A question I thought of yesterday was whether a person will inevitably feel more ugly when he feels many good things. This may also be a principle described in the "Tao Te Ching". Everyone knows that beauty is beautiful, but it is evil, and everyone knows that good is good, but it is bad. I had this experience when I was a child. I just ate a very sweet candy and then ate a slightly sweet fruit, and it didn't feel very sweet. On the other hand, if you eat a very bitter food, then eat a very sweet one. It will feel particularly sweet. If we go deeper, the feelings we produce from our senses are actually very unreal. Is it generated through constant comparison?
The same is true for our eyes. As soon as we walked into the dark place from a bright place, we suddenly felt that nothing could be seen, but after a while, we felt that some places in the dark were gradually becoming brighter. This may have gone through two processes, first from the bright place to the dark place. At this time, the eyes could see almost nothing, but after a while, there was also their own light and dark levels in the darkness, which formed a contrast in people's eyes. Soon, people can see the slightly brighter places in the dark again.
Many writers and artists may also be in this state. From the perspective of results, when they create works that are extremely beautiful, they will inevitably deeply feel the ugliness. So on the one hand, they are extremely creative, and on the other hand, they often feel entangled, painful, and depressed. For example, Van Gogh, Haizi, , Gu Cheng, . Perhaps, on the other hand, great literary and artistic people must have a ability to extract beauty, happiness and happiness from ugliness, pain and troubles. But when they do such things, they may also be trapped in it and cannot extricate themselves.
In " Dream of Red Mansions ", we see a Jia family that declined from prosperity. Before the Jia family declined, people like Jia Baoyu enjoyed a life of luxury every day. But it is precisely because of enjoying such a life that when the Jia family declined, the Jia family still had a family background that exceeded that of ordinary families. However, people like Jia Baoyu's feelings about poverty and downturn will surpass many ordinary people. It is human nature to yearn for beauty and goodness, but once you become persistent, the seeds of pain will be planted at the same time. Many philosophical schools transcend the beauty of the world. It will teach people to realize that even if it is beautiful or ugly, it is just a relative value. I don't have to deliberately abandon them, but I must be able to remain unmoved by them.
Many people’s feelings are compared, and this comparison is actually what Buddhism talks about. We often say in life that we should not compare. In fact, as long as we live in real life, we will definitely compare. Just after understanding some profound truths, on the one hand, you can compare yourself less and consciously overcome the competing mind. On the other hand, external comparison can be transformed into internal comparison - learning.
