Listen to the philosophers tell stories

Author: Yuan Zhongyuan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-10-01
Features: Five years ago, I entered Peking University's Yanyuan with a pilgrim's mindset, intending to ignore the world and focus solely on studying the classics. But the life of a small person is so humble that sometimes one cannot even grasp their own fate, like a fallen autumn leaf, drifting and swirling with the wind. Fate is the source; I really like this phrase. Accidental encounters may determine your lifelong reflections. Having left the field of philosophy, its way of thinking has already seeped into my bones, and I cannot help but engage in it. I love reading, seeking not deep understanding, but rather sudden insights, and I forget to eat when lost in thought. I love thinking, always naively believing I have grasped absolute truth. In reality, there is no unchanging principle in the heavens, no fixed destiny in the world, and a slight tremor in the strings of human nature can move us for a lifetime. Seek, and you will find; enter, and it will open to you. — Medieval philosopher Abelard
Life is an experience, one that cannot be revealed but only shown. Perhaps, stories and fables are the best way to display the essence of life. — Western modern philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein
Philosophy concerns the fundamental questions of life; how can it not stir emotions? It explores the eternal questions of life, yet how can it lack eternal charm? — Chinese modern philosopher Zhou Guoping
Hegel said: A cultured nation without philosophy is like a temple, richly adorned in every way except for the sacred god within. Hegel used the metaphor of a temple and a god to vividly illustrate the relationship between human life and philosophy. A young man went to Socrates and said, "Socrates, I want to study philosophy with you." Socrates asked him, "What do you really want to learn?" Studying law can give you the skills for litigation; learning carpentry can let you make furniture; studying business can help you earn money. So, what can you do by studying philosophy?" The young man couldn't answer. Socrates wanted to show the young man that philosophy has no practical use.
Someone once asked the philosopher Thales, "What do you think is the most difficult thing for a person to do in this world?" Thales replied, "To know yourself." Zhuangzi told a story: A young man always wanted to learn an extraordinary skill. He heard that there was a man on a mountain who could kill dragons, so he spent all his family's wealth as tuition to learn from him. After completing his training, he realized he couldn't find a single dragon. Mozi said, "Speaking too much is of no use." The frog in the pond croaks all day long, exhausting itself, but no one pays attention to it. The rooster that crows at dawn, however, crows only two or three times a day, yet people pay attention to it because hearing the crow means the day has begun.
When did philosophical thinking become a grand, abstract theoretical construction? When did the wisdom hall of philosophy lose its human touch? Whether in the West or in our East, philosophy has always appeared in the form of stories or fables. Socrates and Confucius roamed the streets and alleys, engaging in conversations with people, and in the process revealed the truth of life and the meaning of existence. In that ancient era, so far removed from us, philosophy was closely tied to people's lives and deeply connected to the meaning of human existence.
In daily life, knowledge is easily acquired. If we are unfamiliar with or not proficient in a field of knowledge, with time, we will surely understand it. But wisdom, which concerns life, can only be experienced with the heart. Now do you truly understand why Buddhist teachings always earnestly advise people to "transform knowledge into wisdom"? Listening to philosophers tell stories is to discern the philosophy hidden within them, their insights into life, and the eternal questions that have puzzled philosophers throughout history. Of course, there are no fixed interpretations or ready answers here, only a profound realization that touches the strings of your soul.