I wanted to translate it for you, but it was too long. So I made a copy, hoping to help you, as follows:
Someone asked my husband for advice: "The book "Great Learning" was considered by Confucian scholars in the past to be about the knowledge of 'adults'. I do not presume to say so. I would like to ask you, why is the focus of adults’ knowledge on ‘Ming Ming De’?” Mr. Yangming replied: “The so-called ‘adults’ refer to the kind of people who regard the world as a whole. If someone differentiates between you and me based on body shape, this kind of person is the so-called "little person". They do it intentionally, but the kindness in their hearts is like this. This kind of kindness is integrated with everything in the world. Isn't it just adults who are like this? Even the hearts of villains are not like this. It's just them. He regards himself as a villain, so when he sees a child about to fall into a well, he will naturally feel fear and sympathy. This means that his kindness and the child are still one. Belonging to his own kind, and when he sees birds and beasts making mournful cries or trembling with fear, he will feel unbearable to hear or watch. This means that his benevolence is one with the birds and beasts. Birds and beasts are still spiritual animals, and when he sees flowers, plants and trees being trampled and broken, he will inevitably feel pity and compassion. This means that his benevolence and the flowers, plants and trees are still alive. plants, and when he sees the bricks and slates being broken or smashed, he will inevitably feel regretful. This means that his benevolence and the bricks and slates are also one. This is the kind of virtue in which all things are integrated. , even in the hearts of villains, this kind of character and virtue must exist. This kind of character and virtue originates from the destiny attribute that is born. It is naturally bright and not dark, so it is called "Ming De". His heart has been separated and become narrow and humble, but his benevolence of all things can still be revealed normally like this instead of being eclipsed. This is because his heart is not driven by desire or blinded by selfish interests. When his heart is driven by desire, blinded by selfish interests, conflicts of interests arise, and his anger is overflowing, he will damage things and harm others, doing whatever he can, even hurting his own relatives. , at this time, the inherent benevolence of all things in his heart completely disappears. Therefore, when there is no obstruction of selfish desires, even if it is a villain's heart, its benevolence of oneness with all things is the same as that of an adult; Once there is the obstruction of selfish desires, even if it is an adult's heart, it will be separated and become narrow and mean like the heart of a villain. Therefore, those who devote themselves to adult education are only doing their best to remove the obstruction of selfish desires and reveal the light. Virtue is just an effort to restore the original benevolence of heaven, earth, and all things. It cannot add or subtract anything outside the ontology." Then he asked: "Mingming virtue is indeed very important, but why is it emphasized on 'being close to the people'. ?” The teacher replied: “Mingmingde (showing the innate bright virtue) is to promote the unity of heaven, earth and all things; being close to the people (caring for and caring for the people) is the natural application of the principle of oneness of heaven, earth and all things. Therefore, bright virtue must be reflected in loving the people, and only by loving the people can one show bright virtue. So when I love my father, I also love other people’s fathers and the fathers of everyone in the world. Only when I do this can the kindness in my heart truly become one with my father, his father, and the father of everyone in the world. . After truly becoming one, the bright virtue of honoring parents (filial piety) begins to manifest. I love my brothers, other people’s brothers, and the brothers of everyone in the world. Only when I do this can the kindness in my heart truly become one with my brother, his brothers, and the brothers of everyone in the world. After truly becoming one body, the bright virtue of respecting brothers and loving brothers (tired) begins to be revealed. The same goes for kings and ministers, couples, friends, and even mountains, rivers, ghosts, gods, birds, beasts, and trees. There is no one who does not truly love them. In this way, I can achieve my benevolence of being one with all things. Then my bright virtue will not be unmistakable. Only in this way can we truly become one with the universe. This is what "The Great Learning" says about making bright virtues manifest in the world. It is what "The Great Learning" further talks about about family harmony, national stability and world peace. It is also what "The Doctrine of the Mean" says about giving full play to human harmony. The nature of all things (exhaustive nature). ” Question: “In this case, why is it so important to ‘stop at perfection’? ” Answer: “The so-called ‘perfection’ is the ultimate principle of being virtuous and friendly to the people. The nature of destiny is pure goodness, and its characteristic of being bright and not dark is the manifestation of the goodness, the essence of clear virtue, which is what we call "conscience." The manifestation of the supreme goodness is manifested in affirming what is right and denying what is wrong, whether it is light, heavy, thick or thin, and can be displayed according to the feeling at the time. It is full of change but has no fixed form, but it is not unnatural. It is a thing that is in the natural middle way, so it is the highest form of human rules and physical laws, in which no slight design, gain or loss is allowed. If there is even a little bit of planning, gain or loss, it is just out of selfish thoughts and weak wisdom, and is not the true meaning of the 'supreme good'.
