Chapter 19 2. Practice method
After we get rid of external and tangible restrictions such as space, time, secular values, and life and death issues, the second step is to try to return to the inner.Because the pain and joy that a person encounters in his life are all caused by his ego, and it is also the ego that feels these pains and joys.In order to return to the inner, Zhuangzi proposed three steps: first, to find out what is "knowledge".Taoism believes that human desires not only come from instinct, but also from cognition.Where there is knowledge, there is desire. The "knowledge" of the world is used to distinguish various values, but this distinction often brings troubles.Second, return from "knowledge" to "heart". "Knowledge" means that I am opposed to the external world, and I want to understand it.How to know?It depends on the function of the heart.The third is to upgrade to the unity of nature and man, and then develop the freedom of the soul, and then further develop into an artistic and aesthetic life.
We must first understand whether "knowledge" is good or bad?Zhuangzi used a fable of "the death of chaos" to illustrate.
Shu is the emperor of the South Sea, Hu is the emperor of the North Sea, and Hun Chao is the emperor of the Central Sea.When Shu and Hu meet each other in the land of Chaos, Chaos treats them very kindly.Shu and Hu planned to repay the virtue of Chaos, saying: "Everyone has seven orifices for seeing, hearing, feeding and breathing. There is nothing like this. Try to dig them out." "("Zhuangzi Emperor Ying")
The emperor of the South Sea is Shu, the emperor of the North Sea is Hu, and the emperor of the Central Sea is Hundun.Shu and Hu often met in the land of Hun Dun, and Hun Dun treated them very kindly.Shu and Hu wanted to repay Hun Chao's kindness, so they discussed and said: "Everyone has seven orifices for seeing, hearing, eating, and breathing, but he has nothing. Let's try to open them for him." So one day, After opening one orifice, Hun Dun died seven days later.
What does this mean?It shows that chaos was originally without distinction, a state of confusion and unity, harmonious and complete, without division.You have opened the seven apertures for him so that he can acquire knowledge. Once he acquires knowledge, he immediately loses the "Tao".Lao Tzu said: "For the sake of learning, you will grow more and more, but for the sake of Tao." "Tao" is the ultimate truth. It is not in books, nor in the world of human senses.To seek "Tao" must get rid of all kinds of relative knowledge and worldly desires.In order to pursue knowledge, it is very likely to lose the "Tao".Therefore, Zhuangzi emphasized that a person's research attitude is first of all "beyond the heaven and earth, the sage remains and does not matter."For example, is there a God outside the universe?It doesn't matter.Because you can't prove it, and you can't deny it, so don't talk about it.Secondly, "within the Liuhe, the sages don't talk about it", you can say it, but don't talk about it in detail.For example, what is astronomy?What is geography?This is a question within Liuhe. You can express your personal opinion, but you don't need to discuss it with others.The third is "The Spring and Autumn Period governs the world, the ambitions of the first kings, the sages discuss but do not argue."There were many sage kings in ancient China. You can discuss how they governed the common people, but don’t debate. Once you debate, trouble will come.These are all worthy of our reference.When you limit the scope of knowledge to an effective situation step by step, you can restrain yourself and don't want too much unnecessary knowledge.Otherwise, the more you know, the farther you are from the "Tao". "Tao" is originally a whole, since it is a whole, you should not distinguish it.And when you "know", it will definitely create a distinguishing effect.If there is a distinction, there will be troubles...
In addition, Chaos has no seven orifices such as ears, eyes, mouth and nose, so it cannot communicate with external objects and is not affected by changes in external objects.Zhuangzi uses this as a metaphor for the primitive condition of human beings.Some people say, this is impossible, who is not born with ears, eyes, mouth and nose, and who is afraid that these sense organs will not be effective?But in Zhuangzi's view, this is not a fantasy.He said: The ancients, in the midst of chaos, have been indifferent for a lifetime.When the time is right, Yin and Yang are peaceful, ghosts and gods are not disturbed, four seasons are festivals, all things are not harmed, all life is immortal, although people have knowledge, they have nothing to use, this is called the ultimate one.When it's time, don't do anything but be natural. ("Zhuangzi·Shen Xing")
People in ancient times lived in chaos and ignorance, and all people in the world were indifferent and inactive.At that time, yin and yang were harmonious and peaceful, ghosts and gods did not come to intrude, the four seasons were in harmony, everything was not harmed, and all living beings did not die young. Although people had intelligence, they had nowhere to use it.This is called the highest state of oneness.At that time, do nothing and everything is your own.
