Liezi's "Zhong Ni III" begins with the introduction of three realms of Confucius' practice, and then tells three stories in succession, introducing the process of Liezi's study as a teacher and his growth in practice.
First, get to know each other: if you are enemies,
Liezi took Hu Qiuzilin as his teacher and Bo Hun as his younger brother, living in the south. There are countless disciples studying with him every day. Although there are many followers, Liezi still feels insignificant.
Liezi is famous for discussing knowledge with his disciples every day. However, he lived next door to Guo Zi for 20 years and never visited each other. I met them on the road and my eyes seemed to miss each other. His disciples and servants thought Liezi and Guo Zi must be enemies.
A disciple of Chu asked Liezi, "Why are you hostile to South Guo Zi?" Liezi said: "Guo Zi is full of appearances, his heart is empty, his ears are deaf, his eyes are blind, his mouth is speechless, his mind is mindless, and his appearance is disease-free." What should I do to visit him? Nevertheless, I tried to see him with you. So I chose forty disciples to go with me.
When I saw Guo Zi, I really lost my soul and couldn't contact him. Looking back at Liezi, it seems that the form and spirit are separated and they can't get along with others. After a while, Nan Guo Zi pointed to Liezi's apprentice and taught him a lesson. He kept talking like a great hero. Liezi's disciples were frightened to disgrace and returned to the dormitory with a puzzled face.
Liezi said: "Those who have attained the Tao are speechless, and those who have reached a certain level are speechless. Speaking without words is also saying that expressing knowledge with ignorance is also knowledge. Silence and ignorance are also words and knowledge, omniscient, omniscient, omniscient and omniscient. That's all. Why are you so surprised?
Feeling: How to express yourself in words, following nature, not seeking fame and fortune, having everything, and having no regrets? Silence is a better education, ignorance is a better guide, no worry is a better promotion, and natural influence is a manifestation of Tao. Why do you have to ask someone directly?
Because there is nothing to ask for and nothing to do. Although there was no contact for twenty years, Liezi did not do it deliberately. It can be seen that Liezi's knowledge is mainly in daily life, constantly improving himself, not being hypocritical, and reaching the realm of inaction.
The second is the "chilling person": "form interpretation" and "reason without hindrance"
Liezi had been studying with the teacher for three years when he first started to learn from him. He dared not say right and wrong in his heart or discuss interests in his mouth, so the teacher glanced at him. After studying for five years, the teacher smiled at him with relief, learned more about right and wrong, and discussed more about his interests. After studying for seven years, I did whatever I wanted, and I became right and wrong. By casual remark, I lost interest, and the teacher called him a deskmate. After studying for nine years, I tried my best to think and speak, but I didn't know that it was about my own right or wrong, and I didn't know that it was about the right or wrong of others, so my inner thoughts and external words and deeds came together.
Then, what the eyes see is like what the ears hear, what the ears hear is like what the nose smells, and what the nose smells is like what the mouth says, which is no different from the nature of foreign objects. Peace of mind, natural openness of the body, and integration of flesh and blood. I can't feel what my body is leaning on, stepping on, thinking or thinking in my words. It's so natural, the truth of life is fully reflected, and there is nothing to hide.
Feeling: Liezi's study is not for empty truth, not for educating others, not for achieving a certain goal, but for practicing. It has reached the state of no self, and can perceive and accept the external world holographically, completely, naturally and openly, and blend with everything to complement each other and quietly gain the influence of nature.
Third, "Passer-by": "Everything travels"
At first, Liezi liked to travel in diplomacy. Hu asked him, "What do you like to play with friends?" Liezi said: "The happiness of making friends is that the things you play are not old." Some people make friends to see what they see; I make friends to observe the law of things changing. Make friends, make friends, no one can tell what the value of making friends is. "
Hu said to him, "Your friends are the same as others, but you say they are different from others! What you see is always its change. The external things that make friends are not old, but you don't know that you will never be old. I want to go out and make friends with foreign things, but I don't know how to look inside. Traveling abroad is to pursue more external things, and introspection is to pursue enough internal qualities. Pursuing inner quality is the highest realm of making friends; Pursuing external material will not reach the highest level of friendship. "
Therefore, Liezi has never been to diplomacy in his life, thinking that he doesn't know how to make friends. Nonsense: "there is a supreme state of making friends!" The friendship of the highest realm has no specific destination, and the vision of the highest realm has no specific object. Everything is interesting and visual. This is what I call making friends, and this is what I call viewing things. So: Have we reached the highest level of friendship? Have we reached the highest level of friendship? "
Feeling: travelers make friends and learn. Liezi's turn and learning are not for material satisfaction, but for internal cultivation, internal governance and self-improvement. "It is difficult for husbands to easily enter the interior." If his inner state of mind, ideas, thoughts, emotions and beliefs are all in a mess, how can he talk about improving his quality and realm? As we all know, internal truth-seeking is the foundation, external truth-seeking is the tool, and internal quality is the foundation of being a man.