Han Wangxi 3. Using one’s mind properly and staying true to the mind Mencius believed that owning a heart of benevolence, righteousness, protocol and wisdom is part of a person’s innate knowledge and good ability and is worthy to be exalted. He said that people are born to love their mother and brothers. People also have inborn moral virtues. Being moral makes a person of dignity, regardless of whether he or she wears luxurious clothes or not. In Wang Yangming’s view, one’s original mind is not perturbed. He said that the original mind is one’s nature and one’s nature is principle. Both human nature and principle are originally unperturbed. Mencius once said, “My heart has been never stirred since I turned 40.” He made the response when someone asked him whether he would be agitated and excited if the king of Qi appointed him as chief minister. Mencius stood firm on his determination to promote doctrines on benevolence and righteousness, so he would not be mentally disturbed. Both Confucius and Mencius insisted on the only one principle — the principle of benevolence, dutifulness and understanding. However, behaving this way has a high demand for the human mind. Mencius’ words strongly described a mentally calm person — “One cannot be corrupted by wealth or power, deviate from principle even in poverty or humble positions, and yield to the threat of force.” Xinxue is profound and subtle, and Wang had his distinctive insights into Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. A normal person is taught to stay tranquil, according to Taoist philosophy. Can I be unafraid of the spreading blaze? Can I be unafraid of the chill when rivers get frozen? Can I keep fearless when swift lightning splits the hills and howling gales shake the sea? How can I achieve to not be affected by anything? It’s only my heart that will help me. Even life and death have no effect on a perfect person, much less the rules of profit and loss, according to Zhuangzi, a Taoist philosopher from the Warring States Period (476-221 B.C.). Mencius said, “A man who fully extends his kindness understands his own nature.” A benevolent person is free of worry because all he thinks is extending kindness, understanding human nature and perceiving proper destiny. Whether he is going to die young or to live to a ripe old age makes no difference to his steadfastness of purpose. This is the spiritual realm of Mencius and Wang. “Tanjing,” (or “The Sutra of Huineng,” a Zen text) is one of the Chinese cultural classics. According to one of the stories in the text, the Fifth Grand Master asked everyone to write a hymn to test their wisdom. Shenxiu wrote “The body is like the Bodhi tree. The mind is like a bright mirror on a stand. Polish it diligently time and again, not letting it gather dust,” while Huineng wrote, “Bodhi needs no tree. The bright mirror is originally pure and clean. Where could there be dust?” When the Fifth Grand Master told Huineng, “One should not be attached to worldly things in order to have a profound understanding of Buddha,” Huineng understood, saying “I didn’t expect that my nature was originally pure, it would never die, it itself was complete and steadfast, and it could generate everything.” Also in the text, the Fifth Grand Master advised Huineng who had become the Sixth Grand Master, and saw him off overnight. Before Huineng was about to cross a river, he said to the Fifth Grand Master, “When people are at a loss, the guide ferries them over; when one is enlightened, one ferries oneself over.” In fact, all our education is about “guiding” and “self-enlightenment.” When evil arises, justice will guide us; when confusion arises, enlightenment will help; when vice arises, goodness will help; when stupidity arises, wisdom will help. The Sixth Patriarch insisted that good thoughts facilitate good things, while evil thoughts induce evil things. These changes all take place upon the transformation of one’s thoughts. Confucianism talks about extending kindness, understanding human nature and perceiving proper destiny. Taoism says that mortals have a heavenly heart, Buddhists insist on Bodhi — one’s realization. These all concentrate on using one’s mind properly and staying true to it. (The author is a cultural scholar.) (Translated by Chen Siqi) | 