1. Introduction
Wang Yangming, a prominent philosopher during the Ming dynasty, developed the influential Neo-Confucian philosophy known as the School of Mind. He emphasized the importance of the mind as a continuous yet erratic entity, where reason acts as a leader and ideas as commanders. According to Wang, what one thinks directly influences one’s actions. The mind is capable of recognizing various mistakes yet remains harmonious and smooth. It is not confined to silence but can extend its understanding outward.
Wang believed that conscience is the wellspring of benevolence and goodwill, distinct from the disorder and conflict often associated with consciousness. His theory of mind diverges from pure reason, focusing instead on the moral essence of benevolence. For him, the mind is aligned with the heavenly principles and comprises the essence of conscience itself. He cautioned against blindly seeking divine understanding solely through intuition, as this could lead to misconceptions. The real value of intuition, according to Wang, lies not in abstract contemplation but in practical application. Benevolence, therefore, should begin with practical engagement in specific matters, integrating morality with one’s career.
Wang’s philosophy suggests that the mind and external objects are not directly reflective of each other. Instead, the interaction between external stimuli and the mind triggers an internal response. He argued against an intuitive understanding of natural principles, viewing them instead as born from moral causes. In his work, such as “The Doctrine of Tianquan” (Wang, 1992: p. 21). Wang and his disciples explored these philosophical ideas. He reminded his followers that the human mind’s essence is inherently clear and balanced, reflecting its natural state.
In summary, Wang Yangming was a key figure in Chinese philosophy, known for his focus on the moral and practical applications of mind and conscience, diverging from a purely rationalist approach to highlight the significance of innate moral understanding. At this point, Wang Yangming finally formed his philosophy system at fifty years old. He stressed that “the initiation of a thought... needs to be thoroughly rooted, so as not to let that bad idea lurk in mind. It is my purpose.” However, it is easy to say but challenging to do. People need help to think well and make sense. Wang believes that stupid people can progress, “but they are unwilling to make progress” (Wang, 1992: p. 28). To make progress, a man must increase his mental power, which is the same as the philosophy of Grandmaster Huineng that “ordinary people also have brilliant wisdom”. At the same time, the researcher found that Wang had a trace of learning from the Buddhist mind-serving method and discussed the “conscience” from three aspects: one mind, no mind, and Mindfulness. Then brighten oneself and illuminate others.
Wang Yangming’s philosophy, known as the School of Mind (心学) or Yangmingism, is a vital part of Neo-Confucianism and is characterized by several key features:
1) Unity of Knowledge and Action
2) Innate Knowledge
3) Focus on the Mind
4) Critique of Book Learning
5) Practical Application of Morality
6) Integration of Morality and Career
7) Role of Intuition
Wang Yangming’s philosophy emphasizes the internal origins of moral guidance, the necessity of aligning thoughts with actions, and the importance of practical and continuous self-cultivation in achieving moral integrity.
2. The Source of the Thought
Confucianists found that the thoughts of people were spontaneous under an inexplicable situation. It seemed that the awareness could not keep up with the thought, and they often learned later. As Xunzi said in Jie Bi,
“Dao Jin said that the will of people is unstable and the moral mind is subtle. This subtle change can only be penetrated through the observation of gentleman because the will is like the limpid surface and turbid bottom of the water. When the breeze blows, both the limpid surface and turbid bottom are moving. The panorama cannot be visible due to the difference between upper and lower levels, which is like the mind.”1
1Xunzi, Xunzi Jiebi.
