Chapter 18 1. Transform life
Zhuangzi is the representative of Taoism, and together with Laozi, they are called "Laozhuang".He was born at the end of the Warring States period, about the same time as Mencius of Confucianism, but the two sides had no contact.Sima Qian's "Historical Records Biography of Laozi and Han Fei" has a brief introduction to him: Zhuangzi, a Mongolian, named Zhou.Zhou Chang was an official of Mengqi Garden, at the same time as King Hui of Liang and King Xuan of Qi.His learning is omnipotent, but its essence is attributed to Lao Tzu's words.Therefore, he wrote more than 100,000 words, most of which are fables.He wrote "The Fisherman", "The Robber Zhi", and "The Box", in order to slander the disciples of Confucius and to understand the art of Laozi.The genus of Weileixu and Kangsangzi are all empty words and no facts.However, goodness belongs to the Lici of Shu, which refers to things and things, and uses plagiarism to strip Confucianism and Mohism, although it cannot be explained away by the current world.He said that Guangyang is self-indulgent to suit himself, so he cannot be used by princes and adults.
King Wei of Chu heard Zhuang Zhouxian, and sent thick coins to welcome him, so he thought he was a prime minister.Zhuang Zhou laughed and said to the envoy of Chu, "A thousand pieces of gold are important for profit; a minister of honor is for a high position. Don't you see the sacrificial oxen for the suburban sacrifice? You have been feeding for several years, and your clothes are embroidered so that you can enter the temple. It's time." Although I want to be an orphan, how can I get it? My son is eager to go, and I will not be polluted. I would rather enjoy myself in the game of filth, and not be imprisoned by a country.
From this account, we can see some characteristics of Zhuangzi: 1. He is very knowledgeable, "his knowledge is omnipotent". At that time, he read any kind of knowledge, any book, and he was very knowledgeable.2. He wrote books and set up theory, specifically criticizing Confucius, criticizing Confucianism, and carrying forward Laozi's theory.3. He didn't want to be an official, King Wei of Chu paid a lot of money to "promise to be a prime minister", but he refused, preferring "not to be an official for life, so as to make my ambition fast".However, judging from the "Historical Records", Sima Qian's understanding of Zhuangzi is very limited.Why do I say that?Because the most admirable thing in the book is that he said that the highest wisdom of the ancients lies in understanding that "there is no beginning", and that everything has never existed.This sentence surprised Western philosophers.
The ancients knew something.Evil?Some people think that there is nothing before the beginning, it is the end, it is the end, and it cannot be added. ("Zhuangzi Equality of Things")
The ancients, what they knew came to a head.What kind of apex did you reach?Some people think that there was no existence of all things. This is the culmination, the end, and there can be no more points.
What is "something from the beginning"?One of the most fundamental doubts in the history of Western philosophy is that when facing everything, one should ask: "Why is there something rather than nothing?" (Why is there something rather than nothing?) Why do you ask this?Because the first-class philosophers in the West have discovered that everything is full of changes, and its essence is nothingness. If the essence is nothingness, why can it exist now? Isn’t this surprising?So I ask, why is there and not nothing?Why is there and not not?In contrast, Zhuangzi understood this point as early as more than two thousand years ago, "things existed before the beginning", and everything did not exist.We say today, alas, there are so many things, how can it be said that they never existed?But don't forget that everything is always changing. What exists today may not exist in the past, and it may not exist in the future.The existence of us today is only a temporary and transitional stage. If we look at it from the perspective of life and death, everyone really does not exist.Therefore, Zhuangzi said that the highest wisdom of the ancients is to understand the process of change in the past, present, and future, and to realize that everything has never existed.
