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When Yang (Peng Yang - Persistent Optimist) traveled to the state of Chu, Yi Jie agreed to speak with the king about him, but before he had a chance to set up an audience between Peng and the king, Yi Jie resigned. Peng Yang then went to see Wang Guo (Honorable Outcome) and said: "Sir, could you introduce me to the king?" Wang Guo said: "I don't think so. You might want to go ask Gong Yue Xiu (Happily Resting in Results) to do that for you." Peng Yang said: "What could Gong Yue Xiu do?" "In the winter he fishes for soft shelled turtles in the Yangtze River. In the summer he rests at the edges of the forest on a mountain. When those who are passing by ask him what he's doing, he answers: 'This is my home.' If Yi Jie already tried to help you but couldn't do it, I couldn't do any better! I'm no match for Yi Jie. What's apparent from Yi Jie's behavior is that he's without any virtue, but is knowledegable. He has no respect for those who've developed their spiritual side, but condescends to those of wealth and power in this world. Since he knows he'd be of no help to a person of virtue, when he comes upon them he disappears. One who's freezing in the winter likes to imagine he's being covered by the spring's warmth. One who's experiencing sunstroke likes to think about the chilly breezes of winter. The king of Chu behaves like that kind of person. He gives off an imposing air and demands respect. If he feels someone is guilty, he's without forgiveness but attacks like a tiger. If someone doesn't kowtow to his sense of his own virtue, how could they ever get him to bend to their requests! "Therefore, when a sage is in dire straits, he makes his close friends and family forget about his impoverishment. When he's in a prominent position, he makes the dukes and princes forget about his rank and instead reverses their positions. When dealing with things, he joins in their amusement. When dealing with people, he takes pleasure in the things they experience but holds true to himself. He sometimes might keep his mouth shut just to slake people's thirst for harmony, and might stand right along side people to assist them in making their own transformations. Like a father and son who are comfortable with their living arrangements (the son following the mandates of the father), they're thus able to enjoy their leisure time together. His (Gong's) heart is with the hearts of others so he can get a lot done. That's why I suggest you wait for Gong Yue Xiu." The sage becomes entwined in silk fabric which encompasses everything into an integral whole, but he doesn't know how this happened and he just chalks it off to what's natural. He flows along allowing fate to make the decisions and the heavens to be his teacher. People thereby are left to follow their own destiny. If he worried about knowledge and where he was going constantly without letting up for a moment, how would he ever find a time to stop? When someone is born physically attractive, even if someone gave them a mirror, unless they were told they were beautiful they wouldn't know it. Whether they knew it or didn't know it, whether they heard it or didn't hear it, they could still be happy endlessly. Other people might continuously be attracted to them, but that's just their nature. When a sage loves people, even if someone explained to them what love was, unless they were told they were loving they wouldn't know it. Whether they knew it or didn't know it, whether they heard it or didn't hear it, they would still continuously love people. Other people might feel safe and secure with them, but that's just their nature. When coming upon old familiar territory, just observing it causes a sense of comfortable recognition. Even if the terrain has been overgrown with new vegetation that obliterates nine out of ten familiar sites, there would still be a sense of comfort. How much more so would it be if someone actually saw what they were looking at and heard what they were listening to. Each thing would stand out like a ten foot tower in a vast expanse of other distractions. Ran of the Xiang clan (Youthful Appearance) retained the health and appearance of someone middle-aged by going along with what worked. He joined along with things without considering endings or beginnings, and without considering if they were short-term or long-term. In one day all the things he'd joined with could change, but his sense of unity with them didn't change. When one experience ended, he simply let it go. If someone looks to the heavens to be their teacher, they wouldn't be able to grasp what the heavens was teaching, but would simply be looking at other things with their own mind. Why would anyone engage in such a thing? A sage doesn't even begin to try to possess the heavens, to try to possess other people, to try to possess a beginning, nor to try to possess things. He joins together with others as they move along and doesn't refuse. He helps them prepare for where they're going but doesn't try to influence them. Isn't that being adaptable to things? When Tang came into power, he took advice from one of his officials, Deng Heng (Constantly Climbing). He listened carefully to his