Chapter 4 of "Cool Talk about Laozi" (1) Socrates: Why does the less you need, the closer you are to God?

The first sentence of Chapter 4 of "Tao Te Ching"

Original text: Dao rushes, but when used, it may not be enough.

(The great "Tao" is empty and formless, but it will never be full when used.)

1.

Chong, the ancient word is "盅" [zhōng ], extended to emptiness. "Shuowen" says:

"The cup refers to the empty utensil."

So, the cup refers to the hollow part in the middle of the utensil. So "Dao Chong" means:

"Tao is empty."

2.

Or Fu Ying, what is "or" What does it mean? In fact, there are many versions of this word, and I think readers who are familiar with "Laozi" should be familiar with it. For example:

1. The original work of the Jinglong Stele by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty: "Jiu" Fu Ying Ye.

2. "Huainanzi" quotes Laozi's original work: "you" is not enough.

3. The silk script unearthed in Dunhuang reads: "You" Fu Yingye.

However, the truth of this unsolved case has now been revealed. After investigation and evidence collection by Mr. Ma Xulun, a modern exegetical scholar:

"or", "jiu", "you" and "you", These four words can be connected, and they can all be interpreted as "constant" in ancient times①.

Due to space limitations, I will not list the specific evidence one by one. Therefore:

"Maybe not enough" means "always dissatisfied".

3.

It can be seen from this that "the Tao rushes, but when used, it may not be full." The reasonable interpretation should be:

The Tao is an emptiness A container, if you use it to hold water, it will never be full.

So what nature of "Tao" does Lao Tzu want to express in this sentence? One word:

"Big".

The Tao is as big as the Pacific Ocean, no matter you scoop a ladle of water from it or add a bucket of water to it. For the vast Pacific Ocean, there is no impact at all. To use Zhuangzi's words to describe it, it is:

"It is beneficial without adding benefit, and it is damaged without adding harm." ②

4.

In fact, what is the human heart? What if it’s not a “container of the Word”?

If you apply "Tao" to "entering the world", it is what Mencius said:

Wealth and honor cannot be licentious, poverty and lowliness cannot be moved, and power cannot bend ③.

Because when foreign objects such as wealth, poverty, power, etc. are injected into your heart, it is like a mud cow entering the sea and disappearing instantly. Therefore, you can naturally keep your heart "full". .

If "Tao" is applied to "transcendence", it is what the "Diamond Sutra" preaches:

The mind should be born without dwelling ④.

Because when external things such as joy, anger, sorrow, honor and disgrace, gains and losses, etc., are injected into your heart, it is like the wind blowing on the bamboo surface or the geese flying across the sky, disappearing without a trace in an instant, so you can naturally maintain yourself. The heart is "empty but not full".

5.

We regard the human heart as the "container of Tao", and its realm is divided into three levels:

The first level is:

"Be proud but not happy, be disgraced but not angry."

The second level of realm is:

"Be proud but not happy, be humiliated but not angry."

The third level is:

"Be born without joy, die without anger."

6.

But the general situation At the first level, the barrier of "not happy with praise, but not angry with destruction" may have isolated 99% of people on the other side of the road.

When others say a bad word, your heart is filled with anger;

When others say a compliment, your heart is filled with joy.

When the spring breeze is triumphant, your heart seems to be burning with the fire of dreams;

After Qiupeng loses his ambition, your heart immediately cools into the ashes of despair.

Why? Because our eyes are always confused by the numerous appearances, and we are unable to see the true nature of things. In Buddhist language, it is called:

Ignorance.

However, there are some wise men in the world who are indeed able to achieve a high degree of "being overwhelmed" or "mindless".

7.

The first level of realm:

Be praised but not happy, and be destroyed but not angry.

There was a famous prime minister named Fu Bi in the Northern Song Dynasty. He was very talented and moral, but he had very few poems, so his reputation was not very great. Fan Zhongyan praised him for his "talent as a king's assistant", and Su Dongpo regarded him as "the four outstanding men" together with Han Qi, Fan Zhongyan and Ouyang Xiu. Yan Shu was even more quick-sighted and made Fu Bi his son-in-law. Fu Bi's greatest characteristic is that he is generous and his temper is infinitely close to that of Maitreya Buddha. A frivolous scholar once asked him:

What would you do if someone scolded you?

Fu Bi replied:

"I will pretend that I didn't hear it."

The scholar laughed and left. Unexpectedly, a few days later, they came again Encounter on the street.

The scholar said loudly:

"Fu Bi is a turtle with a shrinking head!"

An acquaintance reminded Fu Bi that the scholar is scolding you. Fu Bi said:

There are so many people with the same name in the world, how could they scold me? ⑥

So he continued walking. The scholar was asking for trouble and had to walk away. Many people don’t understand why Fu Bi doesn’t respond?