In this way, a question arises: Is Zhuangzi nihilistic?Since "there is no beginning", then what are we doing alive?Isn't it fake?Nihilism is a common problem faced by Confucius, Mencius, Lao, and Zhuang.Because during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods in China, various traditional values collapsed one after another. For hundreds of years, the vassal states fought successively, and the people lived a very hard life.People living in this chaotic world can easily fall into nihilism.What are the characteristics of nihilism?Anyway, everyone will die in the end, there is nothing to worry about.Zhuangzi mentioned in the book that many people committed suicide at that time. Suicide represented nihilism, and being alive was almost the same as being dead.At this time, Confucianism represented by Confucius and Mencius came out, and Confucianism proposed to resolve nihilism from the perspective of values.How to resolve it?benevolence and righteousness.Although rituals and music have collapsed and social norms have become invalid, we still need "benevolence and righteousness", we need to start from sincerity, and generate the power to do good from our hearts.
But Taoists questioned that your method is useless, because the so-called "benevolence, righteousness, ritual and music" are inevitably biased, relative, and formal requirements, and the result is often a distortion of human nature.Zhuangzi said: "As long as there are people who advocate benevolence and righteousness, there will be people who cannibalize people in future generations." What does that mean?If you advocate benevolence and righteousness in front of you, and some people use benevolence and righteousness to flaunt it behind you, then there is hypocrisy and false righteousness. As long as hypocrisy appears, in the end, some people will deceive others, sell others, kill others, or eat others.What is the Taoist prescription to dissolve nihilism? "road".People live in the world, there is birth, old age, sickness and death, and the natural world has alternate prosperity and decline, all of which will eventually disappear.Because everything that changes lacks a stable foundation, as long as there is a beginning, there will be an end.There is only one thing that is unchanging, without beginning and end, without form and image, and everywhere, and that is "Tao". "Tao" is the foundation of all things and is a whole.We live in the world, although we only have a short life, and although we are restricted everywhere, as long as we understand and master the "Tao", everything will be fine.So Zhuangzi reminds us that there is only one way to break nihilism, which is to try to experience what is called "Tao" and to try to experience what is "ultimately real".How to do it?Zhuangzi has a set of self-cultivation methods.The premise of this method is a deep and accurate understanding of what "human life" is all about.In short, Zhuangzi starts from the phenomenon of human life, sees through the noumenon of human life, and then puts forward a series of practice guidelines, and finally reaches the realm of enlightenment.
So, what is the content of the phenomenon of human life?Man has a body and a mind.The body has senses, which trigger emotions and desires, causing all kinds of difficulties.Zhuangzi's observation is: "Once it is formed, it will not perish until it is exhausted. It will be entangled with things, and its motion will be like a gallop, and there will be no way to stop. Isn't it also sad?" ("Zhuangzi Equality of Things" ) means: people are born with a body, and they are obsessed with the existence of the body until the end of their lives.It competes with foreign objects and rubs against each other, chasing and running without stopping, isn't it very sad?Such a person "sleeps and souls, and his senses are open, connected with each other, and fight with his heart every day."The mind is disturbed when sleeping, the body is disturbed after waking up, entangled with external things, and intrigues every day.Obviously, such a dilemma can be deduced from the biased operation of the mind.The human mind has the functions of cognition, judgment, and choice, but it is easy to fall into the level of "differentiation".Chuang Tzu's suggestion is: "Drop the limbs, get rid of the intelligence, leave the form to know, the same as Datong." Get rid of the limbs, get rid of the intelligence, leave the body, dissolve the knowledge, and assimilate to the realm where everything is connected.To put it simply, it is to achieve "the body is like a haggard wood, the heart is like dead ashes", the body is like withered wood, and the mind is like ashes that have cooled after burning.What does that mean?There is no desire and attachment, no interference and influence from external objects, and peace and freedom of mind.To reach this state, one must go through practice, step by step to give up, reject, and surpass all kinds of desires in the world, to break through the limitations of life one by one, and finally transform life into "the heaven and the earth are born with me, and all things are born with me." as one".At this time, people can roam freely between the heaven and the earth, unite with the "Tao", and live forever.
