Regarding the realm of human life, Confucius once said: I have five out of ten and am determined to learn, thirty and standing, forty and not confused, fifty and knowing the Mandate of Heaven, sixty and obedient, seventy and do not exceed the rules.
The reason why Confucius after the age of seventy was able to do whatever he wanted without overstepping his bounds was because at that time he had already reached the realm of unity with heaven and earth, so no matter what he did, he would not violate the Heavenly Dao.
Let's push back, what is the state of Confucius's "sixty and obedient ears"? It is that he already knows the Tao of Heaven, so he serves Heaven like a Father, and he listens to whatever the Heavenly Dao says, and there is no resistance at all, so he lives very clearly, and there is nothing unpleasant to see.
So what is the state of fifty years old? Fifty years old knows the Mandate of Heaven, although he knows the Heavenly Dao, he knows the will of Heaven, but his own selfish desires have not yet been cleaned up, and he is still like an adolescent ignorant boy, sometimes he willful, sometimes he will rebel, and he may also understand in his heart that Heavenly Reason is the right reason, but he is still unwilling to surrender willingly and live very awkwardly.
Just like the state of most of us, intermittently self-motivated, habitually lying flat, it is easy to fall into their own small insights and small patterns.
Confucius later said that his "heart pulse" was passed on to Zengzi, who in turn passed on to Confucius's grandson Zisi, after Zisi, the true Confucian heart pulse was basically broken, including the later Zhou Dunyi, including Ercheng, including Lu Jiuyuan, did not understand Confucius's true transmission of the true heart, until Wang Yangming, once again realized as a saint to continue to learn, inherited the heart pulse of Confucianism, and carried forward the heart of confucianism.
Wang Yangming divided people into three categories, that is, life knows and learns to learn and benefit, and sleepy people know and practice, the first two kinds of people are rare and dragons and phoenixes among people.
What does that mean? Birth knows that an action is the realm of a saint, and he is born to merge with the Heavenly Dao, so he lives very thoroughly, and he will not take a detour in his life, and all words and deeds are one with the Heavenly Dao and one with humanity, so he can be virtuous and carry things, only to achieve all things and the hearts of all people, without any selfish desires.
They have devoted their lives to knowing and knowing the Way of Heaven. That is to say, the people who have reached "sincerity" mentioned in the "University" are the most sincere people in the world, so as long as they play their own nature, they can realize the greatest value, benefit the public, and achieve more people.
Learning to know and do is to have entered the hall of the Heavenly Dao, they know very well what to do to conform to the Heavenly Dao, they practice the Heavenly Dao with their lives, serve the Heavenly Dao like a father, full of reverence and self-discipline, so they will also have great achievements, and they will not go astray, there is nothing to lose, which is what is called the sages, such as Confucius's seventy-two disciples, Yan Huizi Road and the like, all are sages.
The third type of person is also considered to be the middle and upper level, they can be said to be the doorway to the Heavenly Dao, but they have not yet entered the room, because they have seen the true Heavenly Dao, they have seen a higher life form, so they will not be willing to degenerate, will not give up the pursuit of the Heavenly Dao, and become a better self.
According to Confucius's description, forty non-confusion is equivalent to knowing what the truth is, which is the third realm of sleepy knowledge and perseverance; fifty knowledge of the Mandate of Heaven and sixty ears are equivalent to the second realm--learning knowledge and profit,that is, the position of the sage; seventy are the realm of the saints.