"If people do not do it for themselves, the heavens and the earth will be destroyed", I believe many people know this sentence. But what exactly does this mean? I guess many people have been confused about this. Today, from the perspective of traditional culture, we will thoroughly explain this sentence.
It can be said that I myself have gone through three stages of this sentence, similar to the process of "id-non-self-id".
The "id" stage: "If people do not do it for themselves, the heavens and the earth will be destroyed", that is, the starting point of a person to do everything must be for his own sake. If you don't think about yourself, then heaven and earth will not forgive you, and you can only bring about your own destruction;
"Non-self" stage: "If people are not for themselves, heaven and earth will be destroyed". The word "for" here means "to become" and "to become", and by extension, to abide by one's own essential attributes. This means that if you don't know who you are, and if you don't keep practicing, then there will be no foundation between heaven and earth.
In fact, this level of understanding is much higher than the first stage in terms of philosophy. Who am I? In fact, few people can answer such a simple question. Is your name yours? That's certainly not, and there are those who have the same name as you; Is your body you? It doesn't seem to be either, because the cells of the human body are every 2It's all updated once every 4 years, and it doesn't seem to be its own; Is your soul you? One thought of heaven and one thought of hell seems to have found the answer, but how many people can find their souls?
In fact, in layman's terms, the "self" here can be understood as one's own "life". What is "life"? Everyone takes apart the word "life", which is "one person, one order", that is, a person comes to this world with a password. What's the password? In fact, it is the "birth eight characters" of each of us.
To put it in layman's terms, in fact, we all come to this world with our own scripts. In the words of Confucius, this is called "not knowing one's fate, not being a gentleman." If you don't even know your own script, you can't act it well.
If people don't do it for themselves, heaven and earth will be destroyed", it can naturally be understood that if you don't know your own script, can't act according to your own script, and don't know who you are all day long, then this big stage of life is destined to be smashed.
Of course, with the deepening of understanding, in fact, the understanding of this sentence has gradually returned to the first stage of understanding.
"Self" stage (the third stage): everyone must think about themselves and open up space for themselves, otherwise, heaven and earth will not allow it. "If man is not for himself, heaven and earth will be destroyed", this is not only a law that each of us must abide by, but even a law that all things in the universe must follow. Otherwise, there is no possibility but to perish.
Everything in the universe is ...... from one to two (yin and yang) and two to five (five elements).Evolved in this way, it is simple for us to return everything to the "five elements of yin and yang" to analyze. For example, why does "wood" make "fire"? In fact, I want to let "fire" go to "gold". Why let the "fire" go to the "gold"? Because "gold" wants to overcome "wood" itself. This makes it clear that "Mu" can't beat "Jin" by himself, so he gives birth to a son "Huo" to deal with "Jin" together. In this process, "wood" can only obtain the right to survive in this attribute only if it is "for" its own attributes, that is, constantly concentrating its strength to make fire, and letting the fire contain the "gold" that restrains its own power.
Of course, the five elements restrain each other, and maintain the balance of the universe, which is the procedure for the operation of the entire universe. Everything between heaven and earth, whether we are "humans", we must clearly understand the attributes of the five elements in different time and space, and then, wood should actively make fire, and at the same time, we must set aside strength to restrain the earth; As for the soil, it is necessary to actively produce gold, and at the same time to set aside strength to restrain the water ......And so on.
When we raise logic to the most essential perspective, we will find that "if man is not for himself, heaven and earth will perish" is not only the condition for the survival of individual things, but also the premise for the balanced operation of the entire universe.
Therefore, if we understand it from the perspective of traditional culture, "man is not for himself, and heaven and earth will be destroyed" is about the essence of the operation of the universe, not the literal meaning that everyone understands.
"For oneself" is "selfishness", so is it okay to be selfish? Can you grow into a powerhouse in the universe? Of course not that's what it means.
"Public" and "private" are like "yin" and "yang". From the perspective of the concept of ancient man-made characters, the original writing of the word "private" is the word "厶", which is a circle and circles one's own things; The addition of the word "he" next to it means grain, rice, food and other means of life, and it has become the word "private" that we see now. And what about the "male"? It is "eight" added to the "厶", and this "eight" means "points".
That is to say, take out the "private" that you don't use in exchange for the "private" that the other party doesn't use, this kind of sharing between private and private is "public"; Knowing how to exchange the "selfishness" that you don't use for the "privateness" that others don't use but that is very useful to yourself in the most appropriate way is "for yourself".
After understanding the above truth, and then understanding that "if people are not for themselves, the heavens and the earth will be destroyed", I believe that everyone will be able to draw the correct conclusion. In this way, when everyone reads Lao Tzu said in the Tao Te Ching".Therefore, you think that you are in the world, if you can, you can trust the world; Love is in the world, if it is, it can be suitable for the world. The meaning is even more clear.
Only when you can properly "serve yourself" can you have the opportunity and ability to properly "serve the world", which is the fundamental meaning expressed by Lao Tzu.
gongzhonghao Buyiban.