The version we are reading now has nearly 70,000 characters in the original text, a total of 33 chapters, which were deleted by Guo Xiang in the Jin Dynasty.These thirty-three chapters are divided into seven inner chapters, fifteen outer chapters, and eleven miscellaneous chapters.It is generally believed that the inner chapters are the essence of Zhuangzi's thoughts, such as "Xiaoyaoyou", "Qiwulun", "Health Master", "Human World", "The Great Master" and so on.The first article "Xiaoyaoyou" tells a story of "Kun turns into Peng" at the beginning.
There is a fish in Dark North, and its name is Kun.The Kun is so big, I don't know how many thousands of miles away it is.It turns into a bird, its name is Peng.Peng's back, I don't know how many thousands of miles away it is.Flying in anger, its wings are like clouds hanging from the sky.It is a bird, and the sea will migrate to Nanming.Nanmingzhe, Tianchi also. "Zhuangzi·Xiaoyaoyou" There is a fish in the North Sea named Kun.Kun's body is huge, I don't know how many thousands of miles it is.It changed into a bird named Peng.Peng's back is as wide as thousands of miles.When it soars high, its wings spread like clouds in the sky.This giant bird will migrate to the South China Sea when the sea wind blows.The South China Sea is a large natural pool.
Zhuangzi first said that the fish's name was "Kun", and after it transformed into a bird, it was called "Peng".Why take a name in the first place? "Lao Tzu" said at the beginning: "Tao, can be Tao, very Tao; name, can be named, very name. Nameless, the beginning of all things; name, the mother of all things." "Name" is a name or concept, which is the essence of speech and thought basic unit.To recognize anything, human beings must first give it a name, and rationality can only function after the name is given.If this thing has no name, it means that it does not exist, not that it does not really exist, but that there is no way to describe it.Therefore, Zhuangzi first named this animal that "turned fish into a bird".Then, it is said that this fish is very big, "I don't know how many thousands of miles it is", this is of course a joke, how can there be such a long fish?How can there be such a big ocean?What's even more strange is that when the fish turned into a roc, the roc's back was thousands of miles in size, and its wings spread out like clouds in the sky.Such a description is completely unimaginable.But Zhuangzi wants you to be unimaginable, to let you break through the limitations of thinking and enter an illusory world.As the saying goes, "Using absurd, absurd, and unprovoked speeches, they are indulgent and unrestrained" ("Zhuangzi · Tianxia"), if you really ask: Is there really such a thing?It is inevitable to be disappointed.Then, he quoted the words from "Qi Xie", an ancient book that records strange events: "Xie" said: "Peng's migration in Nanming Ye, the water hits three thousand miles, and the one who swaggers up ninety thousand miles, goes to The breath of June is also." Wild horses are also, dust is also, and the breath of living things is blown together.The sky is blue, but is it righteous or evil?Is it so far away and so evil?It looks down, and if it is, then it is over. ("Zhuangzi · Happy Journey")
This book says: "When the roc was about to migrate to the South China Sea, the surface of the water stirred up waves of three thousand miles. It flapped its wings and circled upwards, flying to a height of ninety thousand miles. It was riding the strong wind that blew in June. And leave." The wild horse-like air in the air and the dust flying around are all caused by the moving creatures being blown by the strong wind.The sky is gray, is that the true color of the sky?Or is it because the result is so far away that there is no end in sight?Looking down from the sky, it's just like this situation!
