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Lie Yu Kou (Liezi) was on his way to the state of Qi, but in the middle of his journey he turned back and ran into Bo Hun Mao Ren (Professor Confused Nonentity). Bo Hun Mao Ren asked him: "What made you change directions and come back?" "I was startled by something." "What startled you?" "I stopped to eat some food in ten different inns and in five of them I was served before anyone else." Bo Hun Mao Ren said: "What was so startling about that?" "Even when your inside honesty and sincerity isn't displayed to others, sometimes the actions you take with your body reveals your inner light. At that point people you come into contact with can open their minds to being influenced by you, and without a second thought set you up as a paragon. That's what worried me. When the innkeepers gave me special treatment and served me their finest soup, I thought it might get even worse by the time I got to Qi. If those who had so little were willing to give me so much and without a second thought treated me as though I was powerful, then how much more would a king with ten thousand chariots try to heap on me! His body worn out from defending the state and his knowledge at the brink of exhaustion by dealing with all the state's affairs, he'd appoint me to be in charge of something and demand my services expecting a successful outcome. The realization of that is what startled me." Bo Hun Mao Ren said: "Very good insights! However, being as you are, people will still try to serve you." When he went to pay him a visit on a later date he found that there were sandals (of guests) lined up outside his door. Bo Hun Mao Ren turned away and stood there tapping his walking stick. His brow was creased pensively and the corners of his mouth drooped in consternation. He stood there idly without saying a word then left. The person in charge of greeting guests went in and told Liezi about the visitor. He grabbed up his sandals and went running barefoot to the outer gate where he caught up with him and said: "Master, you've just arrived and now you're going to leave without offering me a remedy for my ills?" "I already told you that people would try to serve you, and that's exactly what's happened. It's not that you go out of your way to make people serve you, but that you're not able to make people stop serving you. You're probably finding something useful about their emotional enthusiasm toward you, as you keep encouraging them. If you must have this kind of emotional reaction around you then it'll continue to agitate the core of your own nature. That goes without saying. And yet you keep on following this course. You know, no one will point this out to you, as they all just share petty words with you, and you lap it all up. None of them wants to learn to see anything nor wake up to anything, so what could they possibly share with each other! The clever ones keep working hard at being clever and the knowledgeable ones worry about how knowledgeable they are. Those without any talents whatsoever have no concept of looking for anything. They're satisfied with having a good meal and go drifting from there. They float about as though they're on an unmoored boat, dwell in a void and are drifters and wanderers." There was a man named Huan (Monotonous) in the state of Zheng who memorized and recited texts in the district of Quishi. In only three years Huan had elevated himself to the position of a Confucian scholar. As easily as the Yellow River moistens the land extending for three miles beyond where it flows, he showered blessings on the three levels of his family relations. He helped enable his younger brother to pursue his interest in Mohism. The Confucian and the Mohist engaged in hearty debates about their different philosophies, and their father substantiated what was set forth by Di (the younger brother - Dazzling). Ten years later Huan committed suicide. He came to his father in a dream and said: "I'm the one who helped enable him to become a Mohist scholar. When are you ever going to come to the realization of how good I am? Even now (buried in my grave) I'm assisting in the growth of the oaks which will produce seeds in the autumn." When the creator of things gave people their various attributes, they weren't attributes based on how to become human, but based on what's natural to humans. Each person is therefore enabled to become what they are. When a person thinks they've become more special than others they end up looking down on even their own family members and will push them out of the way when trying to get a drink at a well. It's said that nowadays all people are like Huan. Actually, if one truly possesses virtue they aren't aware of it, and that would be even more true for one who possesses Dao! Before modern teachings came about, that was known as freedom from being punished by what's natural. A wise person is safe in what's secure, but doesn't look for safety in what isn't secure. Everybody else looks for safety in what isn't secure, but doesn't seek safety in what's secure. Zhuangzi said: "Realizing Dao is easy, but trying not to speak about it is difficult. To have the realization but not try to put it into words is allowing what's natural to occur on its own. To have the realization and try to put it into words is trying to affect the human condition. People in ancient times followed what was natural for them, not what came from other people." Zhu Ping Man (Unrestrained Bloody Ravine) wanted to learn the practice of butchering a dragon from Zhi Li Yi (Continuously Breaking Things Apart). He single handedly depleted the family coffers of a thousand gold pieces to pay for his lessons. After three years he'd perfected the