楊簡原本和陸象山平輩論交，是在三十二歲與陸象山的一次對話中，忽然有了對本心的覺悟經驗之後，才毅然決定拜象山為師。由於這層關係，歷來在論及楊簡思想時，常常側重於他如何繼承了象山心學。本文則基於「覺悟經驗應需要一定的修養積累才能達致」來指出，楊簡的覺悟經驗是由其家學、自我反觀與其他工夫經歷等多種因素所共同引發的。此覺悟經驗讓楊簡體認到一切聖人之言皆是為了說明、引發與要求本心的純然發揮，並解決了楊簡自幼對聖人境界而有的疑惑。這不僅影響了楊簡如何建立修養論，更決定了其修養論的基本特色，如聖人之言的主要功能是引發修養經驗、工夫進路在於存心去意、最高境界是視萬物與己心同體等。除此之外，這也能夠解釋為何他對《大學》言工夫次第有著強力批評。 Yang Jian was Lu Xiang-Shan's friend. After a conversation with Lu when he 32 years old, Yang suddenly gains an enlightening experience, then decides to acknowledge Lu as his mentor. That is why most studies on Yang's thought emphasize how he inherits Lu's claim of mind. Base on the premise “people need certain cultivating accumulation to achieve enlightenment”, this article points out that Yang's enlightening experiences is caused by many factors, such as his family learning, introspection and other life experiences. These enlightening experiences make Yang realizes that all words of saint are explaining, guiding or asking the pure exertion of mind; and offer Yang a satisfied answer for his doubt of saint since his childhood. It does not only influence how Yang builds his theory of self-cultivation, but also determine the basic characteristic of this theory: the main function of saint's words is to guide our cultivating experiences, the way of cultivation is to keep mind and to avoid yi, and the ideal of cultivation is to treat all beings as parts of mind. Besides, it explains why Yang criticizes strongly on the practical procedure of The Great Learning.