According to the Confucianist, an ambiguous consciousness before thinking was spontaneous from the universe. In their words, a person can wait until the mind starts. People can communicate with the Tao and get the feeling, which is reflected by perceptual intuitions. For instance, The Doctrine of the Mean illustrated that people delivered the Seven Emotions but took Love and Hate as the dharani, indicating that the movement of the mind was the result of physical and psychological feelings. However, the consciousness often came later. Confucianists believed that this congenital induction exists not only in human beings but also in the universe. Therefore, Confucianists established a way to search for induction from nature, hoping to give people new enlightenment. The changes in the I Ching result from the interaction between Yin and Yang in the natural sky, which appears in the form of the creation in the universe. This thought is different from the western mechanism, which regards God as an external existence and a transcendental entity. Heaven in the Chinese stands out as the natural will. After the transformation of Wang Yangming, heaven became the source of goodwill. Based on this reasoning, the movement of the mind is the expression of natural mind. Whether a person can get through the transcendental intuition and acquired perception depends on the individual mind, without any transcendental features. Meanwhile, this process was regarded by Confucianism as a dedicated attempt. The philosophy of the mind demonstrated whether the creation of everything was the mind of heaven to prove its transcendentalism. Wang Yangming gave a positive answer. He said:
“Only God can control heaven. As pure as heaven, human nature has its laws, which are reflected in human beings. Meanwhile, only mind can control it.”
Since the birth of humans is accomplished by heaven, does heaven have the function of influencing the individual mind? As follows:
“The mind shares the identical form with other items. For example, my body and its inner blood and breath could be called the same form. If others, my body is the other form, let al.one animals and plants. What is the identical form?”
“You can only see from the subtle phenomenon of induction. In fact, not only animals and plants, but also ghosts and gods share the identical form with me.”
“What is the mind of this universe?”
“People are the mind of universe.”
“What is the mind of people?”
“Only a soul.”
“In the midst of the universe, there is only this spirit. People are only covered by various phenomena. My soul is the master of universe.” (Wang, 1992: p. 124)
Wang believed that the mind is a spirit. Although it was beyond the image without forms, the mind and the object shared and identical form. This form was explained by Qi, but Qi is different from gas. The Qi of the mind belongs to spiritual power, which has the meaning of Buddhist wisdom and sincerity. Compared with the Buddhist, the early Confucianism. often attributes to the practice of Yin and Yang when the argument comes to the basis of existence. So this spirituality is also the mind of the universe. This makes people remind the words of Zi Gong, “The word of Confucius about human nature and the universe cannot be understood easily.”2
However, Buddhism has answered this question very well. The Mohe Zhiguan says:
2The Analects of Confucius, Gongzhichang.
3The Grandmaster Zhizhe, Mohe Zhiguan Chapter 5, the Dazheng buddhist scriptures Chapter 46, Page 63.
“If the mind can exist independently, the former thought is the function of the organ, and the latter thought is the cognition. Is the mind from organs or thoughts? If the organ can generate cognition, it can be concluded that the organ has cognition, whether the organ can generate cognition. If the organ is agnostic, it can generate cognition. If the organ has cognition, the organ and knowledge are combined without relationships. If an organ has no cognition, it can generate cognition, and everything without cognition cannot generate cognition; How can organs generate cognition without cognition? Although the organ has no cognition, it has the judgement, so that it can generate cognition. Is it the judgement? The organ has no judgement, so it cannot generate cognition. What is the difference between cognition and judgement? If they are the same, cognition is the judgement, which is impotent. If different, it is not from the mind. If so, the mind is not born by itself. If you say that your mind does not grow independently, your mind grow on yourself because of the world.”3
The combination of individual senses and external reality can generate the mind. Without senses and reality, the external environment mind not affect you. In conclusion, the mind cannot generate itself, so Wang said that nothing existed beyond the mind.
