What is the true meaning of the ancients saying that if people are not for themselves, the heavens

According to the "Buddha Says Ten Good Karma Sutras".

It is recorded: "Life is for oneself, it is natural and righteous, and if people are not for themselves, heaven and earth will be destroyed", which means that a person has a good cultivation, which is a natural thing. On the other hand, if you don't pay attention to moral cultivation, then you won't be able to gain a foothold in society.

The "for" here is pronounced twice, which means "cultivation, cultivation". It means that if people do not cultivate themselves, then they will be intolerable by heaven and earth. Nowadays, many people read "for" as four tones, and understand it as the meaning of "for, for", thus misinterpreting the whole sentence as:

If a person does not seek personal gain, then even God will kill him. ”

The Chinese characters are broad and profound, ancient Chinese.

Even more so. However, modern people often look at the meaning of the text and misinterpret the meaning of the ancients, and we have always misunderstood the phrase "if people are not for themselves, the heavens and the earth will be destroyed". This sentence is mostly used to comfort some people before they are ready to do something harmful to the interests of others, thinking that being born as a human should actually fight for their own interests, and if this rule is violated, it will damage personal interests and life, such refined egoist remarks are vividly reflected in some businessmen or traitors.

If we look at it from this aspect, the so-called "for oneself" is actually to achieve one's own goals at the expense of the interests of others or the country.

There is another saying here: "If a man is not for himself, the heavens and the earth will be destroyed." If you only do it for yourself, the heavens and the earth will fall apart", thinking according to the meaning of the next sentence, if it means to improve one's own cultivation, then the meaning of the next sentence is that if you improve your own cultivation, the heavens and the earth will collapse.

This is clearly unreasonable. Obviously, this sentence should be read together with the following words, which is to warn everyone not to hurt the interests of others while safeguarding their personal interests, which actually reflects moral cultivation, just like the principle of "do not do to others what you do not want to be done to yourself".

Walking between heaven and earth, even if we cannot achieve the goodness of sacrificing ourselves for others, we should at least achieve the consciousness of being alone. "Good and evil will be rewarded in the end, and the way of heaven is good for reincarnation. If you don't believe it, look up, the sky has spared anyone. ”

The true meaning of this is that if people do not practice their own virtues, then even heaven and earth will not tolerate it. This statement illustrates the importance that the ancients attached to virtue, but now it is completely misunderstood.

The meaning of the word in this sentence is actually cultivation. This sentence is that if people do not practice and cultivate to make themselves better, they will be destroyed by heaven and earth, and they will not be able to gain a foothold in the world.

People don't destroy the heavens and the earth for themselves, and now it is said that people should think about their own lives, otherwise it will not be allowed by heaven and earth, and its true meaning is to do what they can to their true friends and relatives around them.

人不為一,天诛地灭 (rén bù wéi jǐ, tiān zhū dì miè), a Chinese idiom, used to refer to if people do not cultivate themselves, then they will be tolerated by heaven and earth, and now it mostly refers to people who do not plan for themselves, and will be tolerated by heaven and earth.

If people are not for themselves, the heavens and the earth will be destroyed", and the "for" in the middle is the meaning of "practice, cultivation"; Heaven and earth are extinguished, which is a juxtaposition structure, which means that heaven and earth are destroyed. To put it in layman's terms, "If a person does not practice his own virtues, then heaven will not tolerate it!"

And many people explain: "If a person does not seek personal gain, then God will kill him." "God is the embodiment of fairness in both Chinese and traditional Chinese culture.

There is also a saying that self is a pronoun, and it is a substitute: one's own yin virtue. So you can do it:

If people don't accumulate yin virtue for themselves, the heavens and the earth will be destroyed. There is also a view that this is the representative thought of Yangzi among the hundred sons, and the deep meaning is: if there is no orderly existence of individuals, the general environment of heaven and earth will be chaotic and even perish.

Finally, there is also a view that the word "for" is read the second sound, and the meaning is made. That is to say, if people do not put their own nature and their own ways out, they will be destroyed by heaven and earth. (Buddhist Cloud:.)

Human beings are Buddhas by nature, and they are confused by karma, so if they can return to their true nature, they are Buddhas. )

"People are not for themselves" is actually an inverted sentence, and it is changed back to "if you are not for others, heaven and earth will be destroyed" seems to be better understood. The "for people" here steals that it is a person who does not do bad things. The same sentence is not understood in the same way, and the results are very different.

