How to Engage in Mundane Tasks in a Supermundane Spirit?

How to Engage in Mundane Tasks in a Supermundane Spirit?

Xue Mo

I often talk about the subjects of “engagement in the world” and “detachment from the world.” What I mean by “detachment from the world” is not simply doing nothing; rather, it is achieving transcendence before doing things. That is, your behavior must go beyond your tiny set boundaries. You cannot do things just for those who are close to you. You must not set any conditions for your behavior. It is to engage in worldly affairs with a sense of detachment. To detach yourself from the world is not to turn your back on the world and do nothing, but to avoid getting trapped by the desire and defilement of the world. For instance, Bill Gates makes such a great fortune and yet he surpasses the fortune. His attitude towards money proves that he has achieved a kind of transcendence which is not comprehensible by ordinary people and that his mind and behavior are no longer bound by money. Through engaging in the world, his acts reflect the state of his mind. Therefore, detaching oneself from the world is not avoiding the world; on the other hand, engaging in the world is not getting caught up in worldly affairs. Engaging in the world is like staying in a pond; we need to absorb nutrition from this gigantic pond. Detachment from the world is similar to a lotus growing out of the pond. However, it doesn’t mean that you may pull the lotus out and then parade yourself ostentatiously about town with this illusory signboard and cheat the public into cheers. The reason is that, being out of the pond, the lotus withers away very fast, unless it is an artificial flower, which means one is a deceiver who tries to gain undeserved fame. The unworldly genuine flower, however, needs to be nourished by the mud of the worldly pond. It is necessary to devote one’s own life in the worldly pond and grows a real flower out of one’s true nature. Nevertheless, we must surpass the mud and rise as a lotus, rather than ending up in that mud as tadpole, rice-field eel, earthworm, etc, etc. This is what I am trying to express.

Now, do children in Western China need help from us? Yes, they do, but inwardly they don’t need it. What does it mean? Many people say that Xue Mo’s childhood was full of misery. Actually, I felt no misery at all. Children in western regions live a happier life than those in Shanghai. How miserable Shanghai kids are! They attend classes even on weekends. They are bearing the burden imposed by their parents. If the father doesn’t have the chance to be a government official, he says to his kid, “Son, you must strive to be a top official in the future.” If the father can’t become Bill Gates, he says to his kid, “Son, you must become a financier in the future.” Having so many burdens on their shoulders, when they grow up and feel at a loss, they are very likely to jump off a high building, even if they are PhDs. It is because they can no longer deal with the pressure.

Tell you what, my son did not go to university. When he was in primary school, he said he wanted to read books by himself, rather than wasting his life on doing homework. I agreed and told his teacher about this on the phone. In junior high school, he complained that he had so much homework to do that he didn’t have enough time to read books. I said ok and called their school, telling them not to give my son any homework. Then he went on to senior high school, where students had to stay up late for the self-study session. My son said to me, “Dad, why am I feeling so stupid during the self-study session? I will only become more and more stupid if I stay there. I want to read books on my own.” I said ok and asked the school to cut the evening study session for my son. Then, at the age for college, he said, “Dad, I don’t want to go to university. I want to be a writer.” I said, “OK, do as you please.” When he was still in junior high, one day I found a love letter he wrote to a girl. It read, “My dear, one day I will take you to Japan to view sakura at Mont Fuji.” I said to him, “That’s my boy! I’m happy that you have such a great ambition, to maintain your wife as well as feed yourself and what’s more, to take her to Japan to view sakura. Wonderful! It’ll be bad if you can’t even feed yourself in the future.” My son assured me that that definitely would not happen. So far, I have taken my son to a lot of places. All my friends have told me that my son is very healthy. He is even capable of giving classes to college students. Currently, many children in western provinces are learning writing with him. I told my son, “Don’t be an official if you don’t want to. Just do what you like to do. As long as you have moral integrity, as long as you bring the true, the good, and the beautiful to this world, you have my full support. In other words, as long as one aims high, one deserves our praise, no matter which part of the sky he is flying to.

Shanghai children are not as happy as those in western provinces. So, do these children need care and concern from us? In fact, they, who are very happy, are unaware that the outside world is concerned about them. They are happy when they are gazing at stars; they are happy when they are enjoying the singing of birds and the fragrance of flowers. It was the same with me as a child. As I galloped away on horseback, people watched me with admiration. They thought I was so happy. Later, when people said that I suffered great hardship in my childhood, my response was this: “I didn’t suffer great hardship nor felt miserable. It is you who told me so.” It is people in eastern provinces who tell people in the west that they live a hard life. In fact, they live happily. So, we appreciate it very much that you are concerned about them, that you, with the best of intentions, try to change their situations. However, this kind of concern and aid must be a dialog between two worlds, a dialog that two countries engage in under the “Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence.” There should be no aggression or discrimination. We should understand and praise their way of life. Western China should absorb nutrition from the culture of Eastern China and Eastern China should absorb nutrition from the broader, brighter, and more profound culture of Western China. When the two cultures merge, it will give rise to an even more beautiful world. And this is how I see it.

