Yan Hui visited his teacher Confucius and asked him to promise to be an official.

"Learn and excel! Is that okay? Confucius asked with concern, "Then where are you going to go out?" ”

Yan Hui replied, "I plan to go to defend the country." ”

Confucius was shocked and asked, "Why do you want to go to defend the country and become an official?" ”

Yan Hui said: "Disciple, I heard that the monarch of the country is young and vigorous, impulsive, arbitrary and arbitrary. Dealing with national affairs rashly, I don't think there's anything wrong with my own rashness at all. It does not take into account the overall national strength at all, and uses a large amount of labor to carry out unnecessary construction. Outcome! As a result, the country's grain production could not keep up, causing a nationwide famine, and countless people died from the famine, just like the grass mustard floating in the Great Saw. Loved ones died, and people who returned from going out didn't know where their homes were.

I once heard my teacher say, 'If we govern a country well, we can resign and leave.'" A chaotic country is where we stand out and where we show our talents. Like a good doctor, there are always many patients waiting to be healed in front of his house. I listened to my teacher's teachings and thought about how to govern and defend the country. Maybe? I can gradually restore the country and change the current situation. ”

Confucius said, "Hey! If you must be sent to death, then you will wait to accept the punishment of the country! Those who study Taoism should not have other thoughts, but should be single-minded. If you have other thoughts, your mind will be confused, and it will breed trouble. If there is trouble, it will inevitably bring trouble, and if there is more trouble, you will be sad, and if you have sorrow, you will be hopeless.

In ancient times, those who cultivated the Tao always preserved their own lives first, and then they preserved the lives they had. Now that you are unable to protect yourself, where is the time to stop the tyrant from doing it? You'd better learn how to save your life first!

Do you know how morality is corrupted? Do you know where wisdom comes from?

Moral corruption is due to the fact that people are seeking fame and presenting themselves as moral beings. So! will do whatever it takes to deceive. Outcome! People who are not moral become people who are moral.

That's why it's morally turpitude!

Wisdom comes from strife. In order to fight, in order to defeat the other party, in order to achieve victory, we have to come up with all kinds of methods.

That's where wisdom comes in!

You're also for fame, and I'm for fame. In order to show fame, it can only be my fame that beats yours. Your thoughts are the same, and you want to overwhelm my reputation. So, fame is a mutual tilt. For the sake of fame, slander each other. For the sake of fame, unscrupulous means and deception.

Wisdom is a tool used to fight each other.

So! Fame and wisdom are both fierce weapons, which have brought disaster to human society. So! We who have learned the Tao should not seek fame and show our own cleverness. Be indifferent to fame and fortune, and be wise and foolish.

Although you are virtuous and I believe in you, those who do not know you may not believe in you. You've been with me, and people out there don't know about you. So! Not many people will believe you. You don't want to be famous, but others don't necessarily think so. Do others think that you have come to defend the country for fame and profit?

And you must sell your theory of benevolence and righteousness and your statecraft to the tyrant of the patriotic king, and in doing so, it is as if you are exposing the shortcomings and ugliness of the patriotic monarch to show your virtues. In fact, you are for the king, the country and the people, but you can give people the feeling that you are humiliating people and showing your talents. So! It is not right for you to do this, it will only bring disaster to you. So! For people like you, the world calls you a 'disaster star'.

As a calamity, people will inevitably give you calamity. If you must defend the country, this will inevitably be the result! Imagine? What if the king of the kingdom is a man who values merit and hates haters? Where is the need for you to govern the country? Don't you need someone like you who is against the king to govern?

If you have to go to the Patriotic Profession? You can only refrain from speaking to Wei Jun and be an official who follows others and 'seconds'. Otherwise! Wei Jun will definitely grasp your negligence, and then make a big fuss and attack you. You look at him and blink, anxiously waiting for an opportunity to refute; Your face is pretending to be peaceful, but your heart is inevitably panicked; When you speak, you must first explain and justify yourself. And then! Argue with it again. But you didn't dare to contradict the other party's strong words, and in the end you had to bow down to the other party with a face of submission. Although you dare not agree, you are forced to agree by the oppression of the other party.

What is the use of you doing this like putting fire out of fire and water from water? It will only give Wei Jun one more supporter. What's the use of you doing that? The defense of the country has still not been governed, the status quo of the defense of the country has not been improved, and the suffering of the people is getting worse day by day.

He had a beginning, and you may continue to do so in the future, even endlessly. If you still contradict in the future, you can't justify yourself, and you still insist on your own opinions. So! You will surely die in front of this tyrant.

