Chapter 23 Chapter 21

Conde's appearance, only the way is to follow.Tao is a thing, but trance is trance.In trance, there is image in it; in trance, there is object in it; in trance, there is essence in it.Its essence is true, and there is faith in it.Chimney ancient and modern, its name does not go, to read the public.How do I know the state of the public?With this. What is Lao Tzu's stuff? "Kongde" means great virtue.According to the Buddhist custom, those who write letters to the elders are honored as so-and-so "Great Virtue".The synonym of ancient Buddhism translated from Sanskrit to Chinese originally had "Kongde", but because Confucius was surnamed Kong, "Kongde" was changed to "Great Virtue" later. Kong is great, and De represents the true Taoist the behavior of. "Tolerance" refers to the inclusive function of connotation.A person who is truly cultivated in morality has only one thing in his connotation - "Tao". "Only the Tao is to follow", at any time, any place, every minute, every second of the day, you are asking yourself to be in line with the principles of the Tao, every thought, every word and action, without any violation of the Tao. "It's as light as the sea", always tolerant of everything, tolerant of the trickle, will return to one, and there will be no outrageous and out-of-shape situations.This is the major principle of being a human being put forward at the beginning of this chapter, and it also explains the attitude of Taoists who are born in this world, and how Taoism is practiced.

This chapter needs to be read in one breath without interruption, so that the taste is enough.When the ancients were reading, they always shook their heads and read, and sometimes they couldn't catch up in one breath, and they had to cut off the style of writing, that would not work.When learning ancient articles, when the style of writing goes smoothly, no matter whether the sentence in the middle is correct or not, you must first grasp the completeness in one go. If you stop in the middle, it will be much worse to continue.The same is true for writing brush characters. Even if the pen is not filled with enough ink and the characters are not finished, I don’t want to dip it again, because if I stop to dip the ink, the incisive momentum will be interrupted and I will not be able to draw.It was just like playing a ball. With a strong wave of the hand, the ball swished, forming a strong curve, and passed.Good articles and good poems also pay attention to momentum. Lack of momentum or incoherence will inevitably affect its aesthetic feeling. It is difficult to explain the subtleties between them.

"Tao is a thing, but only trance." Among the many people who study Laozi's philosophy in our later generations, there is a school of thought that Laozi is materialistic, not idealistic.Because there are many places in Laozi's book, the word "thing" is mentioned.Special attention must be paid to this point. In the Spring and Autumn Period, there were no so-called idealistic and materialistic theories.The "thing" we talked about at that time was equivalent to the "this thing" we talk about now.This can lead to a lot of evidence in ancient books and scholars.Our current common expressions "you this thing" or "what is it", if people after 500 or 1,000 years come to verify this sentence, they may feel that the Chinese from the nineteenth to the twentieth century, the language so troublesome. What is a "stuff"?East is east, west is west, how can the two directions be combined into one noun?

For example, some of us now like to scold others "what are you!"I am a person, not a thing.However, the word "Dongxi" in this generation's language is a concept.This concept is difficult to explain. "Things" can be called things, and "people" can also be called things.When the ancients talked about "things", they also meant the same thing, and they didn't limit it to just expressing matter. After more than two thousand years, the descendants did not understand this reason, and confusedly regarded "things" as "materialistic" things, and insisted on interpreting ancient people's concept of characters with modern people's concepts of characters. This is not very serious. Order the arrow?For example, Zhuangzi said his words, nine out of ten are "fables", and the word "fables" first came from Zhuangzi.In modern Japan, the word "fable" was used as a representative of the stories about translating western culture and pretending those fantasies.As a result, today's young people don't understand it, thinking that fables are things that writers imagined and created out of thin air, such as the same, but they think that all fables spoken by Zhuangzi are false and unreliable.Isn't this a reversal of right and wrong, a mistake?

