12 Mindfulness Lessons Listened to at Tsinghua University

Chapter 7 Zhang and Relax (3)
The great writer Tolstoy wrote a novel to the effect that there was a poor peasant in Russia. In order to own his own land, he worked hard and used all his available wisdom to finally become a small landlord.But he is not satisfied.One day, he heard that a large amount of land was being sold at a low price in the tribes on the other side of the Volga River, so he rushed there with a servant.Because he is sociable (a generous gift was prepared for the tribal chief), he was allowed to buy unlimited land with limited money: as long as he wanted, he could go from morning to sunset, during which time his feet walked All the land in his circle belongs to him!The Russian was so happy that he ran forward immediately, and didn't start to "circle" until the sun was westward, but it was too late, thinking that if he couldn't make it back to the starting point, he would have to work in vain, and he might have to pay "" For the money to buy the land, he had to run wildly the way he came. As a result, although he ran back to the starting point before the sun set, he died there exhausted.His servant had to dig a hole on the spot and bury him there.At the end of the article, Tolstoy wrote: This peasant's grave is only six arshin feet long and three arshin feet wide!
This greedy Russian, like those who don't understand in life, doesn't understand the meaning of chasing.

When we are hungry, we have to chase. At this time, we are no different from the sheep on the prairie. Our behavior is based on the instinct of animals.But when we don't have to worry about tomorrow's breakfast all the time, when we should draw a line between animals and our animal nature, we sadly find that we are not even as good as an animal.

We are too tired to live.There is no other reason than that we have lost ourselves.

We filled our stomachs, built big houses, and made a lot of money, but left our souls in the cold.It has fallen far behind the pace of our pursuit.

There is such a little story:

A scientific expedition team entered the African tropical rainforest for investigation, and they hired several aborigines as porters and guides.In the first three days, these aborigines walked like flying with tens of kilograms of scientific research equipment on their backs, and the scientific expedition team members could not keep up with their pace when they trotted.The scientific expedition team members were very happy, thinking that in this way, they would be able to reach the base soon, and they would no longer have to worry about raging mosquitoes and lurking poisonous snakes and beasts after arriving at the base.But on the morning of the fourth day, when the scientific expedition team packed up and urged the aborigines to go on the road, the aborigines said nothing and refused to leave.Everyone is very strange, they get along very well these few days, why did they suddenly pick up their picks?The aborigines explained that this is our tradition: after three consecutive days of driving, we must stop and rest on the fourth day, lest our souls fail to catch up with our steps!
Walking with the soul - this is not only the tradition of the aborigines in the story, but also the voice of most modern people.But we think too much, hope too much, have too much material desire, and the soul that is too heavy can't bear too much, so it can't go far, and it will be dropped by our hasty steps.You often hear people say: "I'm so tired, physically and mentally exhausted." In fact, they may not be more tired than a migrant worker, they are just tired and dazed, and this is an inevitable reaction to indulge in materialistic desires.

The famous literary master Qian Zhongshu said: "A happy life is like sugar cubes that lure children to take medicine, and more like an electric rabbit that lures dogs to race in a dog park. The happiness of a few minutes or a few days earns us a whole life. We hope it will come, we hope it will stay, we hope it will come again—these three sentences sum up the entire history of human endeavor." If we knew from the beginning that the pursuit is a never-ending road, we would definitely be caught It was startled.If we knew from the beginning that the chase would not necessarily bring happiness but pain or even disaster, we would definitely slow down our journey.The irony is that we have always been on this road, but never thought of slowing down.

Let the chasing pace stop, this does not affect you to move on.

Put your heavy steps lightly and step forward with your own breath, only then can you walk leisurely and freely, and only then can you go further and better.Those who disregard their physical strength and the law of life will never run ahead of you forever.Liu Xiang's speed is like a gust of wind when he hurdles, but he is not much different from ordinary people when he usually walks. The reason and enlightenment are obvious.

6.Tuning the chords of life
Many Chinese entrepreneurs are actually very tired because they are desperately running on the road of proof.They all move forward under one value.This value is defined by the society and comes from the education of parents, school teachers, CCTV, and newspapers and magazines since childhood.It's like a river, a big tree crosses the river, just this way, countless ants climb along the big tree to see who will get to the other side first - but I even cut down this tree, what else? road?Why should I cross this river?Everyone climbs up under a value system, but I don't have a value system.In this way, I have less anxiety, live a more relaxed life, and am very young. When I am in my [-]s and [-]s, I live like a young man. Everyone is willing to listen to my lectures—maybe that is my destination.