In other words, the ancients were not without ears, eyes, mouth and nose, but were "indifferent" in the whole, "although they have intelligence, but there is nowhere to use it", everyone lived simply, regardless of each other, as if in a state of unity.So, what's next? """"At this point, the human world has evolved from a state of unity to conforming to nature, and then to a stable world.Going further down, it is naturally "unstable".If you take this step, you will be in trouble, and you will not be able to turn back.
"" In other words, the age of Yao and Shun advocated by Confucianism, in Zhuangzi's view, was already the third depravity of human nature.If a person wants to get out of the predicament, he must gradually return to the original chaotic mind through proper practice and enlightenment.In an indiscriminate, harmonious and perfect state of mind, it is possible for people to comprehend the "Tao" and realize the great potential of human life.
Zhuangzi talked about human cultivation, the first step is to figure out "knowledge", and the second step is to find the "root of knowledge".The root of knowledge lies in the heart, so "cultivating the heart" is very important.Zhuangzi often reminds us that "the heart is as dead ashes", why does the "heart" become like dead ashes?Because the operation of the mind is indeed unpredictable.
Lao Dan said: "You are careful not to have a heart. The heart moves from the bottom to the top. The top and bottom are imprisoned and killed. Naoyue is soft and strong, clean and carved. Its heat scorches fire, and its cold freezes into ice. Its disease rises up and down again. It is beyond the four seas. Its residence is deep and quiet, and its movement is like the county and the sky. Those who are arrogant and unstoppable are only in the heart!" ("Zhuangzi? Zaiyou")
Lao Dan said: "You must be careful not to disturb people's hearts. People's hearts reject lowliness and strive for advancement. They are pinched between advancement and humbleness; the weak want to overcome the strong, and the edges and corners are injured in carving; when they are impulsive, they are hot like a scorching fire. , It is as cold as ice when retreating. The speed of change is so fast that you can travel across the world in an instant. When you are free, you are as quiet as an abyss;
Zhuangzi uses the mouth of Laozi (Laodan) to describe the complex situation of the heart.Mencius also talked about the human heart, but he only said through the mouth of Confucius, "There is no time to go in and out, and you don't know where it is going." There is no definite time for going out and coming back, and no one knows where it is going.In contrast, Zhuangzi's description of the human heart is more apt and vivid, and his observation is profound and penetrating.In "Zhuangzi Lie Yukou", Zhuangzi also used the mouth of Confucius to list five kinds of situations where people's hearts do not agree with what they think.He said that the human heart is more dangerous than mountains and rivers, and harder to understand than nature.Naturally, there are also the laws of spring, summer, autumn and winter, day and night, but people have a thick appearance and deep emotions.Therefore, there are people who are respectful on the outside but proud on the inside, some who look like elders but have bad intentions, some are cautious on the inside but are frivolous on the inside, some are strong on the outside but weak on the inside, and some are gentle on the outside but impatient inside. "Heat", the pursuit of morality is like a person looking for water when thirsty, and the abandonment of morality is like a person fleeing from scorching heat.Therefore, if an idealist changes his mind, he may become nihilism.