During the Xia Dynasty, Xia Wei killed the virtuous minister Guan Longfeng; During the Shang Dynasty, the king of Shang killed his uncle Bigan. Why kill them? It is because their moral cultivation overshadows the king. They were courtiers, but they cared for the people more than kings. They were courtiers, but they always disobeyed the king's will and admonished him. So! Their kings overshadowed them because of their high morals, and they rejected them and killed them.

If the reputation of a courtier overshadows the king, what is a king? If a king is not as good as his courtiers to caress the people, then what is a king? It was for this reason that the king found a reason to kill the two of them.

So! This is the result of liking fame. In order to maintain his reputation, the king had to kill all those who affected his reputation. And in order to pursue fame, the courtiers were killed in the end.

In the past, Yao conquered Congzhi and Xu Ao, and Xia Yu attacked Youhu, turning these three countries into ruins, almost all the people died, and the kings of the three kingdoms were also killed. Why did Emperor Yao and Xia Yu do this? The reason for this is that these three countries have continued to use force and covet the land and population of other countries, which has seriously affected the peace of the three countries and neighboring countries.

Before this, Emperor Yao and Xia Yu both wanted to use moral influence to influence them, and as a result! Failed. In desperation, force had to be used.

The fate of these three countries is a good example. This is the result of the pursuit of fame and fortune, haven't you heard me tell you? In the face of fame and interests, no saint can control himself, let alone you? Now that you have decided to go to the defense of the country, then! You must have handled it well, right? All right! Then you can tell me about it? How will you cope? Tell me about it! ”

Yan Hui said: "I maintain the appearance of a courtier, abide by the duties of a courtier, and do not trespass!" Do my job conscientiously and diligently, and when I encounter something that cannot be the master, I will go to the king as a courtier. I'm not overstepping my courtesy, I'm not overstepping my authority, that's okay, right? ”

Confucius said, "Alas! How can this be? Wei Jun has a short temper and often uses the topic to play and exaggerate because of trivial things. And! He is also a man who is good at discerning words and looks, and seeing what people say. Because of this, people dare not disobey him, let alone express their opinions and suggestions. Everything is under Him, and you do what He tells you to do.

Do you think it's enough for you to keep your duty as a courtier? Do you know what Wei Jun wants you to do? You do what you do as a courtier, but what you do is not what the king wants, and you are guilty of it, do you say that you can be a courtier of the land?

What is this called? This person has no moral qualities at all, how can you assist him? What's more! Do you still want to save the patriotic people? Can you save the people of the country? What you're doing seems to be peeking into the country? You?

Even if your sincerity impresses Wei Jun, Wei Jun thinks that you want Wei Guo to become strong, and you are sincere to help him. But he is easy to change, and his temperament is difficult to change! On the surface, I agree with you, but inwardly I don't want to change my mind. You say you? What's the use of your efforts? ”

Yan Hui said, "So? I keep a straight bottom line on the inside, and I look like I'm bowing down on the outside. My bottom line remains the same, to emulate the ancient sages.

My bottom line is: follow the laws of heaven and earth, respond to humanity with the way of heaven, and follow the way of heaven with humanity. All things under heaven are dependent on heaven and earth, the people of the world are dependent on the king, and the courtiers are also dependent on the king.

What does it mean to imitate the way of heaven?

Because! Everything in the world is a part of heaven and earth, just like me. So! Why take your words seriously? Why should I care if others agree or disagree with what I say?

The people who do this, people call them childlike innocence, childlike heart.

What is the innocence of a child, the heart of a child? It is to regard oneself as one thing in heaven and earth, and like all things, it is just one species. Man, like all things, is attached to heaven and earth.

On the outside, he looks like he is bowing down and clinging to the world, with the people around him, and integrating into life. Bow down with a hat in your hand, this is the etiquette of being a courtier, everyone else does this, do I dare not do it? This is to be in the company of the courtiers, to bow down to the king. Do what is within the purview of the courtiers, and you will not be repunished for doing so, right? Is it not the case that a courtier is in the company of his courtiers and is attached to the king?

