Quotation From Zhuangzi

Singapore time 8.24 am 6th April 2008

Chapter 6
He who knows what God is, and who knows what Man is, has attained. Knowing what God is, he knows that he himself proceeded there from. Knowing what Man is, he rests in the knowledge of the known, waiting for the knowledge of the unknown. Working out one's allotted span, and not perishing in mid career,- this is the fullness of knowledge. (God [sky] is mentioned again instead of Tao. Ask yourself, what is God? Is it Tao?)

The pure men of old did not know what it was to love life or to hate death. They did not rejoice in birth, nor strive to put off dissolution. Quickly come, and quickly go;- no more. They did not forget whence it was they had sprung, neither did they seek to hasten their return thither. Cheerfully they played their allotted parts, waiting patiently for the end. This is what is called not to lead the heart astray from Tao, nor to let the human seek to supplement the divine. And this is what is meant by a pure man.

Such men are in mind absolutely free; in demeanor, grave; in expression, cheerful. If it is freezing cold, it seems to them like autumn; if blazing hot, like spring. Their passions occur like the 4 seasons. They are in harmony with all creation, and none know the limit thereof. And so it is that a perfect man can destroy a kingdom and yet not lose the hearts of the people, while the benefits he hands down to 10 thousand generations do not proceed from love of his fellowman.

He who delights in man, is himself not a perfect man. His affection is not true charity. Depending upon opportunity, he has not true worth. He who is not conversant with both good and evil is not a superior man. He who disregards his reputation is not what a man should be. He who is not absolutely oblivious of his own existence can never be a ruler of men.

For what they cared for could be reduced to ONE, and what they did not care for to ONE also. That which was ONE was ONE, and that which was not ONE was likewise ONE. In that which was ONE, they were of God; in that which was not ONE, they were of Man. And so between the human and the divine no conflict ensued. This was to be a pure man.

Life and Death belong to Destiny. Their sequence, like day and night, is of God, beyond the interference of man, an inevitable law. A man looks upon God as upon his father, and loves him in like measure. Shall he then not love that which is greater than God? (Destiny is Fate. The Tao in us is greater than other Tao. Know the Son then you will know the Father.)

Tao has its laws, and its evidences. It is devoid both of action and of form. It may be transmitted, but cannot be received. It may be obtained, but cannot be seen. Before heaven and earth were, Tao was. It has existed without change from all time. Spiritual beings drew their spirituality there from, while the universe became what we can see it now. To Tao, the zenith is not high, nor the nadir low; no point in time is long ago, nor by lapse of ages has it grown old.

"I fear not," said Nu Yu. "You are not the sort of man. There was Pu Liang I. He had all the qualifications of a sage, but not Tao. Now I had Tao, though none of the qualifications. But do you imagine that much as I wished it I was able to teach Tao to him so that he should be a perfect sage? Had it been so, then to teach Tao to one who has the qualifications of a sage would be an easy matter. No, Sir. I imparted as though withholding; and in 3 days, for him, this sublunary state had ceased to exist. When he had attained to this, I withheld again; and in 7 days more, for him, the external world had ceased to be. And so again for another 9 days, when he had became unconscious of his own existence. He became first ethereal, next possessed of perfect wisdom, then without past or present, and finally able to enter there where life and death are no more,- where killing does not take away life, not does prolongation of life add to the duration of existence. In that state, he is ever in accord with the exigencies of his environment; and this is to be Battered but not Bruised. And he who can be thus battered but not bruised is on the way to perfection."

"These men," replied Confucius, "travel beyond the rule of life. I travel within it. Consequently, our paths do not meet; and I was wrong in sending you to mourn. They consider themselves as one with God, recognizing no distinctions between human and divine. They look on life as a huge tumor from which death sets them free. All the same they know not where they were before birth, nor where they will be after death. Though admitting different elements, they take their stand upon the unity of all things. They ignore their passions. They take no count of their ears and eyes. Backwards and forwards through all eternity, they do not admit a beginning or end. They stroll beyond the dust and dirt of mortality, to wander in the realms of inaction. How should such men trouble themselves with the conventionalities of this world, or care what people may think of them?"

"Ah!" replied Hsu Yu, "that cannot be known. But I will give you an outline. The Master I serve succors all things, and does not account it duty. He continues his blessings through countless generations, and does not account it charity. Dating back to the remotest antiquity, he does not account himself old. Covering heaven, supporting earth, and fashioning the various forms of things, he does not account himself skilled. He it is whom you should seek." (The Master is Your Spiritual Soul, son of the Universal Tao.)

Chapter 7
"That is a false teaching indeed," replied Chieh Yu. "To attempt to govern mankind thus,--as well try to wade through the sea, to hew a passage through a river, or make a mosquito to fly away with a mountain! The government of the truly wise man has no concern with externals. He first perfects himself, and then by virtue thereof he is enabled to accomplish what he wants. The bird flies high to avoid snare and dart, the mouse burrows down below the hill to avoid being smoked or cut out of its nest. Is your wit below that of these 2 creatures?"

But T'ien Ken enquired a second time, and the Sage replied, "Resolve your mental energy into abstraction, your physical energy into inaction. Allow yourself to fall in with the natural order of phenomena, without admitting the element of self,--and the empire will be governed." (meditation- by regulating oneself by meditation, the king is bringing good fortune to the country.)

"The goodness of a wise ruler," answered Lao Tzu, "covers the whole empire, yet he himself seems to know it not. It influences all creation, yet none is conscious thereof. It appears under countless forms, bringing joy to all things. It is based upon the baseless, and travels through the realms of Nowhere." (Lao Tzu had no better answer than to mention Tao. He was giving instruction in inaction.)

Lieh Tzu went in and wept bitterly, and told Hu Tzu; but the latter said, "I showed myself to him just now as the earth shows us its outward form, motionless and still, while production is all the time going on. I merely prevented him from seeing my pent-up energy within. Bring him again."

Lieh Tzu went in and told Hu Tzu; whereupon the latter replied, "I showed myself to him just now as heaven shows itself in all its dispassionate grandeur, letting a little energy run out of my heels. He was thus able to detect that I had some. Bring him here again."

This being repeated to Hu Tzu as before, the latter said, "I showed myself to him just now in a state of harmonious equilibrium. Where the whale disports itself,--is the abyss. Where water is at rest,--is the abyss. Where water is in motion,--is the abyss. The abyss has nine names. These are 3 of them."

"I showed myself to him just now," said Hu Tzu, "as Tao appeared before time was. I was to him as a great blank, existing of itself. He knew not who I was. His face fell. He became confused. And so he fled." (Display of 4 states of Tao.)

Upon this Lieh Tzu stood convinced that he had not yet acquired any real knowledge, and at once set to work in earnest, passing 3 years without leaving the house. He helped his wife to cook the family dinner, and fed his pigs just like human beings. He discarded the artificial and reverted to the natural. He became merely a shape. Amidst confusion, he was un-confounded. And so he continued to the end. (Cultivating Tao should be like this. But don't rear animals and birds for food. Be vegetarian.)

By Inaction, fame comes as the spirits of the dead come to the boy who impersonates the corpse. By Inaction, one can become the center of thought, the focus of responsibility, the arbiter of wisdom. Full allowance must be made for others, while remaining unmoved oneself. There must be a thorough compliance with divine principles, without any manifestation thereof.

All of which may be summed up in the one word passivity. For the perfect man employs his mind as a mirror. It grasps nothing; it refuses nothing. It receives, but does not keep. And thus he can triumph over matter, without injury to himself.