3. One Mind
Maha yana-Sraddhotpada-sastra proposed that one mind can open two doors of purity and lust. Tendai believed that human natures had good and evil. If your mind is disturbed, your behaviors will be affected. However, this mind is changeable, whether its pure or not is a problem. In Daode Jin, “By keeping its unity of opposites, the heaven turns bright, the earth remains stable, and the spirit is alive.” It is not unique, the “Empty One But Static” in Xunzi, and Ten Jin said “Thoughtless is the purpose. Those who are aware of thought can understand all Dharma. Those who have no thoughts can see the realm of Buddha. Those who have no thoughts can reach the Buddha.” in Rostrum Scriptures also gift the thought meaning of subduing minds. Besides that, “The thoughts have been eliminated, the mind of drama and theory has been destroyed, the infinite number of sins have been eliminated, and the pure mind is always one; If you are a wise man, you can see Prajna.” in Mahaprajna-paramita-sastra believed that the one mind aimed at have an easy conscience. Among these theories, the most exquisite interpretations of one mind is the “Buddhist chanting” in the Sukhavati and the “Ᾱnāpānasmti” in ZEN, as “one mind is a last way to resist all thoughts” (Xu, 2013) proposed by Xuyun. The key to its operation is to achieve a perfect state by integrating the body and mind with a continuous and dense Buddhist name. This concept of one mind is specially used to treat sleepiness. In Mohezhiguan,
“If sleep is obstructed, the Tao will be guilty. That is to say, treat it with Buddhist chanting. Because of the response to the Buddha, there is no phase, the phase is clear, and the sin of breaking the barrier, see the Ten Buddhas, and correspond to the philosophy, thus opening the door of Nirvana.”4
4The Grandmaster Zhizhe, Mohe Zhiguan Chapter 7, the Dazheng buddhist scriptures Chapter 46, Page 93.
“Heaven and earth are always alive. When the disaster is gone, all lives will be born with light and sound and take thoughts as food” in Dirghagama-sutra implied that the disembodied man still wants to “take thoughts as food”. However, the mind of a human cannot stop. It can also be regarded as “the thought feeds on the mind”. Therefore prevent delusions, desires, distractions, and greed from disturbing the mind, his mind should recite the Buddha name with external forces of the Bodhisattva to prevent delusions, desires, distractions, and greed from disturbing the mind, which is different from the self-reliance of ZEN Buddhism. This “one” emphasized focus and concentration, which is a way of unifying behaviors and minds through will and force. The understanding of the sect still belongs to “sankhata dhamma”, aiming to promote germination and bring a new environment to the fore. “It is unnecessary to wake the min up under the situation of no impulse”. The “wake” still focuses on the level of thoughts, not on shamatha and vipashyana. According to the “samudaya-satya” in Four Noble Truths, the “wake” is the meaning of rising without any evidence. In the view of Buddhism, Bodhisattva does not have all kinds of wisdom (the wisdom of Buddha). Meanwhile, they even do not get rid of minor troubles. However, cultivation comes before ability. Bodhisattva can intuitively feel the unreality in the external world, so he will not be affected to pursue the “nirodha-satya”.
The one mind of Yangming is a method to remove impurities and hypocrisy, a “diligent and dedicated” way to restrain individual selfishness. Therefore, people must first give up routines. The lust for sex, goods, wealth, and fame are all routines. As soon as you think about these affairs, you should peel them off everywhere. According to the Biography:
Lu Chen, “I usually think I have a good idea when in static, but when I meet something, it will be different. Why?”
Wang, “You only know how to recuperate but don’t know how to exercise yourself. So you will be confused when meeting external changes. A person must be tempered on specific things to be able to stand still, to be calm and to move.” (Wang, 2012: p. 59)
Yangming was busy with many things in his life. If his mind was complex and he aspired external routines, he could be haggard to reach the goal. So when Cai Xiyuan of the White Deer Cave Academy asked, “Sages can learn, but Boyi and Yi Yin are different from Confucius in talent and ability. Why are they saints?” Wang answered, “The reason why saints were saints was that their minds were pure in nature... People who are pure are saints, and pure gold is the essence.” (Wang, 1992: p. 24)
4. No Mind
According to the ZEN Buddhism, one can enter the realm of selflessness only when an individual get the right way. Prajna Brahimi leaves everything. Since he is still, it is unnecessary for him to make a statement. Speaking is an expression of desire, so blind speaking is nothing but an unconscious frenzy. However, ordinary people cannot understand it. They are often in a “hurry”. The Buddha often says that “rest is Bodhi”. It is obvious that immobility means not to stick on a special thought. “You can’t see the Tathagata in your body.” in Vajracchedika-sutra means no mind can be applied to treat the thought of comparison and distraction. The Bodhisattva said, “The right way and the evil way are two, and those who live in the right way are not evil or right, but those who abandon these two ways choose a unique way.” No mind is a sense of leasing thinking.