——Zhang Chaoyang (Chairman and CEO of Sohu, once delivered a speech at Tsinghua University)
Mozi was the founder of Mohism during the period of "a hundred schools of thought contend" in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. He had a proud student named Gengzhu, who was a rare talent.However, he was often scolded by Teacher Mozi.One day, Mozi scolded Gengzhu again, and in front of many classmates, this made Gengzhu feel very humiliated. Of course, the main reason was that he felt wronged, so he took an opportunity to express his anger. He asked Mozi unfairly: "Teacher, am I so bad among your disciples that I have to be scolded by your old man every day?" This time, Mozi did not get angry, but patiently guided him to say: "If I want to go up the Taihang Mountains now, in your opinion, should I use a good horse to pull the cart, or an old ox?" Geng Zhu replied: "Is there a question? Everyone knows that a good horse should be used. Mozi asked again: "Then why don't you use an old cow?" Geng Zhu replied: "The reason is very simple, because a good horse is enough to carry heavy responsibilities and is worth driving." Mozi said: "Your answer is absolutely right. So I often scold you, just because you are able to take on important responsibilities, and it is worth my teaching again and again."

This little story fully illustrates the importance of "tightness".The so-called strict teachers lead to excellent students, without the teacher who whips the fast cow tirelessly, even if a person can become a talent, he will be a late bloomer; without the arrogance of a teacher who kills the students from time to time, knocking out the students' problems, even if a person can become a talent. Often relying on talent and being arrogant, causing trouble for the upper body.

Tightness is a must in this world.If we unfortunately do not meet a mentor like Mozi, we must learn to "tighten ourselves".We should use ourselves as an alarm clock, and wind up the clock after a while, so that we can maintain a sense of urgency and aggressiveness at all times.

Tightness is the norm in today's society.Looking at China today, there are busy figures everywhere, ranging from children as young as four or five years old who are still in kindergarten, to gray-haired experts, scholars, and left-behind elderly people.But it is also tightness and busyness that lead to today's beautiful life.Tao Yuanming's casual life may be admirable for an individual, but it is terrible and unimaginable for a country.

Tightness created science, created civilization, and created progress.Tightness, destroying obsolescence, destroying barbarism, destroying backwardness.

However, it is not advisable to be blindly tight. There is a story in "42 Chapters": Shakyamuni Buddha had a disciple named 40 billion ears. He was a typical rich second generation. Where the carpet was laid in advance.Later, 40 billion ears met the Buddha and converted to Buddhism. He practiced very hard. For example, at that time, there was a lesson in Buddhism called "Jing Xing". To put it simply, it was walking outside with bare feet. We don't know the specific use , the Buddhist scriptures only say that 40 billion ears have worn out the soles of their feet in a short time because they have not stepped on the ground before, and the places he stepped on are full of blood.When the Buddha saw it, he said to him: "Your situation is different, you can make an exception, and walk with your shoes on." But 40 billion ears insisted on practicing as hard as everyone else, but after persisting for a long time, he felt that he had not made much progress, so that He retreated and wanted to return to vulgarity and go home.

The omnipotent Buddha naturally knew his intentions in time, so he called him in front of him and asked him: "What did you like most before you became a monk?" Four billion ears said it was "playing the piano".The Buddha asked again: "If the strings are too loose, how does it play?" Four billion ears said: "Either the sound cannot be produced, or the sound is not pure." "Then what if the strings are too tight?" The Buddha continued to ask. 40 billion ears replied: "Then the strings will be broken and the sound will be lost." The Buddha finally asked: "If the strings are not loose or tight, what if they fit?" 40 billion ears suddenly enlightened: "That way you can play beautiful music I have." After that, according to the teachings of the Buddha, he worked hard "neither loose nor tight", and soon attained enlightenment.

No looseness, no tightness - this may seem easy, but it is too difficult to do.I myself have learned musical instruments for a period of time, and I know that even with the help of professional instruments such as string tuners, it is not easy to tune the strings to the ideal state.At least I have tuned out several times myself.

The strings of life are of course even more difficult to tune.Most people in life are either too tight or too loose, and it is difficult to play the concerto of life.Some people obviously shouldn't relax or be idle, but they not only panic when they are idle, but also affect social harmony.Some people may have higher quality, but their looseness may not be real looseness.When others are tight, they are not idle. Their lives are full of low-level interests that cannot change their lives but can only change their character. Get things on the table.

And some people, obviously should be relaxed, but still insist on persisting and persisting under the impetus of inertia, until the day when they can't persist.Those who can persist are not necessarily better.There is a catchphrase in the new era—a chicken is as early as a chicken, and a dog is going to bed later than a dog—it speaks to those who work hard, hard and hard in life.In fact, many of them don’t need to wear stars and moons. They are just pursuing habitually, habitually unable to let go, habitually worrying, fearing that the world will change drastically if they sleep, and they will fall behind.

Regarding the former, we don't need to say much, I believe that many people have persuaded them long before us.If they listened to persuasion, they would have changed a long time ago.Instead of wasting words with them, we might as well persuade those respectable latter: Diligence is important, but diligence does not mean treating yourself as the incarnation of a machine, turning around day and night.When the machine is overhauled, it is even more necessary for people to achieve a proper balance between work and rest.

In short, "One piece, one relaxation, the way of civil and military", we must grasp the scale between looseness and tightness.If it is too loose, it will become a useless person; if it is too tight, it may even lose the opportunity to be a useless person.Only when we should be tight when we should be tight, when we should fight hard, when we should rest, we should rest in time, and when we should relax, we can keep our body and mind in the best state as possible and take the next road well.

(End of this chapter)