The Theory of Childlike Innocence
Nong Longdong Shan Nong said in the West Chamber: "Those who know should not say that I still have a childlike innocence." If it is impossible to be childish, then it is impossible to do it with sincerity. The heart of a child is absolutely pure and pure, it is the original intention of the first thought. If you lose your childlike innocence, you will lose your true heart; if you lose your true heart, you will lose your true nature. People are not real, and they no longer have their beginnings. A child is the beginning of a person; a childlike heart is the beginning of a heart. The first love of your husband can be lost!
But the innocence of childhood is suddenly lost? In the beginning, hearing and seeing came in through the ears and eyes, and they thought that the Lord was within them, and they lost their childlike innocence. Its length is that the truth comes in through hearing and seeing, but one thinks that the Lord is within it and loses one's childlike innocence. Over time, as we hear and see more and more truths, our knowledge and awareness will become wider and wider. Then we know that a good name is good, but we want to promote it, but our childlike innocence is lost; we also know that an unbeautiful name can be ugly. , but want to cover it up and lose the innocence of childishness. Everything you hear and see about the truth comes from reading a lot and understanding its principles. It is easy for the ancient saints not to read!
However, even if you don’t read, your childlike mind is still at ease. Even if you read a lot, you can protect this childish mind and prevent it from losing its ears. This is not the case if a scholar reads more to understand the meaning and principles and hinders it. If a scholar hinders his childlike innocence by reading too much to understand the meaning, why should a saint hinder the scholar by writing too many books and establishing his words? If the childlike innocence is blocked, it will be expressed in words, but the words will not come from the heart; if it is expressed in political affairs, the political affairs will not have a basis; if it is expressed in words, the words will not reach the goal. The cover contains a beautiful chapter, which cannot be achieved without sincerity. If you want to have a virtuous word, you will not get it.
So what? The childlike innocence is hindered, but the heart of those who come in from outside is to hear and see the truth.
Since you have heard and seen the truth as your heart, all your words are words that come from hearing and seeing the truth, and are not words that come from a child's mind. Although the words work, what does it mean to me? Isn’t it just that the words of a fake person are false, and the things are false and the writing is like writing? Since he is false, everything is false. Therefore, if you use false words to speak to false people, the false people will be happy. If you talk to fake people with fake things, the fake people will be happy; if you talk to fake people with fake stories, the fake people will be happy. If nothing is false, nothing will be false. If everything is fake, how can a dwarf argue? However, even though there are some of the best literature in the world, it is not uncommon for them to be annihilated by fake people and not fully seen in future generations! Why? There is no best literature in the world that does not originate from a child's mind. If a child's mind persists forever, then the principles will not work, and the hearing and seeing will not be established. There will be no writing at all times, no one will not write, and there will be no one who creates physical characters without writing. Why should poems be selected from ancient times, and why should articles be pre-Qin? It descended into the Six Dynasties, and became a modern style; it also changed into a legend, became a court version, became a drama, became "West Chamber", became "Water Margin", became the work of today's great sages, and is the work of great sages and saints. Tao, from ancient times to modern times, cannot be obtained but can be discussed in succession according to current trends. Therefore, because of this, I am inspired by the self-writing of a childlike person. What should I say about the "Six Classics", let alone "Yu" and "Mencius"?
The "Six Classics", "Yu" and "Mencius" were not words of praise by his historians, but they were extremely praised by his ministers. Otherwise, he will be a sloppy disciple, an ignorant disciple, and a memorizer will say that there is a beginning but no end, and he will follow what he sees and write in the book. If you don't pay attention to it after learning, you just think it comes from the mouth of a sage and decide it as a sutra. Who knows that most of it is not the words of a sage? Even if it comes from a saint, it must be done for a purpose, but it is just a matter of illness, and medicines are prescribed at any time to save this class of ignorant disciples and make the disciples Yun Er. It is difficult to determine whether medicine and medicine can fake a disease, so how can we suddenly think that it is the last word for all generations? However, the "Six Classics", "Yu" and "Mencius" are the truth of Taoism and are obscured by fake people. It is absolutely clear that they cannot speak to children's hearts. Alas! I have found a true great sage who has never lost his childlike innocence and can speak to him!
