The Father and Son of Taoist Philosophy

[Marblehead]

And Chuang Tzu continued:

 

 

The Usefulness Of Not-Being

When the eye is cleared of obstacles it sees sharply.  When the ear is cleared of obstacles it hears well.  When the nose is not blocked up, it smells well.  When the mouth is cleared, it tastes well.  When the mind is clear, it thinks well.  When knowledge is clear of obstacles, one attains the character of Tao.

Tao must not be blocked!  When it is blocked it is choked and if it continues to be choked, it stumbles.  When it stumbles, all creation is harmed.

All sentient life depends on the breath of Tao.  When the breath is disturbed, it is not the fault of Nature, it is the fault of man.  Nature keeps it open day and night without cease, but man continuously blocks it up.  The human embryo has a surrounding membrane which allows it to move about, and the human mind must be free to roam about in the Universe.  When there is no empty space in a house, then the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law bicker with one another.  When the mind is deprived of its opportunity to roam about the soul becomes cramped.  The reason why we feel good when going to a great forest or a hill is because our souls are usually cramped.
 

[blue eyed snake]

 the human mind must be free to roam about in the Universe.  

 

 

like this!

[Marblehead]

Chuang Tzu furthermore stated:

 

 

The Useless

The disciple said to the Sage, “All your teaching is centered on what has no use.”

The Sage replied, “If you have no appreciation for what has no use you cannot begin to talk about what can be used.  The Earth, for example, is broad and vast but of all this expanse man uses only a few inches upon which he happens to be standing.  Now suppose you suddenly take away all that he is not actually using so that, all around his feet a gulf yawns, and he stands in the Void, with nowhere solid except right under each foot.  How long will he be able to use what he is using?”

The disciple said, “It would cease to serve any purpose.”

The Sage replied, “This shows the absolute necessity of what has ‘no use.’  One must understand the use of uselessness before he can speak of the use of usefulness.  Surely, the Earth is vast and great, yet what man can put to use is only where his feet rest.  However, when a man turns up his toes and his body is laid in the grave, can he still find the Earth useful?”

“Then the Earth is useless to him,” replied the disciple.
 

[Marblehead]

And Chuang Tzu continued:

 

 

On Being Useful

The mountain, owing to its forests, itself attracts the rascals that will deprive it of them.  The tree on the mountain height is its own enemy.  The grease that feeds the light devours itself.  Tallow, because it can burst into flame, destroys itself.  The cinnamon tree is edible, so it is cut down!  The lacquer tree is profitable, they maim it.  Every man knows how useful it is to be useful.  Only a few seem to know how useful it is to be useless.
 

[Stosh]

. 

Edited April 14, 2015 by Stosh

[Marblehead]

And without pause Chuang Tzu added:

 

 

Useless Space Between Steps

A man walks upon the ground by stepping on it, but it is only because of the ground that he does not step upon, i.e., the distance between the steps, the useless, that he is able to reach a great distance.
 

[Marblehead]

Continuing without a pause Chuang Tzu said:

 

 

The Good For Nothing Tree

A Sage was traveling over a mountain with a few of his disciples when he saw a huge tree with splendid foliage.  Some woodsmen who were there seemed to disdain it.  He asked them why.  “It’s no good for anything,” came the reply.

Thereupon the Sage said to his disciples, “This tree, because its wood is good for nothing, will die a natural death.”

When they had left the mountain, the Sage stopped by at an old friend’s.  The friend was delighted to see him, and ordered a servant to kill a goose and cook it.

The servant asked, “Which shall I kill?  The one that can cackle or the one that can’t?”

“Kill the one that can’t cackle,” said the host.

The next day, the disciples asked the Sage, “That tree we saw on the mountain yesterday, because it is good for nothing, will die a natural death.  And today, this goose of our host’s, because it was of no use; it lost its life.  Which position would you choose?”