advice, but didn't allow himself to be limited by it. Since his achievements enabled him to adapt comfortably to his success, he was allowed to keep the title he'd take on. Those titles gained him a place in future philosophical schools, which meant he'd gotten a dual perspective. Zhong Ni (Confucius) exhausted himself pondering that and trying to glean some learning from it. Rong Cheng (Embodiment of Success) had simply told his clansmen: "Eliminate the concept of individual days, and there's no way to measure a year, no way to know what's inside or outside." Ying of Wei (King Hui of the state of Wei) made a treaty with Marquis Tian Mou (chief commander of Qi), but Marquis Tian Mou reneged on the deal. Ying of Wei was so mad that he wanted to send someone to assassinate him. When his minister of war (Gongsun Yan) heard what he'd said, he felt humiliated by it and said to Ying: "You have numerous chariots at your disposal, but you want to send some commoner to deal with your enemy! My suggestion is that you give me two hundred thousand armed men so we can make an outright attack on them. We'll take all the people as prisoners, rope in their oxen and cattle, and make their ruler burn from the inside out after we've set fire to the countryside. Mou will run away trying to escape, but we'll track him down like a dog for going against his word and snap his spine in two." When Ji Zi (a moralist) heard about this he became humiliated and said: "We've been in the process of building an eighty foot high wall around the city, and now that this wall is almost completed, if it's left to go into disrepair that would really embitter even the minor officials at all the wasted effort. It's been seven years now since we've used soldiers in battle, and this has been the foundation of the kings of Wei. Yan is a very troubled person and shouldn't be listened to." When Hua Zi (an elder statesman) heard about all this he thought it was disgraceful and said: "Someone who promotes the idea of attacking Qi is a troubled person. Someone who promotes the idea that you absolutely shouldn't attack is also a troubled person. Someone who calls the war mongers and the peace lovers troubled people is also a troubled person." The king said: "Then what's to be done about this?" "You should simply seek the answer from Dao!" When Hui Zi heard about this he introduced Dai Jen Ren (One with Different Perspectives) to the king. Dai Jen Ren said: "You must have heard about a snail and know something about it?" "Sure." "There's a kingdom on its left antenna with a clan called Aggressors. There's a kingdom on its right antenna with a clan called Retaliators. Every once in a while they get into an argument over territory and go to war. The corpses strewn about number in the thousands, and the defeated army is chased back for fifteen days before the victor returns home." The king said: "Bah! Why all this nonsensical talk?" "Please let me show you how this can be used in a practical manner. Do you believe that there are borders limiting how far north, south, east, west, up and down extend?" The king said: "They're without limits." "Understanding that your heart can wander where there are no limits, but return to experience existence from your perspective in the kingdom, doesn't it seem that whatever might seem real in one moment could vanish in the next?" The king said: "Definitely." "Your perspective right now comes from being in the middle of the state of Wei, in the middle of the capital city of Liang, and from the viewpoint of being a king. Between your viewpoint and the viewpoint of the Retaliators, is there much difference?" The king said: "No difference." After the visitor had left, the king got a faraway and disturbed look on his face as though his mind had gone off somewhere. At that point Hui Zi came to see him. The king said: "That visitor was truly a great person. A sage wouldn't be capable of matching him." Hui Zi said: "Blow into a bamboo flute and it'll produce a loud sound. If someone tries to blow into the end of a sword's hilt, all that'll be produced is a soft whooshing whisper. Yao and Shun were set up on a pedestal by the people, but to say Yao and Shun were in any way ahead of Dai Jen Ren would be analogous to puffing out one soft whooshing whisper." When Kong Zi (Confucius) was in the state of Chu he stopped over at an inn on Yi Qui (Ant Hill). A neighboring family, including the husband, wife, servants and maids, had gathered on the roof of their house. Zi Lu (a disciple of Confucius) asked: "Why are all those people standing so precariously up there?" Zhong Ni said: "They're the servants of a sage who's trying to disguise himself as a commoner and hide among the tilled fields. He's pretty much gotten rid of his notoriety, but his determination hasn't yet been exhausted. His words are only coming from his mouth, but he hasn't yet spoken from his heart. His opinions don't go along with the rest of society, but his heart is conflicted with the acceptance of that. He's someone who's trying to submerge himself on dry land. Could he be Yi Liao of Shi Nan?" Zi Lu asked permission to go fetch him. Kong Zi said: "Don't bother! He knows I'm seeking to further my personal agenda