This school of philosophy is Taoism. My fate with Taoism seems doomed in the dark. When I was a child, my father told me that the word "Yuan Jing" in my name came from a sentence in Zhuge Liang's Commandments of the Three Kingdoms. I didn't know it until I grew up. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period, the Taoist classic "Wen Zi" appeared in this sentence, "There is no distance without quietness". This wonderful connection guides my life-because I like my name very much, which makes me constantly pursue the artistic conception of "Yuan Jing" and go to Taoism, and get great happiness and pleasure in my life. This perceptual association adds a romantic color to my choice of Taoism, but of course it can't be used to explain why I choose Taoism. I need a rational understanding.
To know why I choose Taoism, we must first understand what Taoism is. Taoism is not Taoism. Taoism is a philosophical school basically formed in the Spring and Autumn Period, and Taoism is a religion established in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Taoism uses Taoist classics to spread the concept of "Tao" in the form of organization, which has a certain relationship with Taoism, but Taoism also has a large number of unique classics. I'm not a Taoist, which means I don't have to worship Taoist gods or hold Taoist ceremonies. In fact, I like all kinds of religions and doctrines very much. Their works are like bright lights hanging in my heart, making the world colorful in my eyes. When I was walking in this colorful garden and enjoying the beauty and fragrance of each flower, I suddenly saw a beautiful butterfly dancing among the flowers. This butterfly comes from Zhuangzi's dream. It flew to me and landed gently in my heart.
The Taoism I chose has contributed to human politics, military affairs, religion, literature, art and health. Idioms commonly used in the world, such as kindness as water, caring for each other, crossing the border, changing in a different place, being at ease, being completely different, and well-known stories, such as "a fool moves mountains" and "worrying about the sky", all come from Taoist classics. Taoism has experienced more than 2500 years of rich development, and now with the deepening of globalization, it has had an impact on the whole world. Taoism has not aroused the fanaticism of believers, but a long stream of water. Even if it is not popular sometimes, it never quits the stage of history. In more than 2500 years, all kinds of things and changes have taken place in the world. The life style and technological level of human beings in each period are completely different, but the existence of Taoism is unchanged in this ever-changing period. People are always studying and understanding Taoism. Taoist classics include not only Tao Te Ching, Zhuangzi, Liezi, but also Guan Yin Zi, Wen Zi, Kang Cang Zi, Incompetent Son, Shu Hua, Tao Xuan Pian, Miao Zhen Jing and Xi Bible. These classics, like ancient sounds floating from distant time and space, reverberate in my heart and have philosophical, literary and historical values.
Now I am still relatively young, and my understanding of Taoism may inevitably be profound or even inaccurate. I just share my reasons for choosing Taoism with you and accept your criticism and correction. There are many reasons why I choose Taoism. There are only three main reasons here.
I choose Taoism because its style is simple and natural. Everything in the world is naturally generated. Taoism sincerely appreciates nature, conforms to nature, and pursues the realm of harmony between man and nature, so that people can fully integrate into nature, get rid of redundant burdens, enjoy pure beauty, and feel relaxed and refreshed. The survival of mankind is inseparable from natural gifts such as sunshine, air, food and water. Although humans can make their own tools, the materials for making tools come from nature, and even the wisdom of making tools is a gift from nature. When people let go of themselves and grasp the laws of nature, they can skillfully follow the trend and improve their destiny. But if people are self-righteous, they will be self-defeating and ridiculed by nature.
Now that human science and technology are developed, heaven and sea can do anything. This kind of development brings convenience to our life, but it also makes people easily have the desire to expand. If people arrogantly destroy the ecological environment and social environment for temporary interests, it will only bring greater disasters to themselves. There is a popular saying that "if you don't die, you won't die". Taoist inaction is not doing nothing, but not doing it deliberately, not thinking about what you are doing all the time, that is, making people "immortal" and thus "immortal" The power of nature is infinite. Even if a part of nature is changed by human beings, nature will operate in its own way on a larger level and change human beings with irresistible force. When people know how to be modest, they will find that nature is not against them, but helping them.
