The phrase that life is like a dream is also from the book "Zhuangzi", from the second part of the inner part of "Zhuangzi", "The Theory of Things".

Taoism was the first to study the mental world and to study dreams.

Zhuangzi believes that whether it is a dream or a real life, it is the result of the conscious activity of our brain.

All the activities in dreams are thought up by our brains. And in real life, we also think about how to do it and how to say it, and then! We'll just do what we do and what we say.

So! Dreams and reality are the same, they are the result of the brain's consciousness and thinking, and the brain first imagines how to do and how to say it, and then how to do it and how to say it.

So! Life is a big dream!

That's how life comes to life!

In "The Theory of Things", it is said that life is like a dream and there are causes and consequences, not specifically that life is like a dream.

Before saying that life is like a dream, a person named Qu Quezi asked another person named Changwuzi, and it began.

Roughly speaking:

Qu Quezi heard from Confucius' students that someone was talking about Taoism, talking about what Taoism said about supreme people, divine men, saints, and so on. After hearing this, Kong Qiu said that this was nonsense. And Qu Quezi said that he thought it was very good.

Changwuzi did not praise Qu Quezi, but also said Qu Quezi.

said: Even if the Yellow Emperor heard these words, he would be puzzled, and how could Kong Qiu understand it! And! You are also too proud, as if you see an egg and think of a rooster that announces the dawn, as if there is a rooster; When you see a slingshot, you think of grilled turtledove meat, as if you have already acquired a turtledove.

In fact! That's early! He hasn't reached the highest level of Taoist cultivation yet!

The highest state of Taoism is to look at problems, life and world affairs from the height of Taoism. So! If you stand on the level of the Tao, then! You won't be arguing with people, right or wrong, listening to conversations between Confucius and students, and so on.

If we stand on the level of the Tao, there is no concept of life and death.

Why?

In "The Theory of Things", that is, in front of saying "life is like a dream" and Qu Quezi asked Changwuzi, that is, "Fang is born and dies", "Mo Shou is in the dead, and Peng Zu is dying", Zhuangzi has already talked about life and death.

Zhuangzi talks about life and death from the perspective of Taoism, while the world talks about life and death from the perspective of people. The origin of the two is different, and the realm is also different. One stands at the height of the Word, and the other stands at the height of man.

In the case of "life is like a dream", Zhuangzi has lowered the standard and talked about life and death from a human perspective.

Speaking of life and death from the perspective of the Tao is to ask us to look at life and death from a higher height and realm. From the perspective of human beings, life and death are for us to face reality.

So? How do we deal with life and death? Facing life and death from a human perspective?

Zhuangzi said: How do I know that when people live greedily, their lives will be free of confusion and suffering? How do I know that people are afraid of death, is their life like a lost child who doesn't know where home is, doesn't know where he has returned home?

The original text of this passage is: To be evil, to know that life is not to confuse evil? To the evil is to know the evil death, not the weak and the evil who does not know the return!

People are going to die, and we can't avoid it.

Fear of death is like a lost child who doesn't know where home is, doesn't know where he is home. Death is our home, our destiny.

Afraid of death, can we still not die?

And when we live greedily, don't we have confusion and distress?

The greedy life is because when we are young and we have money, we have the protection of our parents and elders. When we are no longer young, when our health is getting worse and worse, when we have no money, when we lose our dependence and care, will we still live greedily?

What's so bad about death?

How do we know that death is bad?

That's it! Zhuangzi also gave an example, saying that there was a woman named Liji, who was the daughter of the people who defended the territory of Aidi, and because of her beauty, the Jin State captured her when they conquered Lirong and did not kill her. She was crying so much that she was soaking through her clothes, thinking she was finished; When she entered the palace of King Jin, was pampered as a lady and slept in the same bed with the Marquis of Jin, and ate delicious dishes, she regretted crying so sadly at the beginning, and almost missed the good days.

A person is afraid of death, is it like this woman named Liji?

So! How do we know if those who died will regret being so greedy in the first place? How do we know if life after death is worse than when we live?

Like Liggie? thought it was over, but he enjoyed the glory and luxury.

The above is Zhuangzi's exhortation that we should face death bravely and not be afraid of death.

After saying this, Zhuangzi began to say that "life is like a dream".

Chuang Tzu said:

People who drink and have fun in their sleep, when they wake up at dawn and face the hardships in real life, and recall the happy life in their dreams, they are likely to cry and cry bitterly;

Those who weep bitterly in their sleep, when they wake up at dawn, go hunting round by round, and when they recall the pain in their dreams, they think it is so ridiculous;

When you are dreaming, you don't know that you are dreaming, thinking that it is real, that it is real life;

Sometimes! I also had a dream in my dream, and when I woke up, I would also tell the good fortune and evil of the dream I just had. When I really woke up, I realized that I had just had a dream within a dream.

When people are most awake, they know that life is like a big dream. The ignorant person, on the other hand, thinks that he is very sober, as if he knows everything and understands everything. In fact! Their lives are no different from dreams.

Whether it is a dream or reality, it is our consciousness and mind that determine our actions. It's because we are aware of it, we think about it, and then we start acting. So, dreams and reality are the same.

Life is like a dream, in the world of dreams and in the real world, sometimes our circumstances are just the opposite!

In the real world, we may be shepherds, but in the world of dreams, we may be kings. In the real world, we may be kings, but in the world of dreams, we may be shepherds.

So! The idea that kings are superior and shepherds are inferior is really shallow!

In "The Theory of Things", Zhuangzi does not specifically say that "life is like a dream", but! The main thing is to criticize Confucius and Confucianism.

Confucius, that is, the sage Confucius in later generations.

In the book "Zhuangzi", it is common to see criticism of Confucius, and often to use Confucius to talk about things, sometimes positively, sometimes negatively.

Let's not care about that, but we have to see the influence of Confucianism on that time during the Zhuangzi period, or in the time of the Zhuangzi's disciples. Confucianism has gained the upper hand, and the influence of Taoism has passed.

So! Zhuangzi should often mention Confucius in order to set the record straight.

Then Zhuangzi said: Confucius and you are both dreaming, living in the world of dreams, fantasizing about the beauty of the future, and being self-satisfied in their hearts. I said that you are dreaming and living in the world of dreams, but in fact I am also dreaming, and what I said above is all dreams.

Why do we live in dreams, or rather in dreams?

That's what Zhuangzi is talking about!

Whether it's a dream or a real life, it's all thought up by the brain.

Why did you come up with all this?

People all over the world say that only with dreams can there be a future!

Zhuangzi asks: Do we need dreams? Do we need a future? Do we need to live so complicated? We are just trying to live, to complete the process of this life!

The key problem is that we imagine a beautiful future, but we can't face the confusion and hardship of real life.

We all only know to live for our dreams, for the future, for a beautiful world in the future, but we don't know to live for ourselves, for the present, and for our life.

The key problem is that we imagine a beautiful future, but we can't face the confusion and hardship of real life. If so! Dreams are deceiving! If so! Then the dreams we weave, the doctrines and ideas of Confucianism and Mohistism, and the hundred schools of thought are all deceitful. Or! It is not the solution to human suffering, it is not the right way to think.

If it is not a lie, it is well-intentioned. So! This kind of thinking is superficial!

Human beings need to have the right philosophy of life, not dreams!

None of us know what we're really living for, then! Being alive is only a shadow of others.

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