Chapter 10 Tao and fate

Tao and fate Where did all things come from, so there is God.Life and death are impermanent, so there is a soul.Everything changes and is not real, so there is noumenon behind the appearance.These three viewpoints have invaded a wide range of thought circles, and they have had a lot of influence.But God!soul!Ontology!It is still hard to prove.So some people asked to get rid of these three views, but they fell into materialism nakedly.To oppose materialism, here comes idealism again.The so-called idealism is still similar to God's soul and body. Chinese thought does not focus on advocating God, soul and noumenon, but it does not fall into the dispute between materialism and idealism.Originally, idealism and materialism are two opposing viewpoints.Chinese thought neither advocates materialism, nor does it naturally advocate idealism.What is the view of the Chinese intellectual circle on all things in the universe?It seems that Chinese people's thinking has always not focused on exploring the nature of the universe and its origin, but only on all the currently visible phenomena in the universe.Think that everything in the universe is just one thing, from beginning to end, but in fact it is just one thing without beginning and end.What kind of thing is this?Chinese intellectual circles call it dynamic.Everything in the universe, nothing in the universe, is just a movement.This movement is also called Yi.Yi is change and movement.Everything in the universe, from the beginning to the end, is just a change, just a change, as far as the theory of visible phenomena is concerned.This change is promising.But this purpose is done without doing anything, so it does not insist on the theory of God's creation.And this change seems to be doing nothing.Therefore, Chinese people don't think about the purpose of all things in the universe, their ultimate yearning, and ultimate destination.It is only said that the creation of the universe is a movement, and the destination is only a movement, and this movement is called easy.This kind of movement and change is just a phenomenon.The Chinese no longer pay attention to whether there is another entity behind the phenomenon.In this way, it can be said that the phenomenon is the noumenon.This change is also called good fortune in Chinese.The word good luck can also be analyzed.We can also say that creation is the creation of existence out of nothing, and transformation is the transformation of self-existence into nothingness.Simultaneous creation means simultaneous transformation, and simultaneous transformation means simultaneous creation.There is no body behind phenomena, and there is no soul behind life.Therefore, in Chinese thinking, they do not firmly reject the theory of God's soul and body, but only think that these three are inherent in all phenomena.

Why not say that Chinese thought is materialistic?Because in Chinese thinking, the individual views of all things have been melted away and wiped out, leaving only one movement.With this movement, the animate world and the inanimate world merged into one.Whether you have life or no life, it's just a movement, and you can't jump out of the range of movement.In this way, there is no so-called life and death, so life and death are like day and night, because day and night are also in the process of movement.In this way, there is no difference between things, nature and man, because things, nature and man have been fully integrated into the concept of this movement.This movement can also be called the Tao, the Tao is omnipresent and ever-changing.Tao is matter and spirit, heaven is man, phenomenon is noumenon, and the concepts of God, soul and noumenon are all dissipated in the concept of Tao, and there is no serious value for their separate existence.

There is no way to do this way, so don't care about its beginning.This way is doing nothing, so it doesn't matter its end.There is no beginning, no end, forever and ever, up and down the earth, just a movement, this movement is non-stop, so it is the most healthy and sincere at the same time.May I ask if it is not the most healthy, not the most sincere, how can it last forever?This Dao is endless, unerring, healthy, and sincere. It can also be said to be the inner nature of this Dao, and it can also be said to be its outward virtue.In this way, a Dao body endows him with virtue. In fact, virtue is not external, but it is just described in terms of this Dao.It is still just a description and description of this phenomenon.

Close up to see, only this one move, only this one, but you might as well look at it separately.Viewed separately, there are different movements of all things in all generations and all forms, or different ways.The key point here is not the way that one thing has one thing, but that the saying stays in motion and becomes a thing. (Zhuangzi's language) That is to say, if you cut off the movement and look at it separately, it becomes a thing.Therefore, this individual way of all things in all generations and all forms is not a different way, but still this great way.Each thing has its own action, so each thing has its own virtue, but this virtue is not a separate virtue, it is still this one virtue.Therefore, it is said that Tao runs parallel without conflicting, and all things grow together without harming each other.It is also said that Dade Dunhua, Xiaodechuan flow. (both in "The Doctrine of the Mean")

Since you look at this Dao in isolation, there should be a distinction between each individual and each individual, and each has its own order. That's why the Chinese often use the word "reason" together.For example, on a large road, there are car lanes, tram lanes, and sidewalks.Those ways, each according to its own way, without interfering with each other, are the principles.Where there is reason, there is life.There are internal and external life.If it is a tram, it should follow the tram tracks. This is an internal order. It is an external order not to walk on the driveway or sidewalk.This inner order becomes that outer order, and that inner order becomes this outer order.Inner life is nature, because things have their own nature, and this nature is the most healthy and sincere, so they have to restrict each other.These restrictions are fate and reason, but when viewed together, they are still just one, without conflicting or hindering each other.For example, there is a lot of traffic on the main road, and everyone goes their own way. Therefore, the sea is wide and the fish leap, and the sky allows birds to fly.The kite flies and the fish leaps, which describes the total freedom of the lively nature.

This way is sometimes called life.The great virtue of heaven and earth is life.As far as nature is concerned, there is life, there is no life, and all life is also life.Life goes on and on, that is Tao.This life is sometimes called benevolence.Benevolence refers to his virtue, and life refers to his nature.But isn't there always conflict between heaven and earth, constant subjugation, constant death, and constant calamity?If you look at these individually, it is true that they are conflicts, subjugation, death, and disasters, but when you look at them as a whole, they are just a move, and they are just one thing.As mentioned above, from the concept of Tao, the difference between life and death has long been dissolved, so there is no such thing as conflict, subjugation, disaster, or death.These are just some restrictions that should be organized.It is also called righteousness.Therefore, righteousness and destiny are often discussed together, which means that there should be restraint from the outside.Therefore, righteousness still achieves benevolence, and fate still achieves sex.The movement of every thing is only in reason, righteousness and fate, and only in benevolence, life and Tao. It is natural to conflict and overcome death and disaster. From all kinds of conflicts, justice, benevolence and life can be seen. It is humanities.But humanism is still natural, and it cannot become humanistic in violation of nature.

Such Tao is natural and ever-changing.At the same time, of course, it is inevitable.Moreover, it is completely.Therefore, Chinese thought might as well be called Taoism.Cut off this Dao and look at it separately, then there are eras and all things.All these things are in these times, and from within themselves, each has its own nature.From the outside and around it, each has its own destiny.To look at life and death is the way he should deal with now.From the point of view of an individual thing, it can lose its life, and it can be unreasonable.From the perspective of the Tao as a whole, there will be nothing that does not lose its life and is not in line with the Tao.Only human beings, especially the most intelligent sages among human beings, understand this truth, so it is not complacent to say that a gentleman has no one.Self-sincerity and sincerity, self-clarity and sincerity, become one's own adult and become a thing, and praise the cultivation of heaven and earth.