What is the Tao Te Ching about? Why do so many people admire it?

Tao Te Ching, known as the "King of All Classics", is the highest classic of Taoism. From ancient times to the present, there are endless books commenting on it: some are based on Confucianism, some are based on Buddhism, some are based on practice, and some are based on political power. It seems that all walks of life and all kinds of people can get inspiration from it, including emperors of past dynasties. As Nietzsche said: "Like an inexhaustible Jing Quan, full of treasures, put down the bucket and reach it."

So what did the Tao Te Ching say and reveal in order to last for more than two thousand years and be highly respected all over the world? It is said that in the circulation of world cultural masterpieces translated into foreign languages, the Bible ranks first and the Tao Te Ching ranks second. Because Dachuan's translation tends to overlap fields, Tao Te Ching surpassed the Bible several years ago. )

First, the world outlook

In an era when people are still popular in resignation and worship of gods, Lao Tzu has begun to explore the mysteries of the universe. He pointed out that everything in the world is created by a thing called Tao: "Tao gives birth to one, two, two, three and three things"; If you master the secret of "Tao", then "Tao reaches the world, and its ghosts are not gods", you do not need to turn to ghosts and gods for help.

Tao gives birth to all things, which is a process: Tao → Nothing → Being → Everything. Laozi summarized it as "everything in the world is born, and everything is born without it." "You" means that there is a tangible image. Because there is a tangible image, there are up and down, inside and outside, which can be divided into "two"; "Nothing" is supreme because it is invisible and has no image. There is nothing inside and nothing outside, and "One" is inseparable.

As for "three", it comes from "you" (2), but it is different from the mother "you", so it is called "three". Like stone, it has hard and white properties, but if the stone is ground into molecular atoms, it no longer has these properties. And "things", without their own characteristics, will not be their own things. Just like a person, if it is divided into cells, it can no longer be called a person. Everything in the world has its own unique nature, which all comes from this "three".

The reason why "nothing" can create "existence" is because it is not nothing, but tangible and intangible, and there is an intangible image (intangible and lifeless image). Just like our consciousness, it has no shape or image, but it is not empty. We can have the space of consciousness and create dreams.

Therefore, the process of making something out of nothing is very mysterious. Laozi said, "Therefore, I often have no desire to see its wonders." As long as we can adjust our state to "no desire", "to be empty and quiet." Everything works together, and I saw it again, so I realized the beauty out of nothing.

For example, when we relax and empty our minds, we can often have a brainwave and inspire. Inspiration came out, thoughts moved, and the body did it. At this time, it is "there". When you are in the state of "being", you can use and test it in everything that is also "being".

The difference between these two States is that "nothing" is not dominated by consciousness, but an empty perceptual state, that is, "often no desire"; And "being" is dominated by consciousness, which is an active and intentional state, that is, "always wanting".

This "nothing" and "being" lies in Tao and also comes from Tao; It lies in people and also comes from people. They are as inseparable as form and shadow, and coexist as sound and sound. They are mysterious ways that Tao breeds all things and allows all things to continue to evolve and develop, and they are also general ways for people to understand and use the mystery of Tao.

Life, regeneration, everything is pushed to its ultimate root, pointing to the only constant thing, that is, "Tao." Therefore, if you grasp the Tao, you will also grasp everything in the world.

Second, lifestyle.

The lifestyle here includes the way people get along with nature, the way people get along with each other, and the way people get along with things and things. Accordingly, Laozi put forward four concepts: frugality, softness, smallness and simplicity.

Zeng: Lao Tzu said, "It is better to manage people than to increase them." "Governing the people" refers to managing personnel and taking the world as a business; "Serving heaven" means serving heaven and living in heaven and earth.

Whether living in the world or letting nature take its course, nothing is more important than restraining your desires and not acting rashly, and cherishing your energy and not acting rashly.