When Laozi talks about "things", it must not be regarded as the materialistic interpretation of "materialism".The thing Lao Tzu mentioned, in modern terms, means "this thing".A thing is a thing, a pronoun that barely refers to a certain kind of thing, and cannot go any further.This is equivalent to the Buddhist saying that there is an inconceivable "natural light" and the incomparably lofty "God" of Westerners. Once these religious words describing absoluteness come into the hands of the Zen masters, they strip off all the cloaks of religion. , and replace it with "this". "This" is "that"? "That" is "this"! What is "this"?A thing is a thing and cannot be explained. Only when you see it yourself can you know it.We understand the literal concept of "things" at that time, so naturally we will not casually frame the ancients as materialistic, otherwise it would be too outrageous and inexplicable.However, some people will mistakenly think that Kong Ming is the younger brother of Confucius.

As for the saying, "Tao is a thing, but only in a trance."This involves the issue of Chinese characters, which is even more complicated.When we hear the word "trance" now, we interpret it as mental disorder and dizziness, similar to the psychedelic state of people who eat "super glue" and inject "quick death pit" nowadays.Therefore, some young people eat super glue desperately, thinking it is enjoyment, and screw up their body and mind.In fact, "trance" refers to the realm of bright mind, we don't need to explain these two words with cumbersome training and evaluation, just from the shape of the characters, we can see that "trance" is the word "light" next to the vertical heart; " "Trance" is the word "huge" added next to the character "vertical heart", which means that the heart is bright, free and lively, and it is not confused or dizzy at all.If the result of cultivating the Tao is like being drunk, dazed, staggering, requiring several people to support it, it is called "trance", is it still a practice of Taoism?

Lao Tzu said that the "Tao" is "only vague and trance".To describe it reluctantly means that it has such an unbelievably bright and free and easy realm.The so-called "trance, in which there is an image". The word "Xi" comes from the usage of auxiliary words in the ancient southern Chu language.The culture of Chu State spread all over the north and south of the Yangtze River and formed a system of its own. In terms of history, the Chu State at that time was after the Zhurong family, and it was also related to the culture of Shennong.Confucius' articles and rules belong to the inheritance of Qilu culture, and have the simple and honest temperament of the north.Lao Tzu's articles are free and easy and rhythmic, with the style of southern literature.After Laozi, Qu Yuan's Songs of Chu "Li Sao" appeared as a representative of the literature of Chu in the south. Whether the word "Xi" was pronounced as the sound of "Xi" in ancient times is a question, but we still pronounce it as the sound of "Xi" now.Strictly speaking, the ancient character "Xi" does not pronounce the "Xi" sound, and its nature is similar to the character "ah" or "dumb" commonly used in singing today, without a specific meaning.Some people argue that this word should be sung with "呀" or "呀" in Hokkien or Hakka accent, with a long tone.If it constitutes a word, it should be two or more words joined together to form an independent adjective, and it is not completely meaningless to fill in the article.

The State of Northern and Southern Literature in the Spring and Autumn Period To study historical culture, it is necessary to understand the trend of writing styles in different regions at that time.Luxurious and beautiful literary works such as Chu Ci and Ci Fu originated from the south.For the development of later generations' thinking, Lao Zhuang and Zen Buddhism are all in the south, especially in the Yangtze River Basin.This point, the rising stars of the younger generation, must pay special attention when studying Chinese culture and rearranging Chinese literature and philosophy.Generally speaking, the folk customs in the north are gentle, honest, and unpretentious.The upright and upright benevolence culture often develops from north to south.And the culture of brilliant thinking, ethereal and elegant, was born in the land of the south.It's almost a law.I often study European history with this concept, and American history as well.In terms of Europe and the United States, the characters or cultural thoughts from the north are different from those in the south. People in the north behave honestly and have a strong temperament.People from the south, like Carter, are very problematic.This is very strange, only because of the differences in the directions of the east, south, west, and north regions, the similarities and differences of people and cultures that influence mountains and rivers in the dark have a lot to do with the law of image and number.