9.

However, what we should ask more is:

Fu Bi is not a coward, so why should he respond?

If you respond, you are proving it. Why do you want to prove it? Because you need to convince others. Why do you need others to believe? Because you are not confident. Why are you not confident? Because your heart is too small. Your heart is like a small, shallow puddle. Throwing a stone at it can stir up thousands of waves. This is the root cause of a person's anger.

10.

First of all, the reason why we are angry is because we do not see clearly the nature of the scolder and the scolded.

Why didn’t Fu Bi respond? The reason is simple.

Would Bill Gates respond to a beggar calling him poor?

Would boxing champion Tyson respond to a patient calling him weak?

Would Einstein respond to a mentally retarded person calling him stupid?

Of course not! So who is the real loser, Xiucai or Fu Bi? The poor scholar is the one! Because he did not dare to face his failed life and wanted to find his own sense of existence by insulting celebrities. But Fu Bi is not afraid of what others say and sticks to his heart. His brain can automatically block external emotional interference.

So he is truly brave. This is a kind of bravery that is not afraid of others saying he is cowardly.

11.

Secondly, the reason why we are angry is because we do not see clearly the essence of the "thing" of "swearing". According to the Buddhist classic "The Sutra of Forty-Two Chapters" There is a story:

Everywhere Sakyamuni went to preach Buddhism, he would basically be insulted and reviled. But he never gets angry and always listens quietly to the other person's scolding. He then calmly asked: "If you want to give someone a gift, but they refuse to accept it, do you have to take your gift back?" The other party replied: "Since they don't want it, of course I have to take it back."

Sakyamuni said:

"Now I don't accept the bad words you send me. Then of course you have to take them back. Doesn't that mean you are scolding yourself?" ⑦”

The other party was at a loss for words and had no words to reply. Therefore, if you respond when someone scolds you, it is equivalent to someone giving you a gift you don't like and giving it back. Because you have implicitly recognized his words and accepted his rules, and thus you have been pulled into the negative emotional quagmire set by him and cannot extricate yourself.

In other words, when you are subjected to unwarranted insults and choose to remain silent, the words that insult you will eventually fall on the face of the insulter just like the spit in the sky. superior.

12.

Third, the reason why we are angry is because we do not see the nature of "discontinuity of time" clearly.

There is an incisive analysis of this in the Buddhist classic "Upasaka Sutra":

"It is a curse word, which does not arise at any time. When the first character comes out, the latter character is not born. The latter character is born. Already, the first word is gone. If it doesn't happen for a while, it's just a rumor. ⑧

What does it mean when someone calls you a "coward"?

The moment the other party says "shrink", the next three words have not yet appeared. Can this be called scolding? If it doesn't appear, can it be called a curse? When the other person says "wu", the words "shrink" and "tou" have disappeared, and the next word has not appeared. Can this be called a curse? When the other person says "turtle", can it be called a curse? , the first three words have disappeared, can this be called a curse? It is just "wind", why should I be angry?

But why do we think it is an insult? We fail to see clearly that everything is an illusory "life and death", so we imprison ourselves in the "prison of time and space" of the "past" and are unwilling to come out.

So, we have always been unwilling to come out. We are confused and deceived by the appearance of "people", the appearance of "things" and the appearance of "time", so that we can never see the essence of this world clearly, so we are obsessed with it and never turn back. If we can see people and things. , the essence of time, then it can be done naturally:

“Be praised but not happy, and be destroyed but not angry. ”

13.

The second level:

Proud but not happy, humiliated but not angry.

In Japan, there are A well-known story about Zen Master Bai Yin: Not far from Zen Master Bai Yin’s temple, there was a family whose daughter got pregnant out of wedlock. Her parents pressed her to find out whose child she was pregnant with. The daughter knew that her parents were against it, so she refused. Dare to tell the truth.

But she knew that her father had always respected Zen Master Bai Yin, so she suddenly thought: "The child in my belly belongs to Zen Master Bai Yin. ”

When my father heard this, he was angry and shocked. He didn’t expect Zen Master Bai Yin to be such a shameless person! So the family went to Zen Master Bai Yin to argue. After hearing this, Zen Master Bai Yin He said calmly:

"Is that so? ⑨"

They saw Bai Yin's calm demeanor and did not continue to pester. After the child was born, the father took the child to the temple and threw it to Zen Master Bai Yin and said:

"This is your evil seed, give it back to you! ”

As soon as this incident came out, the whole country was in uproar, and Zen Master Bai Yin’s reputation was discredited. However, he did not say a word, but still held his child every day and begged for milk and baby products amidst the insults of the people.