Laozi added: "Birth, old age, illness and death. Three out of ten were born and three out of ten died. There are also three-tenths of people who live and die together. Honey, why? Use the thickness of its life. "

Students refer to people who have not suffered accidental death; The dead refer to those who died unexpectedly. But there are still some people who want more, live better and live longer, and the result is violent death. Why?

Because it is controlled by subjective desires, it loses its original clarity; Abandoning their roots and chasing foreign things made them unable to see the situation clearly and rushed into death unconsciously, which was the reason for their violent death.

Rou: Lao Tzu said that "the world is the softest and the strongest", "the strong die and the weak live", and he also said that "compromise is the whole". Is there a relationship between the three? Of course there is. Only when you are weak can you get down and be preserved; Only when you are weak, can you ride the world unimpeded.

No natural thing is absolutely straight in form. After such a long period of survival and development, they finally chose the most suitable "song" to save themselves, so the song can be preserved. Even in life, there is almost no smooth sailing, and what you want comes, so there is the idiom "compromise"

Therefore, bending can be better extended because it saves itself; On the contrary, you can reach your goal faster because you avoid obstacles. Weak, so it can be "full of life" and "true", so Lao Tzu said "strong below, weak above" and "keep soft and say strong"

The weakness is strong precisely because it is the next and last one. Laozi said, "Being in the latter is the first thing, while being outside is also the first thing", and "making good use of it is the next thing". Therefore, saints often put themselves last, but they can stand in front and lead people; I don't seek benefits for myself wholeheartedly, but I can get protection and support from all over the world. This is selflessness, becoming an individual and feeling inferior, which is superiority and weakness, which is stronger than strength.

Xiao: I said "See Xiao Yueming". Seeing the small, because "knowing the common", I have mastered the operation law of everything in the world, so I can master even the subtle places.

Any difficulty will be solved; Any big one grows up in a small one, so if you master the small one, you master the big one. Therefore, "saints are not big after all, so they can become big."

When dealing with difficult problems, we should start dealing with them when they are still easy to solve; To deal with big problems, we should start dealing with them before the situation develops into chaos; To achieve great achievements, we should start with small things. So saints never wait for small things to become big things before they start to make a difference, so they can make a big difference in the end.

Therefore, people who are really good at governing the country will not leave anything important to record, because the country is peaceful. People who are really good at fighting have no merit like hector, because he won't let the war start at all. He won before the war and defeated the enemy without fighting. People who are really good at achieving great things seem to do nothing or just do small things.

At the beginning of the trend, everything is still small and everything is still easy. But we should not despise things because they are "small", but value things because they are "big". Because "big" is developed from "small", only by treating "small" like "big" can things be done easily and successfully. "It is because saints are not big in the end that they can become big."

"People engaged in, often in a few success or failure. If you are careful to the end, you will not fail. " People often fail when they are about to succeed. If we can be cautious at the beginning and the end, we won't lose again.

"If you make a promise easily, you will break your promise; If you take everything easy, you will eventually encounter great difficulties. " Promise others easily, and eventually you will break your word. So talking too much is mean, and acting too casually is frivolous.

Park: Lao Tzu said, "Five colors are blind, five tones are deaf, five flavors are refreshing, hunting is crazy, and rare goods are harmful to people."

Eyes are used to see things, not to pursue visual enjoyment. Seeing too many colors will damage your eyes. Ears are used to listen to sounds, not to pursue music enjoyment. Listening to decadent sounds will damage your ears.

The mouth is used to eat, not to pursue the enjoyment of the tongue. If you eat too much, it will damage your taste. The heart is indifferent and quiet, and excessive galloping and entertainment will only stimulate people's madness; Life is to live freely. You put too many precious things on your body, but you even become cautious when you walk and talk.

Therefore, excessive pursuit of foreign things will harm yourself. The greatest sin is indulgence of desire, the greatest disaster is unsatisfied, and the greatest fault is insatiable greed. People's desires are endless, and one knows that the satisfaction to be satisfied is the real lasting satisfaction.

