So, what practical significance does the Analects have for our modern society and modern people's lives?
The real meaning of The Analects is to tell everyone how to live a happy life that we need in our hearts. It is to teach us how to get spiritual happiness in modern life, adapt to daily order and find personal coordinates.
The Analects of Confucius is a quotation recorded by students more than 2500 years ago. These records, mainly based on class notes, were arranged by his students and later became The Analects.
The Analects of Confucius finally conveys a simple and warm attitude towards life. As we all know, there are 3,000 disciples of Confucius, including 72 sages. It was with this simple and gentle attitude towards life that Confucius influenced his disciples. His disciples are all seeds, spreading that attitude and wisdom of life widely.
An Experience of Yu Dan in The Analects of Confucius: The Way of Heaven, Earth and Man
People in China pay attention to change. This change is gradual, and finally reached a state of "God is above the earth".
These six words "Heaven goes to earth, the most holy and the most holy" are actually the personality ideal of China people: there is an idealistic sky that can soar freely without compromising many rules and obstacles in the real world; He also has the ability to be down-to-earth and expand his behavior in this land. People who have only ideals but no land are dreamers, not idealists; People who have only land and no sky are pragmatists, not realists. Idealism and realism are our worlds.
The meaning of man is the same as that of heaven and earth, which are also called "three talents". Only when the qi of heaven and earth is condensed in one's heart can such a powerful force be achieved. The essence of The Analects of Confucius is to integrate the essence of the size of the sky and the thickness of the earth into people's hearts, so that heaven, earth and people become a perfect whole, and the power of people is therefore extremely powerful. We should never forget the strength given to us by heaven and earth.
Confucius' attitude was peaceful, but his heart was solemn. Because there is a powerful force, and that is the power of faith. Confucius is a man who pays special attention to faith.
His student Zi Gong asked, What does a country need to be stable and politically stable?
Confucius replied that there are only three things: enough soldiers, enough food, and the people believe.
First, if the state machine is to be strong, it must have enough troops to ensure it.
Second, there should be enough food to feed and clothe the people.
Third, ordinary people should have faith in the country.
The student said three is too much. If one item must be deleted, which item do you think should be deleted first?
Confucius said, "Go and join the army." We don't want this kind of force guarantee.
Zigong asked again, which one do you want to get rid of?
Confucius told him seriously, "Go and eat." We would rather not eat.
Then he said, "There has been death since ancient times, and people can't stand without faith."
No food is nothing but death. Who will not die from ancient times to the present? So death is not the most terrible. The most terrible thing is the collapse and disintegration of the people after they lost faith in this country.
The true sense of stability and heartfelt recognition of the regime comes from faith. This is a political idea of Confucius, who believes that the power of faith is enough to unite a country.
This story is called "Zi Gong asked about politics" in The Analects of Confucius.
Admittedly, no one wants to live a hard life, but it is impossible to solve the problem of the soul only by relying on the great wealth of material. Our material life is obviously improving, but many people are increasingly dissatisfied. Because he sees that there are always rich classes around him, and there are always things that make him unbalanced.
Everyone wants to live a happy life, and happiness is just a feeling, which has nothing to do with the rich and the poor, but is connected with the heart.
In The Analects of Confucius, Confucius told his students how to find happiness in life. This idea has been passed down to this day and has had a great influence on many famous literati and poets in history. For example, Tao Yuanming is unwilling to bend over for five buckets of rice, which makes everyone feel happy.
Faced with such fierce competition, everyone is trying to develop their own career. The amount of income and position seems to be a sign of a person's success. But the fiercer the competition, the more you need to adjust your mentality and your relationship with others. So, in modern society, how should we behave?
Zi Gong asked Confucius a very big question, "Can you tell me a word that I can practice all my life and benefit forever?"
Confucius said to him in an inquiring tone: "If there is such a word, it is probably the word' forgiveness'."
What is forgiveness? Confucius added an eight-word explanation: "Don't do to others what you don't want others to do to you.". Don't force others to do things you don't want to do. It is enough for people to do this all their lives.
Ceng Zi, a student of Confucius, once said, "The essence of my teacher's lifelong study is the word' loyalty and forgiveness'". Simply put, it is to be yourself and think of others at the same time. Broadly speaking, the word "forgiveness" means that you should not impose on others or hurt them. The implication is that if others hurt you, you should be as tolerant as possible.
However, it is easier said than done to be truly tolerant. Buddhism has an interesting story:
The young monk and the old monk went down the mountain for alms. When they reached the river, they saw a girl who was worried about not crossing the river. The old monk said to the girl, Let me carry you. So he took the girl across the river.
The young monk was too shocked to ask. I walked 20 miles like this, and I couldn't help it. I asked the old monk, Master, we are monks. How can you carry that girl across the river?
The old monk told him lightly, look, I put her down when I carried her across the river. You ran twenty miles behind her back. Why didn't you let her go?
In fact, the truth of this story is the same as that of Confucius. Put it down when it's time to put it down When you tolerate others, you actually leave yourself a large piece of land.
So what is "the benevolent does not worry"? As long as you let your mind be infinite, many things will naturally be small.
In fact, The Analects tells us that we should not only be able to afford and let things go, but also try our best to help those in need. As the saying goes, "Give a rose, there is fragrance in your hand", and giving can make our hearts full of happiness more than taking it.
As we all know, the core and essence of Confucianism, in addition to the word "forgiveness", there is also a word "benevolence".
Fan Chi, a student of Confucius, once respectfully asked the teacher what benevolence was. The teacher only told him two words: "love". Love others is called benevolence.
Fan Chi asked what is wisdom? The teacher said, "Know someone." Knowing people and being kind is called wisdom.
Caring for others is benevolence; It is wisdom to know people and be good at their duties. It's that simple.
So, how to be a caring person?
Confucius said, "If you want to be a man, you want to be a man." . It can be said that the benevolent side is already there. "(The Analects of Confucius Yongye) If you want to build something yourself, you will immediately think of letting others build something; If you want to realize your ideal, you will immediately think of helping others to realize it. Being able to start from the small things around you and push yourself and others, this is the way to practice benevolence and righteousness.
Tolstoy wrote a little fable that a king thinks about three ultimate philosophical questions every day: Who is the most important person in this world? What is the most important thing? When is the most important thing to do? As for these three questions, no one can answer them.
He was depressed. Then one day, I went out traveling incognito, went to a very remote place and lived in a strange old man's house.
In the middle of the night, he was awakened by a noise and found a man covered in blood breaking into the old man's house.
The man said that someone was chasing me. The old man said, then take refuge in me. So I hid him.
The king was too scared to sleep, and then he saw the pursuers coming. The pursuer asked the old man, did you see a man running over? The old man said, I don't know, there is no one else at home.
Later, the pursuer left, and the pursued person said a word of gratitude and left. The old man closed the door and went back to sleep.
The next day, the heavenly king asked the old man, why did you dare to take that man in? Aren't you afraid of being killed? You just let him go. Why don't you ask who he is?
The old man told him lightly that the most important person in the world is the one who needs your help most at the moment. The most important thing is to do it at once. The most important time is now, and there is no time to delay.
The king suddenly realized that all three philosophical problems he had been puzzled for a long time had been solved at once.
In fact, Confucius, Zhuangzi, Tao Yuanming, Su Dongpo, Tagore, these ancient and modern sages, what is their significance? Is to use their life experience to sum up some useful truths for each of us.
They have passed on their vivid life experiences through vicissitudes to this day, which still makes us feel warm; Before the ages, they silently smiled and saw that we still benefited from their remarks.