Confucianists often say, “The mind with silence could communicate with the heaven”. which is a positive feeling with the feature of moderation. In the view of Wang Yangming, “For example, sunlight cannot be pointed at one place; A contradiction is clear. These are all where the sunlight is. Although clouds are everywhere, the color image in space can be distinguished, which is also where the sunlight is located.” (Wang, 1992: p. 111) Among them, “the sun cannot point to the direction”, that is, “They should develop a mind which does not abide in anything”. This is an active digestion of the ZEN thought. In the Rostrum Scriptures, Huineng told Fada that “The mind was obsessed with the Dharma, and the mind is aware of the Dharma. The chanting has been unknown for a long time, and is the enemy of righteousness. No chanting is right, and some chanting becomes evil. Regardless of everything, there is always a human natjre.” No mind was applied to treat the stubborn thought.
“The mind without good and evil” by Wang Yangming was inspired by Gaozi, which advocated “no good and no evil”. Mencius also said, “Gaozi could achieve an unmoved state earlier than me”, while Buddhism compares “not move” to the silent void. Wang said, “The problem of Gaozi was that he started from the point that human nature had no good or bad. Even so, there is no evident difference.” (Wang, 1992: p. 107) The most obvious manifestation of his psychology during transforming “no mind” into “no thought” was the failure in his 25-year-old test. At that time, he said that “The world is ashamed of not having a younger brother, and I am ashamed of not having a first heart.” Therefore, he walked through the philosophy of Mencius’ ambition and courage. Mencius said, “Hold on to his ambition and don’t lose it.” Meanwhile, he advocated that “ambition is the commander of Qi.” Wang showed his fearless character, far from the no mind in the original intention of Buddhism. Buddhism believes that the initiation of the mind is closely related to breathing. The Dirghagama-sutra proposed that “If there is no life, awareness, and breath, bending, stretching, vision and language will disappear.” (Buddha Yasha, 2013) This saying refers to the situation that the formless samadhi is bound to me. The posture is as clear as the whole of heaven, and you can enjoy the rest. The appearance of happiness manifests budding Dharma love, which can be joyfully followed. One of these is the induction and reinforcement of “Ding”, so no mind in Buddhism is a manifestation of meditation.
5The Grandmaster Zhizhe, Mohe Zhiguan Chapter 7, the Dazheng buddhist scriptures Chapter 46, page 95.
ZEN is the combination of the mind and the external world. It is a spontaneous revelation without any intention. The awakening of the world comes from the feeling which pursues the truth but disregards the truth. Saying silly words when awake aims to understand the radical factors. There are twelve reasons for this. They are the combination of root, dust, and state and the combination of fame, matter, and thought. The Mohe Zhiguan refers to the “mind” as “understanding Yin”, “If the eye reaches the state of emptiness, it will know that the eye emptiness does not receive the eye, the matter emptiness does not receive the matter. If you can ignore the internal feeling and the external world, you can achieve the state of emptiness. Even the meaning emptiness does not receive the meaning, the law emptiness does not receive the law, which is the state of emptiness. An individual has achieved the unity of the Tao, the separation of the mind, which is the state of emptiness.”5 The “entering a place of exile” in the Shurangama means leaving the sound and dust. Occasionally, the internal sound stops, entering an environment similar to silence. Finally, an individual enters a state of inanimate, meaning that “the Dharma does not originate from itself, nor from others. It is all due to sexual emptiness.”6 This phenomenon is similar to the state of meditation. An individual cannot hear the external noise at the bottom of his ears, but his mind is very clear, and he has a clear understanding of the matter of yin, the receiving of yin, and the thinking of yin, reaching the state of a mirror.
