Quotation From Zhuangzi

Singapore Time 9.11 am 30th March 2008

Chapter 23
"The art of preserving life," replied Lao Tzu, "consists in being able to keep all in ONE, to lose nothing, to estimate good and evil without divination, to know when to stop, and how much is enough, to leave others alone and attend to oneself, to be without cares and without knowledge,-- to be in fact as a child. A child will cry all day and not become hoarse, because of the perfection of its constitutional harmony. It will keep its fist tightly closed all day and not open it, because of the concentration of its virtue. It will gaze all day without taking off its eyes, because its sight is not attracted by externals. In motion, it knows not whither it is bound; at rest, it is not conscious of doing anything; but unconsciously adapts itself to the exigencies of its environment. This is the art of preserving life."

"Not yet," said Lao Tzu. "I specially asked if you could be as a child. A child acts without knowing what it does; moves without knowing whither. Its body is like a dry branch; its heart like dead ashes. Thus, good and evil fortune find no lodging therein; and there where good and evil fortune are not, how can the troubles of mortality be?

"Those whose hearts are in a state of repose give forth a divine radiance, by the light of which they see themselves as they are. And only by cultivating such repose can man attain to the constant.

"Those who are constant are sought after by men and assisted by God. Those who are sought after by men are the people of God; those who are assisted by God are his chosen children.

"To study this is to study what cannot be learnt. To practice this is to practice what cannot be accomplished. To discuss this is to discuss what can never be proved. Let knowledge stop at the unknowable. That is perfection. And for those who do not follow this, God will destroy them!

"Whatsoever is not said in all sincerity, is wrongly said. And not to be able to rid oneself of this vice is only to sink deeper towards perdition.

"Those who do evil in the open light of day,--men will punish them. Those who do evil in secret,--God will punish them. Who fears both man and God, he is fit to walk alone.

"There is no weapon so deadly as man's will. Exacerbate is second to it. There is no bandit so powerful as Nature. In the whole universe there is no escape from it. Yet it is not Nature which does the injury. It is man's own heart. [Reap what you sow]

"Tao informs its own subdivisions, their successes and their failures. What is feared in subdivision is separation. What is feared in separation, is further separation. Thus, to issue forth without return, this is development of the supernatural. To issue forth and attain the goal, this is called death. To be annihilated and yet to exist, this is convergence of the supernatural into ONE. To make things which have form appear to all intents and purposes formless,--this is the sum of all things.

"Birth is not a beginning; death is not an end. There is existence without limitation; there is continuity without a starting-point. Existence without limitation is Space. Continuity without a starting-point is Time. There is birth, there is death, there is issuing forth, there is entering in. That through which one passes in and out without seeing its form, that is the Portal of God.

"The Portal of God is Non-Existence. All things sprang from Non-Existence. Existence could not make existence existence. It must have proceeded from Non-Existence. And Non-Existence and Nothing are ONE. Herein is the abiding-place of the Sage.

"Discard the stimuli of purpose. Free the mind from disturbances. Get rid of entanglements to virtue. Pierce the obstruction to TAO.

"Honors, wealth, distinction, power, fame, gain,--these six stimulate purpose.
"Mien, carriage, beauty, arguments, influence, opinions,--these six disturb the mind.
"Hate, ambition, joy, anger, sorrow, pleasure,--these six are entanglements to virtue.
"Rejecting, adopting, receiving, giving, knowledge, ability,--these six are obstructions to Tao.
"If these twenty four be not allowed to run riot, then the mind will be duly ordered. And being duly ordered, it will be in repose. And being in repose, it will be clear of perception. And being clear of perception, it will be unconditioned. And being unconditioned, it will be in that state of inaction by which there is nothing which cannot be accomplished.

"Tao is the sovereign lord of Te (virtue). Life is the glorifier of Te. Nature is the substance of life. The operation of that nature is action. The perversion of that action is error.

"People who know not put forth physical power. People who know employ mental effort. But what people who know do not know is to be as the eye.
(should be squinted eyes. Chinese word 'ni' is not eye alone, and usually used with 'bi' to form 'bi' 'ni' something like looking sideway. Here it is telling you even Taoists are ignorant about looking at the Mystic Portal or nasal gaze. So people who know are one in 10 millions or billion.)