technique but there wasn't a place to use his skills. A wise person realizes how unnecessary it is to do things others think are necessary, so he has no use for weapons. Everyone else thinks it's necessary to do things that are unnecessary, so they amass many weapons. One who has their weapons at the ready will go looking for ways to use them, and by depending on using weapons they're bound to perish. Their understanding is so small that they don't go further than knowing how to wrap up what they've written on bamboo slips in fine hemp cloth, but their essence and spirit becomes as tattered as the cloth when it becomes worn. Yet they still want to gather together with others and assist them, believing they can lead them to the Great Oneness of the Shapeless Void. In this way they all become so lost and confused by the universe that they wear out their bodies without ever having a concept of the Great Beginning. Those who are perfected people return their essence and spirit to the place before time began and savor the obscurity of a territory where they've never been. They flow forth like uncontained water, dripping and leaking great clarity along the way. How sad it is for some that their whole knowledge of existence is like a single thin hair and don't have a clue about the greatest peacefulness! There was a man in the state of Song named Cao Shang (Businessman Cao) who was sent by the King of Song on a mission to the state of Qin. When he left he was provided with several chariots as an escort. The King of Qin was so pleased with him that he provided him with an additional hundred chariots for his return trip. When he got back to Song he saw Zhuangzi and said to him: "To live on a seedy street in a run down neighborhood, tediously weaving straw sandals with a wrinkled neck and a sallow complexion is something I wouldn't do very well. To only once awaken a king with ten thousand chariots and be given a hundred chariots for doing that is something I do best." Zhuangzi said: "When the King of Qin was sick he requested his doctors to come see him. If a doctor could remove a tooth and drain the abscess, he would receive one chariot. To one who would lick his hemorrhoids he'd give five chariots. The further down the cure, the more carriages one would get. How could you have possibly cured his hemorrhoids? Then what is it you did to receive so many carriages? Go away!" Duke Ai of Lu asked Yan He: "If I were to put Zhong Ni (Confucius) in charge of making my ministers loyal would the state be cured of its ills?" "That would be dangerous! Zhong Ni spouts garbage. He tends to decorate issues with soft feathers and intricate paintings, engages in glorious speeches and uses minute details to get his points across. He's merciless when making judgments on other people and is neither knowledgeable nor trustworthy. He readily accepts what comes from his mind but butchers his spirit. What does he have that could possibly put him above other people? Do you really think he's suitable for the job? Would you give him a nod? It would be a grave mistake to do that. If you were to cause the people to turn away from what's real and instead study what's hypocritical, then there's no way to really see into what the people are actually feeling. That would go on for many more generations and there wouldn't seem to be a stop to it. Only disaster would come from that kind of governing." To do favors for others and not forget what was done is contrary to the way the heavens distribute things. When involved in making a deal a businessman doesn't gnash his teeth. Even though the affair at hand might make him feel like gnashing his teeth, he expends his energy not to do it. He becomes tortured from the outside by keeping records of the money owed him, and he becomes tortured from the inside by trying to keep tabs of what false moves he might make. At night people try to let go of what's torturing them from the outside, but their minds keep questioning their tallies and coffers; they try to let go of what's torturing them from the inside, but yin and yang keep eating away at them. To be exempt from being tortured from the outside and the inside - only a perfected person would be able to do that. Kong Zi (Confucius) said: "The minds of human beings can be more dangerous to traverse than mountains and rivers, and more difficult to understand than the heavens. The heavens, at least, have their periods of spring and autumn, winter and summer and dawn and sunset. People have pretentious mannerisms covering deep seated emotions. Therefore, they might show an honest outward appearance but are only out to get everything they can lay their hands on; might present themselves as being authoritative even though they're completely inept; might seem anxious to please simply in order to gain a position; might appear to be firmly set in their attitude but are actually wishy-washy; might appear to be relaxed but are actually hiding ferocity. Therefore, those who strive for righteousness as though it were a cool drink in a desert would just as easily run from it as though it was a hot blaze burning them. "Therefore, a nobleman will test people's true feelings by sending them on a mission far away to see how loyal they'll remain; give them a task to do close at hand to observe how respectful they are; present them with a puzzling problem to see how capable they are, then suddenly pose another question to see how knowledgeable they really are; give them an urgent task that has to be accomplished in a short period of time to see how quickly they can come up with a plan of action; entrust them with taking charge of vast sums of money to see if they'll be fair with others; tell them of an impending crisis to see if