Naturally, if someone is not careful and consistent when alone (he is also very careful when he is alone, and always checks his words and deeds), then who can reach such a level? Later people did not know that the key to achieving perfection lies in our own hearts, but used their own wisdom mixed with selfish desires to speculate from the outside, thinking that everything in the world has its own laws, thus covering up the judgment of right and wrong. The standard has made the simple truth that the heart is the commander become fragmented and torn apart, people's selfish desires are rampant and the just laws of heaven are destroyed, and the education of being virtuous and close to the people has become extremely chaotic in the world. In ancient times, there were people who wanted to make their virtues manifest in the world. However, because they did not know how to stop at the highest good, they made their hearts mixed with selfish desires too inflated and elevated, so they ended up in vanity and emptiness, and failed to align their families, govern their country, and achieve peace. The true content of the world is of no help, as is the case with the two schools of Buddhism and Taoism. Since ancient times, there have been people who wanted to be close to the people. However, because they did not know how to stop at the highest good, they trapped their selfishness in humble trivial matters. Therefore, they spent their energy on playing tricks and tricks, and thus lost the sincere heart of benevolence, love and compassion. This is what utilitarian people like the Five Uncles of Spring and Autumn Period were like. This is all due to the fault of not knowing how to stop at perfection. Therefore, for those who are virtuous and people-friendly, striving for perfection is like drawing a circle with rules, like measuring lengths and lengths, and weighing weights. Therefore, if the square and circle are more than rules, the criterion will be lost; if the length is more than the scale, the measurement will be wrong; if the weight is more than the weighing, the weight will be inaccurate. However, being virtuous and caring for the people does not stop at the highest good, and its foundation no longer exists. Therefore, one should aim at the highest good to be close to the people and make their virtues brighter. This is what is called the cultivation of an adult. " Question: "'Knowing the principle of stopping at the highest good, then one's ambition can be determined; then one's ambition can be determined, and then one's body and mind can be peaceful; only then can one's body and mind be calm, and then one can be content with the current situation; only then can one be content with the current situation. Do things carefully; think about things carefully, and only then can you achieve the state of perfection. ’ What does this statement refer to? Answer: "People just don't know that the best is in their hearts, so they seek it from external things; they think that everything has its own laws, so they seek the best in everything, so they seek the best." The ways and methods of good have become fragmented and complicated, and we do not know that there is a definite direction for pursuing the best. Now that I know that the best is in my heart, and there is no need to look for it outside, my will will have a definite direction, and there will be no shortcomings of fragmentation and confusion. Without fragmentation and confusion, the mind will not act rashly and can be at peace. If the mind is not rash and can be quiet, then in daily life, it can be calm, leisurely and comfortable, and be content with the current situation. Being able to be content with the current situation, then as long as a thought occurs, as long as there is a feeling about something, it is the highest good? Or is it not the best? The conscience in my heart will naturally observe it carefully with the instinct of detailed inspection, so that I can consider things carefully. If one is able to consider things carefully, then his judgment will not be inaccurate, his handling of things will not be inappropriate, and the ultimate good will be achieved. " Question: "Objects have roots and ends. Confucian scholars in the past regarded manifesting virtue as the root and enabling people to cleanse themselves of dirt and become new people forever as the ends. The two are two corresponding parts of inner cultivation and external learning. . Things have a beginning and an end. Confucian scholars in the past regarded knowing and ending with the highest good as the beginning, and ending with behavior as the highest good. This is also the beginning and end of a matter, and the continuity of cause and effect. Is your view of the new people as being close to the people somewhat inconsistent with Confucian scholars’ view of the beginning and the end? ” Answer: “The story about the beginning and end of things is roughly like this. It is not impossible to regard the new people as being close to the people, and to say that showing virtue is the first priority and loving the people is the last priority. But one should not separate the root and the bottom into two things. The root of the tree is called the root, and the branches of the tree are called the end. They are just one object, so they are called the root and the end. If it is said that there are two kinds of objects, then since they are two completely separate objects, how can they be said to be the beginning and the end of each other? Since the meaning of rehabilitating the people is different from loving the people, then the effort of showing virtue and rehabilitating the people are naturally two different things. If we understand that showing bright virtue is to love the people, and only by loving the people can we show bright virtue, then how can showing virtue and loving the people be completely separated from each other? In the past, Confucian scholars said that it was because they did not understand that being virtuous and being friendly to the people were originally one thing, but instead thought they were two different things. Therefore, although they knew that the root and the ends should be one, they had to distinguish them as two things. . " Question: "From 'in ancient times, people wanted to enable everyone in the world to develop their own bright virtues' to 'first of all, they must correct their own behavior. Get a correct and complete understanding. Now I would like to boldly ask you, from "I want to correct my behavior" to "Improvement of my knowledge lies in being able to analyze things and understand their principles", how should we work specifically on the order of learning these cultivation skills? Answer: "This is a detailed explanation of the skills of being virtuous, being close to the people, and striving for perfection." What people call body, mind, thoughts, perceptions, and things are where the order of self-cultivation and study lies. Although they each have their own connotations, they actually refer to the same thing.
The investigation of things, knowledge, sincerity, righteousness, and self-cultivation are the skills of applying discipline in reality. Although they each have their own names, they actually only mean one thing. What is the physical and mental form? This refers to the functions of the body and mind. What is the spiritual clarity of body and mind? This refers to the fact that the body and mind can play a dominant role. What does self-cultivation mean? This refers to the act of doing good and avoiding evil. Can our bodies automatically do good and avoid evil? It must be that the spirit that plays a dominant role wants to do good and eliminate evil, and then the body that plays a specific role can do good and eliminate evil. Therefore, those who wish to cultivate their moral character must first correct their minds. However, the essence of the heart is nature, and nature is inherently good, so there is nothing inherently wrong with the essence of the heart. Then why is it necessary to do the work of upright mind? Because the nature of the heart is not originally unhealthy, but since the generation of thoughts, there are unhealthy elements in the heart. Therefore, anyone who hopes to have a righteous mind must correct the thoughts when they arise. If a good thought arises, it is like loving If you really like it as it is beautiful, if you have an evil thought, really hate it as you hate something that smells bad, then your thoughts will not be dishonest, and your heart will be righteous. However, once thoughts are activated and generated, some are good and some are evil. If we do not clearly distinguish between good and evil in time, we will confuse true and false with right and wrong. In this case, although we want to make the thoughts real and without falsehood, in fact, It is impossible to make it real. Therefore, those who want to make their thoughts pure must work hard to achieve knowledge. 'Zhi' means to achieve, just like the word 'zhi' that is often said to mean 'mourning to mourn'. The Book of Changes says 'knowing to the best', 'zhizhi' means knowing, 'zhizhi' means to achieve. The so-called "reaching knowledge" does not mean expanding knowledge as later Confucian scholars said, but it refers to reaching the conscience that is inherent in my heart. This kind of conscience is the kind of intelligence that Mencius said, "Everyone has a sense of right and wrong." This kind of intelligence that knows right and wrong does not need to think, it knows, it does not need to learn, it can do it, so we call it conscience. This is the attribute given by destiny. This is the ontology of our soul. It is the subject of natural spiritual enlightenment. Whenever