People don't need foreign objects to set off and dress up, and so do things. Simple is the most beautiful. "Everything is wrong" said: "The wall of harmony does not need colorful decoration; After the sui dynasty, the Lord did not decorate with gold and silver. Their essence is so beautiful that nothing can decorate them. Everything is waiting to be revised and then popular, and its essence is not good. "

Lao Tzu said, "Clever if clumsy", we always feel that nature is not perfect, so we process natural materials. I think I'm smart, but I don't know the material itself. This is the real uncanny workmanship. We always deny ourselves, carve ourselves subjectively, decorate ourselves and think that we are "successful". However, I don't know that this real magnifying glass is unnecessary and can't be created through subjective efforts-"magnifying glass is free from success".

Third, the strategy of governing the country.

Governing the country and calming the world is also a prominent theme in Tao Te Ching. Laozi spent a lot of time and put forward three ideas: 1, Zhongzheng; 2. inaction; 3, less privacy.

Chiang Kai-shek: Lao Tzu said, "Governing the country with righteousness and using troops with strangeness". If it is "righteousness"? Just defending the center. If you are right, the world will surrender to it and attach to it, and it will become the foundation of the world. That is to say, Lao Tzu said, "I do nothing and the people are self-centered, I am quiet and the people are self-centered, I have nothing and the people are rich, and I have no desire and the people are simple." Doing nothing, being quiet, and wanting nothing are "quietness", so "quietness is the right way in the world"

I don't forcibly manage the people by my own subjective will, so the people can naturally develop in an orderly manner; I like being quiet and not disturbing the people, and the people will naturally be harmonious and peaceful; If I don't disturb the people for a living, the people will naturally become rich; I don't drive the people for my own selfish desires, and the people can naturally be simple.

To be honest, we can regard everything in the world as a whole, so we can treat people as dogs, impartial and impartial, so we can be fair and just. "Taishan does not set likes and dislikes, so it can become high; Jianghai doesn't choose small help, so it can become rich. So adults send heaven and earth, and everything is ready. The heart is in the mountains and seas, and the country is rich and strong. " ("All done?" General ")

Taishan does not choose rocks according to its own likes and dislikes, so it can reach its height; Rivers and seas do not reject small flowing water, so they can achieve its breadth. Therefore, if the king can treat everything as if it were heaven and earth, he will have all kinds of talents; If we can be as broad-minded as mountains and seas, the country will be rich.

Inaction: Lao Tzu said, "There is no artifact in the world." . If you are defeated, you lose. "If you treat the world as your private property and dispose of it at will, you will eventually lose it. Similarly, if you govern the country by your own subjective will, you will eventually lose it; Dispose of your body according to your own subjective will, and you will eventually lose it.

Artifacts in the world are all born and have their own operating rules. If you interfere at will, you will inevitably encounter failure. Therefore, "take the world instead of the world", so "governing a big country is like cooking a small fish" and governing a big country is like cooking a small fish. You can't toss it around at will, or the small fish will be overturned in the long run.

Therefore, "Tao often does nothing and does everything." If the marquis can keep it, everything will take care of itself. I want to do this, and I will make this town unknown. That nameless simplicity, my husband won't want it. If you don't want to be quiet, the world will decide.

Avenue seems to do nothing, but in fact it does everything, and everything is born from it. If Hou Wang can maintain the Tao to govern the world, everything will naturally develop in an orderly way.

In the process of growing up, there will be all kinds of desires and all kinds of negative behaviors. At this time, it will be "unknown". Make people "ignorant" to keep their nature, and "have no desire" to keep quiet. In this way, the world will naturally be harmonious and peaceful.

Therefore, "its politics is boring and its people are not guilty; Its political review, its people lack. " If the national laws and regulations are generous and the people are simple and true; If the national laws and regulations are numerous and demanding, the people will be cunning, intelligent and difficult to govern.