Lao Tzu also said that in "trance and trance, there is an image in it".In other words, there is such a realm in the boundless and lively realm of light. The "elephant" is also the realm. "In a trance, there is something in it."And in this bright realm, there seems to be such a thing.It is equal to what the Buddhists said: "Emptyness is existence, and existence is emptiness."Inside the emptiness, it is not really the emptiness.This "something in it" is neither idealistic nor materialistic, but something that is united between mind and matter.Cultivators can reach this kind of indescribable, boundless light, flexible and comfortable, as if virtual and real.But this realm, this thing, I don't want to add a noun to explain it, I am afraid that the word will harm the meaning, so I have to simply use "xiang" and "thing" to express it.In Buddhism, it is often said "unbelievable" or "unspeakable" to end its words. In addition, we have to say "like a person drinking water, he knows whether he is warm or not".

This essence is not that essence Next, Lao Tzu came up with another big problem. "Yo xi ming xi, there is essence in it", "yao" describes its profoundness, and "ming" describes its tallness.If it was written in the writing style of Qilu culture at that time, or use the word "tall and towering" to describe it. "Yao" and "Ming" can be compared with the phenomenon of space.For example, "flying into Qingming" means reaching far into the infinitely high and endless space, and even forgetting the concept of space.If a person's self-cultivation has reached this level, he can understand that there is indeed "essence in it".But when it comes to "essence", we must pay attention to it, and do not use material concepts to explain this essence.Of course, it is not the essence of sperm and eggs as referred to by heretics in later generations. It is the immeasurable and elusive spiritual essence that contains the meaning of "elf" and "essence".