and traveling through Chu in an effort to make the king of Chu grant me an audience, so he figures I must be a sycophant. Feeling the way he does, he'd be ashamed of listening to anything a sycophant had to say, let alone coming into physical contact with one! Besides, what makes you think he's still there?" Zi Lu went to look for him, but found that all the rooms were empty. Chang Wu (Full Grown Shade Tree), who had been given charge over the fiefs in his area, said to Zi Lao (Keeper of Sacrificial Animals): "A ruler mustn't be crude and sloppy in governing, and mustn't be careless and negligent when keeping the people in line. I used to be crude and sloppy when I plowed my fields and planted seeds, so the crop I received was crude and sloppy as well. I used to be careless and negligent when I tended to pulling weeds, so the crop I received was careless and negligent as well. The next year I changed my tactics, plowing deep furrows and carefully selecting the seeds I planted. I received back a large and flavorful crop that kept me satisfied for the whole year." When Zhuangzi heard about this he said: "Nowadays when people try to regulate their bodies and control their minds, most of them are like what Chang described. They run away from the heavens, defy their natural inclinations, extinguish their emotions and pay no attention to their spirits, becoming like an autonomous herd. So, those who are crude and sloppy when dealing with their natural inclinations, condemning their own likes and dislikes as being evil, will eventually find their natures choked and stunted by weeds, reeds and brambles. At first the sprouts (of those plants) seem to assist with our growth, but gradually they permeate and puncture our true natures, leaking profusely into every part and we can't choose where they might erupt. They drift and float like cancerous tumors eating away at our insides until what we release as excrement is thick and putrefied." While Bai Ju (Intent on Rectification) was studying with Lao Dan (Laozi) he said: "Please allow me to go out and travel in the world." Lao Dan said: "Don't bother! Everywhere in the world is just like it is here." When he became insistent about it, Lao Dan said: "Where will you go first?" "I'll begin in the state of Qi." When he reached Qi he saw the corpse of a executed criminal. He moved the body around into a more respectful position and draped his robe over it. He howled to the heavens and wept over it saying: "You poor thing! You poor thing! The world is experiencing a great upheaval and you might be the first to have departed because of it. We've been told not to steal and not to kill others. After glory and dishonor have been established, that opens the door for determining more defects. After treasures and wealth have been accumulated, that opens the door for more contentions. Now that more defects have been determined and more contentions have been accumulated, that wreaks havoc on how people view themselves and leaves no time for them to take a breather. We may not want things to be that way, but it still happens! "Those who ruled people in ancient times gave credit to others for their achievements and took responsibility themselves for losses; gave credit to others when things went right and took responsibility themselves when things went wrong. Therefore, if even one other person experienced a loss they would step back and check themselves out. It isn't like that nowadays. They hide behind others who are too stupid to realize they're being duped. When great difficulties arise from their actions, they put the blame on cowards. They create impossibly difficult tasks for others, then punish them when they can't fulfill their mandates. They send others out on missions knowing they'll be killed when they get there. When the people know their strength is insufficient, they use pretenses to give the illusion of accomplishing what was mandated. Every day they have to pretend more and more until eventually none of the soldiers and people can find any peace at all without pretending about something. When they're not strong enough, they pretend to be. When they're not smart enough, they cheat and deceive others. When they don't have enough material possessions, they steal from others. There's so much stealing and thievery going on, who really is to blame for it?" By the time Qu Bo Yu turned sixty years old he had gone through sixty transformations. There wasn't once that he didn't start out thinking he was right about something and then end up taking back his words and admitting he was wrong. He doesn't know even today if what he calls right and wrong might be like all the other fifty-nine times he was wrong. All living things are born but none of them can catch sight of where they came from. All living things proceed through life but none of them can catch sight of the doors they go through. People all respect what their knowledge enables them to know but none of them know how to depend on what their knowledge enables them not to know so they can later find understanding. Can't this be called the greatest part of doubt? Give up! Give up! There's no way to escape it. That which is said to be, is it really so? Zhong Ni (Confucius) asked the Great Historians Da Tao, Bo Chang Jian and Shi Wei: "Duke Ling of Wei gets drunk and submerges himself in personal gratification but doesn't pay attention to governing his state. He hunts wherever he wants without obeying the borders set by the game wardens. How did he end up being called Duke Ling (tr. Ling - magical)?" Da Tao said: "Those kinds of things just happen." Bo Chang Jian said: "Duke Ling had three wives with whom he bathed in the same tub. But when Shi Qiu came to visit him in the imperial palace bearing gifts, he rushed to assist him and lead him by the arm. He can be quite careless when dealing with those who fulfill his sexual desires, but can be totally serious when confronted with those who are considered to be worthies. That's how he end up being called Duke Ling." Shi Wei said: "When Duke Ling died, a divination was made and it was said that it would be inauspicious for him to buried in the family grave. Another divination showed that if he were buried at Sha Qiu it would be very auspicious. After digging down for several feet, a stone coffin was found. When it was rinsed off and examined, this was found engraved on it: 'Not relying on his descendants (to provide him with a grave site), Duke Ling decided to be buried here.' You see, Duke Ling had become Ling (magical) a long time ago. Those two other guys (Da and Bo) - how could they be competent enough to know about this?" Shao Zhi (Lacking Knowledge) asked Tai Gong Diao (Supremely Fair Equalizer): "What's meant by saying that a small village spreads out in all directions?" Tai Gong Diao said: "That a village spreads out in all directions means that it brings together hundreds of different personal names into the the confines of ten clan names and regulates them all equally. It brings together what was different so they can all be considered the same, and it disperses the similarities so they can all be different. (Note: In ancient China the people of a certain region were all given the same surname, usually one chosen by the king. These were their clan names although the people within one clan might not be related to one another. However, each person had a given name which a child's parents could choose themselves. If someone was accepted into the government as an official, their surname and given name were usually changed by the king. That's why so many different names were used when referring to one person.) "Now if you point out the hundred individual body parts of a horse, you wouldn't be pointing specifically at a horse. However, when a horse is standing right in front of you, even though it's made up of a hundred different parts, it'd be called a horse. So it is that hills and mountains gradually accumulate soil and become tall. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers join their waters and become powerful. Capable people merge together as equals to become impartial. So if something from outside of them tries to influence their nature, presenting itself as authoritative, they don't hold on to it. If something emerges from deep within them, presenting itself as correct, they don't cast it away. "Each of the four seasons has a special energy, and the heavens doesn't favor one over another, so the course of a year completes itself. Each of the five senses has a special job to do, and the person in charge of all of them doesn't become personally attached to one over another, so the whole system is managed properly. As for courtesy and aggression, a magnanimous person doesn't favor one over another, so virtue provides the only preparation necessary. Each of the living things has a special nature, and Dao doesn't become personally attached to one over another, so nothing is categorized. Not categorizing anything allows for no action to be taken, and when no action is taken then there is nothing that doesn't act naturally. "Time has endings and beginnings. Each generation goes through changes and transformations. Fortune and misfortune occur haphazardly - sometimes their arrival is unwelcome and other times welcomed. By setting oneself on a specific course and adamantly sticking to it, that's when what occurs is perceived as going with the grain or going against it. If we compare the things in a vast wilderness, there are hundreds of different things that all work together to create the environment. Or observe a huge mountain and notice that the trees and rocks can cohabit the same area. This is what's meant by saying that a small village spreads out in all directions." Shao Zhi said: "Okay, then wouldn't it be enough to call that Dao?" Tai Gong Diao said: "Not at all. We might try to count up all the things using numbers, and even though it can't be limited to ten thousand, we still use the term 'the ten thousand things', but using numbers to categorize them simply makes it easier for us to refer to them. So, we use terms like 'the heavens' and 'the earth' to denote the largest things. We use 'Yin' and 'Yang' to denote the essence of things. We use 'Dao' to denote the way things work together. Because we use so many numbers and categories to make it easier for us to refer to them, even though they'd exist without that, we then end up making all sorts