Text: Ghost Valley Letter.
There is such a conversation recorded in the "Biography".
The apprentice Lu Cheng asked: "The work of the master, if you read a book, you will concentrate on reading, and if you pick up guests, you can be a master of the master."”
Wang Yangming said: "If you are lustful, you will concentrate on lust, and if you are good at good goods, you can be the main one."It is the so-called chasing things, not the main one. The first is the dictatorship and the other is the principle of heaven. ”
This is a very interesting conversation, which can answer many of my friends' doubts about spiritual practice. Before translating, let's have a general understanding of what they mean by "the Lord is one".
In the Confucian ideological system, there are sixteen characters of the heart: the heart of the heart is in danger, the heart of the Tao is only slight, the essence is the only one, and it is allowed to be in the middle of the war. In this sentence, the human heart and the Dao heart are classified. The human heart is characterized by "danger", and the Taoist heart is characterized by "micro". The human heart is dangerous, but the Tao heart is delicate. Those who seek the Tao must adopt the method of "only the essence" to make their words and deeds and conduct themselves in accordance with the impartial and righteous way.
Therefore, the "only essence" method is particularly important. Focusing on "single-mindedness", Lu Cheng's understanding is single-mindedness, so he asked the teacher:
Focusing on the practice of "oneness" is like reading a book and focusing on reading, and hospitality is focusing on hospitality”
Lu Cheng understands that as people now, there is no problem at all, and even from childhood to adulthood, teachers and parents have taught it this way.
However, Wang Yangming said: In my eyes, your views are garbage, harmful, and special for children.
In the past, Ashin thought that Wang Yangming was sophistry, but now it seems that I admit that I was wrong.
found that the apprentice understood wrongly, so Wang Yangming said: If you are lustful, you will be focused on lust, and if you are greedy for money, you will be greedy for money, is this also a dedicated effort?It's just chasing foreign objects, not single-mindedness. Single-mindedness, just focusing on the principles of heaven.
It suddenly dawned on us that we were focusing in the wrong direction, and what we were pursuing was always external objects. How can a person who focuses on the pursuit of beauty and money be regarded as a cultivator?It is nothing more than the pursuit of external objects driven by desire, a soulless skin—material, knowledge, but no conscience.
Therefore, people in the world will be extreme, extreme, and materialistic in their lives. Even learning knowledge is for the sake of chasing material things.
So, what is Heavenly Principles?Wang Yangming replied: The heart is reason. If a human heart has a conscience, it is the principle of heaven.
Regarding Wang Yangming's conscience and knowledge, it is actually not the same thing.
Before the advent of AI, some people may still doubt Wang Yangming's statement, after all, knowledge is very important. But today's access to knowledge is incredibly simple. That is, if you want, you can use artificial intelligence to acquire knowledge as you want.
In this era, the number of books read by any random person far exceeds that of ancient sages. However, you will find that your character and thoughts are not at all on the same level as those of the ancient sages. The material enjoyment of any person surpasses that of the ancients. However, the desire is difficult to settle, people go further and further on the road of desire, and the extraordinary is not satisfied, but more and more empty!
In Wang Yangming's view, the so-called "10,000-hour rule" admired by the world is absurd, if you don't seek heavenly principles, it is a waste of time to exercise for another 10,000 hours. If you don't cultivate your mind, a thousand years will be in vain.
A true cultivator should pursue heavenly principles!Yes, in fact, Wang Yangming also agrees with "removing human desires and preserving heavenly principles". In Wang Yangming's view, if a man wants to become a great weapon, knowledge is not the most critical, ability is not the most critical, and he must understand the word "conscience"!
In this practice, we should seek inward, not inward!
I recently saw a netizen who was certified as a Tsinghua teacher say that the words are black and white, which is extremely naïve. Whether his statements are true or pretended, his actions are far below his academic qualifications. It is not surprising that in today's era, there are still many groups that seem to have education and knowledge who do stupid things, say stupid things, or deliberately do evil.
Sure enough, no matter how much knowledge you have, you may be a fool. No matter how much material you have, indulging in desires is just a stinky skin. For another example, there are many people in the group of teachers and officials who are very worldly, materialistic, and realistic.
You look up to Him, and He reckons against you!They pursue material things, but they forget the responsibility of teaching and educating people and serving others.
Therefore, in Wang Yangming's view, these people who are dominated by material desires are the desires that can walk. No matter how hard you try, you will eventually do nothing, and you will be cocooned and bound to yourself, because you will go in the wrong direction, there will be more and more materials, and your heart will become darker and darker.
In fact, there are only two kinds of people in this world, people with a conscience, and animals without a conscience!