But is there such a thing as "refining essence to transform qi, refining qi to transform spirit, refining spirit to return emptiness" as taught by later Taoists? —There is such a thing.But don't mistake it for the sperm eggs produced by the human body's physiological cycle.If it is determined in this way, there will be a slight difference, a thousand miles of loss.A classmate who studied psychology in the United States came back and told me: It’s too bad. American psychologists now advocate that the elderly can get married and enjoy a full sex life, and they don’t recognize the Chinese Taoist saying of “ten drops of blood and one drop of essence”. And I'm not opposed to more interbreeding and interbreeding, isn't this going to kill the old man!After all, this classmate is an intellectual, and he has been terribly worried about not being able to "learn without worry". So, I asked him: Do you know how the so-called "ten drops of blood and one drop of essence" spread to the United States?He said: This is what is said in the Daoist scriptures.I told him: This is not an orthodox Taoist book. This kind of book regards "essence" as male sperm and female egg, which is completely wrong. In fact, sperm and eggs are not created by blood alone.It is reasonable for these American psychologists and physiologists to attack this concept desperately.People have scientific basis, so how can they believe your statement casually? We can only blame our own people who sell Chinese culture for making mistakes. The so-called "fine" is difficult to define clearly.In terms of human beings, it can include various hormones-endocrine, etc., but it is not limited to this, it is difficult to elaborate.As for the two "Qi" and "Shen", they need to be discussed separately.According to the "Huangdi Neijing", in terms of medicine, the "essence" referred to is not sperm eggs, and there has been a special explanation.For example, we heard people say: "This man is in good spirits!" You would never think that he is in good spirits because he has a lot of sperm in his body!Of course there is no such reason.The spirit cannot be concretely described in words.But is there really no such thing?But there is no doubt that the human body has the function of this vitality.Good spirits or low spirits have an interactive relationship with the physiological functions and psychological conditions of the human body. If a student of Taoism has been meditating for years and months, and the result is that the more he sits, the less energetic he becomes, and the more he meditates, the more dizzy he becomes, then he is wrong.This is not "Yi Xi Ming Xi".To truly reach the ethereal state of "deepness and darkness", as long as your eyes are fixed for a few minutes, it is equivalent to a few hours of sleep for ordinary people. effort.In the books of Laozi and Zhuangzi, there are so many words about the realm of cultivating Taoism, which cannot be understood and interpreted by ordinary philosophical concepts or the artistic imagination of literati.Then you have to practice and prove it in order to understand the truth. Then, Lao Tzu described the importance of spirit, "Its essence is so real, and there is faith in it." The usage of "essence" here has almost reached the realm of "neither birth nor death" as mentioned by Buddhism.The Shurangama Sutra, a famous Buddhist scripture, also says: "The essence of the mind is perfect and bright, covering the ten directions." Cultivating the mind and cultivating the character to such an extent can cover the sky and the earth, and encompass the entire universe.Therefore, Laozi said: "Its essence is so real", it is an absolutely real thing, without beginning and end, without birth and death. "There is faith in it", there is indeed a fact, there is indeed this news, as long as you really practice and verify physically and mentally, then there will naturally be a step-by-step credit investigation effect. Mencius' testimony Speaking of this, let us borrow the words of "Mencius·Jinxin Chapter" to explain Laozi's "There is faith in it", but it is very appropriate.Mencius said: "What is desirable is called goodness, what is full of oneself is called faith, what is full is called beauty, what is full and brilliant is called great, what is big and transformed is called holy, what is holy but unknowable is called god."If you want to talk about self-cultivation, it’s just a whim, and you just meditate casually, thinking it’s fun, and don’t make it the first thing in your life, then you’re just dawdling, and there will be no good results.If you really regard it as the first thing in your life, remember it day and night, and never waste it for a moment, then you will achieve "what you want is good", anytime and anywhere is like smoking opium. Look listless, have to sit down.The so-called addiction to opium is just a metaphor and should not be misunderstood. If you work so hard on the road, you will gradually reach the point of "having your own beliefs".That is to say, when the heat is reached, its realm will inevitably appear, which can be trusted without a doubt.This passage of Mencius, all the way down, is talking about the level of experience in practicing kung fu, not just the theory of "comparison".Laozi put forward the three things of essence, qi, and spirit separately. "The essence is so real, and there is faith in it." Ascending from one level to the next, it will finally meet the metaphysical "Tao" of human beings. Therefore, it is said that the metaphysical "Tao" "has never lost its name since ancient times and the present."From ancient times to the present, there is only one truth, no two and no three.However, there are thousands of different names of the Tao that expresses the "one-way method" in the world, and there is not only one.It is called "Tao", "God", "Heart", "Things", "Heaven", "Emperor", and "Tathagata", all of which are aliases representing this unique way.This thing will never change, it will never be indelible, and it will pervade all directions.Our traditional culture is called Tao. After realizing the Dao as it really is, "How can I know the appearance of