Chapter 38 of the Tao Te Ching named the sage Lao Tzu Shangde Energy.
What is virtue!The highest virtue, the most complete and complete virtue, that is, the Buddha nature of the Tao.
Shangde is the meta-quality of selfless dedication to the truth, goodness and beauty, compassion for sentient beings, nurturing sentient beings, and protecting sentient beings.
This is the innate Buddha-nature of spontaneity, self-nature, non-action, non-awareness, and no expectation.
The vast and quadripartite world, all things in the universe, and trillions of living beings are all evolving and reincarnating under the protection of virtue and Taoism on the Great Dao, and they are endless.
What is Lower Virtue?It is the moral code that the spirited beings of the three-dimensional material world abide by and practice. The norm of lower virtue is social, restrictive, purposeful, utilitarian, and selfish, and in essence, it is inferior in comparison with Shangde, and it cannot be called moral.
Tao Te Ching "Tao Te Ching" Tao Jing part, the beginning of the first talk: Tao can be Tao, very Tao. To enable people to have a comprehensive grasp of the Tao.
Similarly, in the part of the "Book of Virtues", the opening chapter first says: Virtue is not virtue, but virtue is virtue. So that people have a comprehensive grasp of Shangde Chunde.
Virtue is not virtue is virtue, and virtue is not loss of virtue is virtue is no virtue.
The understanding and definition of upper and lower virtue should be harmonized"The Tao can be the way, and the very Tao corresponds.
The Taiji Tuyang Fish part corresponds to the three-dimensional material world, and sentient beings practice the common way and practice the lower virtues.
The Yin Fish part of the Taiji diagram corresponds to high-dimensional hidden beings, and what they practice is the virtue of extraordinary Taoism.
The upper virtue is the virtue cultivated by the immortals above, and the lower virtue is the virtue cultivated by the sentient beings below.
Virtue is not lost, virtue is no virtue.
The morality of sentient beings in the lower realm, words and deeds are strictly in accordance with moral norms and etiquette, and it seems to be very virtuous;But this kind of virtue has a selfish purpose, so it is no longer true virtue.
To be virtuous or not to be virtuous is to be virtuous.
Shangde is directly in the Tao, the pure virtue of the avenue, like the Tao without desire and natural nature, without any selfish purpose, and without return. This kind of virtue is integrated in the words and deeds of Shangzhen.
The beings in the lower realm can't feel it, and they don't think it's virtue, so it's true virtue if it's not virtuous.
The upper virtue does nothing and does nothing, and the lower virtue does what it does.
Shangde should follow the road, and do not leave traces after the line.
Under the virtue of the need, after the line of persistent results.
Shangren does not do anything for it, and Shangyi does it for the sake of standing.
Shangde is a complete virtue, a complete virtue, and a perfect virtue.
The lower virtue is the five virtues that are decomposed from the simplicity of the upper virtues, namely benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and faith, so each of the five virtues is incomplete and missing.
Shangren did nothing for it.
Shangren is the first scattered virtue of Shangde (Quande) in the acquired three-dimensional world, which is very close to the goodness of the Tao. Therefore, although the heart of kindness is an acquired virtue and is moved by emotion, it is out of instinct, that is, it has no purpose and does not ask for anything in return.
The righteousness is for it.
Shangyi is a kind of innocent Jinde feeling, and it is the good character of helping the poor and forgetting death.
But this character is born in an acquired environment.
If you don't respond to it, you will do it with your arms.
One of the five virtues is a purely acquired act that has its purpose and result.
This kind of etiquette is not in line with Taoism, and it needs to be cultivated, and the etiquette is for it.
Etiquette is an acquired aspiration, and it does not necessarily get the response of everyone, and it needs to be pioneered, raise their arms and shout, and wake up the people to move forward.
Therefore, the loss of morality followed virtue, the loss of virtue followed by benevolence, the loss of benevolence followed by righteousness, and the loss of righteousness followed by courtesy.
This passage talks about how after people have deviated from the Tao and lost their morality, the energy of the five virtues of human society has fallen step by step.
During the period of the Three Emperors, the avenue traveled the world and ruled the world with the Tao.
During the period of the Five Emperors, the above virtues ruled the world and gods coexisted.
During the Xia, Shang and Zhou periods, the war between man and god did not exist, and virtue did not exist, and the world was ruled by benevolence.
In the feudal period, the world was ruled by etiquette.
* In modern society, human beings no longer know what benevolence, righteousness and propriety are, but only rely on the laws of acquired wisdom to govern the world.
The husband is the one who is faithful, and the head of the chaos is also.
Etiquette is the fire virtue, the fire of the heart, and the heart.
And the salute is the sincerity and sincerity of the Dao heart, which is bright and complete.
Etiquette is not a courtesy, it is selfishness and selfishness.
The selfish interests will inevitably cause dissatisfaction and social chaos.
Virtue is the foundation of faith, and if the etiquette is not true, the faith is insufficient, which leads to chaos.
Those who know before are the flower of the way, and the beginning of foolishness.
Knowledge, knowledge, is the energy of wisdom and virtue.
In modern society, the five virtues are lost. All that remains is the self-righteous and utterly foolish intellect of human beings.
Intellectually oriented, not virtuous, society may become more and more chaotic.
It is to deal with the doctor to deal with its thickness, not to its thinness.
In fact, it is not in its prime. Therefore, go to the other and take this.
This is the Taoist ancestor Lao Tzu's true prescription for modern society and for today's future generations.
With the development of human society to this day, the energy of the five virtues has been lost, and the restraint of moral energy has been lacking, and the society has become more chaotic, full of disasters, and riddled with physical and mental diseases.
The foundation for rebuilding the self-cultivation of the five virtues is to establish faith first, and the land of faith and faith is the foundation for the survival of the other five virtues, and the thicker and more stable it is.
Knowledge, strategy, regulations are rootless trees, waterless flowers. It is necessary to reduce the routines, and realistically, cultivate good water virtues and nourish the physical, mental and social environment.