Confucian Cultivator Under One Person

Fu Yuan hadn't slept for three days and was extremely tired, but his mind was unusually active, and his emotions erupted like a volcano, one after another, seemingly without end.

Looking at the portrait in front of him, Fu Yuan suddenly wondered why he was so sad?

Where does the sadness come from?

Is it physical or mental?

Where do your emotions come from?

Do you control your emotions, or do your emotions control you?

What would it be like if people had no emotions? Do newborn babies have emotions?

Does Feng Baobao, who is so gentle and calm that she can be like a baby, feel sadness? If so, can she control it?

Is Confucianism really just about controlling emotions?

……

Countless questions flooded his mind, making Fu Yuan feel confused.

Just like the emotions that are usually controlled, the mind that was previously restrained also dispersed at this time, and all kinds of distracting thoughts flooded into the mind.

All the concepts of calmness, peace, tranquility and worry are useless at this moment.

Fu Yuan indulged his various thoughts, subconsciously left home and walked to Old Man Liu's house.

During the time when Fu Yuan first started learning Confucianism, he gradually got started through discussions with Old Man Liu, and now he subconsciously wants to come to him for discussion.

But when he arrived at the door of Old Man Liu's house and looked at the closed gate, Fu Yuan remembered that Old Man Liu had died a long time ago.

Yes, why wasn’t I so sad when Old Man Liu died?

Feelings aren't deep enough? But where do feelings sometimes originate? How do they develop?

Standing in front of Old Man Liu's courtyard, Fu Yuan suddenly felt at a loss.

He walked forward and pushed, but the gate was pushed open with a creaky sound... Fu Yuan then realized that the lock of the gate had been broken for a long time.

I don’t know who broke in and broke the lock.

Fu Yuan didn't care. He walked straight to the tombstone in the corner, sat down cross-legged, and faced the tombstone in silence.

After a long moment, Fu Yuan suddenly chuckled and said, "Old Liu, do you know that your inheritance has attracted so many people's covetousness? Why do you think they would covet something that doesn't belong to them?"

Greed? Where does greed originate and how does it grow? Where do emotions like joy, anger, sorrow, happiness, love, hate, and desire originate?

Fu Yuan didn't expect to get an answer, but just sat cross-legged, supporting his arm with one hand, thinking alone.

……

King Wen was imprisoned and wrote the "Book of Changes", and Confucius was in distress and wrote the "Spring and Autumn Annals".

Qu Yuan was exiled and wrote "Li Sao", Zuo Qiuming was blind and wrote "Guoyu", Sun Tzu was crippled and compiled "The Art of War", Bu Wei moved to Shu and "Lü Lan" was passed down through the ages, Han Fei was imprisoned in Qin and wrote "Shuo Nian" and "Guo Fen".

It is said that these were the actions of saints and wise men out of anger, but in summary, they were all inspired by extremely difficult circumstances.

In other words, they are in an "unavailable" state, their ambitions are destined to be unrealized, and they become angry.

The Analects of Confucius says: If one is not angry, one will not be enlightened; if one is not frustrated, one will not speak out.

Lao Tzu wrote five thousand words, but he still couldn't explain clearly what "Tao" is.

Confucius accepted a lot of disciples and taught throughout his life, but in the end he left behind a sentence "No one understands me", "The only one who understands me is God", only God understands me.

Zhuangzi also said in "On the Equality of Things": After ten thousand generations, one will meet a great sage who understands the answer, and that would be the case if one met him at dawn or dusk. He told a bunch of fables and short stories, saying that only "after ten thousand generations" would someone be able to understand him, but that would also be fleeting like dawn and dusk.

The "Book of Changes" says: The metaphysical is called Tao, and the physical is called Qi.

Whether it is Taoism or Confucianism, the ideas that they really want to express are difficult to explain clearly, and you can only rely on yourself to understand!

Zhuangzi also said that those who are asked about the Tao and get a response do not know it.

There is no need to ask about the Tao, and there is no response when asking. You can only rely on yourself to understand it.

Confucianism is better. It does not blame the heavens or others, but learns from the bottom and strives to reach the top.

But no matter what, the metaphysical truth cannot be described in words, you can only understand it through your own understanding!

Fu Yuan just wanted to catch that bit of inspiration and understand his own principles!

……

Fu Yuan sat cross-legged in front of Old Man Liu's tombstone for a whole day and night. Adding on the fact that he hadn't slept for the previous three days, his energy was really about to reach its limit.

Wang Yangming attained enlightenment in Longchang in an extremely difficult yet extremely peaceful environment.

In the midst of confusion, a flash of inspiration suddenly appeared in my mind.

Fu Yuan suddenly opened his eyes and blurted out, "The Study of the Heart!"

Being neither good nor evil is the nature of the mind, having both good and evil is the movement of the will, knowing good and evil is conscience, and doing good and avoiding evil is the study of things.

The essence of the mind is nature.

From the natural cognition to sadness, and then the intention, the emotion of sadness is born!

The cognition of nature is "knowledge", and the intention is "action". For example, if one likes beautiful things and hates bad smells, it is because the nature recognizes "love" and "bad smells" that the intention to "like beautiful things" and "hate bad smells" arises!

This is the unity of knowledge and action!

The Confucian "keeping to the middle" should be about keeping the heart and nature that is "neither good nor evil", and "controlling" is not about emotions, but about the intentions that are "good and evil"!

What Fu Yuan should really do is to examine his mind. To examine things is to examine his mind. He should delve deep into his own heart and reach the essence of his mind and his nature!