Since the human heart is so complex and changeable, the way of cultivation is to know yourself first, examine your own mind, and then prescribe the right medicine to return to your true self.Therefore, a special concept appeared: "heart fasting".As the name suggests, "heart fasting" refers to the fasting of the heart, which means that your heart should be like a vegetarian, and you should not think about meat.How is Xinzhai?Zhuangzi told a story.He said that there was a craftsman named Ziqing who was very good at carving wood. How realistic were his carvings? "Whoever sees it is as shocked as ghosts and gods." People who saw it were surprised and thought it was the work of ghosts and gods.The king was also startled when he saw it, and asked him: "How can you carve so similarly? Is there any secret?" The craftsman replied, "When I start to carve, I must fast first. After three days, I will not be able to do it." Thinking about "celebrating and rewarding Juelu" means not thinking about what rewards I will get, or whether others will give me an official job?After fasting for five days, I don’t dare to think “it’s not a reputation for ingenuity”, but I just think that others will praise me and say that I am skilled?After seven days, I forget that I have limbs and five sense organs.In this way, only focus on the technique, let the external concerns disappear, and then go deep into the forest, observe the nature of the trees, process them manually, and carve out works that people think are made by ghosts and gods.
What does that mean?It is to eliminate all the thoughts of fame and wealth in the heart, and to eliminate the desire to be appreciated by others, and finally even try to surpass one's own body before sculpting.At this time, your sculptures no longer have subjective desires and prejudices. What you carve looks like is equal to the expression of the power of the universe on you.You don't have a self, but you are free from barriers and restrictions.This metaphor of Xinzhai illustrates: Our minds are usually chasing outwards, chasing many specific things without knowing turning back, so that we ignore that the mind itself has only one function, which is to calm it down, from emptiness to tranquility, From quiet to bright.If our mind is full of all kinds of desires, it will be a mess. After eliminating all desires, it will naturally become empty. After emptying, it will calm down. What is the benefit of being quiet?If the water is still, it can be used as a mirror to show what a person looks like.Our mind is the same, from emptiness to stillness and then to clarity, if the mind is clear, everything in the universe is in my heart, and I can see the truth at a glance.
It is generally easy for us to distort what we see, to distort it according to our own meaning and desire, so we all see what we want to see, and experts and scholars are no exception.For example, a group of people take a walk together and look up to see the moon in the sky.The first person to say "the light of the moon is refracted from the sun" is because this person is an astronomer.The second person said "How beautiful Chang'e is flying to the moon", this person is of course a writer or poet.The third person said, "The moon is another revelation from God, so that we can see the light at night so that we won't get lost." This person is obviously a religious man.Everyone can have different views on seeing the moon, but in this way they cannot see the truth of the moon.Of course, it is also difficult for us to say clearly what the truth of the moon is.Once you say what it is, it means that you have established a position; in this case, why do you need to distinguish whether it is the moon or not?Therefore, Zhuangzi tries to make us change our minds from emptiness to tranquility to clarity at the level of "mind fasting".
The heart can be empty and quiet, from the outside, isn't it "the heart is as dead ashes"?When others are playing tricks, competing for beauty, plundering, and boasting of wealth, you can cleanse and organize the "heart" so that it enters a state of emptiness and tranquility.After proper practice, light will be produced from the emptiness, which is the state belonging to the "spiritual" level.In this way, the "heart"
It is no longer the source of human troubles, the source of pain, and the source of restlessness even for a moment. Instead, it shows the most precious part of human life in the ashes of the heart: the power of spirituality.Zhuangzi thinks that there is nothing more wonderful than this.
On the one hand, Taoist self-cultivation refers to "heart fasting", and the opposite of "heart fasting" is "sitting and forgetting". "Heart fasting" means that the heart must fast, and all kinds of complicated ideas, prejudices, and desires must be removed, and the heart should be turned into an empty state, so that the "Tao" can show light in the heart. "Sitting and forgetting" is when I sit here to rest and suddenly forget who I am.But you say I forgot who I am, so who is forgetting?This is another problem.Therefore, you have to forget "forget", just like a person who practiced saying that I must "forget myself" today, but sat there desperately thinking "I want to forget myself", and finally forgot everything, that is, "forget myself" "The four words cannot be forgotten, so the goal is still not achieved.
