As we all know, Buddhism is the only one of the three major sects in China that is not native. Confucianism believes in "self-cultivation and self-cultivation, ruling the country and ruling the world", "learning to be an official" and "learning to be an official", which is an idea of actively participating in state affairs, seeking people's well-being and embodying their own values. Taoism, like Confucianism, rose in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, and believed in the mentality of "governing by doing nothing" and "Taoism is natural", following the laws of the times and passively managing the world. And Zhong Nanshan-can be said to be the holy land of Taoism.
Zhong Nanshan may not be the birthplace of Taoism, but it is definitely the place where Taoism thrives. There are many Taoist temples here, and at the same time, many Taoist practitioners practice here, and this person I want to talk about in this article-but Master Hou is one of the many hermits who practice in Zhong Nanshan. ? At the same time, he is also known as the first hermit in Zhong Nanshan. It is said that Master Hou has lived in seclusion in Zhong Nanshan for more than thirty years. During these 30 years, the food he ate was simple clear water cabbage. His seclusion is just a simple thatched cottage.
Hide rather than "hide"
There are many people who have lived in seclusion since ancient times. Some people have to live in seclusion in order to avoid war, such as the ancestors of Taohuayuan villagers, who have to live in seclusion in order to avoid war and save themselves. This kind of person can only be called a hermit because he does not emphasize the characteristics of' scholar'.
There are also many kinds of the word "hermit". One is total seclusion, which can also be called true seclusion. This kind of hermit is generally a person who is not interested in being an official. Even if the emperor calls, he will not deal with the government.
There are other kinds of hermits-officials first, then hermits. Generally, this kind of hermit chose to retire because of the darkness of officialdom or because he could not be reused by the emperor. Tao Yuanming is a famous representative of the former. Tao Yuanming chose to live in seclusion because he didn't want to go along with corrupt officials. Then the meson push that clings to the tree can be called a model of the latter.
After these two categories, there are many types of hermits, such as semi-official and semi-seclusion, sudden official and seclusion, false seclusion, anonymous official, helpless seclusion, true seclusion and official seclusion, and seclusion of the dynasty. In today's society, there is no reason to retire, perhaps because of war, perhaps because of the darkness of officialdom, perhaps because of fame and fortune. Therefore, as a society ruled by law living in a stable environment, seclusion in the mountains should be more about pursuing inner peace. But master Hou is such a person.
"King" Zhong Nanshan
Since it is to pursue inner peace or self-cultivation, Mr. Hou believes in Taoist quietism. In order to study and study Laozi's thoughts and life more deeply, and finally reach an ideal state of' if a husband takes advantage of the meaning of heaven and earth and resists the debate of six qi, he will swim endlessly'. He firmly believes that doing the same thing every day, touching and feeling with heart, can reach the realm of detachment over time.
In this way, Master Hou chose Zhong Nanshan, a place far away from the world but most closely connected with Taoism, and began his seclusion. Here, he lives a regular life every day, meditating in the morning and at night, studying Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching.
He believes that with the advancement of time and the improvement of self-cultivation, every time you read the Tao Te Ching, you can get different experiences. During the day, at night, when it rains, when it snows, when it thunders, when it is sunny, when it repeats in spring, summer, autumn and winter, the feeling of reading it at different times is different, and sometimes he can get different feelings at the same time.
Perhaps many of us can't understand this state, but for the master, the different feelings gained by doing the same thing at different or the same time make him feel happy, so he is willing to stay away from the world and concentrate on doing such a thing.
In this way, Master Hou spent more than 30 years in Zhong Nanshan. His living environment here can be said to be very poor. There is no electricity and no communication equipment. In the corner where the master lives in seclusion, there is almost no shadow of modern society.
And his food is only simple water and cabbage. Here, Master Hou follows the laws of himself and nature every day, draws water down the mountain by himself and eats the most insipid cabbage. Besides, his life is meditation and reading Tao Te Ching.
Don't forget your original intention, and be yourself.
Perhaps most people in the world are paranoid. We firmly believe in our way of life. When we find a way of life that is divorced from public cognition, we will relentlessly admonish and attack others. Similarly, the duke's lifestyle is not acceptable to everyone, and some people who don't accept it are extremely violent. They think that Master Hou's behavior is an extremely egoistic behavior. He separated himself from the social family, but he didn't consider the feelings of his family.
The basis for supporting this statement is that during Master Hou's monasticism in Zhong Nanshan, his family went to Zhong Nanshan to look for him, but it was a state of being strangers and taking care of each other. Two completely different lifestyles and two different thinking habits have led to the alienation between the two sides. To them, Master Hou is not a relative known to his family.
However, no matter what the outside world said, Master Hou didn't change anything for this. He still sticks to his way of life and lives a quiet life in a monastery in Zhong Nanshan. With the precious state of mind that "the name of the world is not persuaded, the world is not depressed, depending on the internal and external points, fighting for the realm of honor and disgrace, it is already gone."
Everyone has the right to choose their own way of life, but Mr. Hou's way of life cannot be a reason to be criticized. On the contrary, this spirit of doing the same thing year after year is worth learning.