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如何以出世心来入世？

雪漠

我老是谈到入世和出世。我所说的出世不是什么都不做，而是实现“超越”后再做事。就是你的行为要超越你那个小小的局限，你不能把做事这个概念仅仅用于你身边有关系的人，不要有什么条件。就是要“以出世之心做入世之事”，出世并不意味着你不要去入世做事，而是不要陷入这个世界的欲望和烦恼之中，仍然要做事。换句话说，比尔•盖茨那么赚钱，但他又超越了金钱，他在对金钱的态度上实现了常人不能理解的一种超越，金钱已经不能束缚他的心灵和行为。他的这种行为以入世来体现他的境界。所以，出世不是躲避这个世界，入世不是陷入这个世界。入世是一个池塘，要从这个巨大的池塘中汲取营养；出世就是在这个池塘当中长出一朵莲花。出世的意思不是说把这个莲花拔了，然后拿着这个虚幻的招牌招摇过市，骗取世界人民的喝采。因为这朵花没有那个池塘的时候，很快就枯萎了，除非是一个假花，是一个欺世盗名者。这个出世的真花，需要入世的泥塘来滋养，每个人必须把自己的生命投入到池塘中，长出自己心灵的真花，但是我们不要变成污泥中的蝌蚪、黄鳝、蚯蚓等等，要超越出来变成莲花，就是这么一个意思。

我告诉大家，西部的孩子需要大家的帮助吗？需要，但是他们心中不需要。什么意思？很多人说雪漠小时候忍受了苦难，但是我根本没有什么苦难。西部的孩子比上海的孩子活得快乐。上海的孩子多么痛苦，你看那些孩子周末都在上课，他们背负着父辈压给他们的负担。一个父亲没有当官的可能性，就对孩子说，儿子呀，将来要当个大官；自己不可能成为比尔•盖茨的时候，就对孩子说，儿子呀，将来你要当一个金融家。这些孩子小小的背上承载着多少的重担，于是当他们失落的时候，就算得到博士学位也可能从楼上跳下，因为他们再也不能承受这种东西了。

我告诉大家，我的儿子没有上大学。他在小学的时候说我不想做家庭作业，我想自己读书，那些家庭作业浪费了太多的生命。我说好，我给老师打电话，不要做家庭作业了，你读书就可以了。他在初中的时候说学校作业那么多，我没有时间做，我要读书。我说好，那就不要做了，我给学校打电话说不要给我的儿子布置家庭作业。高中的时候，学校要求上晚自习到很晚，我儿子说：“爸爸，我上自习的时候觉得自己怎么那么的愚蠢，我在这个群体当中只会越来越愚蠢，我想自己读书。”我说好的，然后和学校说不要让我的儿子上晚自习。后来，到了他该上大学的时候了，他说爸爸我要当作家，我不想上大学。我说好，那就不要上了，当作家好了。他初中的时候，有一天我发现他写给一个女孩子的情书：“亲爱的，我将来要带你去日本的富士山看樱花。”我说好儿子，居然有如此的雄心壮志，不但把自己的肚子填饱，还要养活自己的老婆，并且还要带她去日本看樱花，就要这样，就怕将来连你自己的肚子也填吃不饱就麻烦了。他说一定能填饱的。直到今天，我带着儿子去了很多的地方，所有的朋友都告诉我，你的儿子非常健康。他可以给很多大学生上课。现在，西部有很多的孩子跟着他学习写作。我告诉他，当你不想当官的时候就不要当官，你做你自己喜欢的事情。只要你有高尚的人格，只要你能给这个世界带来真善美，你做什么你的爸爸都支持你。换句话说，只要一个人有一颗向上的心，无论他飞向哪片天空，都值得我们赞美。

上海的孩子没有西部的孩子幸福，所以西部的孩子需要关怀吗？他们不知道，他们不知道外部世界还要关怀他们，因为他们很快乐。看到星星的时候，看到鸟语花香的时候，他们很快乐。我骑着骏马飞驰的时候，很多人用羡慕的目光看着我，我是那么幸福。   后来人说雪漠你童年经历了那么多的痛苦，我说没有痛苦，我没有觉得苦难，那是你们告诉我的。西部人的所有苦难，大多是东部人告诉西部人的，说你们很苦。事实上，我们很快乐。所以当你们关注他们的时候，你们用非常好的善心想改变他们的时候，我们赞美你们，但这种帮助是两个世界的对话，是两个“国家”在“和平共处五项原则”下的对话。不要侵略他，不要歧视他，要赞美他的活着，理解他的活着。西部从东部文化中汲取营养，东部从西部文化中汲取更博大、更光明的营养，两种文化结合起来的时候，这个世界就更美了，我觉得就是这样。

声明：本文系文化志愿者试译，非专业人才翻译，错误定然不少，如出现疏漏及错误，敬请读者见谅。如有任何翻译上的建议及修正意见，欢迎及时与我们取得联系，我们会加以校对、修改，并希望有专业才能的朋友也能加入我们志愿者群体中来。

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