The other layer of no mind is the ability of the mind, which is in line with “Only when people have no attachment to matters can they have a profound understanding of Buddhism” in the Vajra Sutra, an imagist approach beyond the conceptual position. For example, “those who have no mindfulness can see all the Dharma without seeing all the Dharma: everywhere, without seeing all the Dharma, and always purify their nature, so that the six thieves can walk out of the door, stay in the six dust, and come and go freely, that is, the Prajna Samadhi, free and free, and have no mindfulness.” In the Rostrum Scriptures emphasizes that “if I have a sin, I will be born, and forget the merits and blessings”. Buddhism has life tolerance and dharma tolerance. The mind is like a lake. It only needs to maintain static peace and ignores the occasional breeze, so it will soon return to its original state. Huineng emphasized physical and mental awareness in walking, sitting and sleeping, and daily use, including every aspect of life with this transparent temperament until an individual can apply his mind as his will. In practicing Buddhism, the gradual clarity of the mind is highlighted, which is different from artificial creation. This practice strives to eliminate the “redundant and repetitive” approach of delusion and give full play to the idea of “worry is Bodhi” as well as “external matters and internal senses are the same” to eliminate the artificial difference.
No mind is a view of the Dharma that points directly at the mind of the people. It naturally reflects the world and makes things clear. It also understands that the Dharma is self-fabricated, false and unreliable, so it cannot be left alone. This process is like a mirror, which can fully illuminate but does not tangle with the image in the mirror to avoid gilding the lily. This is a matter of principle and practical method.
6The Grandmaster Guanding, On the Theory of Mind Observation, the Dazheng Buddhist Scriptures Chapter 46, page 594.
The Avatamsaka Sutra focuses the integration. Therefore, it is a shame to hold on to one thing and discard it. However, this hoodwinking is not limited to the trivial things of ordinary people. The “I am ashamed of not seeing the truth of the three truths in my mind” in the Mohe Zhiguan focuses on cutting off the “continuous mind”. For example, the Tathagata is also clothed with a gentle and humiliating mind, which is the vestment. Taking concern as the salary, wisdom as the fire, ZEN as the food, and tasting them, an individual can understand that there are twelve reasons. If an individual wants to avoid the consequences, he has to rely on the centrifugal force and break the “QU”. Especially for the happiness and wealth of the world, an individual should not mind these. In meditation, an individual can exhale the delusions from the nose and forget it by stopping listening to enter the “exile”.
“In this way, if you listen to everything you hear, you will not be able to keep it, and your hearing will be nothing. Now that all the sounds and sounds we hear have been exhausted, and all the roots we can smell have been exhausted at the same time. Life and death are gone, and then silence will appear.” (Shi, 2015: p. 515)
This process is an operation of exhausting illusions. If the invisible and contentless intuition is regarded as the “emptiness”, it is an empiricist operation. However, the spontaneity of consciousness is an experience that can be searched backwards. Therefore, there is a phenomenon of “one sense returning to the source, six senses liberating”. The life of the human soul needs the guidance of “persuasion”, and the expression of “emptiness” of the nature of all things means that they are not self-generated. Furthermore, Mohe Zhiguan says that “A mind can be born and produced by a mind, and nothing is empty. It is false to say that the mind is born from a mind without self-nature, otherness, commonness, and cause-free nature. It does not start from the self, the other, the common, or the separation, and it does not go to the east, the west, the south, or the north.”7
“There is no movement in all laws.” (Qikong, 2018) Not born and not accepted, the Buddhist Prajna School proposed that the mind was the internal sense and took the route of “from matters to senses”. The innate principle of Confucianists advocated “sincerity”, which followed the “sincerity and brightness” in The Doctrine of the Mean and focused on polishing things. This proposal belongs to the Philosophy of the Mind, while Buddhism focuses on the treatment of the mind. In Mohe Zhiguan,
“The Dharma of Buddhism is based on the Dharma Joy in meditation. This Dharma Joy is equal and wise. There are no obstacles to all Dharma. According to Jingming, all Dharma are equal. Worry is the salary, wisdom is the fire, and so is karma. Nirvana is the food that all disciples will enjoy. This food feeds the Dharma, and increases wisdom and life.”
7The Grandmaster Zhizhe Mohe Zhiguan Chapter 1, the Dazheng buddhist scriptures Chapter 46, page 95.
