Chapter 111

During the Tang Dynasty, Taoism developed rapidly for a considerable period of time under the attention of the Li and Tang royal families.

However, in the corresponding debate, the Taoist sect dominated by the Louguan school at that time lost to Buddhism many times in this regard.

This is also in a certain respect, under the influence of this situation, the Taoist sect at that time had to develop a theoretical system - the theory of mind.

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In the early Tang Dynasty, Taoism had deficiencies in the overall and profound aspects of theoretical achievements, and was often at the disadvantage of Buddhism. At this time, the learned people of Taoism took the Huahua Taoist Lao Zhuang as the foundation, absorbed the essence of the Buddhist characters, integrated them, and put forward many new explanations and new concepts on the philosophical issues of the natural universe and social life, forming a new Taoist doctrine and doctrine.

Cheng Xuanying's Taoist heavy thought is its representative. The discussion of Cheng Xuanying's theory of heavy metaphysics mainly has the following three aspects: first, the Xuanhe and Youxuan theories that were deepened and perfected by the Jiangdong Chongxuan schools, the second is the theory of natural independence of Taoism itself, which was transformed and put forward by the metaphysical thought of Guo Xiang of the Wei and Jin dynasties, and the third is the theory of Taoism and truthfulness that deepens the Taoist philosophical theory.

The core of Cheng Xuanying's heavy metaphysical thought is the doctrine of metaphysics and metaphysics. Its content is: the Tao is nameless and formless, unspeakable, but there is no name for the beginning of heaven and earth, there is a name for the mother of all things, nothing and existence, although the name is different, but the same is the way out. This profound and far-reaching state of the Tao is called Xuan. If we can understand this profound meaning of the Tao, we will also open the key to understanding all things in the world.

Cheng Xuanying's theory of true nature actually shows such a logical and spiritual direction: that is, the nature of the Tao is natural and quiet, and all beings who cultivate the Tao are also endowed with the Tao nature and naturally incarnate like all things, so the nature of all beings should also be pure and inactive, but after the nature of all beings is formed, due to the temptation and interference of external objects, they gradually become obsessed with material desires. The mind is confused and loses its nature. The only way to be rescued is to meditate on the path, abandon the interference of objects and images, and realize that although the ten thousand laws are immovable, return to the root and be quiet in the true nature, so as to achieve the path of longevity and long-term vision.

Li Rong is another Taoist priest who has made unique academic research and contributions in the field of Chongxuan thought after Cheng Xuanying.

He is the author of "Notes on Lao Tzu", which has been lost. He believes that the true way is the truth of the extreme, silent, colorless, formless, nameless, that is, it cannot be expressed in words or known with the heart. Yet it can encompass all things, the entire universe. Since the worldly positive way of knowing is not enough to express the existence of the truth, it can only be realized in a negative way of negation. As an entity, the truth is immortal, unafraid of interruption in terms of time, imageless and formless in terms of space, neither prosperous nor decaying in terms of movement and change, and absolutely eternal.

From a philosophical point of view, substance, space-time, and movement are the basic conditions for the existence of things, and the Tao excludes all these conditions, and there is nothing to oppose it, so that the nature of such a true Tao is an unconditional and absolute spiritual entity. Li Rong's interpretation of Taoism as the Truth of Void Extremes was an important contribution to his teachings in Taoism.

Strictly speaking, the theory of mind in Taoism has long had a corresponding argument:

The so-called "sexuality" in Taoism is, first of all, the natural nature of "oneself as oneself". "Lao Tzu" said: "Knowing its male, guarding its female, is the world's stranger." For the world, Changde will not leave, and return to the baby"; Knowing its glory, guarding its humiliation, is the valley of the world. For the valley of the world, Changde is enough, and it returns to Park. "Pu" is an uncut log, which Lao Tzu uses to represent the natural state or original appearance of things, and its opposite is a "vessel" imposed on artificiality.

In the same way, "Su", "Child", "Baby", etc. are nothing more than metaphors of human nature, implying the nature of nature that has not yet been socialized, symbolizing the original and complete nature of human beings. Obviously, it is slightly closer to "the predicate of life".

"Zhuangzi" deepens Lao Tzu's theory of natural humanity through the distinction between "truth" and "falsehood", and he says: "Horses, hooves can trample frost and snow, hair can resist wind and cold, eat grass and drink, and land with their feet crossed, and the authenticity of this horse is also." The "true nature of the horse" mentioned here is the nature of heaven, that is, the "constant" of "no more and no less", "no more and no more, no more and no more, and no more and no more".