I think Taoism is pantheism in terms of western philosophy. Pantheism means taking nature as god. Theists often accuse atheism of arrogance, because atheism does not believe in god, which will make people unconstrained and do whatever they want; Atheists often accuse theism of making people feel inferior, because theism, a personified god, is moody, and people are afraid that this kind of god will not let go and miss the opportunity. Pantheism regards nature as god, because it obeys nature, so it will not be bound by rules, and because it regards nature as god, not just ordinary natural laws, it will have lofty ideas and will not fall for secular desires.
People who live a simple life will be happy because of contentment. Sensory stimulation, such as material enjoyment, big fish and big meat, brings people happiness that is extremely short-lived. While satisfying the desires of the world, it also aroused more desires. In the process of constantly filling these desires, people will become more and more numb, and they will not be able to experience happiness after their senses are dull. Prosperity is easy to make people vain, cleverness is easy to make people proud, benevolence and etiquette are easy to make people hypocritical, rhetoric is easy to confuse, singing and dancing are easy to make people impetuous, and beautiful appearance is easy to cover up ugly hearts. If people rely too much on these seemingly beneficial things, they will lose their self-nature and bring disaster to themselves. When people are just beginning to live a simple life, they may feel uncomfortable and even painful. Once they get used to simplicity, they will find it much more interesting than pursuing greed, because this kind of life is real, broad and peaceful, which gives people real long-term happiness. If people don't have anything necessary, their hearts will be free and they can find fun anywhere.
Wisdom is not conceived, but realized. With a relaxed and happy mood, we can feel quietly, without eating or playing, and the feeling of happiness will naturally rise from the bottom of our hearts, and the unspeakable happiness will naturally cover us. Transparent and peaceful, with profound artistic conception. We should keep the body and mind orderly and pure, be in harmony with nature, and be integrated with heaven and earth. This overall pleasure of body and mind is far greater than the specific pleasure of the senses.
If Taoism is not named after the word "Tao", then I think the word "destiny" is the most suitable for Taoism. Taoism is to make everything alive, make the world full of vitality, health and progress, and give people vitality and spirituality. Literary and artistic works created with Taoist aesthetics reflect and make people appreciate the booming things, which are neither stiff, arrogant nor too cold; Not radical and crazy, not too hot, but warm and humid, clear and cool, conveying fresh positive energy.
Everything in nature also has morality, which people should imitate. Natural day and night, the four seasons alternate repeatedly, and people's fortune is also transformed into each other, so there is no need to be too persistent about the temporary situation; Natural water flows downwards and presents different shapes in different vessels, nourishing life. People should also strive to be flexible and benefit all beings. The valley of nature is empty, so people should be modest and know the infinite use of "emptiness" and "nothingness"; The sea of nature contains hundreds of rivers, and people should be broad-minded Man and everything live together forever.
I chose Taoism because the pursuit of Taoism is equality and benefiting the people. The world always likes wealth and hates poverty; Love dignity and hate meanness; Love praise, hate abuse; Love beautiful women, hate ugly faces; I like prosperity and hate adversity. This is because people often can't treat each other equally, so they will avoid what is defined as "bad" and flock to what is defined as "good". "Local tyrants, let's make friends." It is this concept of inequality that makes people's hearts fluctuate with the outside world. When they want something, they are tortured by greed. When they want something, they will try their best and work hard. When they don't, they resent it. If they commit crimes when they want something, they will worry that they will be punished and tortured because of fear. If you can't get it, you will never forget it, envy others, and look down on others if you get it; Get carried away when you are proud, and become dejected and despondent when you are frustrated. At this rate, we will never have peace. It would be a great pity to lose precious life for external gains and losses. If we can treat those different things equally like Taoism, we can be detached from things, feel at ease, don't take anything too seriously, and raise an ethereal state of mind. If you don't like it or lose it, you don't have to disturb your inner stability and happiness.