The Sage replied laughingly, “If I chose a position halfway between being useful and being useless, I would seem to be right; but this would not really be the case, and I would certainly get into trouble.  Things are different for the pure man, borne along by the Tao and Te; he knows neither praise nor blame.  Now a dragon, now a serpent, he changes with the change of time and does not consent to specialization; now he rises, now he falls, adapting himself to the rhythm of Nature.  He takes his ease at the origin of all things.  Things are things for him, and he is not a thing for things, so how could he get into trouble?  Such was the method of the great Sages.  But this was not the case for the passions inherent in the Ten Thousand Creatures and for common morality.  For every union is destined to be separated, every achievement to be destroyed, every corner to be flattened, every eminence to be overthrown, and every activity is destined to failure.  Talent breeds jealousy, lack of intelligence breeds deceit.  None of these situations is preferable to another.  Ah!  Think on all this, my disciple.  May the Tao and Te be your only refuge.”
 

[Stosh]

I like that one a lot. 

[Marblehead]

And for whatever the reason, the following came to Chuang Tzu's mind and he stated:

 

 

The Comfort Of Unawareness

A good craftsman draws lines and circles without the help of compasses and squares.  His fingers are so sensitively attuned to his material that he does not depend on the direction of his mind; his fingers bring forth spontaneous forms from nowhere.   His mind remains unfettered.  His mind is free and without concern with what he is doing.  No application is needed; his mind is perfectly simple and knows no obstacle.

Unawareness of one’s feet is the mark of a pair of shoes that fit, so, when the shoe fits, the foot is forgotten.  Unawareness of the waist is the sign of a belt that fits, so, when the belt fits, the belly is forgotten.   Unawareness of right and wrong is the mark of a mind that is at ease.  When the heart is right, “For” and “Against” are forgotten.  The mind does not change inside and is not affected by external events, and one feels at ease in all circumstances and situations.  No drives, no compulsions, no needs, no attractions.  Then your affairs are under control.  You are a free man.  Once at ease, it is never again not at ease.  That is to be at ease through unawareness of being at ease.

Easy is right.  Begin easy and you are right.  Continue easy and you are right.  The right way to go easy is to forget the right way and forget that the going is easy.

 

 

(Actually, the statement "You are a free man." can be linked to being useless.)

 

[dawei]

And for whatever the reason, the following came to Chuang Tzu's mind and he stated:

 

 

The Comfort Of Unawareness

 

A good craftsman draws lines and circles without the help of compasses and squares.  His fingers are so sensitively attuned to his material that he does not depend on the direction of his mind; his fingers bring forth spontaneous forms from nowhere. 

 

I need to read more of these posts

 

compass and square is an allusion to Fuxi and Nuwa...

 

The most famous pictures are of them facing each other... but sometimes they woke up on the wrong side of the bed and turned away

 

[Marblehead]

Break time!  Chuang Tzu was tire of talking and Lao Tzu was tired of listening.

 

But after the break Lao Tzu said:

 

 

Regarding The Self As SELF

“Regard favor and disgrace with alarm.
What do I mean when I say,
Regard favor and disgrace with alarm?”

Both favor and disgrace are inferior.

If you get it; be alarmed!
If you lose it; be alarmed!

Favor and disgrace cause one dismay.

This is what I mean when I say
“Regard favor and disgrace with alarm.”

What does this mean;
“What we value and what we fear are within our self?”

We have fears because we have a self, a body.
What we value and what we fear are within our self,
That is, life and death.

When we do not regard that self as Self,
What have we to fear?

“Respect great distress as you do your own person.”
What do I mean when I say,
“Respect great distress as you do your own person?”

The reason I have great distress
Is that I have a body.
If I had no body,
What distress would I have?

(Man’s loss of his original nature comes from the distractions of the material world acting through the five senses.  His emancipation of the soul comes from the doctrine of selflessness.  In Taoist philosophy, this emancipation through selflessness comes through the realization that the individual self is nothing and the great unity of the Universe is everything.  From this selfless point of view it is therefore natural to regard all the accidents of fortune and misfortune, of honor and disgrace, as things that are entirely superficial and unimportant.)
 

