Chapter 10 chapter eight

The highest goodness is like water, water is good for all things without fighting, and it can deal with the evils of everyone, so it is more than Tao.Live in a good place, have a good heart, be kind and benevolent, speak good faith, be good at governance, do good things and do good things at the right time.Husband only does not fight, so there is no preference. water art of life In order to extend the use of Taoism's seemingly selfish but selfless magic, and then describe how to conform to the role of "the body behind the body, and the body to survive", it leads to a life philosophy of the beauty of water.

At the beginning of this section, the outline of "the best kindness is like water" is put forward first.If a person wants to imitate the selfless and benevolent deeds of the natural way, he must be as rigid, pure, tolerant, and broad-minded as water. Water has the virtue of nourishing the life of all things.It can make all things benefit from it, and it does not compete with all things for profit.For example, the ancients said: "Go to the river to see off the guests, and go out to the mountains to run the people's fields." As long as you can do something that is altruistic, you will never refuse to do it.However, it will never occupy a high position, let alone hold an important position.As the saying goes: "Man climbs to a high place, but water flows to a low place." In this ever-uneven material world, it would rather consider itself a lowly place, hide its dirt and tolerate everything.That's why Lao Tzu described it as "to deal with what everyone hates, so it's more like Taoism" in order to become a virtue of generosity and tolerance.Therefore, the ancients also took the ocean formed by water and the mountain formed by soil, and wrote a couplet as an indicator of life cultivation: "Water can only form the sea below, and the mountain is not as high as the sky."

But in the classical Chinese of this section of "Laozi", we should pay attention to the words "almost in line with Tao", which does not mean that the virtue of Ruoshui is in line with Tao.He just used the indisputable goodness of water and things to explain that it is almost close to Taoism.The Buddha said that "the sea does not allow dead bodies", which means that the water is extremely clean. From the surface, although it can hide dirt and dirt, its essence is that the water is clean and the sand is clear, crystal clear, and it is pure and rigid after all. contamination by foreign objects.Confucius looked at the water, but he used its progress of "the dead are like a man", to explain that although it is constantly passing, it has an eternal spirit of "not giving up day and night".If we look at the praises of water from the sages of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, we can just see Confucianism's diligence and benefit of life, Taoism's modesty of health preservation, and Buddhism's three ancient mirrors of holiness and lifelessness. , where should we go; or at a certain time, a certain position how to apply a precious mirror to self-reflection, self-knowledge, and self-control.

However, in this chapter of "Laozi", when talking about the water way of cultivating the concept of water, in addition to specifically pointing out that it has no contention with things and humbles oneself, it also emphasizes again and again that if a person's behavior can be like water, he is good at managing himself and Willing to live in the earth, "living in a good place"; cultivating the state of mind to be like water, good at accommodating the deep abyss and silence of hundreds of rivers, "the heart is good at the abyss"; The principles are like the tide and there is faith, "Speak good and trustworthy"; conduct yourself in the world to be balanced and balanced like water, "good governance"; take responsibility and work in harmony like water, "do things with kindness and ability"; seize opportunities, act in a timely manner, and achieve Like water, it turbulently follows the turbulent trend, and calmly and calmly follows the static situation, "moving at a good time"; combined with the most basic principle, no competition with things, no competition with the world, that is, there will be no trouble. Being safe and smooth, like the way of heaven and earth, seems to be selfish and selfless.

Laozi talked about this series of principles of life philosophy. If they are concentrated on one person, they will be complete and perfect. It is really too difficult.Except for Yao and Shun, who were advertised in history, it is almost rare to have a perfect person.However, if there is one virtue, it can set an example and last forever.It is too late for us to enumerate the ancient and modern figures in history, but from the casual memories we are familiar with, by the way, from Zhou Dawang’s residence to King Zhou Wen’s Baili Xing; Living in oneself; Wu Taibo's giving up the country to avoid the land; Zhang Zifang's self-seeking to be named "Liu" and so on, all follow the principle of "living in a good place".In addition, there are also many famous ministers of the sages and kings, who are generous and generous, and set an example of "good heart and deep heart".Zhuge Liang went out of the mountain three times, and finally "dedicated himself to death, and died", which can be said to be a model of "being kind and benevolent, and speaking kindly and faithfully".The governance of Wenjing in the Han Dynasty and the governance of Zhenguan in the Tang Dynasty, the monarchs and ministers generally have the spirit of "good governance, good things and abilities, and good times".It's just that there are so many deeds in human history that I can't finish talking about them for a while, so let's stop here.In addition, in the history of the Eastern Han Dynasty, there is a famous story of water, that is, the dialogue between Shangshu Pushe Zheng Chong and Emperor Ai of the Han Dynasty asking "the family is like a market".Zheng Chong replied confidently at that time: "The door of a minister is like a market, and the heart of a minister is like water." Therefore, it has become a famous saying through the ages, and is often quoted by ministers who are straightforward and take matters into their own hands.That's the punch line for water.But it is a pity that Zheng Chong's "mind of a minister is like water", and he will inevitably die in the hands of the faint emperor Aidi, and the water should be crying for him!