Chuang Tzu does not want us to really forget. A person who forgets everything becomes amnesia.What he wants us to do is to "forget the comfort of the comfort", forget the comfort of the comfort.Zhuangzi told a fable. He said that in ancient times, there was a skilled craftsman named Gongji (Ji was named, according to legend, Yao was called to take charge of all kinds of crafts, so he was called Gongji). He drew a circle at will, which was completely in line with the rules.This is a case of practice makes perfect.I remember when I was in middle school, a geography teacher drew maps of all countries in the world. He drew all the maps of each country on the blackboard without reading a book.The classmate asked him, teacher, why are you so good that you can memorize the maps of various countries in your head, and draw them at will?The teacher smiled and said that I rely on this for a living, can you?He spoke very matter-of-factly.It's your job, and if you can't, who can?After long-term practice, the rules will be internalized into instincts, and things will be done naturally, even wonderfully.
Zhuangzi said that the reason why Gongji has such a skill is because he "points and transforms objects without checking with his mind, so his spiritual platform is one without shackles", and his fingers follow the changes of external objects without thinking and calculating, so his mind is concentrated One without suffocation.The "lingtai" here refers to the "heart". Here it is said that it is "one but not shackled", which means that it may also be "not one but shackled", so self-cultivation is necessary.Then Zhuangzi explained the word "forgetting": Forget the feet, it is appropriate to walk; Those who start to feel fit but never experience discomfort forget the fit of fit. ("Zhuangzi Dasheng")
Forgetting the existence of feet is the comfort caused by shoes; forgetting the existence of the waist is the comfort caused by belts; The comfort of having everything just right.To start with comfort and then have no situation to be uncomfortable is to forget the comfort that comes from being comfortable.
The first two sentences are easier to understand. For example, when you are walking on the road or standing in a classroom, you completely forget the existence of your feet. What does it mean?Explain that the shoes you are wearing fit well.When you feel like you have feet, there is something wrong with your shoes, your shoes may be too small.In the same way, when you are usually fine, you will not feel the existence of your waist, which means that your belt fits well-of course, it is difficult for some people to forget, because they are too fat, it is not easy to find a suitable belt, or eat at noon. If you feel like you have a belly after eating, it means your belt is too tight.Zhuangzi first talked about the metaphors that everyone knows, and then said that a person's intellectual forgetting of right and wrong is also a kind of comfort of the "heart", which shows that the "heart" is in a harmonious state.Otherwise, you will always worry about who is good and who is bad, and you will inevitably be in a state of turmoil in your heart.For example, if we like a certain politician, we worry about him if something happens to him; if we hate a certain politician, even if he does the right thing, we are not happy.This is really unnecessary.Because everyone has to be responsible for himself. He does well because of his efforts, and if he does not do well, he should step down. As ordinary people, we should try to manage our own lives and stop thinking about his right and wrong.Of course, it's not that you don't care about it at all, but that you don't regard right and wrong as an unchangeable fact.If you think it is wrong, you can change it.One must take the initiative in one's life. After I understand anything, I can arrange it myself, and I am fully responsible for the consequences.The French philosopher Sartre said that everyone is free because he is judged to be free, so he must be responsible for his actions.In other words, you can't make excuses, you can't say that I did it because I was told to do it, someone else did it before, or circumstances made me do it; no, you must take responsibility for your actions.However, comparing Sartre and Zhuangzi, the realm of freedom is still different.Sartre's freedom is to remove "God", ignore others, and become the subject of consciousness to make free choices.And Chuang Tzu's freedom is to have a "Tao" as a whole, a person's life is in the "Tao", completely forgetting who he is, and finally being able to "forget about being comfortable" is the highest state.
In the final analysis, these ideas of Zhuangzi come from the concept of "Tao". "Tao" is neither nature nor human beings, but the root and destination of nature and human beings. "Tao" is like rivers and lakes. Living alone in this world is like a fish living in rivers and lakes. It swims around in the water and forgets that it is a fish.When it remembers that it is a fish, it means it is out of water.You look at the fish on the beach, struggling all the time because it realizes that it is a fish and needs water.A fish swimming in the water often does not feel that it is a fish. It feels that it is in the "Tao" and completely forgets who it is.
