Chapter 47 Chapter Fifty

To be born is to die.The factors of life account for 30% of a person's life.The factor of death accounts for 30% of a person's life.The factor of wanting to live a good life, but going to death, such a thing also occupies 30% of a person's life. Why do you want to live well but go to death?Because some people take too much care of their own survival, pay too much attention to themselves, and treat themselves too favorably. It is said that those who are good at maintaining health will not encounter rhinos or tigers on the road, and will not encounter weapons or attacks during military operations. Rhinos have no place to hit their horns, tigers have no place to grab their claws, and enemy soldiers have no place to go. Use his weapon.

What is the reason?Because he has not entered a dangerous place that cannot be entered, and he has no weakness to die. The factor of life is 30%, and the factor of death is 30%. Excessive dedication to life accelerates the factor of death.Such a three-three rule is a great invention of Lao Tzu. Most scholars and teachers interpret it as 30% long-lived and 30% short-lived—maybe this interpretation is correct literally, but I have doubts about it.At that time, it is impossible to have three longevity.Today, the so-called long-lived people, according to current standards, have to live at least over eighty years old, and they also do not account for such a proportion.I would rather give a different explanation, and I might as well say it as an annotation of the Six Classics.

Health factors include subjective and objective.Objectives include land, sunlight, air, water, vegetation, ecology, and climate and geographical conditions suitable for human survival.Subjectively, it refers to people's normal living ability, adjustment ability and self-protection instinct, as well as immunity and compensatory ability... It is the normal operation of human body and mind. The factors of death also include subjective and objective.Objectives include natural disasters, biological threats, bacteria and viruses, climate or other environmental factors that are not conducive to or even directly endanger human life.Subjectively, it is human aging, mental illness, misconduct, stupidity, ignorance, and inhumanity... This kind of self-destruction process is often activated inexplicably.

The practice of death due to life includes striving for strength, being brave and fierce, dark anxiety, excessive luxury, excessive force, excessive tonic, excessive medical treatment, excessive practice, alchemy, superstition, search for elixir of life, worship of secret recipes, etc. . For the third 30%, my research experience is not deep enough, I believe there will be more connotations, and it is the essence and main point of Lao Tzu's exposition.But we can think of some idioms: seeking fish from a tree, going the opposite direction, plucking seedlings to encourage growth, drinking poison to quench thirst, going crazy, too much to go... These idioms expressing the great wisdom of Chinese civilization contain similar meanings.

The rule of three and three shows that only 30% is the factor of life, and the other 60% is the opposite factor, a negative factor, and a factor of death.Of course, there are still uncertain factors.The other 10% refers to those who are good at keeping in good health?There is also doubt, because good health preservation should be included in the first 30% of the factors that are life. If we don't say that longevity is not longevity, but that 30% of people embody the vitality of life (lifers), and 30% of people embody the danger of death (death disciples), which reflects the deviation from the natural nature due to overemphasis on life. The avenue of survival is 30% for people who are facing death (the life of a person is about to move to death), and the meaning is not too different.

This is also a sense of urgency, which is in line with the taste of life.Life is often unsatisfactory, and this common saying refers to a higher proportion of negative factors, not 60% but 80% to 90%.People need to have such preparations, such vigilance, and such prudence, and they cannot always think about good things and take chances. To expand and expand, it is not only the issue of life and death, the issue of health preservation, but also a similar rule of threes and threes in all things.Two teams of equal strength meet each other in a match. For each team, there should be a 30% chance of winning, a 30% chance of losing, and a 30% chance of losing due to their eagerness to win.Under normal circumstances, if you do a relatively difficult job, you can only have 30% certainty, 30% danger, and 30% possibility that you will fail to achieve the set goal because of eagerness for success.Scientific research, inventions and creations, financial management, self-recommendation for job hunting, record breaking, writing books, literary and artistic creation... all of them are like this.Of course, there is another premise here, that is, if you basically have the conditions, you may be 30% sure.If you don't have the basic conditions, you won't even have a 10% certainty.

My more than 70 years of life experience have proved that the rule of three and three is great, and it is completely true.To sum it up, no matter what, whether you are studying, participating in the revolution, doing work, writing, doing some social and political work, assuming certain obligations and responsibilities, pursuing national security, physical and mental health, and happiness in life, etc., the factors and opportunities for success are the factors and opportunities for success. three out of ten.The factor of failure, the chance of failure is three out of ten.And because of excitement, because of a period of smooth sailing, and because of overestimating oneself, the probability of achieving the opposite effect is also three out of ten.

