#长文创作激励计划#
Who doesn't want to live forever? People want to live for a long time, and the country wants to stand for a long time. But immortality comes at a price. In order to seek immortality, Qin Shi Huang sent Xu Fu to the east to seek immortals, but he ended up with both people and money, and Changsheng was in vain, which caused the world's attention to "burn books and pit Confucianism". This is not the "price" that Lao Tzu wants to talk about. Lao Tzu talked about a topic of accumulating virtue and longevity in the fifty-nine chapters of the Tao Te Ching, and we see that the longevity around us is generally virtuous. Of course, the virtuous also have immortals, but are they happy in life?
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Governing the heavens, Mo Ruosi.
The husband is only stingy, which is called early service; Early service is called the accumulation of virtue; If you accumulate virtue, you will not be able to overcome it; There is no limit to it; There can be a country. There is the mother of the country, which can last for a long time. It is said to be deeply rooted and long-sighted.
At the heart of this chapter is the character "啬". In the process of historical inheritance, language is constantly changing, is the "Si" in Lao Tzu's mouth what we call stingy today? Isn't it necessary to accumulate virtue as a man, so why be stingy? After reading this chapter, you will understand.
1. Virtue, it's better to be stingy
Since the thirty-eighth chapter of the Tao Te Ching, the Tao Te Ching has been talking about one word "virtue". What is "virtue", how to establish "virtue", how to accumulate "virtue". This chapter is about accumulating virtue. Before talking about accumulating virtue, Lao Tzu first opened up a pattern for us.
(1) Should we be stingy in "governing people"?
Lao Tzu said: "Governing people and heaven, Mo Ruosi." ”
This sentence, the pattern is a bit big. "Governing people" is to go downward, and "doing things" is to go up. "Governing people" is easy to understand, that is, governing the people, and the connotation of "doing things" is enriched.
"Heaven" is a very important word in our culture, which refers to the naturally formed sky, which is the "sky" in reality; It also refers to the heavens, the gods, which refers to the "heavens" of the spiritual world. The ancients believed that heaven, earth and man are one, and that people have the essence of heaven and earth in their bodies, so here it also refers to the physical and spiritual world given to us by God. In layman's terms, "Shitian" can be understood as health preservation.
"Governing the people and heaven" can be understood as governing the country and maintaining health. Both of these are essential skills for leaders, both of which are ancient and modern. Some people will ask, shouldn't leaders be self-cultivation, why should they maintain health?
Wellness includes not only the cultivation of the body, but also the cultivation of the spirit. Without a good body, we will not be able to undertake heavy work, and if we do not have the correct three views, we will deviate from the road and lead leaders astray.
The key word to this chapter is "啬".
This word, in our habitual cognition, always carries a bit of derogatory color. As soon as someone is said to be stingy and obsessed with money, the image of a selfish ghost stands in front of him.
In fact, in the eyes of the ancients, the word "Si" is not a derogatory meaning, but cherishing, maintaining, and accumulating and collecting. Gao Heng, a professor of paleography, once interpreted the character "Si" as "collecting its god form and not using it, so as to return to nothing".
What is a "god-form"? God is the spirit, and the form is the body. This is not to say that we should do nothing, but it is a warning to control our desires and reduce the physical and mental destruction.
For example, many people don't go to bed until after the early hours of the morning, and they take staying up late as a habit, and they also have a set of health theories that go to bed late and get up late; If the biological clock is completely reversed, the body's organs cannot be rested, or they are not in line with the "Tao", how can we talk about health preservation?
There are also people who like involution and internal friction. In a small space to dominate the king, to roll others to nowhere to stand for fun, once you meet a tough one, you will immediately internal friction, feel that you can't do it, this is not good, that is not good, all day long entangled in yourself being surpassed. Such a person's spiritual world is not only empty, but also extreme, and his thinking is unhealthy, so how can he maintain his health?
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(2) What did Lao Tzu teach us to "serve"?
Of course, Lao Tzu still interprets the "si" in his mind for us. Lao Tzu said: "The husband is only stingy, it is called early service." ”
The focus of "morning service" is "service". What is "service"? This word is used in many ancient texts, such as to serve, which can be used as an interpretation of "Shitian"; Another example is returning, which means returning to the "Tao". There is plausibility in both interpretations. Let's connect to the context, the first one is more appropriate. But we are not serving others, but ourselves. What do you serve? Serve your own virtue! And early. Prepare early, not sharpen your guns.
Actually, we started doing it when we were very young. For example, when I was a child, adults always taught us to respect the old and love the young, respect teachers, be willing to help, and so on. Ancient and modern. Why did Lao Tzu bring it up in particular? This is because people will unconsciously relax their demands on themselves, will sink, and will selectively lose their memory.
Therefore, Lao Tzu said: "Early service is said to be the weight of virtue; If you accumulate virtue, you will not be able to overcome it; There is no such thing as restraint. ”
This sentence is to say that to prepare early is to continue to accumulate virtue; If you continue to accumulate virtue, there is nothing you can't do; There is nothing that is not up to the task, and it is impossible to estimate his strength.