Cheng Xuanying called it "the nature of truth". It should be made clear that the opposite of "true" is "false", and the relationship between truth and falsehood is the relationship between heaven and man: "The four-legged cow and horse are the heavens; Therefore, it is said: There is no way to destroy the heavens, there is no reason to destroy lives, and there is no way to be martyred. To be cautious and not to lose is to say the opposite. ”

"True" means naturalness, and "false" means artificial.

"Authenticity" means, first and foremost, the nature of nature. However, the essence of the Zhuangzi on sex must be understood by resorting to the proposition of "I lose me". In fact, this proposition has implied the concept of duality of sex and mind, which also means that "sexuality" in the Zhuangzi vaguely has two meanings, which is the key to discussing the concept of "sexuality" in the Zhuangzi. "Zhuangzi" not only says that "the nature of sex is born" ("Gengsang Chu"), which is close to the old saying that "life is sex", and also says that "the body protects the spirit, each has its own etiquette, and it is called sex", which further deepens the old theory and incorporates the meaning of non-action into it.

In other words, the so-called "true nature" in the Zhuangzi is different from the old saying that "life is sexuality". The statement of "anti-its truth" is "to reverse its temperament and return to its beginning" ("Nature"), and the "beginning" mentioned here is also the "beginning" of "sexual cultivation against morality, and virtue is the same as the beginning". It can be seen that "truthfulness" is "virtue", which solidifies the essence of "Tao" and "virtue".

In short, "Zhuangzi" continues and develops the theory of natural human nature in "Laozi", and refines and shapes the theory of mind implicit in "Laozi" into a more mature theory of mind, with the aim of "false" and "true", so that people can be liberated from the domination of social system and ideology, and return to natural and natural truth.

On the surface, the "sexuality" of nature seems to have nothing to do with value judgments, so it can also be said that the theory of natural human nature is a "theory of absolute goodness" or "theory of super-good and evil of nature". However, the Taoist theory of natural human nature implies the following two value judgments: "natural" and "original" are "good", which means that the natural or natural state or attribute is the most perfect, and it is "good" to maintain the natural state or original appearance, without artificial artificiality.

These two value judgments partly form the basis of Taoist ethics, which aims to achieve spiritual leisure.

The establishment of the theory of the nature of the mind lies in the inevitability that the "nature of nature" repeatedly failed to defeat the Zen doctrine of Buddhism at that time.

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"The Explanation of Taoist Nature" has pointed out that the Taoist Theory of Nature has two levels: natural humanity and non-action mind, the latter is the deepening of the former, or in other words, the concept of "non-action" gives natural nature the depth of mind. The Taoist concept of "wu wei" refers not only to the tranquil spiritual realm of the heart, but also to the state of nothingness of the universe, and also to the political strategy of following the material, but its purpose is not separated from the "heart". In fact, the Taoist theory of mind is based on the idea of "non-action" to construct a unique theory of mind, thus perfunctory the realm theory of "only interacting with the spirit of heaven and earth without ignoring all things". In other words, "non-action" means ignorance, desirelessness, ruthlessness, and joylessness, and it is also the state of mind that "leads to emptiness and keeps quiet".

The Taoist theory of mindfulness is about desirelessness and ignorance from the negative side, and from the positive side, it is about concentrating the mind.

"The Tao often does nothing and does nothing. If the prince can keep it, all things will be self-transformed. I want to do it, and I will make it a nameless simplicity. The nameless simplicity will not want, do not want to be quiet, and the world will be self-righteous. "I do nothing and the people are self-reliant, I am quiet and the people are upright, I have nothing to do and the people are rich, I have no desire and the people are simple." ”

It can be seen that Lao Tzu has attributed "simplicity" to "no desire". Taoism has a deep insight into the alienation of human nature in the Ming process, because the selfish desire and ingenuity that are the opposite of "wu wei", as well as the social system and conceptual form that appear with it, are the fundamental reasons for the decline of the human heart. In this way, Taoism accommodates ignorance and desirelessness in nature, i.e., non-action.

Based on this, "Zhuangzi" gives full play to Lao Tzu's theory, and conceives and describes the "ideal country" of the so-called "world of virtue": "The world of virtue is the same as the beasts, the clan and all things, and the evil is like the gentleman and the villain! ”

In the Taoist view, the hope and ingenuity are the "axes of the cutting nature", the prison of the human heart and the abyss of sin: "The five colors make people blind, the five words make people deaf, the five flavors make people feel refreshed, gallop the field hunting, make the heart crazy, and the rare goods make people obstructive." ”

"Those who have machines must do things by themselves, and those who have organic things must have their hearts." If the heart of the machine is in the heart, then the pure white is not prepared, and the pure white is not prepared, then the god is uncertain, and the god is uncertain, and the Tao is not loaded. ”

The rampant lust and deceit of people seriously erode the hearts of the originally simple people. While criticizing "desire" and "knowledge", Taoists also expressed their appeal to return to the "pure white" mind.