For example, when I was a child, I was good at my homework. I thought I could become an inventor, scientist, or writer. The storm of revolution made me choose revolution and drop out of school.When I was a teenager, I aspired to be a professional revolutionary, but it turns out that I was at most three-tenths a revolutionary, and another seven-tenths was an artistic temperament, a fantasy temperament, a scholarly temperament, a childish and romantic temperament, and a kind of liberal temperament. . Later, I decided to write, and paid a huge price for it, and reached my ideal of at most one-third (a little more than three-tenths).

I hope that in the new period of reform and opening up, I have more influence and contribution to the whole and the overall situation, and I have achieved at most 30%, or less than 30%.And all advanced statements and actions can only be counterproductive. Conversely, what I want to say is that if a person has 30% of success, 30% of fruit, 30% of effect, and 30% of progress in each stage of a person's life, Ula, amazing, congratulations!Never ask for 100% in everything.Three times, you should be happy and satisfied, you should be grateful and ashamed, your heart should be like a bright moon, and you should be elated.On the contrary, excessive greed, ambition, fantasies, big words, sweet dreams, excessive operations, activities, running, labor, and anxiety can only result in harming oneself, even asking for bad luck, humiliation, and even self-defeating. perish.

I said later that I will not encounter beasts on the road, and I will not be afraid of weapons in battle. Horns, claws, and weapons are all helpless to him. , The beautiful scenery of those who are good at keeping in good health.Maybe this kind of words is like a cult, at least like the golden bell jar and iron cloth shirt in martial arts novels.However, Laozi is not like this, he is definitely not advocating the practice of Qimen Dunjia.He said that the key lies in whether you have a death zone, whether you have entered the death zone, whether you are rushing towards the negative factors of death, and whether you are doing stupid, greedy, self-destructive stupid things.That is to say, whether you die or not, whether you are injured or not, does not depend on the beast, the enemy, or the weapon, but first of all depends on yourself and your own way of doing things.

