Throughout five thousand years, there are only "two and a half" saints in China history, one is Confucius, the other is Wang Yangming, and that "half" is Zeng Guofan.

Zeng Guofan's life is full of controversy, but his views and accomplishments in self-cultivation and self-discipline are beyond doubt.

In particular, he put forward the word "widowed": taciturn, ignorant, and wanting nothing.

Sober.

0 1

Be taciturn and keep one's breath.

Guiguzi has a saying: if you talk too much, you must have shortcomings.

Learning to shut up is a great wisdom.

I'm impressed.

Zeng Guofan, an early Zeng Guofan, fell a big head because of this, and the painful lesson made him unforgettable.

Zeng Guofan, who has just entered imperial academy, is in the spring breeze, and arrogance and pride breed in his heart.

At his father's birthday party, Zheng Xiaoshan, his fellow countryman friend and Zeng's doctor, came to congratulate him.

At the banquet, Zeng Guofan patted his chest and said that he is now a bachelor of the academician courtyard. If everyone needs it, he will certainly help. Zheng Xiaoshan said with a smile: I am a doctor. What can you do for me?

At this point, the history of Zeng Guofan, with disdain blurt out:

I'm not as good as a quack in the imperial court.

Hearing this, Zheng Xiaoshan stood up angrily and left.

A careless remark lost a good friend.

Kind words are warmer than cloth; Words hurt people deeper than spears and halberds.

A person's mouth is his feng shui.

Not only that, Zeng Guofan often spoke in officialdom without hesitation, which almost offended the whole officialdom. As a result, no one wanted to get close to him, and finally he was hit by the rain and became a joke of the whole officialdom.

This sad experience made him deeply understand that "you can't do what you want and you can't say what you want", but at this moment, you should wake yourself up and then he will return to the peak step by step.

The mouth is the door of the heart, and it is a disaster if it is not used well.

Some time ago, I read a joke.

The boss wished his father a happy 99th birthday in the circle of friends. Everyone is at the bottom to congratulate him. A young employee replied: I wish the elderly a long life.

The next day, it opened.

Mouth is a person's feng shui, a word can be achieved, a word can be defeated.

Mr. Lin Yutang said:

Speak cleverly and say little; If you talk too much, you lose. If you talk too much, you lose.

The abyss has a bottom, and people are unpredictable. Sometimes, what you think is straightforward. In the eyes of others, it may be a thorn, or even a handle on your body.

Think twice before you act; First think and then speak.

Caution is the way to cultivate one's morality.

02

Look down on life and rest.

"Ignorance" here means reading less miscellaneous things and not wasting energy on messy things, but reading more.

Zeng Guofan is a person who loves reading very much. He often said:

"Reading can not only change people's temperament, but also nourish people's spirit, so we should learn from others." .

Reading can not only change a person's temperament, but also nourish a person's soul and make people familiar with reason and justice.

This sentence is also reflected in him.

Reading is the springboard of his life, which makes him a poor boy without any background and eventually leads to his career.

It is also a book that accompanied him through the darkest moment of his life.

In the seventh year of Xianfeng, Zeng Guofan suffered repeated battles and defeats on the battlefield, and the officialdom was out of harmony. Finally, Emperor Xianfeng ordered the military power to be deposed and returned to his hometown for standby.

This is the darkest moment of his life. He was indignant, full of grievances and unwilling. He couldn't figure out why he was sincere and devoted to serving the country, but he was suspected by the emperor and ridiculed by his colleagues. As a result, he became depressed and sick.

It was not until he met Laozi's Tao Te Ching that he realized his crux and began to change his social style, from Han Feizi's "combining rigidity with softness" to Laozi's "combining rigidity with softness".

Not only did I know myself, but I also realized the change of thinking and ushered in a turning point in my life.

The ancients said that ignorance is wise.

At present, people who love reading are often smarter than those who always like to watch TV on their mobile phones, and this is also scientifically based.

Japanese researchers have done an experiment to scan the brains of people who like watching TV and reading books, as shown in the figure below:

Obviously, the brain neural network of reading books is criss-crossed, more complex and developed, so the stronger the ability to receive and store information and thinking, the smarter the brain will naturally be.

Kenichir? Mogi once said in How to Transform the Brain through Reading:

Reading can make the brain ferment like humus and form high-quality soil in the brain.

Pay less attention to nourishing the heart and learn more about nourishing the heart.

Therefore, it is the greatest foresight and wisdom to brush your mobile phone less, watch less nutritious things and focus more on reading and growing yourself.

Reading is the way to cultivate the spirit.

03

Lack of desire to nourish essence

Desire is a cage. Many people are unhappy, not because they have less, but because they want too much.

If the heart is full, the humble room is at ease;

If you are trapped by desire, you are also anxious and painful in a mansion.

True happiness lies not in material wealth, but in inner wealth.

Zeng Guofan has been practicing a minimalist lifestyle all his life.

He eats in a minimalist way.

Zeng Guofan has the reputation of "prime minister of one product", but the so-called "one product" does not praise his high position, but refers to his minimalist diet, with only one dish and one meal per meal.

This is really rare for a high-ranking official with outstanding military achievements and heavy power.

He dresses simply.

Once, Zeng Guofan went out to be a guest. At the banquet, everyone found that the clothes he was wearing turned out to be those of 30 years ago, and they were still patched.

Everyone made fun of him, but he smiled and said:

Cherish food and clothing, not only cherish time but also cherish happiness; Pursue fame and fortune, but know yourself, Dont Ask For Help.

Yes, no amount of luxurious clothes, no amount of food, no amount of fame and no amount of money can compare with a sweet and self-sufficient heart.

The place where he lives is also extremely simple.

According to records, after Zeng Guofan's death, he found that his bedroom only had a bed, a table and several stools, all of which were made of ordinary materials and had been seriously worn out. Bamboo sticks brought from my hometown in my early years were used to make clothes and books. ......

So many people lament that they have never seen such a poor adult.

So, what is real poverty?

There is a rave review in Zhihu:

When your desire is a penny more than your income, you are really poor.

Truly happy people never have much, but care less.

Only by not being enslaved by material things and not being carried by desires can we keep our inner clarity and live happily.

No desire is just, the way to nourish the heart.

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Forrest Gump said:

Life is a process of continuous elimination, and gradually know what is important and what is not.

A person's life is a process of simplifying the complex.

Talk less, eat less, watch less, ask less, and worry less.

I hope we can keep our mouths shut, read more books, control our desires and gain a simple and rich life in the future journey.