Therefore, a person living in the world must be like a fish living in the water, so that he has no worries, allows himself to be at ease with the situation, and feels the joy of life in a comfortable way. ".Don't keep thinking about how to make yourself comfortable, the real comfort is when you forget the comfort.Just like many people often ask, how can we be happy?Zhuangzi's answer is to compare happiness to a butterfly. The more you use a net to catch it, the faster and higher it flies, the more difficult it is for you to catch it; Forget about the pursuit of happiness, and the butterfly will fly over by itself and land on your shoulder.Therefore, when you don't think about pursuing comfort and happiness, you will instead enter a state of comfort and happiness at this time.
After dissolving the external and tangible restrictions and returning to the heart, the next third step is to go beyond.Zhuangzi has a concept called "the unity of man and nature".Zhuangzi said: "Man and heaven are one." Man and sky are one.Heaven represents the natural world, and man refers to human beings. How can the two become one?As far as the body is concerned, after death, "dust returns to ashes, and dust returns to dust", and it is okay for man and nature not to be one, but in this way, don't animals and plants also become one with the sky?However, when a person is alive, the body obviously cannot be one with nature.Therefore, this kind of unity must refer to the mental state of people, including: realizing that nature and I are actually a whole, and also experiencing the joy of being connected with nature as a whole.This kind of awareness and experience is the result of a person's mind or spiritual ability through some kind of practice.
Zhuangzi once used Yan Hui's mouth to ask Confucius: "What is the same evil between man and heaven?" Confucius replied: There are people, and heaven;The reason why people cannot have heaven is their nature.The sage Yan Ran passed away and died. ("Zhuangzi Mountain Wood")
Everything man-made is from nature; everything that is natural is also from nature.Everything man-made cannot preserve nature, that is a problem of nature.Only a sage can safely adapt to change to the extreme.
Therefore, no matter man-made or natural, all come from nature, just as everything comes from heaven and earth.But why can't man-made things preserve nature?Zhuangzi thinks that it is a problem of human nature.To put it simply, people have cognitive abilities, and if there is a slight deviation in this ability, there will be distinctions and attachments. They think that they are in competition with others, and they must be better than others. Then they distort their nature and cannot preserve nature. .
"Zhuangzi Qiushui" also used the mouth of He Bo to ask: "What is nature? What is man-made?" Bei Hairuo said: "Oxen and horses are born with four legs, which is called nature; a horse's head is strangled, and an ox's nose is pierced. Well, this is called man-made. So I say: don’t use man-made to destroy nature, don’t use ingenuity to destroy destiny, don’t chase fame for greed. Keeping these principles and not violating them is called returning to reality.” With The progress of civilization, the unity of man and nature seems unattainable.
To achieve the "unity of man and nature", Zhuangzi also emphasized the word "forget".He said: "People's movement, life and death, and poverty are not arranged by themselves. What a person can do is to forget external objects and nature. This is called self-forgetfulness. People who forget themselves can be said to be in harmony with Naturally, they become one." Before reaching "self-forgetfulness", there should be some methods of cultivation. "Zhuangzi Equality of Things" believes that all things form "he and this" with each other, so it is best for human beings not to distinguish right from wrong; "to make each other and this no longer confront each other is called the hub of Tao. , can be regarded as grasping the core of the ring, and can respond to infinite changes."Contemplate everything with a clear mind, and you will be able to realize: "The world is a finger, and everything is a horse." The world is actually a finger, and everything is actually a horse.The former is to get rid of people's attachment to size; the latter is to get rid of people's attachment to quantity.Because no matter how big or small, they are all in the overall "Tao".From the point of view of Tao, man and nature are originally part of the whole, so why should they be divided into two?It can be seen from this that the so-called unity of man and nature is not simply "the unity of man and nature", but "the unity of man and nature in the 'Tao'".Based on the Tao, and from the perspective of "Tao", it is possible for man and nature to be one.
