? Original text: The way of nature is quiet, so everything in the world comes into being.
? [Translation]: The sky, the earth, the sun and the moon are in order according to their natural laws, just running quietly on their own. It is precisely because of this stability and relative stillness that all things in the world are actually orderly. To survive, grow and develop in the movement of people.
〈Author’s Thoughts〉:
? "The way of nature is quiet, so all things in the world are born." The key point of this sentence is the word "quiet", which is not entirely the meaning of physics. In mechanics, it generally refers to the "dead" equilibrium of linear machinery of any material phenomenon, including non-systems, but refers to the "living" equilibrium state of a nonlinear dissipative system that is far away from the "dead" equilibrium of linear machinery! It can be seen that this is a misunderstanding. When modern scholars interpret Taoist culture, they often regard the "quiet" of Chinese culture as an absolute "static" that is immobile, passive, and conservative.
People will even think of the modern French thinker Voltaire (Voltaire, 1694.11.21-1778.05.30), formerly known as Fran?ois-Marie Arouet (Fran?ois-Marie Arouet). It uses the motto "Life lies in movement" and important propositions such as sports philosophy, sports outlook, and outlook on life to oppose the traditional Chinese philosophical thought. In traditional Chinese culture, Yi and Tao, Yi and medicine, and medicine and Tao. . . etc. are always connected. Traditional Chinese culture with "Tao", "Yin", "Yang", etc. as the core concepts is actually a self-consistent cultural system. Therefore, concepts are often related to each other. Behind it, there is a profound logical system core that may be inferior to Western philosophy in a deeper core. Instead of understanding it from the superficial meaning of a single concept in isolation, Laozi, the author of the Tao Te Ching, said: "Things that grow strong will grow old." , it means being unruly, and being unruly already. "It means that when the growth and development (movement) of things, including people, reach a certain level, although they appear to be stronger (stronger), they are over-consumed and under-compensated, resulting in a waste of material and energy. Insufficient supplies to support growth and development make the internal ordering of the system lose balance (static), which means that the marginal effect (use) is diminishing, which makes it easy for things to reach their peak and then decline, while "the way of nature is static". "(Tao is the trajectory of the above-mentioned balanced state), so deviating from the previous balance is not in line with the way of nature. If I know this truth, the utility returns obtained during the growth and development process will not be enough to compensate. When the cost is incurred, it should be moderated or stopped, because if the energy consumption is allowed to exceed the income, this phenomenon is not in line with the natural behavior; and as a human movement, whether it is as a physiological The gains and losses of economic activities (labor) and investment in the physical exercise of the ego or the social superego in terms of material wealth should also follow this principle. When the energy consumption exceeds the equilibrium state where the marginal utility (benefit) is zero, it is unrealistic to reduce the energy consumption. The desire to control the utility (benefit) generated by consumption and investment between marginal increasing and marginal zero, rather than excessive inflection points and decreasing marginal phenomena, therefore, Lao Tzu also said, "The way of heaven, is it like a bow and a bow?" Those who are high suppress it, those who are low lift it; those who have excess will damage it, and those who are deficient will make up for it." This is exactly the truth. The key lies in regulation, controlling the state to run on the trajectory of the "middle way". This state is also "quiet" . It can be said that not only the physical exercise of the human body must be done in moderation, so as to seek "quietness" while moving, and combine work and rest, but this does not mean that we are opposed to physical exercise. This is consistent with the Chinese principles of "cultivation both internally and externally" and "dual cultivation of life and life".
Therefore, the "quiet" mentioned in the "Yin Fu Jing" that can cause "the creation of all things in the world" can also be compared from the concept of traditional Chinese culture to the "Book of Changes", "Tao Te Ching", The concepts of "Tao", "Yin", "Yang" and even "Wuwei", "Qing", "Zheng", "Zhong", etc. in the concepts of "Huangdi Neijing" and other classic works are confirmed.
First, let’s take a look at the “dynamic” view proposed by Westerners such as French thinker Voltaire, which is different from the traditional Chinese “quiet” view.
"The connotation of "life lies in movement" is: the emergence of life lies in movement, and movement is the prerequisite for the birth of life. Without material movement, there will be no life; the existence of life lies in movement, and movement is also the existence of life. To maintain the existence of life, it is also inseparable from material movement; the development of life lies in movement, and movement is the driving force and source of life development. It can be said that without movement, people cannot live.