they can economize and prepare for it; get them drunk on wine to see what they do when inebriated; place them in a situation with the opposite sex to see how much they're ruled by their sexual appetite. Through these nine tests, one who is unworthy may be found out." When Zheng Kao Fu (Proper Old Father) received his first appointment to office he bowed his head. When he received his second promotion he bowed from the waist. When he received a third promotion he bowed all the way to the ground and backed out of the room. Who would dare not to follow his example! If the same thing happened to an ordinary person, at their first appointment they'd stand up straight and proud. At their second promotion they'd dance on top of their carriage. By their third promotion they'd give titles to their male relatives. How much more power they must think they wield than Tang and Xu You! The greatest harm that can be done to one's virtue is to dwell on thoughts and to be narrow minded. If one is narrow minded and inspects everything closely from that personal viewpoint then that personal viewpoint will be destructive. There are five dangers to one's virtue and the one that pierces virtue the most leads to all the others. Which is the one that pierces one's virtue the most? The one that pierces the most is to have such a sense of self-esteem that one would discredit what others do. There are eight extremes that will cause hardships, three requirements for prominence and six areas of punishment. To be physically attractive, to have a full lush beard, to be tall, to be well-built, to be robust, to have perfect proportions, to be brave and to be overly confident - to have all of these six attributes in excess of others will cause one to have hardships. To follow along compliantly at the skirts of another, to bow down with deep respect and to timidly act as though one wasn't on a par with others - to be expert at all three of these things will cause one to reach prominence. To be knowledgeable and wise, to show oneself to be an expert, to take courageous actions, to hold many grudges, to be benevolent and righteous, to take on responsibility for correcting perceived wrongs - to have any one of these qualities would bring punishments. One who masters their emotional reactions to situations that arise in life becomes a puppet. One who masters knowledge in a specific area becomes a scion. One who masters a position of authority becomes a follower. One who masters an inferior position becomes a cynic. There was a man who went to see the king of Song and had been awarded ten carriages. Like a proud child, he went to show them off to Zhuangzi. Zhuangzi said: "Above the Yellow River there's a family who earns enough to provide them with food by weaving articles out of marsh reeds and branches. The son dove into the depths of the river and came up with a pearl worth a thousand pieces of gold. His father said to him: 'Take a rock and smash it. A valuable pearl like that must have been lodged under the chin of a black dragon who lives in the ninefold depths. The reason you got hold of that pearl must have been because it was asleep. If the black dragon would have awakened, do you think there would have been a shred of you left?' The depths of the state of Song are no less than the ninefold depths of the abyss, and the ferocity of the king of Song is no less than that of the black dragon. The reason you got hold of those chariots must have been because he was asleep. If the king of Song would have awakened, you would have been pulverized!" Someone brought an invitation to Zhuangzi to attend a royal affair. Zhuangzi responded to the messenger, saying: "Have you ever observed the sacrifice of an ox? It's clothed in an embroidered robe, fed on the finest hay and grains, then it's led along by a leash to the Imperial Temple. Even though it would rather just be left alone to grow up as an ox, at that point could it achieve that?" When Zhuangzi was on the verge of death his disciples wanted to plan for a magnificent burial. Zhuangzi said: "I'll use the heavens and earth as my inner and outer coffins, the sun and moon as my linked jade discs, the stars as my pearls and precious jewels, and the ten thousand things as my parting gifts. With all of these tools readily available for my burial, how could I not already be prepared? What more could I possibly need?" (Note: Inner and outer coffins were provided for renowned people to prevent animals and insects from getting to their corpses. Linked jade discs were a symbol of their authority and position in life. Pearls and precious jewels were adornments. Parting gifts were offerings from friends. Some people believed these things could protect the soul of the person after death.) A disciple said: "We're afraid crows and vultures will come feed on you." Zhuangzi said: "Above ground I would become food for crows and vultures while under the ground I would feed crickets and ants. To deprive one group over another of the feast - wouldn't that be showing partiality?" If you use what's erratic to try to make things level, then what was level would become erratic. If you use what's unprovable to try to prove something, then what can be proven will become unprovable. One who sees things with great clarity will only be influenced by what he perceives. One who sees things from their spirit will find all the proof they need. One who prefers to understand everything can't bear to dwell in their spirits for very long and they stupidly depend on the manifestations they see coming from others, so anything they succeed at is merely on the outside. Isn't that sad! | 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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