Q: Teacher, why do you say don't give guidance and advice to others?
A: Because it doesn't make sense. What we can really help a person is to change his mind and his perception of a thing, to change his own good deeds and his virtues, and only in this way will he change completely, otherwise it is all appearances.
We feel that we can help others, and we feel that we can change something. But you must know that apart from cultivating ourselves and changing ourselves, we have no way to change the state of other people's lives.
There is a sentence in the Analects that says that the path has its praise, but a gentleman will not act according to the way. We've been talking about it for four years, haven't we ever talked about methods?In addition to letting everyone improve themselves, accumulate their own virtues, and let everyone change anything?The saints are preaching, preaching virtue, preaching benevolence and righteousness, and talking about changing themselves. Why not talk about something else?Some people said that their name sounded awkward and wanted to change it. No, because it doesn't make sense. While it makes sense locally, it doesn't make much sense in a broader perspective. There is only one root, and that is self-cultivation.
The more a person knows how to cultivate himself, the less he cares about external things. For example, when I first started in sales, I took business courses and wore an expensive watch, which made me more confident. And I went to Wangfujing in Beijing to buy it, and I felt more confident than Jinan, although it was the same. Does it make sense?Yes. But you know, it's not fundamental. Later, I gradually didn't need these things and I could become confident, and that's the most fundamental thing.
For example, I didn't have confidence without makeup, and I always felt that my temperament was a little worse if I didn't wear high heels. Is it reasonable for people to rely on clothes and horses to rely on saddles?Yes. But when we find that one day we are stronger and more abundant within ourselves, we don't need these things. It's okay to have it, it's okay to have it, it's something that emanates from within. People rely on clothes, and horses rely on saddles, isn't it?Yes, but Maxima doesn't need that.
We can't say that it doesn't work, there is, but it's the icing on the cake, it's an auxiliary role, and if you mistake it for the most fundamental thing, you're putting the cart before the horse. The existence of anything has its value and significance, and we must have the wisdom to see clearly what is the beginning and what is the end. What is a must, what is the icing on the cake, make it clear, we will not mess up, we will not be attached.
When we are not attached, all things can be used by us. For example, bring a watch, it is only used to see the time. But if we cling to this watch, we will find that we are bound by it, and at this time, it is not us who is using it, but it is using us. And so on, for everything.