Such a description is even more beyond imagination.The roc bird can fly up to a height of 90,000 miles, and it can travel freely without any effort at all.Sometimes we fly by plane, and the maximum international route is 30,000 feet.At ninety thousand miles high, it has already gone to outer space.Therefore, when I was studying, my teacher, Mr. Fang Dongmei, liked to say that Zhuangzi was an astronaut.Why?If you are not an astronaut, how can you go to such a high and far place to see the earth?He said that when we look up at the sky from the ground, its color is vast and vast, and we really feel it is beautiful, quiet and profound, but looking down from the sky, everything on the ground is equally beautiful.When an American astronaut looked back at the earth where humans live from the moon, he said: "The earth is so beautiful!" Among the planets he can see in outer space, only the earth is colorful, including blue, green, white, yellow... …Other planets, whether they are the nine planets in the solar system or other planets whose names are not known, are all very monotonous and ugly in color.But when we stand on the ground, why don't we feel that the earth is beautiful, but instead feel that there are too many people and all kinds of pollution are too serious?Because we are trapped in it, lacking distance.Distance can produce beauty, and so is life.Zhuangzi does not mean that we should leave this society, but that we should be able to take a step away psychologically, change our perspective, adjust our mentality, resolve our attachments, break through the limitations of time and space, and see the beauty of life.With such a sense of beauty in your heart, you will not complain when you encounter anything, and it is easy to appreciate it from different angles.
Zhuangzi emphasizes the transformation of life, and "turning a kun into a peng" is transformation.Human beings are born like fish, they need water and cannot leave water; but fish can turn into birds, which means that human life is very mysterious and special, and it can be transformed.From a fish to a bird, the bird only needs air, and the air restricts the bird less than the water restricts the fish; if the bird flies to a high altitude, after flying to 90,000 miles, it can not move at all, because the buoyancy is enough.Zhuangzi used this metaphor to explain that everyone has the possibility of upward transformation and promotion, that is, from body to heart, to spirit, ascending layer by layer, and in the end, the less things you need, the more free you will be.When we were young, we always needed various conditions to be happy. The older we are, the more we improve and transform, the fewer conditions we need, and in the end we don’t need any conditions at all, and we feel very happy living. The whole article of "Xiaoyaoyou" tells us how to improve and transform human body, mind and spirit, so as to enter an ideal state, which is called "no waiting", that is, there is no waiting.Because if you ask for something, you will be treated for it. If you don’t ask for anything, you can be "no waiting". If you really "have nothing to do", you can feel free everywhere.For example, if you must go to Jiuzhaigou and Huangshan to enjoy the beautiful scenery, then you may only have a few days to see the beautiful scenery in your life.On the contrary, if you look at everything with an aesthetic perspective, you will feel that everything is beautiful wherever you go.We often feel that many things are not beautiful because a standard is preset.Just like a beauty pageant, if you don't meet the so-called standards of height, weight, and measurements, you are not beautiful enough.This is of course prejudice, because true beauty is inside and not outside.
There is a continuation of this fable:
Xiao and Xuejiu laughed and said: "I will rise up and fly, grab the elm and stop, but the time will not come and I will just control the ground. How about going south for 90,000 miles?" '("Zhuangzi · Happy Journey")
Zen and the little bird laughed at the roc and said: "We fly up as soon as we jump up, and stop when we touch elm and square trees. Sometimes we can't fly high and just fall to the ground. Why do we need to rise to a height of 90,000 li? How about flying south?"
Guo Xiang of the Jin Dynasty commented on this passage: "Although the size of the roc and the sparrow are different, each is suitable for its own nature.It means: the Dapeng bird has the carefreeness of the Dapeng bird, and the little sparrow also has the carefreeness of the little sparrow.This is obviously not Zhuangzi's idea, because if the rocs are as happy as they are, why does Zhuangzi tell the story of "Kun turns into a Peng"?Zhuangzi believes that human life is originally limited by various conditions, but it must be slowly transformed and broken through, and finally become a roc bird, which can fly freely without any effort.The word "big" here is the key, which means to open your heart and accommodate everything.Rather than saying that I am a little sparrow, I am content with the status of a little sparrow, forgetting that there is still the possibility of upward transformation of body, mind, and spirit.This is tantamount to missing the most important opportunity in life.Because the purpose of human life is to elevate and transform life as much as possible, break free from all kinds of nets and shackles in the world, and finally realize the "Tao" to achieve freedom.Not many people understand this truth, and even fewer can practice it.
