At noon, I suddenly thought of Wang Yangming and the enlightenment at Longchang.
I don't know much about Wang Yangming, but the legendary aspect of the four characters "Longchang Wudao" is quite strong and somewhat pretentious, so I searched for some video materials on Bilibili. The story of Longchang Wudao tells that Wang Yangming was harmed by treacherous people while serving as an official, and he pretended to drown to escape with his life. He then attained enlightenment at Longchang (a Taoist temple in Guizhou) and ultimately became a sage.
In this era of short videos, most video materials are rather superficial, conveying second-hand knowledge like secondhand smoke, with low information density and a lack of insight. I thought I should read "Chuanxi Lu" myself and study the philosophy of the mind. Although it's just a fleeting glimpse, I still have the notion that Wang Yangming's enlightenment at Longchang is quite similar to the sudden enlightenment in Zen Buddhism.
Zen Buddhism advocates sudden enlightenment and enjoys that kind of "stick-and-shout" revelation, which seems somewhat extreme to me. When disciples seek the way from their masters, the masters either act like riddlers or strike down the disciples. The most outrageous Zen story I've seen is about a disciple who sought the way from his master, and the master directly swung a knife and cut off his arm; the disciple attained enlightenment on the spot and became a Buddha.
Upon seeing such stories, you must have the same thought as I do: What the hell? Is this even possible?
There are many criticisms of Zen Buddhism, and the story above illustrates one aspect. Did that disciple truly attain enlightenment, or was he merely frightened by the master's blade? We can no longer know. Many contemporary masters claim to have attained sudden enlightenment and achieved the way to gain social status, but you cannot prove the authenticity of their enlightenment; after all, it's sudden enlightenment, and you can't practice it.
In my view, sudden enlightenment may not be false; it just doesn't happen out of thin air but is a qualitative change brought about by quantitative changes.
The enlightenment at Longchang and the "stick-and-shout" enlightenment in Zen Buddhism share similarities; both occur in moments of extreme inner calm after experiencing great calamities.
I am very interested in these processes of enlightenment. I also enjoy the stories of these sages and envy them for finding their own paths. A heart without duality, only the original mind—this may be the state of nirvana, which the Buddha realized under the Bodhi tree, or something like that. Inner peace, spiritual fullness, neither joy nor sorrow; I can only feel this way when I am extremely focused (actually, the time of the wise is also like this; I believe this is also the reason for the "fire entering the devil" in Tibetan Buddhism). At that time, my heart is full, without hatred or resentment, grateful for everything, clear-headed, not impulsive, and organized. But such moments are rare; due to ADHD, I quickly return to chaos.
The Buddha said that sentient beings are like mirrors covered in dust, and Buddhas are sentient beings who have wiped the mirror surface. I believe everyone has a kind of Buddha nature, which belongs to their own enlightenment. This enlightenment doesn't necessarily have to be expressed through Buddhist philosophy; it can also be through Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, Wang Yangming's philosophy of the mind, Laozi and Zhuangzi's Daoism, Stoicism, or Marxism. The key lies in how to practice it. The fundamental sorrow of ordinary people may lie in their inability to achieve unity of knowledge and action: thinking a lot but doing little; doing a lot but not following the original mind.