Those who imitate the ancient sages are in the company of the ancients. Their remarks are very instructive for us, and they hit the nail on the head when it comes to the pros and cons. There has been no shortage of people who have done this since ancient times, and it didn't start with me. In this way, although it is a little straighter, it is not wrong, which is called being in the company of the ancients. Is this okay? ”

Confucius said, "Alas! How can this be? You are too serious, you can't blindly imitate it, where can you imitate it so much? But! If you have to do this, you shouldn't make too many mistakes. Even if you do this, it won't make a big difference, and it won't change reality. Alas! You're a man! Too stubborn, too inflexible! ”

Yan Hui said: "I don't have a better way, teacher, do you have a better way, please tell me." ”

Confucius said, "Fast! I'm telling you! If we do things with our hearts, no matter what we do, it is so easy to succeed? So! The universe wouldn't be so profound. ”

Yan Hui said: "My family is poor, and I have not drunk alcohol or meat for several months. Like me, I guess it's fasting, right? ”

Confucius said, "The fast you are talking about is a fast before the sacrifice, not a 'heart fast'. ”

Yan Hui said: "Ask the teacher!" What is 'Shinsai'? ”

Confucius said, "You must be still and don't think about anything else." Don't listen to the outside world with your ears, but think and comprehend the things with your heart. Don't think and comprehend things in the outside world with your heart, but think and comprehend qi.

Let all the information you hear stop with your ears, and do not go to your heart, and do not take it to heart; The ideals of what comes to mind are clear, and at this point, don't pursue them in reality. Don't go on and on, stop here;

Gas! What is gas? Gas! Air too! Invisible to the naked eye, but it does exist. Like the Word, it is a place that exists, but nothing is seen. This is the void! False! None also! Not! No also! Let yourself have nothing in your heart, no thoughts in your heart, no consciousness in your brain, this is Xinzhai! ”

Yan Hui said: "Before I listened to the teacher's explanation of 'Xinzhai', I was that Yan Hui. Right now! I listened to the teacher's explanation, I was 'fasting', I was not Yan Hui, I didn't know who I was anymore, I forgot myself, I forgot everything before. Teacher? Am I empty? ”

Confucius said, "You have a high level of understanding and a very thorough understanding. I'll extend it to give you a deeper understanding.

No matter where you go, what environment you are in, or who you interact with, don't take yourself seriously, don't take yourself as existential. Don't take face, profit, self-esteem, reputation, etc. seriously. If you can fit into this circle, you can do what you can. If you can't fit into this circle, you should leave quickly and change the environment.

Be an open self and don't build a personal fortress and close yourself off. You think of yourself as an empty house that anyone can accommodate. Why is it open to this extent? Think of yourself as a vacant house? You treat all this as a last resort, as a last resort, as a last resort.

Because! In order to survive, we have to do it.

If you do that, you're almost close to the Tao. You can survive in that environment and mix well.

If you don't leave, you won't leave a trace, and as long as you go, you will leave a trace. Life is the same, it is impossible not to deal with people, it is impossible not to deal with people. Interacting with people will leave a person's traces and expose a person's morality. When a person is instructed or sent, in order to protect himself, he will disguise himself so that he will not suffer a loss. But? When we face the sky, the sky has eyes, and we are all exposed to the sky and cannot disguise ourselves.

So! We want to be true to ourselves! Being an authentic self is more conducive to our survival and to our life in any environment.

I have only heard that you can fly with wings, and I have never heard of flying without wings. Everything has a basis, and so is a person, and a person's character is based on a person's behavior. It is only when one person is heard that he has studied something very well that he really knows and understands it. I have never heard of a person who does not know anything at all, and who has not studied it, who can know and understand it.

Look at the void in front of you and think about your heart: is there nothing in it, like the void in front of you? If so, empty it quickly, including the happy events that make you happy. If you can't empty your inner thoughts and are still thinking nonsense, then it is called "people are absent-minded" and absent-minded.

If what our ears hear and what our eyes see can judge right and wrong without thinking, everything stops at our ears and eyes without thinking with our hearts, and our hearts are empty. If we can reach such a state, then! What else can we not tolerate in our hearts? If we reach this state, only gods and ghosts will come and attach to us.

Of course! If we want to reach such a state, there must be a basis. We must know what the Tao is, man's place in heaven and earth, the meaning of life, and why man lives. Only by understanding these things can we reach such a state. Only then can everything stop at the ears and eyes, empty the heart, and tolerate everything.

Man is a species in heaven and earth, but! Man is different from other things, and man is wise. So! Most people have the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. Yu and Shun both know these truths and follow this truth. So! The people are attached to them. This is also the truth that Fuxi and Jilu have followed all their lives. Let alone! Most of us are dealing with ordinary people! Is it still difficult for us to get along with them? ”