I hope you don’t dislike it, this article is for you

From a certain perspective, the series of articles in this column seem to be about very rational and in-depth discussions on many life issues. However, from another perspective, the series of articles in this column can also be regarded as a piece of music that connects the thoughts of many different thinkers from ancient China and foreign countries. I hope it can at least bring some spiritual comfort to readers. And even got some enlightenment. I hope readers don’t dislike it, so I give this article to you. It’s the order.

Author: GUDORDI | 2014-10-17

If your heart breaks 

often cry secretly 

Why lament? 

I hope you won’t dislike it 

This song is for you…”

The above are excerpted from the lyrics of “This Song is for You” by Xu Guanjie. The words are quite simple and plain, but they vaguely contain some extraordinary meanings.

All living beings can become Buddhas

There is no doubt that life can be full of hope and surprises, but it is inevitable that there will always be tears. It seems that the colorful brush of life is hard not to be stained with some joys and sorrows, or even sorrow, darkness and regret… This is probably a dilemma that human beings have faced for thousands of years, right?

More than 2,000 years ago, Buddha Sakyamuni did not hesitate to give up all his glory and wealth, and even almost died due to excessive asceticism, in order to understand the meaning of life and overcome the pain caused by birth, aging, illness and death to human life. He probably succeeded in the end, right? No matter what, he believed that all living beings could become Buddhas, and after pondering hard under the bodhi tree and achieving great enlightenment, he tried to use his own enlightenment to save all sentient beings with a compassionate heart. In human history, this should be an anomaly. According to records, Buddha Sakyamuni advocated not establishing writing, and told his disciples not to regard him as an object of worship, but to find the way to “enlightenment” on their own. I believe this is another anomaly in human history, right?

Over thousands of years, countless people have explored and thought about the meaning of life. However, a person like Sakyamuni who has such high requirements for thoroughly understanding the meaning of life, and has the determination to break everything and become a benevolent person without success is extremely rare. . It is worth noting that the intellectual foundation of Buddhist thought is very strong, so some people think that Buddhism may be more like a profound philosophical system of thought than a religion. From this point of view, Buddha Sakyamuni may be a bit like a great scientist. After many years of hard pursuit, he finally found a method that he believed was sufficient to break through the suffering caused by birth, old age, illness and death to human beings. Then he spent For decades, he has tried to publicize his amazing discoveries and bring enlightenment to the world.

From this perspective, Sakyamuni’s extraordinary achievements not only lie in his “great discovery”, but also include his decades of personal practice. In human history, the life of Buddha Sakyamuni may be truly unique. However, purely from the perspective of intellectual pursuits, there should be cases that are somewhat similar to the Buddha Sakyamuni. In the author’s opinion, more than 2,000 years after Buddha attained enlightenment, a strange man and philosophical genius appeared in Europe. He showed surprising demands and persistence in exploring the essence and meaning of life. He was the son of the Viennese steel tycoon, named Ludwig Wittgenstein. Perhaps, pursuing something of such a high level with perseverance, or even spending a lifetime of energy, is the “patent” of some proud people who have been born into wealth?

"Tell them I've had an amazing life."

According to records, since Wittgenstein’s father had transferred a large amount of wealth to the United States before the outbreak of World War I, it is said that at the end of World War I, Wittgenstein may have been the richest man in Europe at that time. One of several people. However, Wittgenstein then donated all his wealth, leaving not even a cent behind. His family thought he was on the verge of madness and suggested that he at least leave some property behind to meet his own needs. But Wittgenstein did not listen to his family’s advice. He just said that “for a philosopher, money is a troublesome thing.” (a nuisance). He once made a somewhat “mysterious” metaphor to his family, to the effect that “People sitting quietly in the house can never understand what the pedestrian outside the window is doing with an umbrella fighting the wind and snow.”

The famous “Time” magazine had an issue in March 1999 with the theme of the 100 greatest minds of the 20th century, and Wittgenstein was one of the selected figures. When introducing him, Time magazine wrote this: If you want to make a philosopher feel embarrassed, you can ask him the following difficult questions: Which of the following two would you choose? A is to solve an important philosophical issue absolutely and thoroughly, so completely that future generations will feel that there is no room for discussion of this issue anymore; B is to write an extremely difficult and controversial book, so that in the next few years century, the book will still be considered a must-read (write a book of such tantalizing perplexity and controversy that it stays on the required-reading list for centuries to come). Time magazine said: I believe that most people will choose B, and what the Austrian philosopher Wittgenstein did was to try to do A with surprising talent, but in the end, he did B (The Austrian philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein tried brilliantly to go for A and ended up with B).

In the history of philosophy, Wittgenstein is a strange man. He only officially published one book in his life, called Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus (this is Latin, and can be translated into Chinese as “Introduction to Logic and Philosophy”). In his later years, he completed another book called Philosophical Investigations . At first glance, the views and styles of the two works seem to be completely opposite, but some commentators believe that there is an inseparable relationship between the two works, and we may need to put the two together. Only by reading can we understand what Wittgenstein is talking about and how his thoughts develop and evolve. In any case, in his later years, Wittgenstein once wrote: “Wisdom is ‘gray’, and for this reason it is a little ‘dumb’. On the other hand, life and religion are colorful. ” (Wisdom is gray and to that extent stupid. Life on the other hand and religion are full of color.) Wittgenstein also used the word “cold” to describe wisdom.

Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus is a wonderful book in the history of human thought. I believe that no one will doubt that this work is a philosophical treasure, but to this day, no one may be completely sure what Wittgenstein is talking about. This work was written by Wittgenstein on the battlefield and later in a prisoner of war prison during World War I. In history, this should be the only philosophical masterpiece written on the battlefield, right? As we all know, the First World War had a huge impact on European society and thought. It was probably the first so-called “total war” in European history involving the participation of a large number of civilians. The length of time involved, and the number of casualties involved, were far beyond what was generally expected at the beginning of the war. Is what this book talks about purely technical logic and philosophy issues, or something deeper? ——So far, the philosophical community has not reached a conclusion on this matter.

In the third sentence from the end of the book Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus , Wittgenstein wrote: “Those who understand this book will eventually learn that everything in this book is “meaningless.” , when by means of it he has climbed upon it, upon it, and then above it. This situation is like a person who has climbed up with the help of a ladder and no longer needs it. 》（He who understands me finally recognizes them as senseless, when he has climbed out through them, on them, over them. He must so to speak throw away the ladder, after he has climbed on it.）

Wittgenstein then wrote: “He (readers) must be worthy of the arguments of this book, and by following him they will be able to see clearly what the world is like.” (He must surmount these propositions.) ; then he sees the world rightly) This is the second sentence at the end of this book. The last sentence of this book is: “Whereof one cannot speak, its one must be silent.”

In the preface to Philosophical Investigations , Wittgenstein mentioned that he was a little skeptical when publishing the contents of this book. He said this: Undoubtedly, this is not impossible – if the fate of this book is such that he will one day be able to bring light to another person. However, considering the shortcomings of this book and the dark age we live in today, this chance is very slim. According to records, a few days before Wittgenstein died, he once said to a friend: I am about to leave this world, but somehow, the things in my mind are still thinking about this world. And Wittgenstein’s last words were “Tell them that I have had a wonderful life.” – At that time Wittgenstein had friends coming to visit him, but He believed he couldn’t wait any longer. In the author’s opinion, Wittgenstein’s last words in this life should have been spoken after careful consideration, and this sentence may be an important tip for us to understand his understanding and experience of life.

I dare not say that I have a deep understanding of the thoughts of Gautama Buddha and Wittgenstein, but it is true that I have had a strong interest in the lives and views of these two extraordinary figures in the history of human thought. It can be said that on the road of human exploration of the meaning of life, both of them left quite extraordinary and worthy of future generations’ reflections. However, over the past thousands of years, there are more than tens of millions of people who have gone through an extraordinary period on the road of life, but have not left any footprints for future generations to follow? There are many songs and tears, written with blood and tears. The touching stories and thoughts have been lost in the long river of time, or can only be preserved in the hearts of a few people. Fortunately, in the process of human evolution, writing was invented, which allowed some of the thoughts, experiences and stories of our predecessors to be preserved, so that future generations can share and think about them. What this column attempts to do is to preserve and sort out the footprints and traces that can still be seen, and to present these traces again through discussions on some of the issues that humans will have to face in the coming years.

What is life like everywhere? Should be like a flying dragon stepping on slush

What exactly is the purpose of life? ——This is a question that has been bothering many people for thousands of years. The thinker and psychologist Sigmund Freud pointed out that since no one has been able to satisfactorily answer this question for so many years, perhaps this is actually a question that does not allow an answer. Fortunately, ordinary people do not have such high requirements as Gautama Buddha and Wittgenstein, and they vow to achieve a thorough understanding of this issue. Perhaps, for ordinary people like us, in the dark moments of our lives, we can realize that the difficult road we are walking on has the footprints of many predecessors, or there are other traces of it. Traveling with people at the end of the world can somewhat relieve the loneliness and hardship in my heart, and I can face all kinds of sorrow, darkness and regret on the road of life in a more peaceful and open-minded way. After all, there are many things in this world that we cannot force. We can only try to learn how to face and accept them. After all, the journey of life is only a few tens of winters and heats. Even the existence of human beings is only a short moment in the vast universe, or it may not even be a short moment. What can we actually ask for?

However, having said that, when faced with various difficulties in life, there have been many people in history who were unwilling to accept the orders of fate without resistance and compromise unconditionally. When faced with the cruel reality, they bravely fought, faced, and reflected, leaving some traces behind. These traces are the understanding, experience and wisdom of our predecessors, which are worthy of our attention and reflection. They can at least bring us some spiritual comfort, or even bring us some enlightenment and dawn. From a certain perspective, perusing the traces left by our predecessors can be a rather romantic process, right?

Our scholar Su wrote well: “What is life like everywhere? Should it be like a flying star stepping on the snow and mud, accidentally leaving his fingers and claws on the mud, and Hongfei counting things?” However, this should be Su Dongpo’s earlier work. Xueshi Su had a bumpy career, and he may not be able to write such free and easy words in his later years. Some feelings may only exist in a certain time and space, and after that, they may never be regained. I believe this will make these footprints more interesting, right?

Footprints left when walking on the beach

However, when interpreting these traces, the author believes that we still need to understand that what these traces can show is limited after all. Paying attention to the original author’s life and feelings at the time should help us make these traces “three-dimensional” stand up. As the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer said: “Thoughts, when reduced to words, are really just like the footprints left by a person walking across the beach. Undoubtedly, we can see him walking Thoughts, reduced to paper, are generally not more than the footprints of a man walking in the sand. It is true. that we see the path he has taken, but to know what he saw on the way, we must use our own eyes.) What this column attempts to do is to preserve and organize these footprints, and to “the author walked this path” “What did I see when I was there?” This question provides some directions for thinking.