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Knowledge wandered north along the banks of Dark Water, then climbed a hill at Yin Fen and happened to come upon Without Words To Express. Knowledge said these words to Without Words To Express: "I'd like to ask you some questions. What should I think about and what should I contemplate in order to understand Dao? Where should I live and what lifestyle should I pursue in order to be secure with Dao? Who should I join up with and which path should I follow in order to connect with Dao?" He asked these three questions, but Without Words To Express didn't respond to any of them. It wasn't that he chose not to answer, but he didn't know the answers. Since Knowledge didn't get any answers, he reversed directions and went south to White Water and climbed up the banks to Sly Conclusions where he found Warped Lunatic. Knowledge spoke up and asked Warped Lunatic the same questions. Warped Lunatic said: "Ooh! I know the answers and I'll explain it all to you." But in the middle of his sentence, he forgot what he wanted to say. Since Knowledge didn't get any answers, he reversed directions again and went to the Emperor's palace, got an audience with Huang Di and asked him the same questions. Huang Di said: "Without thinking and without contemplating you can begin to understand Dao. Without a place to live and without a specific lifestyle you can begin to be secure with Dao. Without joining up with anyone and without selecting a particular path you can begin to connect with Dao." Knowledge asked Huang Di: "You and I can understand these things, but the other two don't have this understanding. Which is right?" Huang Di said: "It's Without Words To Express who's actually right. Warped Lunatic seems to have a handle on it, but you and I aren't even close yet. Since one who knows doesn't speak and one who speaks doesn't know, a sage teaches without using words. Dao can't be acquired by seeking after it, and virtue can't be achieved through force. Benevolence can cause certain actions, righteousness can be practiced unfairly, and rituals can have the appearance of puppetry. "Therefore it's been said: 'Lose Dao and fall back on virtue; lose virtue and fall back on benevolence; lose benevolence and fall back on righteousness; lose righteousness and fall back on rituals.' Someone who gets to the point of performing rituals glorifying Dao brings about chaos. "Therefore it's been said: 'The actions of someone who becomes like Dao decrease every day. They keep decreasing and decreasing again to the point that there's no reason to take actions. Not purposefully taking action, yet never without acting.' "Now, for what's already come into being to want to go back to its roots has to be a difficult thing to do! That can only be easy for someone who's a great person! Birth follows death, and death creates birth. Who could really understand when the order of things is put that way? When a person is born it's due to the gathering together of a vital energy. When it's gathered together in that way a person is born, and when it's eventually dispersed again the person dies. Since death and birth both follow each other, what do we have to be concerned about? In this all living things are united. What makes one situation beautiful is because of its spirit and wonder. What makes another situation hateful is because of its stink and putrefaction. What's stinking and rotten will keep transforming into what has spirit and wonder. What has spirit and wonder will keep transforming into what's stinking and rotten. "Therefore it's been said: 'Complete integration is merely the unification of the vital energy in the world.' "Therefore, a sage values the unification." Knowledge responded to Huang Di, saying: "When I asked these things to Without Words To Express, he didn't answer me. Not only didn't he give me an answer, but he didn't even know the answer to my questions. When I asked Warped Lunatic, he got to the middle of a sentence and stopped short. Not only didn't he tell me what he wanted to, but he'd forgotten what he was going to say. Then when I asked you about it, you knew the answers. Why did you say you weren't even close?" Huang Di said: "Without Words To Express was genuinely correct because he truly didn't know. Warped Lunatic seemed to get it because he'd forgotten about it. You and I ended up not even being close because we think we have some understanding." Warped Lunatic heard about this conversation, and determined that Huang Di certainly had a way with words. The heavens and earth have great beauty, but no words. The four seasons have clearly defined patterns, but no debates. All living things have basic principles, but no explanations. A wise person begins with the beauty of the heavens and earth and arrives at the principles of all living things. That a perfected person doesn't interfere and a great sage doesn't initiate is called observing from the viewpoint of the heavens and earth. Now they, through spiritual clarity, have reached perfection and gone through hundreds of changes. Things continuously go in a circle of death and birth so nothing knows where their roots are. This has been prescribed for all living things since they first came into existence at the beginning of time. The six directions can be aligned with a measuring stick, but no one has yet been able to leave their own point of reference. The tiniest hair on a newly sprouted stalk of wheat waits for something to bring it to fruition. In the whole world there's nothing that doesn't sink at times and float at other times, throughout their entire lives with no apparent reason for it. Through darkness and lightness the four seasons keep moving along, each getting their own turn. The heart can become so dark at times it seems to vanish, but it still exists. Things may be so smeared and blurred that they lose their outer