This universality is manifested in human beings, which is conscience, the heart of right and wrong, and this is completely the Confucian study of the nature of the heart. The Confucian theory of mind and nature, not the Western set of things, not the so-called mystical philosophy of life in the West. It is not another rationalist thing either. It is neither Buddhist nor the cosmic life in the sense of Western irrationalist life philosophy. He talks about cosmic life, and its essence is a set of conscience, right and wrong, and mental issues.
So, Liang Shuming is a representative of modern Neo Confucianism. In theory, he is a harmonious and integrated Neo Confucianism, rather than a "half cut" (i.e. without ontology or basis for the theory of mind and nature, as some scholars generally say, without ontology or basis for the theory of mind and nature, only focusing on ethical and social issues). He is a complete Neo Confucianism, a thorough Confucian.
Mr. Liang's philosophy of life, in terms of ideological origins, has several aspects, including Buddhist Yogacara, Western modern philosophy of life, and Confucian medicine, but its fundamental spirit is Confucianism. The book "Differences between Chinese and Western Academic Studies in Chao Hua" states that Chinese Confucianism, Western philosophy of life, and medicine have been the foundation of my thinking.
This is the source of his ideas. The fundamental concept in my thinking is that life is natural, and the universe is alive. Everything is based on nature, as if I value nature more than people. This path is the path of China. I once governed Buddhism during a period, and then switched to Confucianism. The Confucianism inspired me the most, and the person I learned from was the renowned scholar Mr. Wang Xinzhai, a great disciple of Wang Yangming named Wang Gen. Wang Gen is the most mature and natural, and I am just like that.
Firstly, it is Confucianism, and then the Western ideas and customs are used to verify Confucianism. Therefore, in these sources of thought, Confucianism is still the foundation. Later, after confirming with Western thought, I found that the philosophy of the Life School, represented mainly by Berkson, was the most effective and interesting to me. Furthermore, art was helpful for me to use my thoughts for learning.
It talks about these aspects, including the Western life school of Buddhism, philosophy, Confucianism, and of course, the most important one is the School of Mind. In fact, we can see here that Confucianism in China is a core, a core of his understanding of the universe of life. Represented by the Western School of Life, represented by Boson, philosophy and art are meant to verify Confucianism's ideas, advocate nature, and value nature. These are all derived from Confucianism.
So, when Mr. Liang Shuming expressed his philosophy of life, although he used a lot of Buddhist things and expressions like Berkson's, it expressed the spirit of metaphysics, which is actually Confucian. In this regard, he shares similarities with Mr. Xiong Shili. Mr. Xiong Shili's new Yogacara theory has many Buddhist names and appearances, but it expresses the spirit of righteousness.
So, there are many philosophers in philosophy nowadays who have been greatly influenced by Buddhism, but we cannot just look at the names and appearances they use, we must look at the ideas they express!
So, Mr. Liang's philosophy, as I mentioned earlier, can be understood as a cultural philosophy. The important characteristic of this cultural philosophy is the emphasis on the integrity of culture. So, when he talks about Chinese and Western cultures, he particularly opposes a theory of the integration of Chinese and Western cultures. He opposes this theory of the integration of Chinese and Western cultures, which mainly reflects his holistic view of culture. You cannot abstract culture into some vague aspects, you abstract culture into many different elements, and then we combine these elements to form a new thing. In fact, this viewpoint is very good. For example, we need to absorb all the positive achievements of human civilization, Western Chinese traditions, and then combine them to create a new culture.
But first you have to know who we are. You can't say that I stand on an objective standpoint without any position. We can break everything down, analyze it into different elements, and then integrate it. Integration is a material thing that can be integrated into culture, but that's not enough. Culture must have a root inside.
Don't view culture as abstract and abstract entities, and then imagine the future culture as a fusion of different components and elements. He said this is a misunderstanding of culture, a mistaken understanding, and a misconception. In his view, the essence of culture is actually an attitude or a direction. This fundamental attitude and direction, when integrated and reflected in real life, represents a certain culture, and therefore, is the fundamental spirit of a certain culture.