**********
Translation:
Children are the beginning of life; childlike innocence is the source of water for the soul. How can the origin of the soul be lost! So why does childlike innocence suddenly disappear? During the enlightenment period, people will acquire a large amount of perceptual knowledge through hearing, hearing, and seeing. When they grow up, they will learn more rational knowledge. Once these acquired perceptual hearings, hearings, and rational principles enter the owner's mind, The childlike innocence is also lost. As time goes by, the principles and knowledge of what we do are increasing day by day, and the range of perception and awareness is also expanding day by day. Then we understand that a good reputation is good, so we do everything we can to promote it; we know that a bad reputation is ugly, so we go to great lengths to cover it up. , In this way, childlike innocence no longer exists. People's knowledge, knowledge, and principles are all acquired through reading more and understanding more principles. However, the ancient sages were not people who read and understood things! The key is that when saints don’t study, their childlike innocence naturally remains. Even if they read more, they can protect their childlike innocence and not lose it. He is definitely not like that group of scholars, who would stifle their childlike innocence because they read more and know more than others. Since scholars can overshadow their children's innocence by reading too much, why should saints be so keen on writing books and sayings that they can captivate their minds? Once the childlike innocence is blocked, the words he speaks will not be sincere; when he participates in political affairs, he has no sincere starting point; when he writes an article, he will not be clear and smooth. In fact, if a person does not have a beautiful heart and express it with words, and has real talents and learning that are naturally revealed, then he will not be able to hear even a single moral truth from his mouth. Why? It is because the innocence of childishness has been lost, and the principles acquired after hearing and seeing have entered the soul.
Since the original intention is to hear and see the truth, then what you say becomes a replica of the truth, rather than the heartfelt words from a childish heart. Even if he talks nonsense, it has nothing to do with me.
Isn’t this using a fake person to tell lies, do fake things, and write fake articles? Because once a person is based on falsehood, every move he makes will be false. Therefore, telling lies to false people is just to suit his liking. If you tell false things to false people, you will definitely believe them to be true. If you tell false people about false articles, you will definitely believe them. It will definitely be appreciated. This is really true everywhere, and I am happy about everything! The world is full of falsehoods, how can ordinary people distinguish the true from the false? Even if there are wonderful articles in the world, how many of them have been ignored and buried by fake people, and future generations have no way of knowing about them. Why? Because there is no good article in the world that does not come from a childlike heart. If the childlike innocence is always present, those so-called hearings and principles will lose their foothold. Then, anyone in any era and in any genre can write excellent works. For poetry, why must we admire "Selected Works"; for prose, why must we value the Pre-Qin Dynasty. In addition to the poetry of the Six Dynasties, the ancient prose also developed into the legends of the Tang Dynasty, the imperial editions of the Jin Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty dramas, "The Romance of the West Chamber", "Water Margin", and the eight-part essays that are subject to the imperial examination today. Taoists are all outstanding writers of ancient and modern times, and we must not use the order of times as the criterion, focusing on the past and ignoring the present. Therefore, I have the deepest experience with those articles that come from the heart. It is really not necessary to refer to the Six Classics, the Analects of Confucius and Mencius.
The Six Classics, The Analects of Confucius, and Mencius are either the praises of historians or the flattery of ministers. Otherwise, they are also those confused disciples who recall the teacher's words without beginning or end. Some may have a tail but no beginning, or some may be written down and compiled into a book based on fragments of words heard by oneself. Later generations of scholars did not understand this, so they thought they were all incisive theories of saints and regarded them as classics. How do you know that most of these are not the essence of saints at all! Even if there is a saint who really speaks, it is targeted, but it is just a random response to a temporary incident to enlighten those disciples who are not enlightened. Prescribing the right medicine to the right situation and not sticking to one pattern, how can it be regarded as the eternal truth? It is obvious that the Six Classics, the Analects of Confucius, and Mencius have long been used as tools for Taoists to bluff people and as shields for hypocrites to hide themselves. They are absolutely incomparable to heartfelt words from a childlike heart.
Alas! Where can I go to find a true saint with a childlike innocence, and discuss the foundation of composition with him?