However, it should be noted that Zhuangzi's "unity of man and nature" is not a kind of ignorance, which is facilitated by inevitable laws.If you use one sentence to describe Zhuangzi's metaphysics, it can be called "qihua monism". "One yuan" means that there is only one element in this universe, and that is "Qi". The word "hua" means that everything in the universe, including us, is caused by the change of qi; some people have heavy yang qi, while others have heavy yin qi. Not the same.However, there is a problem with the "Qihua Monism". If everything in the universe is composed of Qi and dispersed by Qi, then why is it necessary to talk about human morality or knowledge?Because morality or knowledge has no effect on a person's "Qi", a person becomes a skeleton after death, and there is no difference between a good person and a bad person, and it is exactly the same when turned into clay.If you look at life from this angle, you can’t talk about value issues. Beauty and ugliness, right and wrong, good and evil are meaningless; step.
Some scholars have studied the first step of Zhuangzi's thought and concluded that Zhuangzi's thought is a kind of vegetative thought.why?Because man has will and reason, he must like cognition, which will bring all kinds of disasters.Instead of this, it’s better not to cognition and forget it. It’s better to be like animals. When we see a dog by the door and worry: "Why do I have so little hair?" It won’t have this kind of trouble, only humans will. kind of trouble.If it were a tree, it would be even less troublesome.Sometimes we had to travel north and south, and it was already one or two o'clock in the middle of the night, and we were still driving home on the highway.The tree doesn't need to go home because it hasn't left at all.This is called a kind of thinking of vegetative people, envious of plants that can survive by photosynthesis, without any desire, and without any pain and disaster.This kind of thinking is obviously wrong. If you look at it from this point of view, there is no need to talk about it.
Second, it is not a kind of value-neutral passivity and helplessness.For example, you see a person who is willing to help others and do many good deeds.But you think in your heart: what is the difference between him doing a lot of good things and another person doing a lot of bad things?In this way, it will become a negative and helpless thought, which is not right. The Taoist unity of man and nature must not develop in this direction.
The true Taoist thought should develop spiritual freedom through the unity of man and nature, and then further develop into an artistic and aesthetic world.This is the meaning of the unity of man and nature.In other words, the Taoist unity of man and nature, its purpose is to dissolve the distance between man and the universe, after which the mind can fly freely.
Zhuangzi likes to use metaphors, we all know this.He said that if the spirit is at ease, it will bring a lot of happiness. This kind of happiness is at a very high level, which is definitely not what we can imagine at a relatively low level.If I were a little sparrow and never flew higher than 100 meters, how could I imagine what it would be like to be at an altitude above 10,000 meters?Unbelievable!Let us not limit ourselves first, but affirm that every human spirit has the same possibility to reach that height.In other words, anyone in the world can elevate themselves to the height of the Mipeng bird because of the ability to exert their subjective spirit.But you need some effort, how to work hard?Zhuangzi proposed seven steps.
The first step is "outside the world". "Outside" means to transcend, and "outside the world" means to try to surpass all the fame, fortune, power and position in the world.The second step is "foreign objects".Things are matter, everything that is visible and visible.To go beyond the visible world.The third step is "exogenous".To transcend life means not to be limited by life and desires.If you can do the first three steps of "outside the world", "outside things", and "outside life", you will come to the fourth step, which is called "chaoche", which means that the morning sun illuminates the earth.