Not very personal: Lao Tzu said, "the hunger of the people, its food tax, is hunger." The people are difficult to treat because their political achievements are difficult to treat. People's light death, with its thick existence, is light death. A husband who has nothing to do with life is a moral person. "

People go hungry because the rulers impose exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous fees, which leads to people going hungry. The reason why people are difficult to govern is that rulers always govern the country according to their own will, so they find it difficult to govern.

People are not even afraid of death, because the rulers have made people have no way out, so they will not be afraid of death in order to survive. Therefore, those who are in a superior position are good at benefiting the people if they don't take their own interests so seriously and don't think about exploiting the interests of the people everywhere.

If people have never been afraid of death, what's the use of threatening them with death? If the people have been afraid of death, then I will arrest and kill all the evildoers. Who dares to do evil again?

Damn it, it's up to the ruler to decide what's not dead. If you insist on killing people instead of heaven, it's like chopping wood instead of a skilled carpenter. Few people cut wood instead of carpenters without cutting their own hands.

So: "Let me be knowledgeable and walk on the road. Only giving is fear." The road is barren, but people are good at it. Except North Korea, the fields are rough and the warehouses are empty. The service is literary, with a sword, hate eating, more money and more goods. This is for stealing and boasting, this is not the way! "

If I have a little knowledge of Tao, then I will go astray because I am afraid of going astray, so I dare not act rashly on my own subjectivity.

Otherwise, no one will care about national affairs, the fields will be deserted and the warehouses will be very empty. However, some people wear gorgeous clothes and walk with swords. They are tired of eating delicious food and have more property and goods than they can use up. Isn't this a group of robbers running the country?

Fourth, personal cultivation.

Lao Tzu said, "I have three treasures, and I will protect them." One is kindness, the other is thrift, and the third is not daring to be the first in the world. Kind, so you can be brave; Thrift, so it can be wide; You can only succeed if you dare not be the number one in the world. Today, give up kindness and courage, thrift and generosity, backwardness and starting, and go to hell! If you are kind, you will win the battle and stick to the rules. God will save you and protect you with kindness. "

I have always had three treasures, and I firmly grasp them: one is kindness, the other is frugality, and the other is not daring to be the first in the world.

"Goodness" means not hurting people, not harming things, and guarding and nurturing. Because parents are kind, they can raise their children, so they care about their children regardless of their own lives.

"Thrift" means less desire. People who want less, they will not be driven by foreign things, will not be greedy for profits, and will not care about gains and losses, so they can accumulate a lot of wealth.

"Dare not be the first in the world" is an indisputable meaning. An indisputable person will not put his own gains and losses in front of the world, but would rather stand behind him. They put themselves last, so they can be respected by everyone and become the rulers of everyone.

If you give up kindness and dare to hurt others; Give up its frugality and be insatiable; Later, I gave up and strived for the first place everywhere. Such people, even if they can enjoy the scenery for a while, will eventually bring endless harm to themselves.

"En" is invincible when used in combat, and no one can break it when used in guarding. Therefore, God will make a person, and his heart will always be kind.

Therefore, those who are good at ruling the world will not be brave, those who are good at fighting will not be angry, those who are good at defeating the enemy will not cooperate, and those who are good at employing people will feel inferior. Those who are good at assisting in governing the world will not be brave in the world by force; People who are good at fighting will not show fierce and aggressive appearance; Those who are good at defeating the enemy will not give the enemy a chance to attack head-on; People who are good at employing people are very modest to others.

Therefore, "saints don't accumulate, thinking that there are many people; Since I'm with someone else, the more I have. Heaven has advantages and disadvantages. The way of a saint, fight for it. "

Saints do not fight for their own interests, but use their interests to achieve others. The greater a man's achievement, the wider his virtue. Saints don't accumulate wealth for themselves, but use it to benefit others. The more people who benefit, the richer he will be. Therefore, heaven is beneficial to all things without harming them; Saints benefit the public and don't argue with others.