shapes, but the spirit is still there. All living things keep receiving sustenance although they might not realize it. This is called the basis of the root - to be able to observe from the viewpoint of the heavens! Nie Que (Cracked and Missing Teeth) asked Bei Yi about Dao. Bei Yi said: "If you align your body and unify your vision, the harmony of the heavens will arrive. If you assimilate your knowledge and unify your limitations, spirit will come into your being. Virtue will become beautiful to you, and Dao will become your resting place. You'll see things in a childlike way like a newborn calf, and won't need to ask why anything is the way it is." Before he had finished speaking, Nie Que had fallen fast asleep. Bei Yi gave a great sigh of joy and went away singing: "With a form like a dried up skeleton, "A heart like dying embers, "Straightforward in his genuine knowledge, "Not having a reason to show self-restraint, "Caught in the twilight without a mind, "And can't even carry on a discussion. "What kind of person is this?" Shun asked his assistant: "Can Dao be obtained and possessed?" "You don't even possess your own body, so how could you obtain and possess Dao!" Shun said: "If I don't even possess my own body, who does possess it?" "Your form fell to you from the heavens and earth. You don't possess your life either, as it fell to you from the harmonious union of the heavens and earth. You don't possess your character and destiny either, as they fell to you by the arrangements of the heavens and earth. You don't possess your children or grandchildren either, as they fell to you like extensions from your body from the heavens and the earth. Therefore, we go about without knowing where we're headed, stay in one place without knowing what keeps us there, and eat without knowing what makes it flavorful. The power of the heavens and earth is the brightest vital energy there is, so what is there that could be obtained and possessed?" Kong Zi (Confucius) asked of Lao Dan (Laozi): "While we're sitting here sharing this leisurely afternoon, I'd like to ask you about how to connect to Dao." Lao Dan said: "Even out your perspective, scatter what's soaked your mind, bathe in pure white snow until you've purified your spirit, and smash to pieces your knowledge. Dao is obscure and difficult to describe in words! But since you asked, I'll give you some of the essential points: "The brightly shining is born from dusky darkness; "The species that exist were born from what was formless; "Pure spirit was born from Dao; "The source of all forms was born from essence; "And all living things use their forms to give birth to others. "As a result, those with nine apertures are born from the womb, and those with eight apertures are hatched from an egg. They arrive without any indications of what they should do, and go forth without sensing any boundaries; without having doors to pass through or rooms to enclose them, simply heading off tentatively in all directions. Seeing everything as an open invitation, their four limbs are strong, their senses are acute and attentive, and their eyes and ears are fresh and bright. They use their minds for the intended purpose without worrying about it. They respond to other things without partiality. "The heavens cannot but be high. The earth cannot but to be expansive. The sun and moon cannot but to follow their courses. All living things cannot but prosper. In this way they're all connected to Dao. Moreover, gathering all this information doesn't make anyone knowledgeable and arguing against it doesn't make anyone wise, so the sage just lets it all go! That which has received benefits doesn't try to gain more benefits, and that which has been decreased doesn't try to decrease itself further - that's what the sage holds close to his heart. "Like the waves in the ocean it churns downward to the deepest depths and rises high to the top of a crest where it seems to end but then falls back down and starts all over. It can transport the weight of all things and leaves nothing behind. "Then there's the Dao of the cultured person, which is exclusionary and expects all the other living things to support him and not be deficient. That's their Dao! "Most people are in some middle territory, opposing darkness and opposing lightness, in a place somewhere between the heavens and the earth, straightening up for the time being to become humans waiting to return to their ancestors. From the viewpoint of a root, what it's produced is things that chatter until they become hoarse and simply blabber. Whether they have a long life or a short one, how much time separates them? In the scheme of things, it's no more than an instant, so how could anyone determine whether Yao or Jie was right or wrong? "Fruit and the plants they grow from have set patterns to follow. People in human relationships, although difficult at times, find a way to adjust to each other. When a sage encounters something, she doesn't try to avoid it, and when something passes her by she doesn't try to grasp on to it. To adapt and respond, that's virtue. To spontaneously respond, that's Dao. This is what the emperors joyfully held up, and where the kings started out. "A person's life on this earth is like viewing a white colt through a crack in the wall - it appears suddenly then vanishes. Bursting forth vigorously, there's nothing that doesn't come into being that way. Sluggish and vacant, there's nothing that doesn't go back down into the earth in that way. What went through a transformation to be born also goes through a transformation when it dies. All living things mourn their loss, and human beings likewise feel sadness in their hearts. They're released from the sheath of the heavens, and dropped out of the bag of the heavens. By allowing the threads to unravel and be yielding, the hun and po emerge and the body is left behind. Only then can