Wang Defeng: The Core of Taoist Thought and Laozi's Taoist Theory (Part Two)

There are two sentences in Tao Te Ching: "If you think it is beneficial, you can't think about it." These two sentences are very interesting. We grasp "you" to see its benefits, and "benefits" means fixed use, "beneficiaries will use it" and resolute use. The other sentence is "Ignorance makes use of it". The intention of this sentence is to use it skillfully, "those who get it use it skillfully"-the clever use of a thing comes from not losing its "definite purpose".

Last time we gave an example, such as a Swiss watch. If we regard it as the "fixed use" of Swiss watches, it will have different uses on different occasions. This is called magical use. Laozi gave us a new perspective on everything in the world. Again, the meaning of the "existence" of all things is not "existence", but the "nothingness" it can cause, and "nothingness" is the wonderful use.

There is a relationship between "being" and "not being" in all aspects of life, such as the relationship between parents and children. In terms of "existence", parents and children are certain. If there is a crisis in this relationship and there is a serious confrontation and contradiction between parents and children, then Taoism will tell us to "get rid of" the relationship between parents and children first! This isn't your child, it's in your foster home. You don't have to work so hard and pay attention to it, and then impose your values on your children. If he doesn't meet your ideal, you will be angry. So you're wrong. People foster you, but friends foster you in your home. If they can't take care of them for the time being, then you will be entrusted by others, and you will accomplish three things: don't let him freeze when it is cold, don't let him starve, and let him sleep well at night-that's all. You might as well try. If there is a crisis in the parent-child relationship, you can give it a try. After this relationship is "nothing", the tense contradictions will naturally be resolved.

The wisdom of Taoism is embodied in all aspects of life. Sometimes the root of our predicament lies in our persistence in "existence", and we can't get rid of it. The relationship between "being" and "nothing" is the theme of Taoist thought, and the relationship between "being" and "nothing" can be expressed in two sentences: "Being without nothing means nothing, and nothing without nothing means nothing". "If there is nothing, there is nothing", that is, there is nothing-first, the word "yes" should be discarded, but everything is not empty. Therefore, the second sentence still comes, "nothing is not nothing"-at this time, "nothing" is actually magical, and its content is not empty, so in this way, from "being" to "nothing" and then back to "being". "nothing more than nothing." This "you" is different from the first "you". The first "yes" is fixed use, and then "nothing" is not nothing. You can't do nothing, it's wrong again. Then the word "nothing" will not drop, so the second "yes" is magical. This is the dialectical relationship between "being" and "not being".

Let's repeat these two sentences, "Nothing is nothing, and nothing is nothing". These two sentences together are actually a word-Xuan. "Mystery is the gate of mystery", which is the words in the first chapter of Tao Te Ching. It seems that this door is round, a continuous cycle from scratch, and a door to all miracles, that is, this cycle is continuous and infinite. From scratch, then from scratch, and finally achieve magical results. Everything in the world is in this wonderful door. So Taoism is also called metaphysics.

Taoist wisdom is an indispensable part of China's philosophical wisdom. It fundamentally inspires us to adopt this persistent attitude towards life, that is, to get rid of persistence. Teach us to do subtraction and clean up human factors. This is persistence. If we can really do this, we will naturally live in heaven. It's called coincidence with heaven. So we all know what Taoism means to China people. We always say "step back and broaden the horizon".

The wisdom of Taoism makes us China people full of sense of humor. A nation's humor comes from its wisdom. It is impossible for a nation without wisdom to be humorous. Some people are serious and persistent about everything. Then don't say humorous things to them. You said something humorous to them, and he listened, and then he said what happened later. Do you have a later one? number

We talked about the core concepts of Confucianism and Taoism, and the cultural pattern of China culture is basically complementary to Confucianism and Taoism. On the one hand, Confucianism has ideals and principles; On the other hand, Taoism talks about contingency and taking a step back. The complementarity of Confucianism and Taoism forms the most basic aspect of China's cultural spirit, which is also transformed into our national character.

The cultural spirit of China's complementarity between Confucianism and Taoism actually exists in everyone in China, and emperors in history have complemented Confucianism and Taoism. For example, fighting against Xiongnu is too tiring, and it wastes manpower and financial resources. Forget it, don't fight. The emperor married his daughter to him, which is called in-laws, which is the complementarity of Confucianism and Taoism. We are teachers of students at school, so when students graduate, teachers and students should hold a forum. Students will tell teachers that we are going to graduate and go out into the society. Do you have any parting words for us? Every time I give them a sentence, "inner and outer circle", what is inner and outer circle? "inside" refers to the principle that you can't give up at will. What is the "outer ring"? Just don't be too angular and rounded when dealing with people. When the students heard it, the teacher said that Confucianism and Taoism complement each other, and I said yes. Because we treat our students as teachers just like our own children, we are afraid that they will suffer in society, so we advise them not to stick to their principles to the end and be sharp-edged, which is easy to get hurt. The inside is cylindrical, preferably. You can't give up your principles and ideals, but you should be good at dealing with people. This is the complementary spirit of Confucianism and Taoism, and it is also the national character that we still have today.