Guben: five colors are eye-catching; Running and hunting are crazy; Rare goods hinder people's travel; Five flavors make people's mouths cold; Five tones make people deaf. It's ruled by saints, not for the stomach, so I'm exhausted.
Five-color blind eyes, five-tone deaf ears, five flavors damage people's tongue, gallop wild people's hearts, and rare things hinder people's walking.
Therefore, the treatment of saints is for the stomach, not for the eyes.
So give up those pleasures and choose to solve these food and clothing problems.
Understanding: The record of this chapter in the real ancient book "The Classic of Virtue and Daoism" is explained as follows:
? The beauty of the five colors makes people shine at first, but too much greed makes people see things in a blur, consumes a lot of energy in the liver, and can lead to fatigue and blindness. The way of self-cultivation is neutralization;
? Running around in the field for a long time catching birds and hunting is exciting, but it is also easy to consume the energy of yang fire and ritual gas in the heart, and the yin fire is strong, which makes people crazy. Rest in winter, learn to fix the truth and adapt to the weather, and raise internal syndrome in winter, and you can't artificially drive the qi in your body, otherwise you will go crazy;
Rare treasures and strange things, although satisfying people's material desires and opening up all aspects of joints, also make people lose the peace of mind and damage the loyalty of the lungs, thus hindering people's behavior activities;
Five flavors (sour, bitter, sweet, spicy and salty) are acquired things, which can make people refreshed and feel comfortable, but they will also destroy the positive energy in the mouth and spleen and stomach.
Although the five tones (Jiao Gong Zheng's upper voice) are pleasing to the ear, excessive love will also lead to the loss of Yang, water, wisdom and qi energy in the kidney, which will lead to deafness.
The rule of saints focuses on enriching the innate material of dantian, and the five virtues can be consolidated, not to satisfy the dependence of acquired consciousness and senses on Yin and Five Elements, but to be subject to Yin and Five Elements. Therefore, it is necessary to get rid of the qi of Yin and Five Elements, such as the qi that leads to scattered injury and fatigue, cultivate the virtue of Yang and Five Elements, hold the yuan and keep the one, and take its root.
In fact, the whole chapter is about how to adjust yourself by eliminating external distractions, so as to achieve the realm of repairing the truth. The Taoist thought of "harming people for the sake of Tao" is also reflected here. The laws of nature advocated by Taoism are actually the most fundamental things that run in our bodies, enriching the innate substances in our bellies and minimizing the sensory control of acquired consciousness. In fact, it can also be understood as Laozi's pragmatic view.
Practical application: Chapter 12 of Laozi actually talks about the philosophy of "serving the stomach". In fact, the original intention is also about how to maintain health and achieve this realm of cultivation. Taoist practice is not penance, but advocating purity and inaction, looking for the similarities between man and nature, and seeking the way of cultivation in the laws of nature. And our acquired consciousness hinders this cultivation. What our eyes see, what our ears hear, what our mouths taste and what our bodies feel should be reduced as much as possible.
? Our world is no longer an era of material scarcity. On the contrary, people's material life is highly rich, which also makes it difficult for many contemporary people to choose. What followed was that people chose many things they didn't need, which also caused great waste to this society. For example, food is one of them. I don't know who invented buffet. Let a person eat several times the original food at a meal (most people will eat much more than the original buffet), which is actually contrary to human nature and natural laws, and also causes a huge waste of food. This is a way to fully tap people's instinctive desires, which is very harmful to people's spirit and body.
? Similarly, music and sports are good things. People who have been engaged in music for a long time will lose their hearing. In addition, people who have been engaged in sports for a long time generally have sequelae of sports injuries. The collection of diluted treasures may be beneficial from a cultural point of view, but I think it should be placed in the national museum, not in private hands. Once they belong to individuals, their possessiveness will be exposed, which is very unfavorable to themselves. Therefore, in fact, the way to cultivate one's morality lies in neutralization. This article "For the Belly" actually talks about cultivating self-cultivation, paying attention to reality, taking only the basics of material, simplifying material needs, enriching spiritual aspects, cultivating moral character and energy, and taking its solid foundation.