It is undeniable that actor Wang Zhiwen brought Ding Yuanying to life in "The Distant Savior".
It can even be said that not only did he perform well, but he also surpassed the characters in the original work and became a "savior"-like existence.
Therefore, in the TV series "The Way of Heaven", Ding Yuanying represents a kind of height, the height of a person who has achieved Taoism. The reason why he is said to be a "Taoist" is not because he has seen through the world of mortals. Rather, it emphasizes that he is in the mortal world and sees through human nature in the mortal world.
So, why did Ding Yuanying, who saw through human nature in "The Way of Heaven" and was "only one step away" from attaining enlightenment, still fall into the world of mortals?
In fact, people like Ding Yuanying still need to struggle in the world of mortals. There are roughly three main reasons for this, namely:
1. Ding Yuanying is still a person in the world of mortals, not a real person. Gaining the Way
In "The Way of Heaven", Ding Yuanying knows things like a god, strategizes, and is like a "god".
But in fact, the reason why we say he is a "Taoist" is actually because compared to all living beings, it is not that he has truly understood the way of heaven.
In the words of Master Zhixuan in the play, his realm is "If you advance, you will be in the pure land, if you retreat, you will be in the world of mortals."
In his own words, it is:
"As for Christ, I cannot enter through the narrow door, and as for Buddha, I cannot gain access to the Tao. What kind of master am I?" It can be seen from that poem that he pretends to be polite and reveals his ruffian nature."
Therefore, from this perspective, Ding Yuanying did not really "achieve the Tao". Since he did not "achieve the Tao", Of course, we need to continue practicing in the world of mortals.
2. Falling into the world of mortals is also a way of cultivating Taoism, and even a necessary path
The so-called Taoist, in the final analysis, is a human being, not a god. To put it further, "Getting the Tao" itself refers to a person's practice reaching the realm of becoming a saint.
Therefore, being in the mortal world is itself a kind of practice.
There is a saying that "life is a practice", which means that our life, whether it is joys and sorrows or ups and downs, is essentially a way of practice. It can even be said that the world of mortals is a way of practice. This is the only way to "get the Tao".
The purpose of Ding Yuanying's fall into the mortal world was to practice in the mortal world.
3. The world is full of dojos, and true enlightenment actually requires experience in the mortal world.
Some people regard the mortal world as opposed to the pure land. This is of course a misunderstanding.
Just as the Sixth Patriarch said in the "Tansu Sutra", if a person realizes the method of non-sentence, he can only see the west for an instant.
Therefore, the real pure land is not far away, it is right now, in the world of mortals, and this is the real reason why it is said that there are dojos everywhere in the world.
What's more, the true "attainment" can only be achieved after experiencing the world of mortals.
Even a wise man like the Buddha himself still needs to spend a lifetime practicing the "Four Noble Truths".
In other words, if Ding Yuanying wants to truly "get", he must experience it in the world of mortals before he can transform.
Therefore, in summary, these three contents mentioned above are, in fact, the real reasons why Ding Yuanying fell into the world of mortals and led to some right and wrong.
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The information in this article is mainly quoted from "The Analects", "Zhuangzi", "The Tan Sutra", "Tao Te Ching", "Sitting Temporarily", "A Dream of Red Mansions", "The Plum in the Golden Vase", "Abandoned Capital", "Walking Alone" and "Philosophical Thoughts on Life" "Thus Spoke Plato", "Historical Records", "The Complete Works of Wang Yangming", "Huayan Sutra", "Zuo Zhuan" and "The Way of Heaven"