I remember when I graduated from middle school, the teacher inscribed a sentence: "It's a drop in the ocean." It's as small as a grain of rice in the ocean.Not only is our human life like this, I am afraid that the world we see is as small as a grain of rice.That's why you have to open your mind and realize how great the whole existence is.Zhuangzi gave an example: When the autumn water comes, all rivers fill the river.The Jingliu is so big that between the two Zhuzhu cliffs, it is impossible to distinguish between cattle and horses.So Yan Hebo was very pleased with himself, and made all the beauty of the world his own. ("Zhuangzi·Autumn Water")
Autumn rain comes with the seasons, and thousands of streams flow into the Yellow River together, and the water flow on the river suddenly widens, making it difficult to distinguish between the two banks and the sandbars from a distance.So He Bo, the god of the Yellow River, was triumphant, thinking that all the good things in the world belong to him.
People in ancient times stood by the river and looked at the past, and they knew at a glance whether it was a cow or a horse on the other side, because the difference between cows and horses was very different in size; and the eyes of the ancients were all 2.0, unlike our glasses that are still 0.2.But in autumn, when the two sides of the river look at each other, it is difficult to tell whether it is a cow or a horse, because the river is soaring, the river surface has widened, and the distance is too far away.At this time, the river god of the Yellow River was very proud, thinking that I, He Bo, was the greatest and most outstanding in the world.But when he followed the current to the east and arrived at the North Sea, he looked east, but he could not see the end of the water. At this time, he changed his complacent expression and looked at the ocean and sighed to the God of the North Sea, as the saying goes: " After hearing a lot of truths, I thought that no one could compare with me.” That’s me.Why?Because he went to the sea and found out that a river is nothing at all, it is too small.So, he approached Sea God and said that Sea God is still great, my river is simply not enough to see.As for the Sea God, he told him the following sentence: The four seas are between the heaven and the earth, not like the sky is in the big lake.Considering that China is in the sea, isn't it like rice in Taicang?
The four seas exist between heaven and earth, aren't they like ant holes in a great lake?Doesn’t China exist within the four seas like grains of rice exist in a big barn?
This passage is astonishing.China is so big and has such a large population, but in Zhuangzi's works, China is just a grain of rice in the warehouse.Think about it, everyone, to see China as a grain of rice, how far do you need to look at it?From outer space, of course.Looking at the earth from outer space, the whole earth is just a small ping pong ball.If a person can look at the universe and life with such a broad perspective, his views on many things will naturally be different.Zhang Zai, a scholar of the Song Dynasty, said: "If you have a big heart, you can understand the things in the world." As long as a person has a big heart, he can observe all things in the world intimately, and find that all things are very close to me, and even closely related, forming a whole.
This broad and incomparable insight has influenced many Western scholars.The American writer Thoreau was deeply inspired.This top student who graduated from the Department of Philosophy of Harvard University, in order to experience whether a person can live without relying on anything, went to Walden Lake to live alone for two years and two months, and wrote a book called (Book Zhuangzi was mentioned several times in the book, and many of his insights are enviable.
Zhuangzi also told a story, comparing two countries to two horns on the head of a snail. In order to compete for a small area as small as the snail horn, they fought for a long time and killed many people; You are just a small dot on the horn of a snail, so why are there endless wars between countries?When the focus turns to people, there are two things that people can't let go of: one is space, the bigger the place in my house, the better, and the bigger the territory I can occupy, the better; the second is time, people often hope to live as long as possible.But Zhuangzi thinks that no matter how long you live, you can't compare with a tortoise. Even a tree can live for hundreds of years. How can people compare?He often laughed at Peng Zu, and lived to be eight hundred years old, so what, isn't it over?So time and space, including gain and loss of fame and fortune in this world, don't care too much, and in the end, don't even care too much about life and death.What we have to care about is the opportunity for our wisdom to be awakened within a limited time and space.If you can raise your vision to such a high level, and then look at all the things that happen to you, all the pain and troubles will probably be easily resolved, and you will not be confined to your own little world.