one pass on to infinity. (Note: It was believed that within a person's body were two spiritual souls: the po and the hun. The po is the animalistic nature, while the hun is the spiritual nature. At death, the po was supposed to return to the earth and the hun was supposed to return to the heavens.) "What started out formless takes on a form, and what has a form eventually becomes formless. This is something everyone can understand, and they don't have to put much effort into figuring it out. And yet, this is something everyone keeps on discussing. If someone has gotten the gist of it, then they don't need to discuss it further. If they keep discussing it, then they haven't gotten the gist of it. "Having sharp vision won't make it any clearer, and debating about it doesn't get to its secrets. Dao can't be heard about, so you might as well block up your ears to what's being said. This is said to be a great achievement." Dong Guo Zi asked of Zhuangzi: "Where is this thing we call Dao?" Zhuangzi said: "There's no place it isn't." Dong Guo Zi said: "I hope you can tell me more than that." Zhuangzi said: "It exists in crickets and ants." "How could it be in anything as low as that?" "It exists in common weeds." "Could it exist any lower than that?" "It exists in tiles and bricks." "It couldn't exist any lower than that?" "It exists in shit and piss." When Dong Guo Zi didn't respond, Zhuangzi said: "Your questions didn't really touch on the substance of the matter. When Inspector Huo asked the superintendent of the market why he stepped on the fattened pigs, he told him that the further down his foot went the more he found out about the pig. If you keep pondering about where it can't possibly be, you'll never be rid of looking for more things where it can't be. Perfect Dao seems to be right, and so do expansive words. 'Entirely', 'everywhere' and 'all' are three different words for the same reality. They point out the unity of all things. "Let's go swimming in the womb of nothingness, where our conversations can fit together like dove-tailed joints without coming to a stressful end. Let's go do nothing! Scattering our words like placidly sprinkling water! Indifferent as pure essence! Tuned in and leisurely! Our aspirations will have already become vacant, and as we move on we won't know where we'll end up. We'll pace back and forth like galloping horses in a immense open space, and as great understanding enters us we won't feel any sense of exhaustion. Things in relation to one another are joined without boundaries, but things do have certain boundaries, so it's said that things are restricted by those boundaries. There are no boundaries that can restrict and boundaries are non-restrictive. There are terms like 'fullness and emptiness' and 'submission and aggression.' What becomes full or empty is neither full nor empty. What becomes submissive or aggressive is neither submissive nor aggressive. What becomes introverted or extroverted is neither introverted nor extroverted. What becomes accumulated or scattered is neither accumulated nor scattered." A He Gan (Family Man Sweet Lotus) and Shen Nong were both studying under Lao Long Ji (Old Lucky Dragon). After closing his door, Shen Nong had rested his head in his arms on the table and was taking a nap. At noon A Hen Gan opened the door and entered saying: "Lao Long has died!" Shen Nong, leaning on the table, grabbed hold of his cane and stood up , then he threw his cane to the ground and laughed, saying: "Heaven (a fond reference to his Master as "his heaven") knew how low, ignorant, disrespectful and arrogant I am, so he abandoned me and died. Now it's all over! My Master hasn't left a trace for me of his wild words now that he's dead!" Overhearing this, Yan Gang Diao said: "Someone who has the essentials of Dao has gentlemen from all over the world trying to attach themselves to him. Even those who know as little as what could fit on the head of a pin about Dao still know to take their wild words with them when they die. How much more so would someone who had the essentials of Dao! "Look for it, but it's without a shape; "Listen for it, but it makes no sound. "These are the things people say about it, calling it dark and obscure. That's how they discuss what's Dao and what's not Dao." At that point, Tai Qing (Extremely Pure) asked of Wu Qiong (Infinity): "Do you understand about Dao?" Wu Qiong replied: "No, I don't." He asked the same question of Wu Wei (Non Action), and Wu Wei said: "I understand Dao." "Since you understand Dao, can you elaborate on it?" "Yes, I can." "Then, what can you tell me about it?" Wu Wei said: "What I understand about Dao is that it can as easily be held in high regard as looked down upon. It can as easily be restrained as dispersed. That's about all the explanation I can give about Dao." Tai Qing repeated these words to Wu Shi (Without Beginning), and asked: "Being as Wu Qiong says there's nothing to understand, and Wu Wei says there is, which of them is right and which is wrong?" Wu Shi said: "To not know is profound. To know is superficial. To know there is nothing to understand reaches to the heart of the matter. To think there is something to understand remains on the surface." At that point Tai Qing turned his face toward the sky and heaved a great sigh then said: "To know there is nothing to understand is knowing, but to think there is something to understand is not knowing! Who can realize that they don't understand what they think they know?" Wu Shi said: "Dao can't be heard about, as what's heard about is contradictory. Dao can't be observed, as what's observed is contradictory. Dao can't be spoken about, as what's spoken about is contradictory. If you recognize its shape, that shape isn't its shape. Dao can't be regarded as something that can be named." Wu Shi said: "One who responds to questions about Dao doesn't understand