第五章
原文：天地不仁，以万物为刍狗；圣人不仁，以百姓为刍狗。天地之间，其犹橐鈅乎？虚而不屈，动而不出。多言数穷，不如守中。
天地不仁，以万物为刍狗——孔子曾说：“仁者，爱人也”。老子这句话的意思则是：天自为天，地自为地，是没有爱与不爱的想法的，所以，世间万物就对于天地来说就好比是用草扎成的没有生命的狗一样。
圣人不仁，以百姓为刍狗——前面已经说明，圣人是一个善于用耳朵全方位听取不同声音的人，所以，圣人也不会偏爱什么人，把百姓也当成是草扎的狗一样。老子的这一观点，很受争议。其实老子的确要比孔子高明得多，否则孔子当年就不会不辞旅途劳顿地去登门向老子请教。老子在这里是讲真正的圣人对待自己的子民都一如天地对待草扎的没有生命的狗那样一视同仁。也就是对所有的生命都一样看待，不分亲疏，不分远近，不分高下，不分贵贱。当一个人对所有人都给予不分亲疏、不分远近、不分厚薄、不分多少，完全平等一样的爱的时候，就等于“不爱”——因为人们也就再难区分比较什么是圣人之爱，什么是圣人不爱了。
天地之间，其犹橐鈅乎——天与地广袤无际的空间，或许是一个大风箱吧？
虚而不屈，动而不出——（这大风箱）静止的时候，虚宁空寂得什么都没有，鼓动起来的时候，又会雷霆万钧，远转不息。
多言数穷，不如守中——"面对如此自发自动有自己生存、作息规则的自然与社会"，当政者还是少发指示、政令，保持不偏不倚的态度为好。
老子在这里说的“多言数穷”除了字面意义外，还包含“当政者管得越多，干预得越多，就越容易把自己推向"黔驴技穷"境界的含义.与其如此，还不如听任自然和社会按自己固有的规律去生存、作息。
我们平常说的“哲学”也被一些大师级的人物神秘化了。会告诉你哲学就是形而上学。如此，你又得再问什么是形而上学。。。。如此一堂课的时间也就在这个名词解释上被耗完了，而你还不一定就被他讲懂了，于是当你看到大师走出教室的那一霎那的背影时会说：“啊，好深奥的学问！”
其实，“哲学”，这个个外来词的英文拼写是philosophy,。而这个词又是来自希腊语。“philo”是爱的意思，”sophy”则是智慧的意思。因此，哲学的本意，其实就是“爱智慧”。数学家毕达哥拉斯被人问及是什么人时，他回答说自己是一个philosophos——爱智慧的人。那在我们的汉语里“哲”是什么意思呢？其实也很简单，就是这个人说的话，就好比工匠能让枝蔓散乱的木经过斧斤斮削成材成器那样。
几千年前的老子，就是这样一个爱智慧、说的话能让人成材成器的哲人。他最大的本事就是能从存于万千事物表象的“物理”、“事理”中归纳总结出一种促人成材的哲理。
Luohan comprehension：
天地不仁，以万物为刍狗——Confucius had said： “to be benevolent love”. And Lao-Tzu said：“heaven and earth do not act from（the impulse of）any wish to be benevolent；they deal with all things as the dogs of grass are dealt with.
圣人不仁，以百姓为刍狗——As explained above，the sages take advice and listen to what others have to say and what concerns they have. The sages do not act from benevolent；they deal with the people as the dogs of grass are dealt with.
The view of Lao-Tzu is controversial. Lao-Tzu is far above Confucius indeed，otherwise the Confucius would not get a visit to Lao-Tzu with the long-term fatigue of travel. A real sage must be equally accessible to all citizens，respect all their lives，treat all the lives without close and diatant，far or near，high or low，rich and poor. As one gives all the people the equal love and amounts to be“不爱”（no love）—— Because they can not distinguish and compare with if it is the love from sage.
天地之间，其犹槖鈅乎——May not the space between heaven and earth be copared to a bellows?
虚而不屈，动而不出——Tis emptied，yet it loses not its power；Tis moved again，and sends forth air the more.
多言数穷，不如守中——Much speech to swift exhaustion lead we see；Your inner being guard；and keep it free.
“多言数穷”in addition to the literal meaning，it also contains“the more the political interference，the more their ammunition have been exhausted. Instead，people should follow the regular schedule every day.
When we talk about the “Philosophy”，it has also been fooled by the myth. They would told you that the Philosophy is the metaphysical view. Then you may ask what is the metaphysical view… So your time will be waste by the terminology and sometimes you will not understand. When you watched the master step out of the classroom，you would sign“what an abstruse knowledge！”
Actually，the loanwords“哲学”in English is philosophy，and the word is come from Greek. “philo”means love and“sophy”means wisdom. So the original meaning of philosophy is to love wisdom. The mathematicians Pythagoras once was asked to be what kind of person，he said he was a philosophos——a person who love wisdom. What is the meaning of“哲”in Chinese？ Actually it is quite simple，like the carpenter 's logging.
Thousands of years ago，Lao-Tzu was indeed a person who love wisdom，what he said can make a man know his duty towards his neighbor. His greatest strength is through its external form，we can find the essential stipulation.
2011年12月23日星期五
