"How do you understand that?" asked Aman, curiously.

"I......" Xie Lingyun looked up at the bright night sky and the bright moon, the cool breeze was blowing, quite pleasant, he smiled: "I think it is the meaning of heaven and earth that are not benevolent." ”

Ah Man was stunned, and his face was full of questions, "What?"

"Do you know what a dog is?" Xie Lingyun asked. Ah Man became suspicious when he heard this, and replied uncertainly: "It's just a kind of dog." ”

He smiled and nodded: "It's a dog made of straw, not a real dog." The ancient ancestors believed that the spirituality of dogs was high, and when sacrificed, dog meat was a necessary sacrifice to seek blessings. However, after arriving in the Shang and Zhou dynasties, the ancestors felt that the dogs were highly spiritual and loyal, so why did they want to kill them as sacrifices? Isn't it against the way of heaven? Slowly they did not want to use dog meat as sacrifices, but the custom passed down from generation to generation was not to say that they would abandon it, so when they sacrificed, the ancestors had to use grass to make a fake dog instead of a real dog. ”

"Before the dog went to the altar, it was as if the corpse was erected at that time, and everyone was treated with ceremony and regarded as an important sacrifice, and it was not sloppy at all. When the festival is over, everyone crosses the river and demolishes the bridge, throws away the dogs as waste, passers-by trample on them at will, and the common people pick them up and take them home to cook on the fire, and no one cares

Lao Tzu does not say that it is grass mustard, nor does it say that it is dust, but that heaven and earth regard all things as dogs. For what?

The usual interpretation is that the dog is noble when it is used, and it is discarded after use, and everything is actually like this. Just like a flower, it is beautiful when it blooms, but it will wither and wither; The sea will wither, the rocks will rot, and people will grow old, sickness and die. From glory to defeat, heaven and earth will not give another favor to anyone, but let all things complete their own path, and that's it.

Therefore, the birth, death, and creation of all things in the world are natural and accidental, and it is not the will of heaven and earth, nor is it the will of heaven and earth. So heaven and earth are not benevolent, whether you feel unkind and benevolent, or you feel that heaven has no will. ”

After listening to his words, the two of them had already returned to the Xishan Dao Courtyard and walked towards the secluded forest in the south, and Ah Man asked thoughtfully: "If we soar to become immortals, jump out of the Three Realms, and gain immortality, won't we be dogs?"

"Who knows that Lu Dao, maybe the immortals in the sky are also dogs, and they all think that they have gained immortality, but who knows that after hundreds of millions of years, will Lu Dao decay and die again?" Xie Lingyun laughed.

"Hmph, it's enough to live for hundreds of millions of years, and I'm impatient to live any longer. Ah Man waved his hand and asked another question: "Then what does it mean that the saint treats the people as dogs?"

As I said before, it generally means that the saint follows the heavens. Xie Lingyun shrugged helplessly, and said: "I know that you want to ask the dog after using it, is it possible that the saint is also trampled on by the people? If you choose to be benevolent, but there are other questions, does the saint not be benevolent does it mean that the saint is not a human being? ”

Ah Man's eyes widened, and the more he thought about it, the faster he wanted to go crazy, and said angrily: "I'm all stunned by you." ”

"Any kind of interpretation has flaws and contradictions, so this verse is difficult to understand, and this is not counting the "Tao Te Ching" goes on to say, 'Between heaven and earth, it is still stubborn, empty and unyielding, moving and getting more and more.' It is better to be in the middle than to be poor. Na

Isn't there a bellows between heaven and earth? There is silence and emptiness in it, and when you move, qi is born, that is, dependent arising, and the more you move, the more you become and all things are created. ”

Xie Lingyun smiled and said: "In short, you now understand what a dog is, why did Lao Jun choose a dog?" ”

"What, what?" asked Aman, leapingly.

"What are you using the dog for?" Xie Lingyun asked her, and Ah Man rolled his eyes and said, "Didn't you say it just now, the sacrificial sacrifice is used to worship the gods and pray for blessings." ”

"Sacrifice, the right and the sacrifice is to communicate with the upper realm, the blessing is to pray for a better day, the purpose of the whole sacrifice, like the world is pursuing the mysterious answer, the avenue of the door of all wonders?"

Xie Lingyun saw that she didn't understand very well, so he groaned slightly, and said with a smile: "Just imagine, there is a world where there are eight seasons in a year; There is also a world of heaven with ten suns in the sky; There is also a world of heaven where all things fly in the air; There is also a world realm, there is no gold, wood, water, fire, earth, but there are such things that we don't have in this world?"

"I can't think of anything. Man shook his head.

Xie Lingyun continued: "In the words of Buddhism, we are in a small dust in the world of Supo, this dust is a small world, you look at the stars in the sky, almost every one of them is also a small world, a thousand is a thousand worlds, a thousand worlds, a thousand worlds, a thousand worlds, a thousand worlds, a thousand times, a thousand times, a thousand times, a world.