? Its extension is: the movement of life includes not only the movement of plants, animals, and microorganisms, but also the movement of human life bodies; for human life, it not only refers to mechanical movement, but also includes physical movement, chemical movement, social movement, and thinking movement; not only It includes macroscopic body movement, but also microscopic cell movement, molecular movement and many other forms of movement. Therefore, life lies in movement."
Why do Chinese and Western cultures have seemingly completely opposite views on life and the universe? Woolen cloth? So, who is right and who is wrong? In fact, the reason why a culture has its explanatory power and guiding practical significance in certain aspects shows that it contains many reasonable elements. Therefore, we should not first define our own ideological position. Avoid letting your mind fall into a world of thoughts that you cannot extricate yourself from.
? When people think about problems, they tend to fall into absoluteness, thus ignoring the relativity of changes in things. The same is true for the debate about whether the development of life and the world is caused by "stillness" or "(motion)" that we are going to discuss now!
In the Yixue and Taoist theories of ancient Chinese culture, "quiet" is actually the "two" material phenomena (one yin and one yang) before giving birth to "three" (many) and then producing all things in the world. The orderly balance produced when combined rises, which is the optimal state of the system! That is, when the two states of "yin" and "yang" are stable, harmonious, and compatible, and in an orderly state in which yin and yang are harmonious and unified, it is the "Tao of one yin and one yang" mentioned in the Book of Changes. In terms of the so-called dialectical materialism thought introduced from the modern West, this idea of ??"one yin and one yang is called the Tao" includes the idea that "development occurs in the unity of contradictory opposites". However, It must be pointed out that only when this contradictory state is benign and orderly manifested within the system can the overall system of subject and object, internal and external, move towards orderly optimization. This is also what the "Huangdi Neijing" says: "Guyang does not exist. The idea of ????"creating, only yin does not grow" means that there is an interdependent (mutual generation) relationship among the mutual competition (mutual restraint) within the system, but "mutual generation" is the main one, and "mutual restraint" is secondary. Therefore , competition is reflected as a different kind of "healthy competition" from the "entropy increase" of the weak and the strong, the "entropy increase" of life and death, and the maximization of entropy consumption. "Participation, mutual promotion, and overall appreciation" is also reflected in the "morality of benevolence, righteousness, and morality" of Confucianism and Taoism. This is "one yin and one yang is called Tao, what follows is good, and what is completed is nature."
But I forgot the second half: "Between heaven and earth, it is like a quarry. It is empty but unyielding, and becomes more active when it moves. It is better to stay in the center than to say too much." Of course, heaven and earth are naturally a large system, and it has its own characteristics. It operates according to its own laws. Therefore, its operation is based on the operation of heaven and cannot be based on the needs or purposes of all things as its components or elements, subsets, elements, etc., but as based on the entire human society and nature. The same is true for the "sage" of systematic sustainable development. It is impossible to take into account the subjective needs of certain individual members (common people) in human society as the basis for behavior. The framework or realm is different. As a person in the large system of heaven, earth and nature, People may use the functions of all things in this large system to exert different effects, and this requires giving full play to the initiative of "keeping the center" of people and nature, making the best use of things and people making full use of their talents. In Henan dialect, " "Chong" means "appropriate application"!
There is a story in "Zhuangzi" to the effect of this. One day, King Hui of Liang gave Hui Zi a big gourd seed. Keiko took it home and planted it. After careful cultivation, the big gourd finally grew.
Huizi hurriedly called his good friend Zhuangzi to come and see him. When Zhuangzi arrived, he saw a rotten gourd.
? Zhuangzi was puzzled. Duan Duan, you smashed the big gourd. What are you doing?
? Looking at the rotten gourd, which could hold six hundred kilograms of grain, Huizi told Zhuangzi his troubles.
He said: "This gourd is used to hold water. It can hold hundreds of kilograms of water, but it is not so strong and will be damaged by the pressure of the water. Cut it in half and use it. When I scooped up water, I didn't have a big water tank to put it in, so I thought it was big and useless, so I just smashed it."
Zhuangzi sighed after listening to Huizi's words. Unconscious, he said: "It's not that the gourd is useless, it's that you don't know how to use it."