Some of them are misunderstood, and some of them are used by me, deliberately reversing black and white.

Seriously, it's really not easy to get a right and wrong, the context is poor, and the truth is not allowed. In other words, it's not the place to reason. Some people don't know the relationship, they only know how to follow the trend; Some people know right from wrong, pretend to be confused for their own interests, and even more confuse black and white for their own interests.

"People are not for themselves, the heavens and the earth are destroyed" is an idiom, but also a proverb in our country, many people in order to excuse themselves, selfish words and deeds, this sentence as a "famous saying", just like many people put "wine and meat through the intestines, the Buddha in the heart" on the side of the mouth, you can eat meat and drink wine wantonly.

But no matter how you understand it, the truth will not change, and the law of "sowing melons and getting melons, and planting beans and getting beans" will not change.

If you plant a seed of selfishness, you will inevitably bear the fruit of your selfishness, and you will eventually reap the fruits of your own selfishness. Therefore, those who use this sentence as a shield to do evil will definitely not have good results.

So what does it mean that "if people are not for themselves, the heavens and the earth will be destroyed"? Some people say that the pronunciation of this sentence is: [rén bù wéi jǐ, tiān zhū dì miè], and the interpretation of "for" is "cultivation for, practice", which translates as:

If people do not cultivate themselves, they will be killed by heaven and earth and perish. This explanation is also reasonable, but it is not exact, that is, it is not complete.

I heard my teacher say that the ancient Chinese said that everything is inseparable from "yin and yang" and "five elements", and later the wise ancestors invented the ten heavenly stems and twelve earthly branches on the basis of the "five elements of yin and yang".

In the "Ten Heavenly Stems", it is divided into: "Jiayimu", "Bingding Fire", "Wujitu", "Gengxin Jin", "Nondeng Shui". Each two heavenly stems represent a substance in nature, one yin and one yang.

In "Wujitu", "Wutu" belongs to "Yang soil", and "Jitu" represents "Yin soil". And "soil" represents the earth in our Chinese culture, and the "terrain kun, gentleman carries things with virtue" in the Book of Changes tells us that the earth represents "virtue".

Therefore, "earth" represents "virtue", and "self" is "yin earth", which means "yin virtue". We also often hear people say, "We must accumulate more yin virtues" in order to accumulate good fortune for future generations. "Yin virtue" is the virtue that is not known, so we do good deeds without trying to reciprocate, and it is best to do good deeds without leaving a name.

So what does "Yin Virtue" have to do with future generations?

The Book of Changes tells us: "The house of goodness will have afterglow; If there is no good accumulation, there will be remnant." From this, we can understand the sentence "If people are not for themselves, the heavens and the earth will be destroyed":

If a person does not do the things that accumulate yin virtues, there will be disasters and calamities that will not only harm oneself, but also harm one's descendants and even the entire family.

From this point of view, the understanding and implementation of this sentence is crucial, and we should not take it as a child's play.

It should be said that the meaning of this phrase is based on the "nature" of man. Human selfishness belongs to nature. However, with the development of human civilization and the gradual improvement of people's moral quality and ideology, people's awareness of public heart and personal interests has become more and more obvious.

Every day there are many selfless and selfless people and things that grow, and there are special periods ......Even the various stages are endless.

We used to think that we were right to do things for our own welfare, but then I understood that we should do more good deeds and not do things that violate morality and the law, otherwise there will be retribution.

This means that man is a very conscious creature who thinks about his own interests. Moreover, interests are very important things for human beings, and it is normal for everyone to run around for interests.

People are multifaceted, not only different people will have different qualities, the same person may even have multiple faces, some people are optimistic and generous, some people have small bellies, some people are noble and holy, and some people are vulgar and despicable. In fact, each of us has a bad nature, and among the many despicable qualities, selfishness can be said to be the most criticized.

The ancients said: If people are not for themselves, the heavens and the earth will be destroyed, and many people understand it as the embodiment of human selfishness. I think that this old saying means: If people don't think about themselves, then it is simply intolerable.

