Wang Shouren (1472- 1529), a native of Yuyao, Zhejiang Province, was known as Mr. Yangming in the world, and later called him Wang Yangming.
Since the Tang Dynasty, many people have broken the rules and studied Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. However, not many people become "leaders" by combining the beauty of all people, and even fewer people can turn knowledge into energy and apply it to practice to achieve great things. Wang Yangming is one of them.
Therefore, he is known as a rare "all-rounder" in the history of China. "History of Ming Dynasty" praised: "In the late Ming Dynasty, civil servants won by fighting, and no one was like Yangming"; Scholars in Qing Dynasty recognized him as a "first-rate figure in Ming Dynasty with outstanding achievements and unique opinions".
-02-
Wang Yangming's main achievement is that he practiced the Confucian concept of "ruling by virtue" and let "ethics" penetrate into the people, thus purifying people's hearts and beautifying customs; Wang Yangming's main military achievements are as follows: First, he put down the "mountain thief" who has plagued Gannan for decades; Second, eliminate the chaos of Zhu; Third, suppress ethnic riots in Guangdong, Guangxi and Hunan.
However, any outstanding official can implement governance; Any excellent general is likely to defeat the enemy in the cold. Wang Yangming's greatest contribution to China and mankind lies in his thoughts. He inherited Lu Jiuyuan's "Mind Theory" and perfected it with his own understanding, forming a unique "Mind Theory" system.
At that time, Zhu and Cheng's Neo-Confucianism had achieved a monopoly position in academic thought and ideology. The Ming and Qing dynasties stipulated that the imperial examination should not exceed Zhu Zhu, and the ideological control became more and more serious. Wang Yangming's "Xue Xin" has become the greatest force to resist "Neo-Confucianism" and break the ideological imprisonment.
Although Wang Yangming's "Mind Theory" was once classified as a "pseudo-theory" and its dissemination was forbidden, it was squeezed by Neo-Confucianism after the lifting of the ban, but it still spread widely and had an important and far-reaching impact on China, Japan, the Korean Peninsula, Southeast Asian countries and even the world.
Zeng Guofan, the first minister of the Qing Dynasty, commented: "Wang Yangming corrected the old atmosphere and opened a new atmosphere, thanks to Yu Xia."
Zuo Tang Zong, who is as famous as Zeng Guofan, also commented: "Mr. Yang Ming is a great man with outstanding achievements, which is beyond the reach of ordinary Confucian scholars."
Du Weiming, a professor at Harvard University, said: "In East Asia for 500 years, the source of Confucianism was Wang Yangming."
-03-
Wang Yangming advocates simplicity, and his "mind system" is not complicated.
First, the heart is the reason.
Thousands of years ago, people knew that there was some mysterious force in the universe that did not depend on people's will. Some people call it "God", some people call it "Tao", some people call it "Heaven" and some people call it "Natural Law".
Fools "worship God", wise men "seek Tao", and scholars study "heavenly principles" and explore laws by scientific means. That mysterious power is no longer mysterious. But the law is implicit in everything, which is easy to explore!
Wang Yangming took an idealistic line and put forward the view that "mind is reason": law is only in your heart, and your heart is justice, so you don't need to look outward, just seek inward.
Under "mind is reason", Wang Yangming further believes that "there is nothing outside the heart". He once used the analogy of looking at flowers: when you don't look at this flower, it dies with your heart. When you look at this flower, the color of the flower suddenly becomes clear. You will know that this flower is not in your heart.
This statement does not seem to prove that there is nothing outside the heart. According to the Buddhist point of view, the heart is empty, "things should come, things should not stay." There is nothing without looking at flowers, but looking at flowers just proves that there is something outside the heart.
However, as Confucius said, "books are not full of words, and words are not full of meaning." No language can accurately express the inner experience of an enlightened person. "Mind is reason" or "nothing outside the heart" is not knowledge, so it is difficult to reason. What does Wang Yangming want to express? That can only be realized by yourself.
One thing is certain: the world you see is not the real world, but the part of the world that your heart can feel and understand; The person you see is not a real person, but an incomplete person you can perceive and imagine in your heart; What you see is not the real thing, but the incomplete thing you can explore and discover.
The real world, the world and the world may be beautiful, but if your heart loses the function of perceiving beauty, what you see is not beautiful, and everything will be colored by your heart. Ordinary people believe that seeing is believing, but enlightened people have experienced it personally. In an instant, the same world actually presents two completely different scenes, heaven, hell, fairyland and earth. The judgments of these two scenes are different, so he suddenly realized that all external objects are "like a dream, like dew, like electricity", and suddenly realized that "the heart is Buddha" or "the heart is reason"
Therefore, don't understand the words of the enlightened person from words. What they tell you is not a truth, but a real experience and a road to enlightenment. It's your wise choice to pass by or flinch. As for pointing out arguments, saying right or wrong, saying good or bad, it is meaningless.
Second, have a conscience.
Wang Yangming believes that there is a Zhong Ni in everyone's heart-there is a saint in everyone's heart, whose heart is like a mirror, and wisdom is connected with God. That saint is your conscience. "Husband and wife know can also, sage know can also. A saint knows what he can't do, and a couple knows what he can't do. "Your conscience is no less than Confucius, Laozi, Mencius and Sakyamuni, and no more than them.
The difference is that they make their conscience spotless, but your conscience is buried in the dust of greed, anger and ignorance, and it only shows its brilliance occasionally. Buddhism says: Buddha is an awakened mortal, and mortal is an unconscious Buddha. The only difference is whether conscience is dusty or not. If you practice hard, sweep away the dust and keep your heart clean, you are a saint.
What are the advantages of being a saint? You will open your eyes and see that the world is beautiful, the world is beautiful, and the world is beautiful. Then, you also know what true happiness is. Trouble and pain will stay away from you. In adversity, there is bodhi in the heart. Living in a humble room is like living in heaven.
But according to the Buddhist point of view, seeking your own happiness is only the Mahayana way, which is the Mahayana way. According to the Confucian point of view, "cultivate one's morality and cultivate one's nature, be calm and calm" is the supreme right path; According to the Taoist view, "saints are impermanent and take the people's hearts as the heart." Without everyone, there would be no saints.
Wang Yangming's "conscience" and "justice" are interlinked. He still inherits the "Tao" of Confucius, Lao Zi and Shi Shi, and advocates that the joy of "ego" should be integrated into the joy of "ego". Because "heaven and earth have the virtue of good life", how can people not take the initiative to express sincere goodwill?
Third, the unity of knowledge and action.
Wang Yangming believes that the knower begins by doing what he knows, and the walker achieves what he knows: it takes only one effort to learn a saint, and knowing and doing are inseparable. Knowing and doing are just one thing, knowing without doing is equal to ignorance; Doing without knowledge equals doing nothing.
Wang Yangming opposes "empty talk". He even thought that "nothing is impossible except a scholar". Learning is inseparable from practice, and it is impossible to learn without practice.
You won't get nothing.
One place is missing a mystery.
Learning can inherit the knowledge of predecessors, but real wisdom can only be realized in practice. Moreover, "practice is the only criterion for testing truth", Li Kui jy and Gui Li, they put an axe together and know who is fake; True and false the Monkey King, pain to the immediate place, then know who is true; True knowledge and false knowledge should also be distinguished from truth in practice.