Such an argument must be understood in connection with the preceding statement: it means that man should be invulnerable.There are 30% factors in life, and you should fully and naturally approach, benefit from, develop, and get close to, cherish and cherish these 30% of life.The factor of death is 30%, you should treat it with caution, seek advantages and avoid disadvantages, don't take it lightly, don't have a desperado mentality, and don't be unprepared and vigilant. The most important thing is yourself, you should not get sick on your own, see your own weaknesses, reveal your own flaws, create, expose and highlight your own soft belly: such as greed for money, such as selfishness, such as conspiracy, such as using power to oppress others, such as vulgarity Unbearable, such as making enemies and hurting others.Those who harm others will always harm them, those who deceive others will always deceive them, and those who destroy others will always destroy them.The conspirators are the easiest to fall into the net, and the tricksters are the easiest to shoot themselves in the foot. What Laozi emphasized is that poor people must have something to hate, and those who are attacked by rhinoceros and tigers must have their own reasons, at least carelessness.The unfortunate ending of some, even many, has its own responsibility.Although the words are cruel and ruthless, It is one-sided, but it is not without lessons for most people: think about your own responsibilities when you encounter problems.Responsibility for yourself, peace of mind, increase your knowledge, and improve your realm, so that you are close to the Dao, will help you in the future.Those with multiple responsibilities can only be full of resentment and anger, poisoning themselves and the environment, and even stink themselves and others, making them laugh out loud. Being invulnerable is not a question of skill, but a question of your realm, your kung fu, your intention, your height, your world view and values, your methodology and epistemology, and the degree to which you are close to or against the Dao. For example, if you express a point of view, it is very difficult, even exhausting, to be comprehensive. However, you go beyond the prejudice and narrowness of individuals and small groups, beyond your emotions and disputes over the course of a day, and hold the greatest Goodwill, proceeding from the motive of benefiting the majority, expressing a more brilliant, less sectarian, not caring about who wins and who loses, more far-sighted and taller, with the greatest humility, fully absorbing opinions from all sides and yet It is entirely possible to improve the insights one step further.By doing this, you will be less likely to be attacked. For example, when the group is divided, when various interests and experience differences, background differences and cultural differences create sharp opposition, it is impossible, even shameful, for you to be slick and cute, because if you do that, you It became the "glass ball" as the saying goes.But you don't do things that are not realistic, don't talk too much, don't try to please any group of people or certain forces, you always seek the greatest common divisor, and always expand your understanding and communication with others. Perfection is endless. An invulnerable person may also be knocked down or even killed. I have nothing to say about such cases, but such cases are relatively easy to turn around.And in most cases, the invulnerable is one who has no horns for the rhino, no claws for the tiger, and no sword for the enemy.Those who are impeccable are more confident, have methods, and have an aesthetic demeanor. They turn bad luck into good luck, and disasters turn into good luck, and there are "King Kong Warriors" to help them everywhere.My experience of more than seventy years has shown this point. Let me say one more thing, big and small things are impeccable. It is impossible to be impeccable every minute and every second today and tomorrow. You can fight, win, or be arrogant about small things, but you still can't achieve your goal.Because I don't care about small things at all, and the small victories of malicious people are inconsequential and worthless to me.The victim smiled, and what goal did the attacker achieve?As for the big things, your claws, knives and guns are useless.The purpose is not only to keep in good health, but also to walk along the road, stop, be happy, smile, and take a nap with eyes closed, and look down on people like you who are obsessed with air. There is nothing more clear and satisfying than proving the Dao, appreciating the Dao, and taking refuge in the Dao through your own practice. Chapter Fifty-first is called Xuande Tao is born, virtue is born, things are formed, and potential is formed. Therefore, everything respects Tao and honors virtue.Dao is respected, virtue is noble, Fumo's life is always natural. Therefore, Tao produces it, virtue breeds it, growth nurtures it, pavilion poisons it, nurtures it and destroys it. To be born without being born, to do without relying on it, to grow without being slaughtered is called Xuande. Dao produces all things (the Dao is the general root and essence of existence), virtue nourishes and enriches all things (the great virtue is the existence general connotation and supply), matter is the form of existence of all things, and movement (movement and change) is the context and process of existence of all things, and the completion of existence. Therefore, all things in the world respect the Dao and cherish the great virtues.The reverence of the Dao and the preciousness of the great virtues are not man-made regulations but a natural result. Similarly, the Dao and the great virtues do not interfere with all things, but respect their own movements. The Dao gives birth to the existence of all things, and the great virtue enriches the connotation of the existence of all things, makes them grow and develop, makes them grow and finalize, supplies the needs of all things in the world, and covers (covers) all things. Producing them but not possessing them, doing things for them but not controlling them, leading them but not dominating them, this is the great, fundamental and most mysterious and profound virtue that is difficult to see and describe. Here Laozi once again makes an abstract and general description of the world and truth.He put forward a step-by-step proposition such as Tao, morality, matter, and potential, which are gradually issued and four in one. Tao is the foundation and origin, and all things and phenomena are born from Tao.The meaning of Tao is to generate, produce, and give birth to the world. Virtue is a character, a basic function, a contribution, the nourishment of the Tao, and the greatest benevolence, although Lao Tzu has repeatedly criticized benevolence.The benevolence and benevolence that Lao Tzu talks about here is natural rather than man-made. Things are the embodiment of Tao and virtue, that is, the transformation of Tao and virtue. It is the transformation of the metaphysical nature of Tao and virtue into concrete aspects. It is manifested, proved and carried forward through all things. Materialization makes the world take shape.Things also have the meaning of the objective world and the world outside the body.Tao is not yourself, but the world.This idea is valuable. As for potential, it is the trend of Dao and virtue, the dynamics, cause, power and trend of Dao.Momentum is an internal force, a road map, and it is the energy that Tao and virtue naturally possess without the need for the first push. Virtue is the nourishment and function of Dao.One of Lao Tzu's thoughts here is very interesting.The world is not created overnight. After being born in the Tao, one still needs to be cultivated, nourished, and enriched by virtue, and also cultivated by growth, poisoned by pavilion, and overwhelmed by nourishment.That is to say, all things still need a process of growth, development, stability, maturity, fruit, protection, and storage. This chapter