The fifth step is to "see independence". "Independence" means uniqueness, and "seeing independence" means seeing the universe as a whole. It turns out that the universe is a whole, and there is no difference between me and all things. "Heaven and earth were born together with me, and all things are one with me." These two sentences are very important conclusions in Zhuangzi.These two sentences are very bold and refreshing. "Heaven and earth are born with me, and all things are one with me", how wonderful!But what does this mean?We are most afraid of encountering some wonderful slogans when we are reading. After listening to them, our head will be a little dizzy, and then there will be no more words. This is not what we want.Therefore, we want to further explain that "one" can be seen at the fifth step.What we usually see is "many", so many houses!So many cars!You can't see "one", what does "one" mean?It is that you no longer distinguish at all.Are there many people?Not many people!If these people are here in the first place, you don’t need to distinguish whether they are more or less.You don’t have the concept of a car at all in your heart, so how can you talk about a lot of cars?Who would feel a lot of air?Because there is no distinction between air and air in your heart, there are not many problems.Therefore, "seeing independence" means seeing that the universe is a unified whole.
The sixth step is called "no past and present".Gujin represents the past and present in time.At this time, you have surpassed the limitation of time and reached the realm of eternity.The final step is "neither die nor live".Immortality and birth are not bad things. Immortality and birth in it means that you have surpassed life and death. You are a god-man. God-man is very wonderful. Zhuangzi's description is enviable. People live here. The skin is like ice and snow, and the body is like a virgin; it does not eat five grains, but absorbs the wind and drinks the dew." ("Zhuangzi Xiaoyaoyou") is like a fairy, which makes people feel incredible, but in fact what he is talking about is the state of mind .In the end, he will not die or live, and he will be free in the whole world.For him, life is death, death is life, eternal existence.How can man exist forever?Because the body always disappears.But don't forget that if the human spirit communicates with the life force of the universe, it will be different.Therefore, when Chuang Tzu described himself at the end, he said: "Only communicate with the spirit of heaven and earth, and do not be obsessed with all things, do not condemn right and wrong, and get in touch with the world. . . . The end is a friend." ("Zhuangzi? Tianxia") This is to be with the Creator "Tao" upwards. If you are with the Tao, why should you worry about it?
When Taoist thought developed to Zhuangzi, it was necessary to resolve the external restrictions, go back to the heart and think about it, from human knowledge to the human heart, to grasp the human mental state, so that it will not be disturbed by the outside world, and then lift up.When you ascend to a certain height, you can become one with the universe.At this time, the "unity of man and nature" or "gasification monism" we talked about before have become the atmosphere, bulging and floating under you.Like a roc, you can fly anywhere you want.This is the state of Zhuangzi's spiritual carelessness.Otherwise, a person in the world, thinking about what to do tomorrow all day long?What should I have for dinner tonight?What to do?Who owes me money and hasn't paid back... life is completely trapped.No fun at all!
Therefore, Zhuangzi's thoughts are often an antidote to us Chinese.Because after Chinese people accept Confucianism, they do have a tendency to join the world and care for the people.It is very good to contribute your strength and serve others.But you have to pay attention, this kind of service can never be finished.No matter how capable you are, you can’t finish it. In the end, you will think: Am I doing it knowing it’s impossible, just like Confucius, and I’m exhausted in the end?Or, since I can't finish it, I try to develop this aspect of my personal life.Therefore, modern people need to develop a concept of leisure through the introduction of Taoist thought, so that we can transform into spiritual freedom.And it's hard to describe this ease and ease. The so-called "heaven can be seen in a flower, and the world can be seen in a grain of sand" is not written by the poet casually, but through the spiritual training process of Zhuangzi, so that oneself can achieve this. After this state, you can really feel it.I feel that there is a kind of lively vitality in life. This kind of lively vitality is definitely not what external fame and fortune or personal ideals and ambitions can show, but can return to the "Tao" itself.So Taoism is definitely not just a kind of self-cultivation, it wants you to go back to the root and the whole.Only when a person returns to the root and the whole can his life be truly settled.That's why Zhuangzi especially emphasized that if the spring water dries up and the fish are wet with air in the mud, it is better to forget each other in the rivers and lakes.Jianghu is a metaphor for "Tao".A fish completely forgets that it is a fish in the water, completely forgets the difference between itself and other things, and swims freely in it. Can we humans be as comfortable as a fish in the sea?it should be OK.
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