tranquil and desirous of nothing
Chapter 45 of the Tao Te Ching says: “The world is right in tranquillity.” Lao Zi wants to Er Note“ explains: ”The Tao always has no desire to enjoy tranquility, so that heaven and earth are always right. Thus, it is clear that people should learn to cultivate the Way without their own selfish desires and enjoy tranquility, which is in line with the physical nature of the Way.
The Tao, with its quiet nature, is able to fertilize and maintain all things, never thinking about what it should get in return or what it wants to get, and treating all things with no desires. If the human society also adopts the idea of “tranquility” to govern the world and cultivate oneself, the world will be harmonious and peaceful, people will have better rest and recuperation, and life will be sublimated. Therefore, those who study and believe in Taoism should first learn to know tranquility and take constant tranquility as the standard of behavior in order to realize the pursuit of cultivation and attainment of Taoism. For this reason, the Ching Ching Sutra summarizes the essence of Ching Ching by saying, “If a person can be always Ching Ching, heaven and earth will all return to him”. This raises the doctrine of tranquility to a very important level.
Taoism’s doctrine of tranquility corresponds to the turbid movement. The Qing Jing Jing says: “Clearness is the source of turbidity, and movement is the foundation of stillness.” This means that clearness is the source of turbidity, and movement is the condition of stillness. Cultivation, on the other hand, is to return from turbidity to clarity, and from stillness to vividness through cultivation. So that the human heart is clear and quiet, quiet and essence is born, gas is sufficient and God is clear, the prime mover of life is treasured and nurtured, and the quality of life is improved. The relationship and performance of this clear and turbid, static and dynamic, is also the complete performance of the “Tao” of the quiet, “Jing Jing” said: “The Tao, there is clear and turbid, there is dynamic and static. People cultivate the Way, the body to carry out the truth of turbid and clear, dynamic and static, only in line with the meaning of the Way of tranquility. A dogmatic understanding of the quiet, or the dead silence and stillness look at the meaning of the quiet is not fully consistent with the “Tao” meaning.
Then, what kind of practice can enter the realm of true tranquility? Cloud Book Seven Signs“ said: ”specializing in the accumulation of spirit, not mixed with things, is called clear; anti-spirit service gas, peace and immobility, is called quiet”. True Immortal Direct Instruction also says: “Clear means clearing the source of the heart, and quiet means quieting the sea of qi. The source of the heart is clear, then the external objects can not scratch, the nature of the fixed and God.
The sea of qi is quiet, then the evil desire can not be made, the essence of the whole and the abdominal solid”. The core of the law is to think less and have fewer desires. However, in this world, fame and fortune, sound and color are constantly scratching people’s desires, and the turbid movement is endless. However, as a person who cultivates the Way of the Dao, he should not be exactly the same as the people of the world, but should really think about the Way of the Dao, so as to realize less thinking and less desire.
In the Tao Te Ching, it is said, “There is no greater blame than desire.” This means that the greatest cause of disaster is due to lust. Therefore, we should “go to the extreme, go to extravagance, go to Thailand”. That is to say, we should “be free of desire”. The so-called “few desires” means that people should have a correct attitude towards the worldly fame, fortune, sex, wealth and goods, and should not use extreme behaviors to hunt for them, and should not have improper thoughts and excessive extravagance. Excessive desire is not only detrimental to one’s physical and mental health, but also complicates interpersonal relationships and becomes a root cause of social evils. We have to take the behavioral standard of “no desire” as the criterion, and finally reach the highest state of “the Tao is always free from desire and enjoys tranquility”.
