantly reviewing what we have learned. This learning method not only has its value in feudal times, but also has undeniable adaptability today. People's new knowledge is often developed on the basis of what they have learned in the past. Therefore, it is a very feasible learning method to review the old and learn the new.