That is, the universe, that is, the 'Tao,' Lao Jun said, 'There are things mixed into congenital birth...... It can be the mother of the world. I don't know its name, but the strong word is said. I don't think so, 'The Tao gives birth to one, one life to two, two to three, three to all things, you say, how many heavens and earth does a Tao have?"

"It's just how many small worlds there are in the Great Thousand World Realm, right......" Ah Man frowned, looking at his ten fingers, it was really not enough......

"I've calculated before, according to Buddhism, it's a billion. Xie Lingyun smiled, looked at the galaxy in the night sky, and couldn't help but sigh with emotion: "It is appropriate to say that our heaven and earth are a speck of dust."

There are many different heavenly realms, we are here in the human realm, do you know the way, in Tushitian, the life expectancy of the heavens is 4,000 years old, but one day and night is equal to 400 years in the world, in other words, 4,000 years old is actually more than 570,000 years old, and if the heavens want to love the clouds and rain, hehe, the hand of the son is fine, the baby is born as an eight-year-old child in the world, and it will be an adult in seven days. ”

"Ahh

"Heaven and earth are not kind, understand?" Xie Lingyun laughed, and then expressed his understanding: "Each heaven and earth of the Tao is different, maybe there are heaven and earth beings who are only ten years old, and they have to shout like you that it is not fair." All these heavens and earths are using their own all things to preach and seek the Tao, and you say that you let the heavens live for 100 million years, and I say that I will let the heavens live for 100 years.

Ah Man was thoughtful again, gritted his teeth and said, "If I am to be Pangu, I will let everyone ...... When men and women like each other, neither of them will change their minds, nor will they like the others."

"Ahem, yes, when you become a heavenly monarch who can open up the world. Xie Lingyun muttered, and said: "In Hua Lotian, there is only happiness and not bitterness, the heavens can enjoy all kinds of wonderful desires as they like, between men and women to clouds and rain, the scriptures say that they smile at each other, that is, the deal, hey, if we think about something, just look at each other, and then the child will be born from our laps, and the life will be like the twelve years old in the world, this is really a glance will also give birth to a child." ”

"Look at your decay, you must be thinking about something bad" Ah Man punched him in the shoulder angrily, now the women in the whole Jinling are Ake, if this is Hua Letian, he walks around the street, isn't there a lot of children?

Xie Lingyun hurriedly turned the topic back and said seriously: "Besides, the sages are not benevolent, Confucius practiced Confucianism in the Lu State, Shang Ying practiced law in the Qin State, and there are Taoists, Mohists, Zongheng Scholars, and Bing Families...... These sons and hundreds of schools, these saints, whether they are full of benevolence and righteousness, or full of fame and fortune, are they not all 'taking the people as dogs?'

They want to realize their ambitions and aspirations, and they want to educate their own ideals and harmony, but who told them that what you think is right, and your vow will make the people happy forever?

"Hey," he said, he couldn't help but sigh, and he actually felt a sense of sadness for the death of a rabbit and a fox, "Lao Tzu wrote 5,000 words, and the Buddha passed down ten sects

You don't have the will to make a vow, in fact, it's a good thing, at least you won't be smart, I think Lao Jun has long expected it to evolve into this, so he said, 'Smell more and be poor, it's better to keep the middle, instead of exhausting the numbers, it's better to follow nature."

"Hmph, I didn't practice sex skills before, you said I was stupid, but now I'm going to practice, and you say that I will be smart" Ah Man was very dissatisfied when he heard it, and his mouth pouted.

"It's not just you, it's me myself. Xie Lingyun smiled.

Ah Man said suspiciously: "Are you saying that you are not sure whether your Three Realms of suffering is good or bad?" Seeing him nod, she was even more puzzled: "Didn't you say that this is the original oath of all the saints, immortals, and Buddhas, why is it bad?"

Xie Lingyun looked at the starry sky, listened to the insects in the forest, and sighed: "What is the avenue, it can't be said, there is no suffering, there is only all happiness in the world, what is it?" We all know that what is good is good, and what is not good is good. ,

I've never been able to figure it out, where is happiness without suffering? Everyone knows that happiness is happiness, and suffering is already so contradictory, I don't know it."

"Alas" Ah Man sighed softly, she was even more confused, and asked, "Then you still ask for the Tao?"

"So, if I become a saint in the world, I will really be a saint who is not benevolent, seeking the Tao is not only to save the beings of the Three Realms, but also because of his own pursuit, Lao Jun said that he did not dare to be the first in the world, which is not unreasonable

"How dare you?" asked Aman.

Xie Lingyun couldn't help but ponder, yes, what is it for, even if he really has the ability to "forever pull out the suffering of the Three Realms", aren't he afraid of destroying the Three Realms? All living beings have no suffering and no happiness, no desire and no desire, no contention and no speech...... What is that

Thinking about it, he didn't have a clue, he smiled: "Newborn calves are not afraid of tigers, I dare now, maybe I won't dare when I become an old cow in the future, try to keep it"

"Then you say, what about my Dao heart?"