Why does Lao Tzu highlight the word "heavy"? This is to tell us that virtue is not something that can be done in a day or two, but can be done by accumulating over time, constantly accumulating and nourishing, and only then can we obtain one or two. Therefore, the accumulation of virtue should be "thick" and practiced with a lifetime. But it's not enough to just accumulate virtue. This is equivalent to saving, saving money and spending money at the same time, that is, saving a loneliness. The same is true of "virtue". Accumulating virtue on the one hand, and losing virtue on the other, is that virtuous or unvirtuous? This uses the word "si", to be stingy with one's own virtue, and to avoid ruining one's virtue by acting without virtue.
So how much do you need to accumulate virtue? There is no standard for this. The thicker the virtue, the more blessed the person. There is a movie called "The Ring Messenger", which tells the story of a killer who returns to the future to kill himself thirty years later. Another example is the more famous movie "The Butterfly Effect", which also tells the story of killing yourself on another timeline. Why kill yourself? Because of some mistakes that are not reversed.
In fact, isn't life a boomerang? The kindness you send out at a certain point in time may not be immediately reciprocated, but in the future, this kindness will continue to ferment and bring you an unexpected reward at a certain moment of need, which is the reward for the virtue you have accumulated. For example, savings, people who have the habit of saving will save a sum of money every month, this money may not seem much, but it accumulates over time, and when you encounter a crisis, this money can even save your life.
On the other hand, if you are doing evil, then the evil deeds will continue to ferment, one to ten, ten to hundreds, and your carelessness may be transmitted back to you one day in the form of bad news. This is what Lao Tzu said about being stingy with one's own virtues, because the cause planted today will surely usher in the fruit of tomorrow. Feng Shui takes turns, whether it is good or evil, it will turn back one day.
Second, if you want to live forever, you must first accumulate virtue
Lao Tzu's "all restraints" are not limited to war, but look at the length of life, look at the breadth of the world, it includes all things in heaven and earth. Whether it is a person or a thing, once it reaches the realm of "no restraint", its power is immeasurable.
(1) Protect the country like a mother
Lao Tzu said: "Mo is extreme, you can have a country." There is the mother of the country, which can last for a long time. ”
"There is a country" is a verb. Who "has a country"? Each of us. This "being" does not mean to have, but to keep, to keep to exist. In order to maintain the long-term existence of one's own country, everyone has the responsibility to protect the country, which is the meaning of "mother". Only those who cherish and protect their motherland as much as their mothers can be the leaders of a country, and only those who cherish their own companies as they cherish their mothers can be competent leaders of a company. This is the phrase we often hear about "treating the enterprise as a home", which is not metaphysical empty talk, but something tangible.
This sentence Lao Tzu is saying that after having the power of "all restraints", you can assume the responsibility of protecting the country; If you grasp the principles of governing the country, you can sustain it for a long time.
Long-term, whether it is an individual, a country, or an enterprise, is the goal pursued throughout a lifetime. When we choose a company to work, many times we look at the leaders of a company, for example, many people want to work at Huawei, but they go for the virtue of Mr. Ren; The deep reason why many people love Huawei is that they are patriotic and hope that the motherland will be strong, which is also a kind of "mother" behavior.
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(2) Longevity and long-term vision
Lao Tzu said: "Deep roots, the way of longevity." ”
"See" here does not refer to looking, but to life. "Long-term vision" means to live and exist for a long time. For the country is called long-term stability, for the company is called long-term survival, for the family is called from generation to generation, so what is the long-term we are pursuing?
Lao Tzu said four words: "deeply rooted". "Deep roots" are tree roots buried in the soil along with whiskers; And "solidifying" is to continuously consolidate the roots of the tree. That is, we are talking about deep-rooted. This is to warn us that to do the accumulation of virtue as a deep-rooted thing can make us individuals, our lives, and our country "immortal".
The older a person gets, the deeper this experience becomes, and the evil he did when he was young will be doubled back, and the good he did when he was young will be repaid to you. Unfortunately, when we are young, we often don't understand and think that little things don't matter. In fact, such "indifference" is "so-called" to others.
Therefore, if you want the world to be worthwhile, you must learn to be stingy with yourself. Cultivating oneself with virtue is the best care for oneself, and helping talents with virtue is the greatest love for life. "Flowers and butterflies come from themselves", can you not be happy in such a life?
Translations
Governing the country and taking care of the body and mind are not more important than cherishing energy.
To cherish your energy is to prepare early; To prepare early is to continue to accumulate virtue; If you continue to accumulate virtue, there is nothing you can't do; There is nothing that is not up to the task, and it is impossible to estimate his strength; It is impossible to estimate his strength, so he can take on the responsibility of protecting the country; If you grasp the principles of governing the country, you can sustain it for a long time; This is the deep-rooted, "long-lived" truth.