If you keep the mind in check, you can control the movement of your thoughts. If you control the movement of your thoughts, you can selectively take action!

It is as if Fu Yuan guarded the "body of the heart", and the body of the heart recognized "sadness", and the movement of the mind gave rise to the emotion of "sadness". Only by restraining the "mind" can the emotion of sadness be moderate and not excessive, as sadness can greatly harm the body.

After realizing this, Fu Yuan began to rethink his past, not only his previous life, but also this life.

The lump of time that had been lingering in my chest began to boil and erupt...

Everything that the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind perceive in the outside world originates from one's own "intention" and comes from the essence of the mind.

Then, is there anything in this world that is outside of the mind, and is there any principle that is outside of the mind?

Although the eyes see, the source of seeing is the heart.

Although the ears hear, the source of hearing is the heart.

The mouth and limbs move, but the reason for the movement is the heart...

Wherever there is perception, there is the mind!

Once you understand the essence, you will see the skill, and everything inside and outside of yourself will be fully understood.

Fu Yuan felt that all the dust in his heart had been cleared away, his mind was clear and bright, and he no longer had any worries in his heart. His body and mind were clear, and he blurted out: "To establish a mind for heaven and earth, I must establish the heart of my original body!

My heart is the universe, my principles are the principles of heaven... The universe is in my heart!"

The righteous energy in his body surged forward, soaring into the sky and filling the heaven and earth.

The heaven and earth have righteous energy, which is mixed and flowing. Below it is the rivers and mountains, and above it is the sun and stars. In people, it is called Haoran, which is so full that it fills the universe!

At this moment, Fu Yuan clearly felt the righteous energy that was surging from his body and filling the universe.

Starting from the age of six, Fu Yuan cultivated his Qi for ten years with the fifty years of experience he gained in his previous life as his resources. Finally today, he felt the Qi in his body!

This Qi is no longer an illusory concept, but actually exists in the body and radiates between heaven and earth.

With the real Qi, Fu Yuan believed in the existence of Qi. If you believe, Qi will exist.

Turning around and rushing to the second floor, Fu Yuan said, "Come out, you're not hiding in there all the time, are you?"

A girl of about seventeen or eighteen, half her face peeked out from the second-floor balcony, her expression panicked as she blurted out, "What happened to your grandparents was truly an accident. No one did anything wrong!"

Chapter 19 Yuan Shixiao

The Taoist "enlightenment" is different from the Confucian "enlightenment".

One is Tao, two is confusion, and three is karma. Tao cannot be responded to, confusion cannot be solved, and karma cannot be helped. For Taoists, the truth between heaven and earth is there, and everyone can see it. Those who can understand it do not need to be taught, and they will understand it sooner or later. Those who cannot understand it will be useless to teach them.

Taoism pays more attention to "sudden enlightenment" because the Tao is in ants, in weeds, in tiles, in feces and urine... The Tao is everywhere, so the enlightenment of Taoism is also full of uncertainty for those who practice Taoism.

Maybe you can gain enlightenment while going to the toilet?

Therefore, Taoist enlightenment is passive and cannot be controlled by oneself.

On the contrary, Confucianism emphasizes "learning from the bottom and reaching the top", relying on continuous learning and accumulation, and finally reaching the sky. As long as the accumulation is sufficient, one can take the initiative to "ask for the way"... This accumulation is not only the accumulation of knowledge, but also the accumulation of life experience.

That is why Confucianism has the saying "If you are not angry, you will not speak; if you are not frustrated, you will not be enlightened."

Confucian enlightenment is proactive and one can decide the "timing" by oneself.

……

Whether grandpa and grandma's death was an accident or not, Fu Yuan didn't know...

There seems to be a valley in the original book. If you take the wrong route, you will die in various accidents... So even if it is an accident, there is no guarantee that there is no alien intervention.

But Fu Yuan was very clear about one thing: if he couldn't sense the Qi, he would not be qualified to delve deeper!

Mencius said "Do not let your temper get out of control", which means you should not act impulsively and should always stay rational... What would have been the point if Fu Yuan had just made a fuss without caring about the consequences?

If it was really an accident, the medicine field was the village's political achievement and a place where villagers made money. The medicine field had also done Fu Yuan a favor. Moreover, the matter could not be blamed entirely on the medicine field. It was unreasonable to make a fuss. Fu Yuan did something unreasonable, which would only damage his own noble spirit and make him disliked by the whole village.

If it wasn't an accident and there really was an alien involved, what could Fu Yuan, an ordinary person who couldn't sense Qi, do when facing the alien?

Fu Yuan can still use his righteousness to fight against the strange methods used against "sex", but when it comes to attacks on "life", Fu Yuan is just a weakling who can't even tie a chicken!

Therefore, Fu Yuan knew very well that only by sensing Qi, learning some methods of Qi circulation, and becoming an extraordinary person, would Fu Yuan be qualified to delve deeper.

Therefore, Fu Yuan pushed himself to the extreme, with the breath stuck in his chest, on the verge of exploding. In the extreme hardship, he found a trace of tranquility and grasped a bit of inspiration. Summarizing the fifty years of life experience in his previous life and the ten years of Confucian studies in this life, he took the initiative to "ask the Tao" and thus "realize the Tao"!

If you are not frustrated, you will not speak; if you are not angry, you will not be enlightened!

Having a sword in hand but not using it is virtue, and not having a sword in hand is danger. A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall!

……

Looking at the half-exposed face on the second-floor balcony, Fu Yuan remained expressionless and asked, "What's your name?"

"Master Yuan smiled."

"Which sect did you belong to... This is what strangers should ask each other, right?"