After all, it is inappropriate to directly accuse one's good friend, so Zhuangzi told Huizi a story.
Zhuangzi said: "There was a man in the Song Dynasty who invented a medicine. As long as this medicine is applied to people's hands, their hands will not crack. Therefore, this man and his family have been together for generations. They all wash clothes for others to make money. Later, someone heard about this medicine and told them, "Sell me the prescription and I will give you a hundred gold." Have you ever seen so much money? The total money their family has earned from washing clothes for generations is only a few gold. They held a simple family meeting and unanimously agreed to sell it! The person who got the prescription went to the king of Wu. King. At this time, the State of Yue invaded the State of Wu. Because the soldiers of the King of Wu used the medicine, their hands would not be cracked when fighting in the winter water, so the King of Wu won the war heavily. The person who contributed the prescription was rewarded with a fief. For the same prescription, some people used it to do laundry, and some people used it in exchange for a fief. You see, the effectiveness or use value are different depending on the method of use. Ah. You have a big gourd that can hold six hundred kilograms of grain. Are you still afraid that it will be useless? You can tie it to your waist and float it in the big rivers!"
Finally! , Zhuangzi said regretfully: "Huizi, Huizi, your brain is still not clear."
From the organizational structure of individual life or the coordination and order between elements, to the order construction of social systems , and then to the harmony between society and the natural universe. It can be seen that the thoughts of ancient and modern times, both at home and abroad, are interlinked. The so-called "dialectics" that originated in the West in modern times has actually been systematically discussed in China's Yixue, Taoism and traditional Chinese medicine. Of course, perhaps the difference is that Western thought is more vernacular. It is easy to understand and accept, but another point is the influence of the inferiority complex of the people from the other countries on the relative solidification of traditional culture in modern times and lagging behind that of the West!
? Therefore, Lao Tzu also said in the "Tao Te Ching" that "Tao generates one, one generates two, two generates three, and three generates all things. All things bear yin and embrace yang, and the energy is in harmony."
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? Here Lao Tzu said that all things in the world, or all things in the world, which represent the “three (many)”, are “unified” by “yin and yang (two)” in mutual contradictions and oppositions to form one A harmonious complex system (a new ordered system), this state is the harmonious state of yin and yang, which is the new "one", but it is different from the "one" represented by the disordered chaos before the "two" was produced. . In the previous chapters, I used the coordinate axes of modern Western mathematics to discuss this mathematically and iconographically. In the plane coordinates, the first quadrant: {(Yang) Ten, (Yang) Ten}, of course , it should be noted that {(Yang) Ten, (Yang) Ten} means mutual benefit or mutual growth in the two systems of subject and object, but it does not mean that this is absolute, but relative! It is said that both systems sense that the advantages (yang) in the collaboration process outweigh the disadvantages (yin) in the process of their own measurement, analysis, and selection, that is, yang gt; when yin, the attributes are reflected as self-interest (yang) or mutual benefit { Benefit (Yang), Benefit (Yang)}, in this way, the collaboration between the systems will appear as a whole, and this mutually beneficial and win-win situation will occur. Otherwise, if the advantages are less than the disadvantages {Profit (Yang) is Yanglt; When it is Yin, the system will collapse and break down into a piece of scattered sand. Therefore, benefiting oneself, others and things is the direction of the evolution of self, people and things, represents the direction of sustainable "life", and is the way to show Yang. The systematic optimization state of the order!
Therefore, ancient Taoist (true) practitioners such as Lu Dongbin are also called Lu Chunyang, the author of the Eternal Alchemy Classic "Shen Tongqi" is called Wei Boyang, and the author of "Wuzhen Chapter" Zhang Boduan is also called "Ziyang" " It can be seen that ancient Taoist (true) practitioners were very happy to take Tao and Dharma names with "Yang" to inscribe their ambitions! In the process of practicing Neidan, they should "take the base of the base of the heart and enlighten the Yin in the abdomen and uterus" , that is, the yang energy in the barrier is used to enlighten the yin essence in the separation, and then the movement and intersection are restored to the body of pure yang! This is from the perspective of the subject in terms of self-cultivation, health preservation and longevity. “Forever and ever. The reason why heaven and earth can be long-lasting is because they do not generate themselves, so they can live forever. Therefore, the sage follows his body and comes first; his body is outside and his body exists. It is not selfless, so it can be selfish." This is discussed from the sustainable development relationship between the subject and the guest and all things in nature. In the third quadrant: {(Yin) One, (Yin) One}, It represents the direction of unsustainable "death", or it refers to the dark disordered chaotic state. Different from the "positive one" pure positive state optimized by the ordered system in the first quadrant, it is disordered. The non-systematic turbid "minus one" pure negative state. Of course, this is a mathematical and simple expression. In reality, it is relativistic. Different people and different things have different starting points or reference systems, and they are all different in the process. The "three" (many) in the hybrid state of yin and yang is just more yin or more yang.