This understanding of equality allows us to accept tolerance and agree with reality. Tolerance is not to appear magnanimous, but to better taste every second of life, which is very realistic for yourself. What needs to be explained here is that the differences between everything must be acknowledged. Men are certainly not women, and adults are certainly not children. These are all differences that must be respected, but we should also have an equal understanding and live with a normal heart. Because we respect different things, we should build men's toilets and women's toilets separately when building public toilets. Because we have an equal understanding, we will not discriminate against women, and of course we will not discriminate against men.
Putting the understanding of equality in the international arena means that countries, big or small, good or bad, promote the disappearance of hegemony; Putting the understanding of equality in China means that everyone in the whole society enjoys equal status and opposes abuse of power for personal gain and corruption. Applying equal knowledge to social activities will naturally pursue the interests of the people, so that the whole society will not run around the top nobles, but as a whole, safeguard the interests of the majority and let the people enjoy happiness. Taoism has Wen Zi and Kang Cangzi's concept of "soldiers in form and meaning", and improvises justice to protect the peaceful people. In other words, the society pursued by Taoism is not a pyramid structure, but a global structure.
The concept of equality has certain enlightenment to the cause of the disabled. This kind of enlightenment not only makes people realize that they should help the disabled, but more importantly, makes people respect their personality. As a disabled person, I am deeply moved and encouraged every time I see the parts in Zhuangzi where the disabled give full play to their strengths, and I will understand that the external things are not so important.
The concept of equality can guide human beings to protect animals and plants. The reason why humans kill animals and destroy plants is of course profit-driven, and I think it is also related to human arrogance. Humans are indeed more advanced than animals, but human life cannot be separated from animals. Animals promote the development of human beings and have unique significance to human science and technology culture. If you harm animals excessively, you will harm human beings themselves. The incompetent son humorously listed many similarities between humans and animals, which made people laugh and think deeply. The significance of plants to human beings is far-reaching, involving all aspects. Their photosynthesis can release oxygen for human beings, and their beautiful posture makes people relaxed and happy, so we should cherish plants.
If we attach too much importance to the apparent strength and admire the so-called strength, we are likely to be confused by the appearance of things, even buried with the so-called "strength" and eliminated and destroyed by natural forces together with the so-called "strength". The understanding of equality makes us understand that hard things are not as powerful as they seem, and weakness can overcome strength. The power of softness is infinite, and Taoism nurtures people with softness.
I choose Taoism, because Taoist thinking is to maintain a balance. Spirit and matter, tradition and fashion, religion and science, self and ego, ideal and reality, future and present, benefiting the people and benefiting themselves, etc. The world always puts forward seemingly multiple-choice questions and presents two sides of things at the same time, which makes people feel at a loss and don't know which side to choose. When feeling the benefits of choosing one side, the world tends to stick to the one who feels the benefits and promote it extremely or extremely. When the disadvantages of this side appear, the world will hate this side extremely, abandon this side, step on the feet that once held heaven and turn to the opposite side. In fact, we can regard this situation as an interesting game, not a problem. Many things in the world have two sides. Although there are many such faces, Taoism classifies many faces in this world as "yin" and "yang", so that we can understand them simply. Taoism allows people to reconcile Yin and Yang, and find a balance between the two sides to unify the contradictory things. A person with Taoist thinking often says "there is both this and that" or "there is neither this nor that". If a person chooses Taoism, he will not turn himself into a group of enemies out of thin air because of this choice. Because Taoism has no goal that must be eliminated and can tolerate opposition, almost no one has hatred for Taoism. A generous Chinese character is not only the name of China, but also the idea that the world should abide by.