thoughts arise, our conscience is aware of them. Whether it is a good thought, only the good conscience in our heart will naturally know; whether it is an unkind thought, only the good conscience in our heart will naturally know. This is the kind of nature that no one can give to others. Therefore, although a villain commits unwholesome deeds, even to the point of doing all kinds of evil, when he sees a gentleman, he will uneasily cover up his evil deeds and try his best to express the good deeds he has done. It can be seen that even the villain's conscience has qualities that he cannot allow to be buried. Today, if you want to distinguish between good and evil and make your thoughts sincere, the key is to act in accordance with the judgment of conscience. Why? Because when a good thought arises, the conscience in people's hearts will know that it is good. If they cannot sincerely like it at this time, or even go against it and stay away from it, then this is treating good as evil and deliberately hiding themselves. A conscience that knows what is good. When an evil thought arises, people's conscience will know that it is not good. If they cannot sincerely hate it, or even implement it into actual actions, then this is treating evil as good and deliberately He hides his conscience of knowing evil. In this case, even though you say you know it in your heart, it is actually the same as not knowing it. So how can you make your thoughts real? Now there is no one who insincerely likes the good intentions known by his conscience, and there is no insincere dislike of the malice known by his conscience. In this way, by not deceiving his own conscience, his thoughts can become true and without falsehood. . However, if you want to use your conscience correctly, how can this be a vague and empty rhetoric? It must have actual content. Therefore, if you want to achieve knowledge, you must work hard on studying things. ‘Things’ means things. Whenever there is an idea, there must be one thing, and the thing to which the idea is bound is called a ‘thing’. ‘Ge’ means correctness, which means correcting what is not correct to make it correct. To correct what is wrong means to get rid of evil thoughts, words and deeds. To become righteous means to be kind, speak kind words, and do good deeds. This is the connotation of the word grid. In "Shangshu", there are sayings like "Ge Yu Shang Xia", "Ge Yu Wen Zu", and "Ge Qi Fei Xin". The word "Ge" in "Ge Wu" actually has both of these meanings. Although people sincerely want to like the goodness known by their conscience, if they do not actually practice the value of goodness in the things where the good intentions are, then the specific things will not be completely corrected, so it can be There is something insincere about the desire to like good. Although people sincerely want to hate the evil that is known to their conscience, if they do not actually eradicate the manifestations of evil in the things where the evil thoughts are, then the specific things will not be completely corrected, so it can be There is something insincere about the desire to hate evil. Now, in the good things that conscience knows, that is, the things where good intentions are, we should actually do good things, so that the good words and deeds will not be imperfect. In the evil things that the conscience knows, that is, in the things where the bad intentions are present, we must truly eliminate evil, so that no evil words or deeds can be eliminated. After this, there will be no uncorrected elements in specific things, and there will be no gaps or gaps in what my conscience knows, so that it can reach the pinnacle of purity and goodness.
From then on, our hearts will be happy and calm, and we will have no other regrets, so that we can truly be humble. Only then will the thoughts generated in our hearts be free of self-deception, and only then can we say that our thoughts are truly honest. Therefore, it is said in "The Great Learning": "When the mind on things is correct, knowledge will naturally be enriched; when knowledge is enriched, the thoughts will become sincere; if the thoughts can be sincere, the mood will remain calm; if the mood can be balanced, the mind itself will be The behavior will be in line with the standards. "Although the effort and organization of self-cultivation have a sequence, the essence of their mental conduct is always the same, and there is really no sequence. Although there is no sequence in the effort and organization of rectifying your mind, there cannot be any shortcomings in maintaining the sincerity and purity of your mind in life. It can be seen from this that the doctrines of investigating things, seeking knowledge, sincerity, and rectifying the mind expound the true spirit of the inheritance of Yao and Shun, and are also the core of Confucius's teachings.