孟子内圣之道探赜

Internal Cultivation of Mencius

每个人本来具有的恻隐、羞恶、恭敬、是非之心是内圣之道的入手处,而此四心所本即为至善之心。体悟至善之心要从修心、知言、养气上下手,内圣之道由浅而深的六个次第是:善、信、美、大、圣、神。

The internal cultivation of individuals,as is taught by Mencius,is based on the four virtures：sympathy with suffering,shame for vices,reverence for others and the knowledge of good and evil,and the core of these four is the aspiration for the absolute good.To obtain the absolute good,one needs to focus on the perfection of the mind, the awareness of the proper way of uttering and the fostering of qi.The achievement of the internal cultivation is realized through six steps：goodness,faithfulness,beauty,generosity,saintliness and divinity.