Therefore, the construction and development of culture is not about dividing cultural regions into different components and then synthesizing them. But rather a fundamental adjustment and change in attitude and direction. So, such a holistic cultural perspective is essentially derived from Liang Shuming's understanding of the metaphysical basis of culture. So, its cultural philosophy should first talk about its metaphysics or its philosophy of life.
Below is the content of his philosophy of life. This content can be mainly discussed from two aspects: one is intention, some of his early statements in Chinese and Western cultures and philosophy, and the other is the nature of life, which is freedom.
In Mr. Liang Shuming's philosophical system, it talks about several concepts. In the early days, one was culture, one was life, one was life, and one was intention. These concepts are closely interrelated.
What is culture?
In Chapter 2 of "East West Culture and Philosophy", it is said that what is culture? It's just a way of living for a nation. Life is related to life, and life is an endless desire (Will)... to constantly satisfy or not satisfy with girls.
So, what is life and living?
In "The Differences between Chinese and Western Academic Studies in Chao Hua", he said that life and existence, in my opinion, are essentially the same thing, but from different perspectives; For the convenience of speaking, we had to divide this matter into two parts. The so-called two parts refer to one as the body and the other as the use. In fact, being ready to use is just one thing, not another entity. You said, "The life I am constantly connected to is' me '; I cannot be separated from a continuous life. Life and living are just different words, one for the table body and one for the table use.
So, this life is essentially a body, which is me. I am not an abstract existence, it must be a process of activity, a continuous process of creative activity. This is life, a continuous process of desire. This universe is a great life, a great life, and its inner thing is intention. Intention is an activity of constantly moving forward and creating. The constant striving of human desires constitutes the content of life in the universe.
This life is life, and life is a continuous stream of endless desires.
The universe understood by Liang Shuming is a living and popular process, a universe where life prevails. Instead of a mechanical thing, a synthesis of different substances, a synthesis of different existences, it is a popular process. How to describe such a popular process, such a universe as a whole?
Mr. Liang used a set of Buddhist Yogacara's explanatory methods, a set of Yogacara's names and images, and the Buddhist "karmic theory" to explain it.
Karma theory "means that the universe we see now is not a dead and fixed thing. It is a result of karma created by human thoughts and actions. This meaning means that I, the world, and the universe are all the result of the activity of 'intending' to move forward, and this is the outcome.
Mr. Liang used the Buddhist language of Yogacara and said that the universe includes "sentient beings". These two aspects, one called the root body and the other called the device, constitute a whole universe. Both aspects of this universe are sentient, the results of sentient beings' creations, or the results of their intentional activities.
Life is continuous. Having emotions is called continuity. Life and the living are not two separate things. It should be noted that without life, there is no living person, or in other words, only life without living person, and the living person is a living being. To put it more clearly, there is only life, and there is no living thing. The so-called living being is just life, and biological life is not two separate things. Therefore, both can be called continuity.
Biology or life is not only based on its root body, which is also known as positive karma. Including roots and devices, the entire universe is vast and without scope. This universe has its own universe, and my universe and his universe are not the same. That is to say, each of them has a common phase and a different phase. My universe is different from his universe. For this reason, the universe is his universe, not his universe. In our opinion, the universe is the universe, and actual life is just life. There is a distance between life entering and leaving the universe, so the universe seems to be constant. In fact, the universe is many and continuous, not just one day and one night.
His point is that the universe in which life exists includes two aspects: one is its root, which is the form of life we exist in; This also includes the existence and cessation of the root body. Buddhism uses this term to refer to the "territorial world" of cessation. Of course, territorial land does not refer to China and the United States, but to the entire surrounding world, including the unity of these two aspects. This root body is the recipient body, and our human body is like this now because of the homework we did earlier.
In Buddhism, we talk about karmic energy, body, mouth, and mind. When we move our mind, speak, think in our mind, or have an idea, it is all part of our work that produces a result. This result is manifested in our physical existence, our current state, and the way we reflect the world around us. This is related to the business we originally created and our relationship with the world around us. This is karma. He has both evil and good karma in his mind, and this is the result of karma.