"Lao Tzu" cloud: "There are many husbands and things, and each one returns to its roots." Returning to the root is said to be quiet, and quiet is said to be restored, and "returning to the root is quiet" means that the restoration of human nature must go through the cultivation process of clarity and concentration before it can "return to the roots", that is, "return to nature".

Inaction also means detachment from good and evil, joy, anger, sorrow, and joy. Therefore, inaction not only means unintentional, but also "ruthless". From the debate between Zhuangzi and Huizi on affection and ruthlessness in Zhuangzi and De Chong Fu, we can see that the essence of Zhuangzi's so-called "ruthlessness" is the spirit of freedom that is higher than the outside of things: it is not only liberated from value judgment (right and wrong, good and evil) and returns to its natural nature, but also liberated from emotional entanglements, so as to achieve a tranquil state of mind and a state of tranquility in which "joy, anger, sorrow and happiness do not enter the chest", "the form is like a tree, and the heart is like ashes".

Taoism highlights the naturalness of the origin of sexuality and the quiet and silence of the origin of the heart in a way that is almost "sweeping", thus washing away the dirt of the human heart, opening the cage of human nature, and enabling the human heart to get rid of all kinds of shackles and return to the origin. Therefore, Taoism denies both sensual desires and rational knowledge, criticizing both ritual and righteousness.

If you don't have sex or you don't have sex or you don't have sex about your mind, then you can't see each other between mind and sex. Let's discuss the concept of the Taoist mind.

The two bodies of the mind, that is, the twofold structure of the mind and the distinction between the two levels, are the basis of the Taoist theory of mind. Chapter 49 of Lao Tzu speaks of both "no heart" and "muddy heart", and "no heart" is the opposite of "heart", such as "heart" is "clear and clear" and "no heart" is "obscure";

For example, "Zhuangzi De Chong Fu" cloud: "He is himself." With its knowledge of its heart, with its heart to get its common heart. What is the most important thing?

Obviously, "mind" and "constant mind" are very different concepts, they are different concepts, and these two concepts also divide the two bodies of the mind, that is, the two levels. "Changxin" is the "heart of the heart" mentioned in the four articles of "Guanzi", which is the deep structure of the "heart", and the "heart" is the surface structure, the so-called "heart" and "machine heart".

The concept of "mind" implies the function of reason, which is characterized by "movement", that is, the intention arising from the connection with things, while the "constant mind" or "heart of the heart" is located in the deep layer of the mind, which is characterized by the state of consciousness and the state of mind characterized by "thoughtlessness, forgetfulness and forgetfulness".

To put it simply, the former is equivalent to the intellectual function of the mind, and in the words of the Zhuangzi, it is to chase all things in an extroverted way that "gallops on all things without reversing them", and constructs the knowledge of all things in the universe and the social order and mode of transformation according to the conceptual thinking set by itself.

The latter is equivalent to intuition, inspiration, and inexplicable inner experience and practical wisdom that fall outside the intellect and cannot be grasped by the intellect; in the theory of mind, it is the "true mind" that Cheng Xuanying uses to correspond to the "true nature", and in the theory of knowledge, it corresponds to the truth of the metaphysical Tao that "cannot be seen, heard" and "cannot be thought".

The reason why Taoism divides the "heart" into two layers of "heart" and "constant heart" is because the reason tied to the "heart" cannot approach or grasp the truth of the Tao, and the "body Tao" is not due to the "heart" but also comes from the "heart", so the inspiration, intuition, and understanding are attributed to the deep layers of the heart, which is a place where the gods dwell in silence. This division is analogous to dividing "conscious activity" into "conscious" and "subconscious".

As the most famous Taoist figure in the Tang Dynasty, Sima Chengzhen, his Taoist philosophical thoughts can be summarized as: 1. The theory of Taoism and vitality. It is the Tao that is the origin of all things in the universe. 2. Pay attention to life science and physical cultivation.

He also divided the Taoist cultivation of the mind into seven steps: reverence, succession, heart, simplification, true view, Taiding, and attaining the Tao.

In terms of this division of the mind, Sima Chengzhen can be said to be an important successor and executor of the theory of mind, but in some cases, Sima Chengzhen could not avoid the fact that Taoism fell into a relatively long trough due to the outbreak of the Anshi Rebellion.

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