Follow the four seasons and sigh as they pass by, looking at all things and thinking about them. I am saddened by fallen leaves in autumn, and happy by tender leaves in spring. "This is the poet's delicate sensitivity and graceful talent.
"Don't be happy with things, don't be sad with yourself. "This is the indifference, sublimity and transcendence of the sages
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In contrast, as ordinary people, we are often disturbed by the complicated world, sometimes we are happy, sometimes we are sad and desolate , sometimes passionate, sometimes lonely and depressed... "Time flies by like a bird." Time passes by, and so does life. How can we figure out a clue to life, and what should we be sure of in life? , what do we want to gain? What is the value and meaning of life? Regarding this series of questions, there may be one person who can give us some inspiration and enlightenment. He is Zhuangzi, "There is a fish in Beiming, and its name is Kun. It is big." , I don’t know how many thousands of miles it is..." I have been familiar with this since I was a child, and I also vaguely know that it comes from an article in "Zhuangzi? 6? /p>
It is said that Zhuangzi’s ancestors were originally aristocrats of the Chu State. When his father’s generation came, they moved to Mengdi to avoid the “Yizong” people. From then on, the family fell into decline and became a commoner. The experience of "being born in prosperity and finally falling into decline" made him deeply understand the ruthlessness of the world and the helplessness of reality. He also understood the truth of life better and became an "awakening person" who did not follow the world. He lived in poverty all his life. He lived in a "poor alley" and was so thin that he was "huge and yellow". However, he still did not change his original intention in the face of various temptations to join the world. "Historical Records? 6? 1 Laozi and Han Feizi" recorded:
King Wei of Chu heard about Zhuang Zhou Xian and sent an envoy to welcome him with a lot of money. Zhuang Zhou smiled and said to the Chu envoy: "A thousand pieces of gold is worth a lot of profit; a minister is a person who respects his position." Didn't you see the ox sacrificed in the suburbs alone? After a few years of nourishment, he was clothed in fine silk and allowed to enter the great temple. At that time, even if you want to be a lone dolphin, how can you achieve it? I am in a hurry to leave, and I will not be defiled. I would rather enjoy myself in the play of filth and filth than to be restrained by a country and not be an official for the rest of my life in order to fulfill my ambitions. ”
It can be seen that Zhuangzi has always been an outsider who has watched with a cold eye towards the fame and wealth that everyone is striving for.
On the other hand, Zhuangzi was born in the Warring States Period, a time of war, chaos and cunning. Life is fragile, life is uncertain, and life is short. People naturally show extraordinary love and attachment to life, as Zhuangzi sang: "Life is not enough." , often cherish the worries of a thousand years. The days are short and the nights are long, why not travel by candlelight? "What kind of urgency and worry is this? It all stems from the infinite attachment to life. Therefore, it is no accident that "protecting oneself throughout one's life" has become an important starting point of Zhuangzi's thought.
For Zhuangzi, the world There are many misunderstandings. Zhuangzi seems to have predicted this. He said in "Xiaoyaoyou": "The blind person cannot understand the reading of the article, and the deaf person cannot understand the sound of the bell and drum." Is it just the body that is deaf and blind? The husband knows it too. "Different Tao, do not seek each other." Zhuangzi has his own unique perspective and understanding of life, but perhaps because it conflicts with the orthodox Confucian philosophy of "managing the world for practical purposes", he has always been excluded from orthodoxy. . However, anyone who knows a little bit about traditional culture knows the principle of "depending on Confucianism and relying on the old". Taoism is the body and Confucianism is the application.
The article "Xiaoyaoyou" has always been regarded as the basis. It is considered to be the essence of Zhuangzi's thought, which contains many thought-provoking discussions about life.
First of all, Zhuangzi believes that the highest state of life is to be "free" between heaven and earth, and to "reach spiritual communication with heaven and earth alone." People in this realm “don’t get hurt by anything, don’t drown when the sky is soaked in great weather, and don’t drown in great droughts, where metal and rocks flow, and earth and mountains are scorched and hot. ”, “When the time is at ease and the place is smooth, sorrow and joy cannot enter. "With an open mind like a valley, what you see with your eyes is a state of emptiness. Everything in the world is included in your chest, but it is indispensable and indispensable. Everything can be used and is good at it. He will "take advantage of the heaven and the earth. Be upright, and control the debate of the six qi, and you can swim endlessly..." In short, "Xiaoyao" is a state of life that is unrestrained and extremely comfortable. Unrestricted and absolute freedom is the prerequisite of "Xiaoyao". People who "wait for" , the heart is enslaved to things, and the body is imprisoned, and there is no freedom or liberation.