After entering the internal senses, it is the beginning for an individual to open up the hidden inside and see the past. “Although there is no rough appearance, there are fine worries.” Wang Yangming inherited the criticism of Zhu Xi on Buddhism that “It only has spirit and disdains knowledge”. Meanwhile, his “nature study” is similar to the “view of things” of Shao Yong, making intuition have specific content. Such abandonment of nothingness is an epistemological approach. However, Buddhism aims to keep away from coarseness and seek peace. “Nothingness” is also an operation that is far away from bondage, not rigidly bound to words, and free from thinking in mind and body.
“Seeing thinking is ignorance, and ignorance is Dharma. Seeing thinking breaking is ignorance breaking, and ignorance breaking is Dharma seeing. When an individual enters reality, he can break the Dharma everywhere.”8 “If the thought is born, the former is the sense, and the latter is the cognition.”9 The ancients said, “Do not be afraid to start thinking, be afraid to feel late. It is a disease to start thinking, and it is a medicine not to continue.” The wisdom in the world is “no thoughts”. Joy caused by the gain and sorrow caused by the loss are all secular hearts. Confucius said, “Don’t be confused at forty.” What? For the wisdom of the world, it is not confused by lust, wealth, love and hatred. The Buddhists should keep the space for mediation and transformation as well as understand the law of transformation of all things. The Bodhisattva has all the wisdom, but there are still subtle troubles. If an individual enters the realm of supreme intelligence, there is still a realm which only an individual with an unmoved statement can achieve.
5. Mindfulness
Wang finally implemented his theory into Mindfulness and connected it with knowledge and action. It can be seen in the conversation between Jiuchuan and Wang.
Jiuchuan asked: “In recent years, I must sit still and try to hold my breath because of the flood of learning. I was disturbed. How about that?”
Yangming said: “How can a man stop thinking? Just to be positive.”
Jiuchuan asked: “When a man has no mind?”
Yangming said: “When there is no no mind around oneself.”
Jiuchaun asked: “Therefore, what is silence?”
Yangming said: “Silence may not be movement. The movement may not be silence. Precaution fear is the mind. However, there is no silence or movement.”
Jiuchuan asked: “Why Zhouzi said that ‘The saints used the doctrine of the mean, justice, benevolence and righteousness as the standard to stabilize social life?’”
Yangming said: “Silence means no desire. It is the fixed word of ‘static is fixed, and dynamic is also fixed.’ The idea of fear is lively. It is the reason why the mystery of nature is endless. Therefore, the fate given by heaven is never-ending. The ending will be die. Meanwhile, the non-ontological thoughts are private.” (Wang, 1992: p. 91)
8The Grandmaster Zhizhe, Mohe Zhiguan Chapter 1, the Dazheng buddhist scriptures Chapter 46, page 8.
9The Grandmaster Zhizhe, Mohe Zhiguan Chapter 5, the Dazheng buddhist scriptures Chapter 46, page 63.