When I read "Zhuangzi·Autumn Water", I often get a lot of inspiration.Zhuangzi's observation of natural phenomena is really very vivid.Many of the fables he wrote are based on local materials from nature, but they contain profound life wisdom, which makes us think it is worth thinking about after listening to them.But if you really want to understand the deep meaning of Mencius' fables, you still need to take time to experience and verify them in your life, do it slowly in practice, and reach a certain stage before you can suddenly see the light.
Many people have heard the idiom "The mantis catches the cicada, and the oriole is behind". In order to catch the cicada, the mantis forgets that he has become the prey of the oriole, which reminds people not to forget the danger for the benefit.This story comes from, but there is a word in the original text that is different. Zhuangzi used "The mantis catches the cicada, and the exotic bird follows", instead of "the yellow bird" it is "the exotic bird". What's the matter?First look at the original text: Zhuang Zhou was traveling in Fan of Diaoling, and saw a strange magpie coming from the south. Its wings were seven feet wide, and its eyes were as big as an inch.Zhuang Zhou said: "What kind of bird is this? Its wings never die, and its eyes are too big to see?"Seeing a cicada, you will get the beautiful shade and forget your body; the mantis grasps the shadow and spreads it, but forgets its shape when you see it; the magpie benefits it, sees the benefit and forgets its truth.Zhuang Zhou said in fear: "Hey! Things and solids accumulate together, and the two types also summon each other." Donating the ammunition and going back, the people of Yu chased it. "Zhuangzi Mountain Tree" Zhuangzi was visiting the chestnut garden in Diaoling, and saw a strange bird flying from the south, with wings spread seven feet and eyes one inch in diameter. It brushed Zhuangzi's forehead and stopped in the chestnut forest.Zhuangzi said, "What kind of bird is this? It has big wings but can't fly far, and big eyes but can't see clearly." So he picked up his clothes and walked over quickly, holding a slingshot and waiting by the side.At this time, I saw a cicada, just found a comfortable shade, and forgot that it still had a body; The sparrow stared at the mantis and was about to strike, but when it saw the benefit, it forgot that it was a big bird.Zhuangzi was vigilant and said: "Ah! All things in the universe are intertwined in this way, and one provokes the other because of interests." He threw down the slingshot and turned to leave. At this time, the gardeners of Lilin chased after him and questioned him.
Zhuangzi was probably in the worst embarrassment this time in his life. He was misunderstood as a thief and thought he was going to steal chestnuts.In fact, he discovered a relationship of interest in the biological food chain formed by Zen, praying mantises, and sparrows. The food needed by each creature is linked together, so that the entire biological world can maintain ecological balance, but If people are also involved in it, people will also become a part of it.So when Zhuangzi was about to use a slingshot to attack a different bird, he suddenly realized the mystery: Will he also become someone else's prey?In other words, will he also forget his own danger and suffer blame and injustice?So he dropped the slingshot and left immediately.But it was still a step too late, the garden guards from Lilin chased after him and questioned him, so frightened that Zhuangzi threw away his slingshot.
The story is of course a fable.Nine out of ten books are fables, using various stories to describe people's situations and make people realize.However, Zhuangzi also wrote himself into the story this time, which shows that this is probably what happened in the real world.Zhuangzi's life is very poor. He weaves straw sandals for a living every day and sells them on the street the next day.The neighbors laughed at him because he was hungry and thin, and he was dressed in rags, so sometimes he would go for a walk in the countryside to hunt some prey such as birds and rabbits, so as to supplement nutrition for the whole family.In the process of hunting, he discovered a truth, if you want something and others also want it, there may be competition; if you get it, there may be more powerful people behind you who are ready to deal with you and gain benefits from you ; Therefore, if something provokes the same thing, there is a greater threat behind it.At this time, you should stop and think about whether the price you paid for this benefit is too high, so that the gain outweighs the loss.