But in fact, is this old sentence really what people understand this meaning? You must know that in ancient China, we advocated benevolence, righteousness, etiquette and wisdom, and paid attention to self-denial, in many widely circulated ancient sayings, or talked about excellent morality, or talked about living in the world, among which God is the embodiment of fairness and justice in traditional culture. However, according to today's interpretation, this ancient saying is completely teaching younger generations to think that they should be selfish for themselves, and clearly saying that this is the principle of heaven, so this interpretation is completely unreasonable.

In fact, the meaning of this ancient phrase is not what we understand, and it can even be said that it is completely opposite to what we understand, and the key to understanding the true meaning of this ancient phrase is to be clear about the meaning of the word "for".

The current way of reading is to say four tones, and to be for oneself means for oneself. This understanding can be said to be very wrong, because the original phrase "if a person is not for himself, the heavens and the earth will be destroyed" is a second tone, which means "cultivation and cultivation." In this way, as soon as Hui Hui comes, the meaning becomes:

If a person does not cultivate his self-cultivation in the world, then he will not be tolerated by heaven and earth.

The difference of one word subverts the meaning of the whole year's sentence, and the original explanation is more in line with the pursuit of self-cultivation and governing the country and the family of the ancients. But as time goes by, this sentence is gradually misinterpreted, and the reason why this phenomenon occurs is mainly a reflection of the dark side of human nature.

We know that selfishness is an indelible part of human nature, but people are accustomed to using other things to cover their ugly side, try their best to justify their own improper behavior, and find justifiable reasons for their selfishness. And this old saying can be said to be the perfect shield.

When they do something selfish, even if they have a little entanglement in their hearts, they only need a misunderstood sentence of "people will not be punished for themselves" is like a "panacea" to instantly calm the guilt in their hearts.

No matter how the defense is distorted, this sentence is always a selfish "argument" to excuse oneself. In fact, there is far more than this ancient saying that has been misunderstood in history, and in addition to this, the original text of the common saying "no poison and no husband" is "no husband without moderation", which means that we should be generous and tolerant as people are today, not vicious and vicious as people say today.

We must try our best to correctly understand the ancient sayings and understand the true meaning and purpose of the ancients to pass them down, so that we can better inherit and develop China's excellent traditional culture.

This sentence is the "Book of Rites". In "Rites and Fortunes", "If the goods are evil and abandoned on the ground, you don't have to hide them for yourself; The power of evil does not come from the body, and it does not have to be for oneself". It means that good things are discarded on the ground and wasted, and although the mountain bridge makes people feel disgusted, no one is entitled to take it for themselves; It's disgusting to be able to get things and be lazy to use them, but there's no need to use them for yourself.

Obviously, this is the view of the "Datong Society" expounded in Confucianism, and the premise of realizing the Datong Society is that people must always think about the collective interests and put their personal interests aside.

Some scholars believe that "if a man is not for himself, heaven and earth will be destroyed" and "the scholars of the past are for themselves, and the scholars of today are for themselves" in the Analects, and there are many similarities and effects. It means that the ancients studied to improve their cultivation; Modern people study in order to show off their knowledge in front of others.

People are not for themselves, the heavens and the earth will be destroyed" as a complete sentence, which first appeared in the twenty-four episodes of the Buddhist classic "The Buddha Says the Ten Good Karma Sutras" that circulated in China during the Western Jin Dynasty, and was quoted, which shows that this sentence has been formed long before the Western Jin Dynasty.

During the Western Jin Dynasty, it was the first peak period of Buddhism introduced into our country, in the Hexi Corridor, the nomads established the Yueshi country, the Yueshi country gave birth to a knowledgeable and talented monk, named Fa Hu, he was proficient in many languages, translated a large number of Buddhist classics, in the "Buddha said ten good karma Tao Sutra" twenty-four episodes he translated such a sentence: life for oneself, the righteousness of the earth, people are not for themselves, the heavens and the earth are destroyed.

Through the propagation of Buddhist scriptures, this phrase later became a well-known saying, which originally meant that if you do not pay attention to improving your cultivation in this world, you will be rejected by heaven and earth.

However, since the moment of its birth, this sentence has often been misunderstood and understood to mean that if people do not live for their own selfish desires, they will be rejected by heaven and earth. Obviously, this interpretation completely distorts its original meaning.