Language is the suggestion and reinforcement of oneself. Mindfulness is one of the eight positive paths of Buddhism. Confucianists believe that human consideration brings everything into spiritual care. Mencius believes “the nature of all things is connected with me”. In addition to the emotional connection between man and nature, there is also a cognitive level. Confucianists are not indifferent to the existence outside themselves. Meanwhile, Confucians advocate getting out of the “self” centred survival experience and agree that each other is involved in induction. However, Buddhism believes that this induction is reflected as “Karma”. The most direct are the good and good feelings, evil and evil feelings. Wang Yangming affirmed the “Ge” of “Gewu” as “the rightness”. He said, “Ge means rightness, and Ge can make incorrectness become rightness.” (Wang, 1992: p. 25) Yangming often says to others, “It is easier to break a thief in a mountain than in a heart.” These feelings come from the experience of life. Good thoughts and Mindfulness are the expressions of wisdom, while evil thoughts are the guidance of ignorance, which often give birth to the heart of the retreat. As the Analects of Confucius, Wei Linggong, said, “A man cannot keep what a man knows, and if a man gets it, a man will lose it.” To avoid getting it, a man will lose it again. Wang called the mind of evil thoughts “learning heart” in his book “Pass on the record”. (Wang, 1992: p. 117) At last, Wang summed up his philosophy in four sentences. “No good and no evil is the body of the heart, good and evil are the movements of the mind, knowing good and evil is conscience, and removing evil for good is the Ge Wu.” The thought is consistent: “I have a good field without any filth, but I hope that the Buddha will dew the Dharma rain, and the rain will make the Dharma bud.”10 Meanwhile, Buddhism also believes that the state of all good is not achieved overnight but is the manifestation of mature opportunity. Therefore, humans do not suppress the mind, so cultivating Mindfulness is a lifelong practice. From the perspective of the text, the path of Wang is similar to the “four senses” of Buddhism. According to the “Dirghaagama”, “there are four senses, which are called four senses.” (Buddha Yasha, 2013) They are “Therefore, the monk did not rise to evil thought, so it was convenient to make; the monk has the evil mind, convenient to destroy; not good law, easy to use; has a good law, conventional thinking, to expand it”. These four mental methods are the correct operation for cultivating regular meditation. The relationship between mind and goodwill is like that between mother and child, which is worried.
10The Grandmaster Guanding, On the Theory of Mind Observation, the Dazheng Buddhist Scriptures Chapter 46, page 589.
11Grandmaster Xuanzang, Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra, Chapter 6, Nianzhupin page 5.
Buddhism believes it is difficult for the subject to obtain free will, so we should take Mindfulness as protection. In order to “illustrate illustrious virtue” and to “rest in the highest excellence”. It is easy to define desire in practice and stop confusion and delusion in mind. The mind can “keep four thoughts” and can establish the sense of “stop” and “view”. Great Prajna Pomerania said, “Why does the cloud not have an accurate way and produce greed? It is strange foolishness and badness.” As the Buddha said, “love is born, and writing is absurd. Therefore, I don’t know the good and evil laws, so I fell into the evil interest.”11 Human consciousness often follows the feeling unconsciously. The first thing is to break this “stimulus & response” habit. The five desires and six specks of dust do not affect the touch of consciousness. People use the Dharma, good at self-remembering, to replace the shattered world thoughts. This is the meaning of Mindfulness.
Buddhism believes that man is a Dharma tool; the Dharma tool is not broken, and the Dharma connection can be complete. Mindfulness is a measure to protect the instrument of Dharma. As people often say, “the four thoughts” is Mindfulness. In “The Theory of Mind Observation”, Shen Xiu said, “The transcendental witness is not far away, and the realization is in a moment, so why to bother the hoary head.” The Dharma of the Tathagata must have a sequence. Take the “impure view” of the yogi as an example, including the initial, mature, and super-working intentions. Therefore, the more a man goes up, the more powerful man will be. Starting from the unclean view of the body, you break the joy of the heart and the curiosity of climbing so that the soul is clear and quiet. At last, if a man wants to be less desirable and quieter, man will always be free to think.
6. Conclusion
Buddhism believes that the root has a light, the eye has internal light, and the body has an internal light. A man can see the world in a pore. The study of Yangming has turned the daily use of the world into a Taoist field for good physical use. It also believes that the “light of this mind” can be achieved on ordinary days. The body of conscience is always clear, but the operation of this heart needs to get rid of both sides: ignorance and deliberation. The three changes in the study of Wang result from his fate being polished in a hundred deaths and thousands of difficulties. However, Yangming advocates that saints and ordinary people have no separation, just like the Tathagata and all living beings. Ordinary people can emerge from ignorance with intelligent intuition and goodwill. It takes a process to be happy and clean. The mind of humans often avoid danger because of fear but seldom settle down to be clean. So most of the time, our consciousness is ignorant, which requires the self-evident part to jump out first and oversee the mind. The mind is not simply forced to suppress itself but is not moved between worries and thoughts, and the Mindfulness is endless. Consciousness gradually develops with the acquisition of induction, so “everyone can be a saint” pursues a life state full of vitality.