Concerning the issue of "benefits", Confucianism emphasizes "seeing benefits and thinking of righteousness".Taoism is not very interested in morality. It believes that since morality is determined by human beings, what is determined by human beings is relative. If you insist on it, sometimes you will get stuck in attachment.But even if you don't talk about morality and forget your own safety when you see the benefits, the price you pay is very heavy. It is recorded in "Zhuangzi Lie Yukou" that someone wanted to ask Zhuangzi to be an official. Zhuangzi replied: "Have you ever seen a cow used for sacrifice? It is covered with Wencai embroidery, and it eats grass and soybeans. When he is led to When the Taimiao is waiting to be slaughtered, even if you want to be a lonely calf, can you do it?" The answer is of course: it is too late to regret.Cows cannot decide their own destiny, but humans can at least choose whether to fight for certain interests.In this story, Zhuangzi uses cicadas, praying mantises, and sparrows to see benefits and forget their own safety in succession. It shows that benefits and dangers in the world always go hand in hand. , the price paid may also be too high.
Western Christianity also emphasizes similar concepts. Jesus said: "If you gain the whole world but lose your own soul, what is the meaning to you?" Certain things, the question is, are you paying too much to get them?Like many politicians we have seen, in order to achieve political achievements, they sacrificed their personal family, career, other interests, and even personal health, but when you really get it, will you get what you want?uncertain.People living in this world often ask, can my body and life be preserved first?If it cannot be preserved, if the damage is too great, even if you get various external benefits, can you enjoy them?Or how long can you enjoy it?If you want to get benefits, you have to consider the price you pay. If the price is too high, you have to rethink whether all this is worth it.
In this story, Zhuangzi wrote that after he ran home, he was unhappy for three days.His students asked, why are you unhappy, teacher?Zhuangzi said, I pay attention to the shape of external objects and forget my own situation; I see too much muddy water and become confused by clear water; I play in the chestnut forest and forget who I am, and let the gardeners think I am a shameful thief. That's why I'm not happy.Zhuangzi does not object to people pursuing something, but he hopes that when you start doing something, you should think about the possible consequences in the future. Otherwise, you will find yourself in danger in the food chain after halfway through doing something, and it may be too late.
Zhuangzi believes that the transformation of life requires not only breaking through the limitations of time and space, but also the limitations of various values in the world, and the last step is to break through the limitations of life and death.He said: "To be evil, I know that death is not a weak person who doesn't know where to go." ("Zhuangzi·Qiwulun") How do I know that fear of death is not like a child who was wandering outside and didn't know how to return home?He actually described being alive as "weak mourning". He ran away from home when he was young, and he was called returning home when he died.This attitude left the deepest impression on the world when he faced the death of his wife.
Zhuangzi was poor all his life, and his wife and children suffered along with him.Finally, the deadline has come, and his wife died.When his good friend Huizi came to pay his respects, Zhuangzi was squatting on the ground, knocking on a basin and singing.Huizi was very surprised. He said, "You live with your wife. She raised the children. Now that you are old and dead, it's fine if you don't cry. Isn't it too much to knock on the basin and sing?" In fact, I am asking this question on behalf of everyone.How did Zhuangzi respond?He said"
otherwise.It's the beginning of death, how can I be indifferent!If you look at its beginning, there is no life, it is not lifeless but it is formless, it is not formless but it is airless.Mixed between mangosteens, change gives qi, qi changes and forms, form changes and gives life, and now changes and dies. This is the four seasons of spring, autumn, winter and summer.People still sleep in a huge room, but I cry and cry, thinking that it doesn't make sense, so I stop. ("Zhuangzi·Best Bliss")
No, how could I not be sad when she just died?But after thinking about it, I realized that she was originally lifeless; not only lifeless, but also bodyless; not only bodyless, but also lifeless.Then in a trance state, Qi is transformed, Qi changes again to form a form, the form changes again to appear life, and now it changes again to return to death.Just like the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter, this person has been sleeping peacefully in the big house of heaven and earth, and I am still crying beside him.I thought this was not understanding the truth of life, so stop crying!