of comparisons between things! Then we end up creating debates - like the ongoing arguments between what's a dog and what's a horse. It'd be so much better to leave all that stuff behind." (Note: "...arguments between what's a dog and what's a horse" refers to the ongoing clever debates between the philosophers, which was occasionally funny, but was meant to show that one school of thought was superior to another.) Shao Zhi said: "Within the four directions (north, south, east, west - the surface of the earth, as it was considered at the time to be a flat square) and contained within the six fields (north, south, east, west, up, down - the atmosphere of the earth), how did the birth of the ten thousand things come about?" Tai Gong Diao said: "Yin and Yang attracted each other, enfolded each other and fulfilled each other. The four seasons alternated with each other, giving birth to each other and putting an end to each other. Likes and dislikes repel and attract, thereby a bridge arose between male and female with comings and goings that created a grand pivot (natural cycles of copulation and procreation). Safety and danger easily change into one another. Fortune and misfortune give rise to each other. Relaxation and tension are worn down by each other. Accumulation and dispersal follow after each other. These are the parts of reality that can be set down on record and are the pure essence that can be obviously noted. This natural sequence is followed by each thing and this evolution must impact each thing. Reversal after reaching an extreme and beginning after completion - these are inherent to all things. Those words that can best be used for what knowledge can achieve are merely showing the extremes things can reach. A person who's intent on connecting with Dao doesn't pursue things to the point of their decaying and doesn't backtrack to investigate the beginning. In that way discussions about these things stop." Shao Zhi said: "According to Ji Zhen (Reality of the natural seasons) nothing did it, but according to Jie Zi (Catching hold of the nature of birth) there was something that made it all happen (created the ten thousand things). These two schools go on and on with their discussions about it. Which one is correctly getting to the core of things, and which one is spreading their own theories?" Tai Gong Diao said: "Chickens cackle and dogs bark. Anyone knows that. But even though they have this extensive knowledge, they can't explain in words how these things became that way nor can they determine what will happen to them later. They can split them up and analyze them and come up with a perfect resolution without any actual basis for their theories. This may seem to be a great resolution but it can't encompass everything. Saying that 'Something made it all happen' or that 'Nothing did it', they haven't yet removed themselves from things and end up missing the mark. 'Something made it all happen' allows for belief in a specific truth. 'Nothing did it' allows for a belief in emptiness. Making classifications and holding them as truths determines that things reside in a specific place for a reason. Giving up classifications and holding nothing as truth determines that things exist in emptiness with no reasoning. What can be spoken about can be given meaning, and speaking about it helps to cure insecurities. What hasn't yet come into existence can't cause anxiety, and what has already been dismissed can't cause obstructions. Death and birth aren't so far away that their patterns can't be observed, but saying 'Something made it all happen' or 'Nothing did it' would cause suspicion as to whether those were false statements. When trying to examine the basis of existence, there's no limit to how far back we'd have to go. When we seek to find out how everything will evolve, there's no place we'd be able to stop. What's without limits and without stopping can't be described in words, so what we end up doing is noting similar patterns in living things. 'Something made it all happen' and 'Nothing did it' are attempts at describing the origins of existence and how things began and will end up. "Dao can't be possessed, and what can be possessed can't be let go of. When Dao is used as a term to denote something, that's starting from a faulty premise and going forward from there. Saying 'Something made it all happen' or 'Nothing did it' depends on one contorted viewpoint of things, so how could either of them be considered a greater method? If those words are considered to be substantial, then everything said would place limitations on Dao. If those words are considered to be superficial then everything said would place limitations on things. To reach an ultimate conclusion about Dao and things, neither speaking nor silence could convey that. By not speaking and not being silent, discussions reach their ultimate conclusion." | Zhuangzi Translation | Glossary/Index A to N | Glossary/Index P to Z | ZZ Links | ZZ Books | | Return Home | Laozi's Dao De Jing | Your Dao De Jing | Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu) | Links | Meditation | Dao (Tao) is Open Forum | Book List | Other Stuff | |
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