Dao. Although one might have questions about Dao, they won't find out about it that way. Dao can't be questioned, and there aren't any answers to the questions. Question what can't be questioned and there'll be no end to the questioning. Answer what there are no answers for and the answers will never get to the heart of it. If one doesn't get to the heart of it and keeps on asking questions, they've missed the most splendid things to observe in the universe around them and know nothing of the great beginnings within them. On top of that, they wouldn't be able to wander through the Kunlun Mountains or swim in the Great Void (universe)." Guang Yao (Bright as Sunshine) asked of Wu You (Nonexistent): "Master, do you exist? Or don't you exist?" Guang Yao didn't receive an answer, and he wondered who was looking out from beneath the form in front of him with those sunken eyes and blank stare. All day long he watched him but saw nothing, listened for some sound but heard nothing, and poked at him but didn't get a reaction. Guang Yao said: "Excellent! To come across someone who's able to reach this perfection! I can conceive of the idea of non-existence from my place in existence, but I can't conceive of the idea of nonexistence from within the realm of nonexistence. And when it comes to the nonexistent existing, who could engage in that kind of perfection!" The blacksmith who forged harness buckles for the Grand Marshall of the Hunt was eighty years old but didn't make the slightest mistake in his work. The Grand Marshall asked: "What great skill you have! How do you do it?" "I just keep doing what I do best. When I was twenty years old I really enjoyed forging buckles, and didn't pay attention to much of anything else. Whatever wasn't a buckle didn't interest me." By using this method of ignoring things that weren't useful to him, he was able to make use of what he did for a long time. How much further could a person go if there was nothing that wasn't useful to them! Would there be anything that wouldn't prop them up? Ran Qui (Slowly Seeking) asked of Zhong Ni (Confucius): "Can we know anything about what it was like before there was a heaven and earth?" Zhong Ni said: "Indeed. Things are the same now as they were back then." Ran Qui was at a loss as to what to ask next, so he left. Returning the next day he asked: "Yesterday I asked you if we can know anything about what it was like before there was a heaven and earth. You said: 'Indeed. Things are the same now as they were back then.' Yesterday it made sense to me, but now I'm confused. Can I ask you what you meant by what you said?" Zhong Ni said: "Yesterday it made sense to you because your spirit at that time was open to receiving it. Now you're confused because you're trying to use your non-spiritual side to analyze it. There is no past. There is no present. There is no beginning. There is no end. Could there be future generations if there hadn't already been previous generations?" Before Ran Qui could come up with an answer, Zhong Ni said: "Never mind! No need to respond to the minor details. Don't use life to bring life to what's dead, and don't use death to kill off what's alive. Are we just waiting around for death and birth to occur? It's all intrinsically connected. Are the heavens and earth what brought life to things? Things produced things, not non-things. When the first things came into being, something had to precede them, but whatever it was, things are here. And there will be things endlessly. That a sage's love for others goes on just as endlessly is taken from this concept." Yan Yuan asked of Zhong Ni (Confucius): "I'd like to ask you to explain something I heard you say: 'There's nothing to be offered, and there's nothing to be received.' Can you tell me how to float in that way?" Zhong Ni said: "People in ancient times adapted themselves on the outside, but didn't change on the inside. Nowadays people change on the inside, but don't adapt themselves on the outside. Someone who adapts to things retains an inner unity that doesn't change. How to be adaptable but not change? How to connect with others and float on the wind with them? By agreeing to seek nothing more than that." The clansman Shi of Wei (King Hui) had his large garden, while Huang Di had his small garden. The clansman You of Yu (King Shun) had his palace, while Tang (King Cheng Tang) and Wu (King Wu Ding) had their small rooms. Those who were deemed to be special people, like the teachers of the Confucians and Mohists, caused a differentiation in ideologies between what was right and what was wrong so people started getting into heated arguments about it. These arguments between people are even worse today! A sage dwells with other things and doesn't harm them. Since he doesn't harm things, then things aren't able to harm him. Only someone who is without an intention to do any harm becomes able to connect with others and offer and receive from them. A mountain and a forest join together. A river bank and the soil beside it join together. That's what makes us happy and delighted! But as soon as the happiness starts to wane, sorrow comes along. When sorrow and happiness come, we can't ward them off. When they go we can't stop them. It's so sad that people nowadays only want to stick to things as they are and not allow for variations. They know how to react when they're treated in a certain way, but don't know how to react when they're not treated in that way - doing what they can do but not being able to do what they can't do. Since they're without understanding and without ability, they get trapped into believing what others tell them is unavoidable. Being weighed down with the task of doing what others tell them is unavoidable, how could that not also heap sadness on them! Words arrive and words depart. Actions arrive and actions depart. 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