all the monks by reading them?" That is to say, when you have attained the truth, you will be able to observe and understand the appearance of all living beings without hindrance. root. "Zhongfu" means everyone, and "Fu" is also interpreted as "father", representing men.In ancient society, men were everywhere.Reading ancient articles, if a person named Zhang Da writes a preface for others, the inscription below is: "Zhang Dafu's preface on a certain day in a certain year and a certain month".After reading it, people in later generations did not understand it, thinking that this article was written by "Zhang Dafu".Sometimes a sign is added to the name, for example, his name is "Xiaoxian", so the signature is written: "Zhang Daxian Fu Preface." In this way, some people will mistakenly think that this person's name is "Zhang Dawei" and his name is "Xianfu".In fact, the author's real name is "Zhang Da", his nickname is "Xiaoxian", and "Fu" means he is a man.In ancient times, there were many articles signed with this word. It remains to be verified when this phenomenon began to occur.In fact, the author is an out-and-out man, who would treat you as a woman?Adding the word "Fu" in it is really easy to confuse and cause misunderstanding.Like our great poet Du Fu, won't he be regarded as a "Du man" in this way?These places are the common disadvantages of excessive play with words in Chinese culture, and they really need to be reformed, simplified and understood. "People" are the same as "all beings" mentioned by later Buddhists. After you have attained the Dao of Truth, all kinds of habits, causes and conditions, and different life states of all living beings can be seen clearly at a glance.So Lao Tzu said: "How do I know the shape of everyone? From this." How can I understand the nature of all people and the psychology of all people?It is "in this way".Because of attaining the Dao, from this supreme, trance-like Dao, one can understand the ever-changing universe and see the boundless phenomena of life, so one can know everything. Speaking of this, as far as I know, there are some young people who like to learn to meditate and try various methods, but they don’t understand the physical and mental principles of real meditation. The brain is blunt, and sometimes when there is a little light in front of you, you think it is "trance but trance", "there is faith in it", and it is a phenomenon of Taoism, which is undesirable.Such a "phenomenon", if you are deliberately persistent and self-righteous, it is the belief of Taoism, then it can warn you that you are about to go to the mental hospital.Here, you must refer to the Buddhist scriptures "Diamond Sutra" for the principle of "all appearances are false", so as not to play with the spirit and go astray. In general meditation, the "twilight" of the faint light is not the Tao.I see a lot of young people who are not intelligent enough, who don't know how to learn, and who fall into it all at once, thinking that they are amazing, which is indeed deplorable.I am 100% correct when I say, "In trance, there is image in it", or "Its essence is so true, there is faith in it", etc., but it refers to the vastness of the mind, covering the sky and the earth, similar to the Buddhist scripture "Surangama Sutra". "The principle of "the mind is pure and clear, covering the ten directions".What's more, these words and sentences are just reluctant descriptions of "speech is cut off, and mind is stopped". Don't see a little light, just make a fuss there, like crazy. In addition, there are more than 8,000 volumes of Chinese Taoism books handed down. In the books, things like "Tao" are often described as "round Tuo Tuo, shining brightly".As a result, many people who are passionate about this way fall into the background of this language. As long as they close their eyes and see a round light appear in their consciousness, they regard it as "Yuan Tuo Tuo, the light is scorching", and they will feel it instantly. It's like you've got it.A friend who practiced Taoism in Hong Kong wrote a letter saying that he had obtained the aura of "Yuan Tuo Tuo, shining light", but he lost it for some reason recently. I hope I can tell him how to get that state back.I read the letter and couldn't help laughing. I really wanted to buy some shiny glass beads and send them to him for fun. "Yuantuo Tuo, the light is shining" is just an adjective used by Taoists for a certain state of Taoism, which is similar to the "trance" mentioned by Lao Tzu.However, why do such realms appear?Because while you are meditating, although delusions are reduced, the blood and qi channels in your body are still circulating, and the body and mind qi and blood rub against each other to generate electricity, forming this phenomenon.If you recognize clearly that this is not the Tao, but just an inevitable stage in the process of meditation, then congratulations, if you let go of everything, let go of the flow, your body and mind will gradually change step by step, improving layer by layer , this is a certain degree of "belief in it". At the same time, don't think that "Yuan Tuo Tuo, the light is shining" is the same thing as the "fine" mentioned by Lao Tzu, that's not right.What is this "fine"?It includes the whole virtuous transformation of body and mind.You said that you have obtained "Yuan Tuo Tuo, shining light", well, let me ask you, has your physical and mental health changed?If there is a change, to what extent?To truly learn Buddhism and practice Taoism, as long as you reach a certain stage, you will inevitably change your temperament, and your mood will be cheerful. Even if you don't rejuvenate, at least you can cure diseases and eliminate disasters, and your body will be healthy.If not, it is very problematic. Therefore, Laozi especially emphasizes that "there is something in the trance". In this bright and splendid realm, there is such a thing. Don't regard this thing as an actual and concrete thing, otherwise you will practice yourself and embarrass yourself. , in order to seek the Tao, it is counterproductive, and that is a sin.This point must be clearly understood.