"Today, it seems that many people are in the 'city'. Looking back, half lucky, half grateful. Looking forward to the future, half fear, half longing. ”
Text: Wu Xiaobo
I never expected to come here one day, as if fate was pulling me.
This is a particularly ordinary small nunnery, formerly known as Huacheng Zen Temple, in the northeast corner of Hangzhou Jingshan Temple, originally a lower courtyard, abandoned for many years, and now has been developed into a secluded homestay. Last summer, my career was in a state of flux, and my friend suggested that I find a place to meditate, so I came here by magic.
"Huacheng" is a Buddhist term. The Lotus Sutra tells a story about a Buddhist master who led his followers to the western heavens to learn scriptures, and the people were exhausted. The mentor conjured up a city and told everyone, "Don't be afraid, don't go back." Now this great city can be stopped and done as you please. If you enter the city, you will be safe and secure. If you can go to the treasure place, you can also get it. ”
The vernacular translation is that the Dharma Master tells the devotees: "You take a good shower and sleep well here, and then ask yourself if you want to move on tomorrow."
China's famous temples and temples, in their southeast, northwest and northwest have set up lower courtyards, many of them are named Huacheng Yuan, for believers from all over the world to temporarily rest, the next day up the mountain to worship.
That day, the moment I stepped into that small nunnery, my whole body trembled, and a voice seemed to ask in the airTomorrow, will you move on?
"Today, it seems that many people are in the 'city'.
Most of the people who have traveled here are similar to me, who have vested interests in economic development in the past, and they have made great or small achievements in their respective fields. Looking back at the way we came, we have gone through hardships, half luck, half gratitude. Looking forward to the future, he is unpredictable, half afraid, half longing.
That moonlit night, sit under the osmanthus tree of the small nunnery, "the courtyard is like the water is empty, and the algae in the water are crossed", this scene is quite similar to the Chengtian Temple, and there is no Su monk in the world. I asked myself: If you went any further, would you have been able to write a better book than The Great Defeat? Can you still encounter a topic like "Thirty Years of Turmoil" that makes your heart ripple?
Or will the things I am about to devote myself to bring more glory or more toil and danger?
Like those believers who continue to follow the Master, do they still have the faith and courage to endure those unprecedented trials? Will they really be able to reach the Treasure House?
It seems that people who set off again from the "Huacheng" must face such torture and possibility:
You may not be able to achieve more than you have achieved in the past;
You may not be able to prove yourself again;
You may not be safer and safer than you are now;
You may even lose something you have gained.
So: Tomorrow, will you move on?
You are in your "city", and I am in my city.
The meaning of "turning the city" actually lies in the thinking itself.
It allows you to take a break and cool down the problem.
It does not eliminate possible risks, but it allows them to be suspended in a quantifiable bellows.
For many people, the moment you leave the "chemical city", whether you go forward or backward, radical or "lie flat", it may be a good choice, the question is simply whether you have found that answer-
What kind of person do you want to be? How would you like to spend the rest of your life?
Shahar is a professor of psychology at Harvard University, and his "Happiness Studies" course is one of the most popular public courses at Harvard. In his book "The Way to Happiness", he divides life into four types: busy, hedonistic, nihilistic, and perceived happiness.
In Shahar's view, the question "Am I happy" itself implies a bipolar view of happiness: either happy or unhappy。In this understanding, happiness becomes an end point. In reality, there is no such end point, and attachment to this misunderstanding can only lead to disappointment and frustration.
Therefore, instead of asking "whether we should enjoy happiness now or in the future", we should ask "how can we have happiness in the present or future?" ”
The people who are in the "city" seem to be worth asking.
On the second day of moving into Huacheng Courtyard, a couple born in the 80s came to see me.
I've known them for many years. The boy is the second generation of Wenzhou from the grassroots, founded a clothing company more than ten years ago, his wife originally taught in middle school, is a literary young woman who likes to write poetry, and later joined the company, husband and wife partner, hand in hand. Two years ago, the company was acquired by a listed company in the north, and the couple successfully cashed out hundreds of millions of yuan.
When they came to see me, they pushed a stroller, which was the first "new product" after the two of them "retired". In the grassy atrium meadow, the husband happily teases his little daughter, caring about golf and Spanish ham. My wife sat next to me and chattered, determined to do it again.
Compared to when I met you, your roles and hobbies seem to have been reversed. I said.
The couple looked at each other and smiled dumbly.
In the evening, I copied the "Lotus Sutra of the Mystic Law" in the Dharma hall of the small nunnery: "The path of Buddhism is long-term, and if you endure hard work for a long time, you can achieve it." ”
I smiled and said to myself: the Buddha is really compassionate, he is not as cruel as Schopenhauer and Camus, and most of the reality of life ends in "If you suffer for a long time, you may not succeed." As Shahar said, happiness never ends, but is a state of mind and a process.
More people, such as you and me, are not Tang monks who have returned from learning scriptures, but Sisyphus who has pushed stones.
I continued to copy the scriptures.
For a while, everything is silent, and the heart is as calm as water.
The author of this article |Wu Xiaobo|LiabilityEdit |He Mengfei.
Editor-in-Chief |He Mengfei. Image sourcevcg