It can be seen from the above that life lies in "(luck)". It is certain that movement and movement are the driving force and source of the development of life, but it does not clearly indicate that any direction or form of movement is necessary for the sustainable existence, evolution, and optimal development of life, because, in reality, in The exercise presented in life may even be harmful to life itself. For example, some excessive exercise caused by excessive exercise is the strain. Therefore, the necessary prerequisite for exercise to bring health is not to exceed the limit of exercise. The margin that the body can withstand means that it is an appropriate amount of exercise. Otherwise, this kind of exercise will be enough. It is not necessary!
, and ultimately immortal. "So, life lies in movement. It means that people must exercise moderately during regular activities, and can obtain and maintain health without excessive exercise. Only moderate exercise can produce health, the greatest wealth of mankind, but if it is excessive, it will cause fatigue and even damage some organs. Damage is harmful to health.
? Many human thinkers often make some logical errors when drawing a conclusion. The original logic is: A (A is appropriate movement, A- is inappropriate movement), that is, A=A UA- (A is the union or sum of A and A-), A (proper exercise) → (causing) B (health), A- (improper exercise) → (causing) C (injury), but the result is only : A (exercise) → (causes) B (health), but the reality of the subset A-(improper exercise) → (causes) C (injury) in A is ignored, so the judgment is that it is not Scientific, this kind of unscientific logic can be seen everywhere in our culture. Some of them have even had negative consequences on our social and economic life, and have also caused obstacles to the progress of our spiritual civilization. For example, there is a possibility that you don’t know Is it the "labor theory of value" influenced by Voltaire's logic? It also says that "labor is the only source of wealth"! Different from the object of physical exercise, which is to obtain and maintain physical health (biological ego), "labor" as the object of obtaining and maintaining economic wealth in the possession of material materials (social superego) is actually a kind of "movement" Form, the difference is that the "movement" object of the former is one's own health and wealth value (the utility of the physiological ego), while the object of the latter's movement (labor) is the possession of material materials in the social economy (the superego utility of psychological evaluation). But since they are all wealth values, why can we conclude from the above logical argument that exercise may not necessarily be able to maintain health, but only necessary (appropriate) exercise can maintain health? This is a more logical scientific judgment, then, in the same way , as the possession of material materials in the social economy (superego utility of psychological evaluation), labor also has a necessary and unnecessary distinction. Therefore, in the original "labor theory of value", "the value of wealth lies in labor" Only by revising or making clear the concepts of "necessary labor" and "marginal labor" and distinguishing them from the general concept of "labor is the only source of value creation" can the logic of the "labor theory of value" be made scientific!
? Then, if the formation, development, and health of life can be attributed to the results of physical, chemical, and physiological (matter) material movements, then, by extension, all things in nature in the universe They are all the result of development and change in "movement", just one of the results or a form produced. Because, ① life is only one type of natural things in the universe, which is the form of "life"; ② in addition to life, there are also non-living material forms and the movement forms of non-living materials embodied in the natural things in the universe. This is It is the form of "death"; ③ In addition, there is also the movement from life form to non-life form, which is the movement from "life" to "death" form transformation towards degradation or death; ④ Finally A movement that transforms from "death" to "life" and moves towards the evolution or sustainable development of individual → society → harmony of nature and man (university of the world)!
Therefore, Laozi said in Chapter 45 of the Tao Te Ching: If a great success is lacking, its use will not be harmful; if a great gain is full, its use will be endless. Great straightness is like bending, great skill is like clumsiness, great debate is like indifference. Quietness overcomes impatience, cold overcomes heat, and tranquility is the right of the world. And this also coincides with the Yin Fu Jing's "The way of nature is quiet, so all things in the world are alive"!
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