[Marblehead]

After recovering his breath Chuang Tzu said:

 

 

Perfect Joy

Is there to be found on Earth perfect joy, or is there no such thing?  Is there some way to make life fully worth living, or is this impossible?  If there is such a way, how do you go about finding it?  What should you try to do?  What should you seek to avoid?  What should be the goal in which your activity comes to rest?  What should you accept?  What should you refuse to accept?  What should you love?  What should you hate?

What the world values is money, reputation, long life, and achievement.  What it counts as joy is health and comfort of body, good food, fine clothes, beautiful things to look at, and pleasant music to listen to.

What it condemns is lack of money, a low social rank, a reputation for being no good, and an early death.

What it considers misfortune is bodily discomfort and labor; no chance to get your fill of good food, not having good clothes to wear, having no way to amuse or delight the eye, no pleasant music to listen to.

If people find that they are deprived of these things, they go into panic or fall into despair.  They are so concerned for their life that their anxiety makes life unbearable, even when they have the things they think they want.  Their very concern for enjoyment makes them unhappy.  The rich make life intolerable, driving themselves in order to get more and more money that they cannot really use.  In so doing, they are alienated from themselves, and exhaust themselves in their own service as though they were slaves of others.

The ambitious run day and night, in pursuit of honors, constantly in anguish about the success of their plans, dreading the miscalculation that may wreck everything.  Thus they are alienated from themselves, exhausting their real life in service of the shadow created by their insatiable hope.

The birth of a man is the birth of his sorrow.  The longer he lives, the more stupid he becomes, because his anxiety to avoid unavoidable death becomes more and more acute.  What bitterness!  He lives for what is always out of reach!  His thirst for survival in the future makes him incapable of living in the present.

What about the self-sacrificing officials and scholars?  They are honored by the world because they are good, upright, self-sacrificing people and yet their good character does not preserve them from unhappiness, nor even from ruin, disgrace, and death.

I wonder, in that case, if their “goodness” is really so good after all!  Is it perhaps a source of unhappiness?

Suppose you admit they are happy.  But is it a happy thing to have a character and a career that leads to one’s own eventual destruction?  On the other hand, can you call them “unhappy” if, in sacrificing themselves, they save the lives and fortunes of others?

Take the case of the minister who conscientiously and uprightly opposes an unjust decision of his king!  Some say, “Tell the truth, and if the King will not listen, let him do what he likes.  You have no further obligation.”  On the other hand, another minister continued to resist the unjust policy of his sovereign.  He was consequently destroyed.  But if he had not stood up for what he believed to be right, he would not be held in honor.

So there is the question.  Shall the course he took be called “good” if, at the same time, it was fatal to him?

I cannot tell if what the world considers “happiness” is happiness or not.  All I know is that when I consider the way they go about attaining it, I see them carried away headlong, grim and obsessed, in the general onrush of the human herd, unable to stop themselves or to change their direction.  All the while they claim to be just on the point of attaining happiness.

For my part, I cannot accept their standards, whether of happiness or unhappiness.  I ask myself if, after all, their concept of happiness has any meaning whatever.

My opinion is that you never find happiness until you stop looking for it.  My greatest happiness consists precisely in doing nothing whatever that is calculated to obtain happiness.  And this, in the minds of most people, is the worst possible course.

I will hold to the saying that, “Perfect joy is to be without joy.  Perfect praise is to be without praise.”

If you ask “What ought to be done?” and, “What ought not to be done?” on Earth in order to produce happiness, I answer that these questions do not have an answer.  There is no way of determining such things.

Yet at the same time, if I cease striving for happiness, the “right” and the “wrong” at once become apparent all by themselves.