Things are different, and the people they treat are also very different. As the article says: "There is a fish in the North Ming, and its name is. Kun. ...turned into a bird, and its name was Peng. ...it flies away in anger, its wings are like clouds hanging from the sky. ...Peng migrates to Nanming, and the water hits him for three thousand miles, and it surges upward for ninety thousand miles, and then he rests for six months.
"This is the "expectation" of the "dapeng bird". Naturally, this does not have to be the case for the xuejiu and xuejiu who "jump up and fly, grab the elm and Fang, and the time will not come and they will just control it on the ground." This is The meaning of "treating" is different. In the same way, "Those who are suitable for the wilderness will have three meals, and their belly will still be full; those who are suitable for a hundred miles, they will have to grind grain; those who are suitable for a thousand miles, they will gather grain in three months." "These are all "to be awaited", it's just that different things have different expectations. If you have expectations, you will be bound by the things you are looking forward to. Therefore, even if you exert your own nature, you can only get relative freedom and happiness. . Liezi could travel against the wind for half a month. Compared with ordinary people, he was much freer, but he was still restricted by the "wind". Therefore, Zhuangzi said: "Although this is exempt from walking, it is still there." What you want is what you want. "It can be seen that what Liezi obtained is not true, absolute freedom and happiness.
To obtain absolute freedom and happiness and reach the state of "freedom", it can only be achieved through "no waiting". In Zhuangzi's view, "no waiting" means "the perfect person has no self, the god has no merit, and the saint has no name." "It can be divided into two levels. The primary level is without merit and fame. Zhuangzi used the allusion "Yao gave the world to Xu You" to illustrate that sages are people who have broken the shackles of fame. It said:
Xu You said: "The Son governs the world. Now that the world has been governed, and I still take the place of the Son, how can I be named after him?" The famous person is also the real guest. Will I be the guest? ……
The bustling world is all for the benefit of coming; the bustling world is for the benefit of the future. If you want to achieve a state of "freedom", you must first get rid of the attachment to "fame and wealth".
Furthermore, to achieve "selflessness" means to get rid of the self-centered prejudice and enter the realm where "heaven and earth coexist with me, and all things are one with me". The story of "Zhuang Zhou Dreams of Butterflies" vividly illustrates this point. It is written in "Equality of Things" that Zhuang Zhou dreamed that he had turned into a butterfly, floating in the air, "self-explanation and ambition", completely forgetting that he was Zhuang Zhou, but when he woke up, he found that he was still Zhuang Zhou. He had questions about this: "I wonder if Zhou's dream is a butterfly? Is the butterfly's dream a Zhou?" In fact, in his opinion, it doesn't matter whether he is dreaming, waking up, Zhuang Zhou or a butterfly. , because from the perspective of "Tao", there is no difference between them. Zhuang Zhou to the butterfly, or the butterfly to Zhuang Zhou, is nothing more than a "materialization". From this, we enter a realm where life and death, wealth and poverty, good and evil, and things and ourselves are all in harmony. Zhuangzi also gave a detailed description of the saint who reached this state:
On the mountain of Miaogushe, there is a god and man living there, his skin is like ice and snow, and his body is like a virgin. He does not eat grains, but breathes wind and drinks dew, rides on the clouds, rides on flying dragons, and travels across the four seas; his divine concentration makes things unblemished and grains ripe every year.
This is the realm of the perfect person, that is, the realm of "free travel" where "the spirit of heaven and earth alone communicates".
I have something to look forward to, because I have a body, and if I don’t have a body, what should I expect?
The end of "Xiaoyaoyou" specifically explains how to use wisdom to make all things available to me regardless of pros and cons, which contains the idea of ??"Equality of Things".
Zhuangzi said: "... there are people in the Song Dynasty who are good at making medicine that will not cause trouble, and they will do it for everyone. When guests hear about it, please buy it for a hundred gold. When they gather together to make plans, they say: 'I will do it for everyone. I only have a few gold coins to drink, but I have a hundred gold coins in one day. Please give it to me. The guest got it and told the king of Wu. The more difficult it was, the king of Wu sent his general to fight with the Yue people in the water in winter, and the Yue was defeated. People can break the ground and seal it. Whether they can seal it or not avoid it, the use is different."
For the same thing, different people get from it. The benefits are not the same, or even very different, because people use them in different ways. It can be seen that there are no big or small things, good or bad. A wise person can see the advantages from the disadvantages and turn the danger into safety, while the stupid person, even if there is a great benefit in front of him, has no eyesight to see the mountain. Therefore, all gains and losses ultimately belong to the person himself and have no direct connection with external things. In this way, there is really no need to be demanding about external objects. Don't seek external things but only seek to cultivate your inner body, so as to gain valuable wealth in life. This is Zhuangzi’s outlook on life. This outlook on life reveals the light of wisdom everywhere.