From this passage, we can see the process of Zhuangzi's enlightenment.He has a wife and children.When his wife got old and passed away, of course he would be sad, it was a natural emotion.But when sad, Zhuangzi would think, is there any reason for me to be sad?He thought about decades ago, before his wife was born, where was she?Where you were before you were born, you may be there after you die.This idea is very reasonable.In the Middle Ages in the West, an emperor chose whether to allow the entire Roman Empire to believe in Christianity, so he held an imperial meeting for ministers to discuss, and one of the ministers told a parable.He said that life is like winter, when a bird flies from the dark world outside the window into our lighted hall, stays for a while, and then flies out from another window, returning to its original darkness.What does that mean?If life is just a bright and visible stage now, then you can choose what religion you believe in, because the past is dark, and the future will be dark. You only see the bright part of the present, so how can you judge what religion is? Right?
Zhuangzi compared human life to the change of "qi". He said: "The birth of a person is the aggregation of qi; when qi gathers, life comes, and when qi disperses, death; if death and life are of the same kind, why should I worry about it! So everything is one." Everything in the universe is a change of qi. Mountains, rivers, land, birds, beasts, insects and fish, whether it is a tree or a person, can only be born when qi gathers; when qi disperses, it means that when the time comes, it will return to where you came from. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.Therefore, before a person was born, he did not have this life, this body, but a breath, and the breath became your form in a trance, your life, and then lived this life; now that you are dead, it is equivalent to returning to your body. In this breath, I have returned to my hometown and rested in peace between heaven and earth; since I have returned home, why should I be sad?It's a joy to be home.Therefore, one should dispel the fear of death, and then cultivate the ability of awareness in a limited life, that is to say, understand that the ultimate source of qi is "Tao".This is Zhuangzi's view on life and death.
Zhuangzi told many interesting stories to help others understand what death is.He used Lizzie as an example.Li Ji's father was an official in the frontier. When the King of Jin was going to marry her, she cried until her clothes were wet with tears. When she entered the palace, she slept in a big bed and had a big meal with King Jin, and was very comfortable. That's why I regret that I shouldn't have cried in the first place.What does that mean?When many people encounter death, they cry very sadly, thinking that death is miserable, but maybe after they die, they realize that death is not as miserable as you imagined, so why did they cry in the first place?How do you know that the dead don't regret their efforts to survive?This is of course a very naughty metaphor.People are afraid of the unknown.But think about all the troubles in this world, if you really have to leave, you should be more calm.
"Zhuangzi Zhibei Tour" said: "" Since it is "returning to the original", Zhuangzi said, my wife is dead now, she has gone home and slept between heaven and earth, I should be happy for her That's right, so I want to drum and sing to congratulate her.This is really a very open-minded attitude towards life.From the perspective of ordinary human feelings, when a person dies, his relatives are sad, but Zhuangzi has his wisdom and knows that death is also a kind of liberation. "Respecting death as home" is related to Zhuangzi's saying.
You see, he regarded his own death so gracefully, which is probably very rare in ancient and modern China and abroad.Taoism believes that the body is just a stinky skin, old, decayed, withered, and naturally ashes return to ashes, and dust returns to dust.The point of life is not how long you live, nor what career you have achieved, but whether you have realized the wisdom of life and returned to the "Tao" when you were alive.After realizing the "Tao", even life and death can be dealt with indifferently, because it is in line with the natural way.In the face of his wife's death, Zhuangzi "drums and sings", which means that he has awakened; when he is about to die, his free and easy performance is the best inspiration for us.
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