The characteristics of Chinese cultivation culture

Gaisi CAI nurtures culture and is the backbone of Chinese culture. Over the past five thousand years and spanning eight thousand miles, every aspect has been within its influence and cultivation. Compared with other cultural systems, especially with Western culture, Chinese cultivation culture has its own extremely distinct "cultural personality", or "cultural characteristics". To put it briefly: First, the directness in cognitive methods. The exploration of the mysteries of the objective world is what all mankind has been striving for throughout history. However, in terms of the ways of exploration, there are qualitative differences between Eastern and Western cultures. Western culture uses known theories to explain the unknown and employs more sophisticated tools to study more superficial things. That is to say, Western culture has indirectness both in theory and in practice. Theoretically speaking, for instance, when expounding the properties of "electric current", Western culture borrows some characteristics of "water" to make metaphors and descriptions. Water flow has flow rate, and so does electric current. It also has "electric charge", and its unit is named "ampere". Water flows downhill because of the effect of gravity, and so does electric current, which also has a "voltage". That is, the difference in electric potential energy, and its unit is marked as "volt". Water encounters resistance during its flow, and so does electric current, which also has "resistance" and is marked with units such as "ohm" and so on. Ultimately, this kind of learning is actually a "hypothesis". In Mr. Qian Zhongshu's words, this theory is merely a "metaphor", and many seemingly orthodox theories are based on "metaphors". However, please note that a metaphor is merely a metaphor. By using A to describe B, it can only be said that A and B have similarities. Through A, we can recognize some characteristics of B, but it by no means implies that A is B. B itself has many characteristics that are different from A. Mr. Qian put it well: "The danger of a thinker is to be tempted by metaphors and forget the original object being compared, taking the theories derived from metaphors as applicable to the object being compared" (see "On Going Home"), that is, to think that A is B. Therefore, when the Buddha was preaching, although he was good at using metaphors, he also warned his disciples not to get lost in those "metaphors", but to truly practice and realize them, to "see the moon through the finger" rather than "take the finger as the moon", that is, to emphasize the real experience of cultivation and refinement. From a practical perspective, when Western scientists conduct experiments, that is, as mentioned above, using "more sophisticated tools" to explore "more superficial things", this is actually a kind of "metaphor" in practice, or "metaphorical practice". For instance, to study the DNA structure in biological cells, high-power electron microscopes are generally used for observation. However, electrons themselves are disturbed. If they are used as observation tools, the observation results will inevitably have errors. This is like looking at objects through tinted glasses. Even if you can clearly see the shape of the object, you cannot correctly recognize its color. Moreover, to put it further, it is acceptable to explore genes with tools at the electronic level, but when it comes to the more subtle "quantum realm", it is powerless. In short, the vast majority of people's understanding of the world is theoretically instilled by those "scientists", "religious figures" and the like, and in practice, it is told by those "advanced instruments". Buddhism refers to this way of cognition as "yitong", which means relying on those less reliable theories and tools to understand the world. However, due to the limitations of those theories and tools, our cognitive outcomes are only correct to a certain extent, and errors always exist. This reliance on cognitive tools or theories, the indirectness in cognitive approaches, and the inevitable errors in cognitive outcomes are precisely the "fatal flaws" of Western culture. So this cultural system has always been in a state of intense self-denial. For instance, Western culture, especially the Chinese culture of cultivation and refinement, emphasizes "comprehending everything without reservation". That is to say, the "groom" and the "bride" need to communicate directly, deeply understand her character, and then decide on their marriage again, which is equivalent to the "modern marriage" model. The sages have left us precious teachings such as "self-reflection and inner examination" and "self-cultivation, family regulation, state governance, and world peace". We should concentrate our minds and energy, strengthen and deepen our sensory functions, and directly observe, listen, and explore the true face of the objective world without relying on any tools or theories. For instance, without the aid of an electron microscope, through "looking inward behind a curtain", as the process of entering a state of tranquility deepens, one's internal organs, cells, genes, molecules, atoms and other levels will be directly presented before one's eyes. This kind of "internal seeking method" is called "supernatural power" in Buddhism and is distinguished by a "dependent power". It is also called "correct universal knowledge". "Right" means correct and error-free. It is not a "fallacy", that is, the correctness of the cognitive result. "Go around" means to cover everything, not the "prejudice" of a single corner, and there are no "professional limitations". Second, in terms of the integrity of the verification method, borrowing art terms, the cultivation of culture is "freehand brushwork", pursuing overall harmony and unity. Although it may not seem "precise", it has far exceeded "precision". Western culture is "meticulous", with meticulous carving and detailing, using many parts to form a "whole". Take the study of martial arts as an example. The "freehand Refinement Method" is to let no thought arise at all, allowing the spirit to gather into a ball and cover the entire body, with a spherical "infiltration". As for how much can seep in, it is ignored. Over time, this "spirit ball" will naturally seep into the internal organs. At that time, the practitioner's sensory function will also deepen, penetrating from the surface to the inside of the body, and having a specific and detailed examination of their own internal structure. The "freehand brushwork method" ultimately achieved the effect of "meticulous brushwork", which is exactly what Laozi meant by "opposite complementing each other". That is to say, once the overall picture is grasped, one will naturally be able to better control each part on this basis. The "Gongbi Training Method" is like human anatomy, dividing the human body into several bones and muscles, and then exercising them one by one. Such as "Western bodybuilding and martial arts", etc. However, as the Western influence spread to the East, this idea was introduced to China. Many martial arts schools (even the internal martial arts schools that emphasized "divine will") were also influenced by it and pursued their "meticulous brushwork" approach: standing in a proper posture, first beating a certain muscle, then twisting a certain tendon, and then pulling a certain joint, etc. This disrupted the originally systematic and complete traditional training methods and went against the true meaning of martial arts. They think that by exercising all the muscles and bones in this way, the sum of each part is equivalent to exercising the whole. "First stretch the muscles on the shady side, then stretch the muscles on the sunny side, and the overall strength will come out!" This was even said by a certain "successor" of Yi Quan! Little do they know that according to the idea of "systems theory", "the whole is always greater than the whole", and "the sum of each part never equals the whole". That is to say, the "Yin side muscles" plus the "Yang side muscles" do not equal the whole. To truly cultivate the harmonious force in martial arts, the relationship between the Yin and Yang muscles is by no means a simple superposition, but rather a multiplicative or even square relationship. One may ask, can you take care of this relationship one by one in every practice session? ! The cultivation culture demands that through training, one can grasp the whole and the overall situation in an instant, that is, to acquire a kind of "all-round" power. Its training method emphasizes "divine will" over "physical form". Still taking Yiquan as an example, Mr. Wang Xiangzhai clearly stated: "Only seek the fullness of the spirit and intention, not the resemblance of the form and body", "When it comes to the specific, it becomes one-sided." However, there are still many people who put too much effort into "muscle and bone training" and "structure determines function", and thus engage in "intentional boxing" without any intention. Just like a person without a soul and a beauty without charm, they can only be a "walking corpse" type of martial arts. Xiangweng also once gave an example of art to depict Yiquan: "If we compare from the signs..." The paintings of the Great Li and Wang Wei are quite mysterious and similar. Who would have thought that nowadays people's hearts are not as pure as before? Wang Wei's fresh and elegant "divine charm paintings" are no longer appreciated by anyone, and what is popular are the meticulous and delicate "Western meticulous brushwork paintings". This must have been beyond Xiangweng's expectations, right?