Here is an example that I think is very important. People's desires will make people hurt others and commit crimes. Although they will be happy when they satisfy their desires, no one wants to be a victim of others' satisfaction. So many people use benevolence, righteousness, rites and music to suppress the desires of the world. The teachings of each religion are obviously different, and the sects within a religion are also different, but no matter how different they are, no matter how many contradictions there are between them, they all advise people to be good. Although religions do not use the words "benevolence, righteousness, propriety and happiness", these religions and Confucianism can be classified into one category to some extent, and they all cherish benevolence, righteousness, propriety and happiness. Let the world feel the benefits of benevolence, righteousness, propriety and music, carry them forward, keep the society stable under the inspiration of goodness, and form the traditions of all nationalities in the world. But after a long time, these traditions will restrict the development and make the world oppressed by red tape and get no worldly happiness. At this time, some people challenged tradition and advocated indulgence. Under the guidance of these people, the world soon got material enjoyment. Secular happiness at hand is so real and credible that people give up moral norms and pull the world to the abyss of depravity. In this situation where everyone indulges, some people will think of the established tradition, pick it up and make efforts to speak for it.
Taoism has seen through this problem for a long time, and the two-pronged approach not only makes people dissolve their desires, but also makes people abandon ethics. Taoism makes people return to the true nature, while greed and ethics are against the true nature of people. In Taoist classics, there are often contents that analyze the harm of greed and criticize the hypocrisy of ethics. Satisfying desires and sticking to the best can't make people have the highest happiness. Only by understanding nature and conforming to it is the highest happiness. If Confucianism and religion are angels from heaven, and all kinds of ideas that teach people to indulge their desires are demons from hell, then Taoism is an elf from the big forest.
What needs to be pointed out in particular here is that simply looking for a central point between the two contradictory parties is not the embodiment of wisdom. We should choose the right position between the two sides of the contradiction, not the middle position, and sometimes we will take one side. For example, between spirit and matter, it should be biased towards spirit. Because spirit is the core and the key to rule others, and people can take the initiative to grasp and adjust. If the reality is difficult to change, it can only show that the corresponding spirit is difficult to change, but the reality itself is very easy to change.
The above three points are the main reasons why I choose Taoism. Taoist thought is profound and profound, and its connotation is far more than what I wrote, which is worth understanding all the life of the world. Taoism originated from the Chinese nation, and its classics recorded the history of China people. Therefore, China people will feel kind to those classics, and Taoism has given China people cultural confidence. Taoism is the wealth of all mankind, not only in China, but also the wisdom of Taoism can be used all over the world.
The world has created various genres of works for Taoism, such as documentary "Asking about the Building", Yuediao "Lao Zi" (the drama film adapted from this is called "Saint Lao Zi"), film "Lao Zi's Going through the Customs", TV series "Legend of Lao Zi", cartoon "Shoot Without Shooting" and "Lao Zi's Three Hundred Questions about Morality" and so on. In these literary and artistic works, the story about Laozi is not only the reappearance of historical materials, but also the creation of the author, and cannot be completely regarded as the true experience of Laozi.
In my mind, there are traces of various religions and doctrines, and I will use them to express my views. For example, in my article "Three Causes", I used the word "cause and effect" of Buddhism in order to make readers pay attention to the deep-seated reasons and transcend the shackles of the immediate world. I chose not only Taoism, but the essence of each family. This is also determined by the acceptance and tolerance of Taoism. In the new era, Taoism should also be innovated.
Although I don't believe in Taoism, I am willing to promote the concept of "Tao" with Taoists. I want to learn about Chinese studies with Confucian disciples and Buddhist disciples. Spreading truth, goodness and beauty with Muslims, Catholics and Christians; Together with the China * * * production party, we will realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and build the same body of human destiny.
For more than 2,500 years, Taoism has brought countless beautiful scenery to the world, benefiting people of all ages and regions. I believe that Taoism will continue in the future and bring more beauty to the world!