is Laozi's Genesis, which can be read in contrast to the sayings in the Bible. According to the Bible, Jehovah consciously and plannedly created the world in six days according to needs, and rested on the seventh day. It is not difficult to find Laozi's respect for nature here.The characteristic of Western religions is to look for a lord—lord.God = Lord.The Lord created everything, rules over everything, and arranges everything.Lao Tzu's statement is the way of nature, which "gives birth" to the world instead of creating the world. "Born" is less intentional than "created."The teaching of Buddhism is also dominated by the Dharma, not by the Buddha. Lao Tzu also particularly emphasizes that there is nothing to be born, but not to rely on, and not to be slaughtered when growing up, which is called Xuande.That is to say, the Dao is not the lord, but nature and self-transformation. Dao, morality, matter, and potential are a ladder that is gradually implemented and gradually revealed. At the same time, the Chinese-style integrated and holistic thinking determines the characteristics of the four in one.The text talks about Tao, morality, things, and potential, and the last word "potential" or "tool".There are many grounds for saying that it is four in one, the most important of which is the previous discussion on one.What we want is to return to one, settle in one, and obtain one (interestingly, Buddhism also talks about all dharmas returning to one, and all dharmas are called the five aggregates and eighteen realms, and one is called the Tathagata Treasure). Tao is the principle, the law, the origin, the original state of the world born from heaven and earth, trance, trance, and chaos. It is not only the most fundamental existence, but also the most general essence. Existence to the most initial extreme is the essence, which is no different from the essence. This is the beauty of the Chinese way of thinking.This is also a transcendence of the distinctions between value and choice, cognition and belief, prior and logical inference, ontology and epistemology and methodology.For such an essence has nothing to do with any man-made value or selectivity, which is what it is.This is not a specific kind of cognition, not a school, not a theory, but the beginning of the world, which is the eternal illumination of the essence of the world without schools or values, and even before human beings.It is not only the result of rational deduction and conceptual improvement, but also full of admiration. In this chapter, Lao Tzu specifically raises the issue of respecting the Tao and Guide, which is not mentioned much in other chapters.He said that all things respect Tao and value virtue; Tao is respected, virtue is noble, and life is always natural.It is these few words that reveal the fideism of Lao Tzu's concept of Dao.You not only have to know it, realize it, but also honor it. Such a nobility should be carried out in the opposite direction of morality.The most obvious thing is that you should honor the "potential", you should at least make the most of the situation, and you must recognize the general trend and "the trend of the world, mighty and mighty" (from Sun Yat-sen).We must see the development direction of things, and do not do stupid things that go against the trend. However, it is not enough to just see the potential. You may become a grass on the fence and fall with the wind just by knowing the potential.Therefore, we must further understand things, know the objective world and the world outside the body, know how to seek truth from facts, understand the source of power, and not be self-willed, self-willed, voluntaristic, and use fantasy to replace reality. You should also see Xuande from the development and changes of the world, the virtue of the great way, the virtue of nature, and the virtue of all things.Xuande, abstract and grand, is omnipresent and omnipresent. Its virtue is cultivated and overwhelmed, and its virtue is so great.Is there an opportunity for gratitude thoughts here?But it is inconsistent with the proposition that heaven and earth are not benevolent.This is a paradox in Lao Tzu's thinking: Is there no benevolence?Xuande? Finally, you can respect the Tao and guide the virtues.The Dao is the original ontology of the world, and it is also the decisive factor of the law of truth, and it is also a state, a method, and a route.It respects nature and restrains man-made; respects all things and restrains itself; respects the weak and restrains the strong and flaunts its strength.In short, it is the beginning of the mother of heaven and earth. There is a holistic view here.The reason is that every specific thing has its own essence, its own principle, and its own origin at the same time. So what is the ultimate essence, principle, and origin of all things?That's the way.What role did Tao play?It gave birth to all things and produced all things. This is how the world is, there are principles, origins, beginnings, and eternal noumenon: Dao; there are essential factors for development, growth, maturity, shaping, existence and development: virtue; there are manifestations of existence, shape and sound, reality The nature of the real and not illusory: object or device; the power, tendency, energy of movement: potential.These four are inseparable. Recognizing and emphasizing the identity, integrity and integration of the world is an important train of thought in ancient Chinese philosophy.As the saying goes: "If you are not a good looker, you are a good doctor." Such a proverb only exists in China, because the Chinese way of thinking believes that the way, morality, things, and powers of treating the country and treating chaos and treating people and diseases are interlinked.Ancient Chinese also liked to study calligraphy by observing bamboo, martial arts by observing animals, and philosophy, aesthetics, ethics, art of war and even writing practices by observing nature.The greatest model text exemplified in , is none other than nature. The inferences of investigating things, extending knowledge, rectifying heart, sincerity, self-cultivation, regulating family, governing the country, and leveling the world, which do not conform to the deductive rules of formal logic, are only found in China.Foreigners are more inclined to emphasize the difference, and tend to choose to be clear about the uniqueness of someone or something. In fact, things have both their commonality and their own uniqueness.Neither of them is dispensable. Here, Laozi once again discussed the great virtues of being born without being, doing without relying on, and growing without killing, and once again distanced himself from the theory of seeking the Lord and the theory of lord.In fact, nature is like this.Taking a hen hatching an egg as an example, it is a far-fetched analogy. The proportion and composition of the embryo and the whole egg are the Tao, the egg white and the yolk are the virtues, the hen’s body temperature and patience are the potential, and the body of the chick is the substance and the body. device.For the chicks, the hen has always been born without being born, used without being relied upon, and grown without being slaughtered.The mother hen is more kind to the chicks than mountains, but once the chicks grow up, they will say goodbye to the hen.Why is it so difficult for human beings to have the profound virtue that an old hen possesses? This is precisely due to man's self-righteousness - self-righteousness - self-aggrandizement.The status of man as the spirit of all things gives rise to subjectivity, purpose, planning, sense of superiority and self-sufficiency, desire for greed, desire for power, desire for material, desire for possession, desire for collection, and desire for destruction. Not everything is necessarily positive and truly valuable and beneficial.Why don't people think more about nature, think about "what the sky says", think about how the great rivers and oceans operate and "act".Man, you should learn from nature and be consistent with nature!