A year later, the girl, who was deeply conscience-stricken, told her parents the truth. The girl's parents were filled with guilt and could not sleep or eat well, so they went to see Zen Master Bai Yin to apologize. Said:

"Is that so? ”

The child was returned to the family, as if nothing had happened. Why is it that the shame and humiliation that is unbearable for ordinary people seems to be just a "spring dream" in the eyes of Zen Master Baiyin? What about "marks"? Because in his opinion:

The people, things, and times in the world are just mirror images, and the right and wrong, reputation, honor and disgrace in the outside world are all illusions. Only I am qualified to be my own Only the plaintiff is qualified to be my own judge and judge.

In the words of Sakyamuni, this is called:

I am the only one in heaven and under the world. ⑩"

In Wang Yangming's words, this is called:

"My nature is self-sufficient and I don't ask for anything from outside. ⑾"

So no matter whether the outside world injects dirty water or clean water, boiled water or ice water, sugar water or poisonous water into Zen Master Bai Yin's "heart vessel", he can accept it calmly and transform it without a trace. This is:

“Be proud but not happy, be humiliated but not angry. ”

14.

The third level:

Be born without joy, die without anger.

In 65 AD, There was one of the most notorious tyrants in ancient Roman history named Nero. After he killed his brother and mother, he suspected that his teacher Seneca was involved in a palace rebellion.

Although there was no real evidence, Nero used this as an excuse to order the teacher to commit suicide. Seneca's wife and students burst into tears after hearing the news.

Seneca looked as usual and asked:

"Where is your philosophy? Where is the spirit of calmness that you have encouraged each other for so many years? ⑿"

In the end, like Socrates in ancient Greece, he remained calm and went to death peacefully. How did he do it? As we all know, Seneca was one of the representatives of the late Stoic school, and the Stoic outlook on life is:

Everything in the world is a natural law, including illness and death⒀. Therefore, people must learn to accept fate, especially the fate of "lost".

In other words, if a person can accept all "losses" calmly:

Loss of fame, loss of profit, loss of health, loss of beauty, loss of relatives and friends, until one day he loses life. Then by that time, he will have nothing to lose, and will never lose anything again.

As Lao Tzu said in Chapter 13 of "Tao Te Ching":

"The reason why I have a serious patient is because I have a body, and I have no body. What do I have to do with it?" "Suffering?"

As the most important tragedy writer in ancient Rome, Seneca also had a very thorough understanding of life. He said:

A wise man loses nothing, and everything is in his possession. A wise man is self-sufficient. If he loses a hand due to war or loses his eyes due to an accident, he will still be satisfied with what fate has left to him⒁.

In fact, the subtext of this sentence is:

Even if one day God takes away the life of a wise man without warning, he will still be satisfied with having lived.

Then, this attitude towards life is:

Be born without joy, die without anger.

15.

So "Tao" is actually teaching us to make subtractions and lose weight in our lives.

Desire is the fat of thought.

Too many desires will also cause our thoughts to be blocked and lack oxygen, thus endangering our mental health. So Socrates has a famous saying:

The less you need, the closer you are to God⒂.

And this unattainable "god" state is called in Buddhism:

Empty and dissatisfied.

In Taoism it is called:

Chong and Fu Ying.

So Laozi said: "The way is strong, but when used, it may not be enough."

Reference materials:

1. Ma Xulun's "Laozi's Commentary" Vol. Chapter 1? Chapter 3》

2. "Zhuangzi? Outer Chapter Zhi Beiyou 22nd"

3. "Mencius·Teng Wengong's Exit"

4. "Diamond Sutra, Chapter 10, Zhuangyan Pure Land"

5. "History of the Song Dynasty, Volume 313, Biography 72", Su Shi's "Collected Works of Fan Wenzheng" 》"Shao's Hearing and Seeing Record? Volume 9"

6. (Ming Dynasty) Zheng Xuan's "Yifei'an Ri Compilation"

7. "Forty-two Chapters Sutra? Seventh" "Chapter"

8. "The Upasaka Sutra? The Twenty-Fiveth Chapter of Gondi Paramita"

9. (U.S.) Paul Lipps' "The Story of Zen? Part Two" 》

10. "Chang Agama Sutra? Volume One"

11. (Ming Dynasty) Qian Dehong's "Wang Yang Mingming Pu? Nineteen"

12 , (Ancient Rome) Tacitus "Chronicles? Volume 15"

13. Seneca "On Happy Life? 7, 11, 25"

14. Alan ·De Botton, "The Consolation of Philosophy: Chapter 3? Consolation for Frustration"

15. (Ancient Greece) Diogenes Laertius, "The Sayings and Actions of Famous Philosophers? Volume 2?" Chapter 5? Socrates" Author: Zi Xia Lang, born in the 90s, the writing is crazy, the night is like ink, the moonlight is like me.