Contentment and well-being at once become possible the moment you cease to act with them in view, and if you practice non-doing, you will have both happiness and well-being.

Here is how I sum it up.  Heaven does nothing.  Its non-doing is its serenity.  Earth does nothing.  Its non-doing is its rest.  From the union of these two non-doings all actions proceed; all things are made.  How vast!  How invisible!  No way to explain it!  All beings in their perfection are born of non-doing.  Hence it is said, “Heaven and Earth do nothing yet there is nothing they do not do.”

Where is the man who can attain to this non-doing?
 

Edited April 19, 2015 by Marblehead

[Stosh]

This chunk seems rather different in character, is this Zz or Merton ?

[Marblehead]

This chunk seems rather different in character, is this Zz or Merton ?

It could well be Merton's translation.  His is one that I used.  Sad thing tough is that I did not note the translators of the translations / passages.  And I can't even remember all those I did use.

[Geof Nanto]

Perfect Joy

 

If you ask “What ought to be done?” and, “What ought not to be done?” on Earth in order to produce happiness, I answer that these questions do not have an answer.  There is no way of determining such things.

 

 

Interesting thoughts. Here's another interpretation along similar lines....... 

 

Chinese thinkers such as Zhuangzi  did not focus on happiness but rather the question of how to ‘feed life’ or nourish it.

 

In his book Vital Nourishment: Departing from Happiness sinologist Francois Jullien suggests that happiness implies a concept that, if not disjunctive, is at least adversarial (happiness against unhappiness). It hints at rupture, or in any case dissociation (between quest and satisfaction). And above all it is grafted onto a philosophy of finality (happiness, we have always been told, is the final goal).

 

Jullien claims Daoist thought dissolves this coagulated cluster of notions so completely that it exempts itself from its demands. ‘Feeding my life’ opens up a possibility other than happiness. Life is something that passes through each of us, and we have a duty to become amenable to its ebbs and flows. We must cultivate a sense of being adequate to it so that we can house it.  From this perspective questions of happiness and unhappiness lose their primacy, rather  the focus shifts to the actual experience of life itself in all its manifestations. 

[Marblehead]

Chuang Tzu took a deep breath and continued:

 

 

The Joy Of Fishes

The Sage and one of his disciples were crossing a river by the dam.  The Sage said, “See how free the fishes leap and dart.  That is their happiness.”

The disciple replied, “Since you are not a fish, how do you know what makes fishes happy?”

The Sage said, “I know the joy of fishes in the river through my own joy, as I go walking along the same river and watch them in their play.”
 

[Stosh]

Written by Chuang Tzu trans. Thomas Merton

Chuang Tzu and Hui Tzu

Were Crossing Hoa river

By the Dam

 

Chuang Tzu said:

'See how free

The fishes leap and dart

That is their happiness.'

Read more: http://poetry.onlinenigeria.com/ad.asp?blurb=22&topic=The%20Joy%20of%20Fishes#ixzz3Xqk8GA6S

 

When it comes to Merton I just dont know how close he is reading to the text, though I enjoy his perspective. I wont say more about this , but I am confirming some of this is Merton and accounts for the Major shift in style.

Edited April 20, 2015 by Stosh

[Marblehead]

And Chuang Tzu continued by saying:

 

 

No Place For Joy Or Sorrow

Joy and sorrow are the result of gains and losses.  A gentleman who profoundly penetrates all things and is in harmony with their transformations will be contented with whatever time may bring.  He follows the course of Nature in whatever situation he may be.  He will be intuitively united with creation.  He will be himself wherever he may be.  Where does gain or loss, life or death, come in?  Therefore, if one lets what he has received from Nature take its own course, there will be no place for joy or sorrow.
 

[Marblehead]

And furthermore Chuang Tzu said:

 

 

Definition Of Honor And Happiness

When one is strong in the knowledge of Tao, one disregards the petty problems of life; when one is strong in the knowledge of Character, one ignores the petty problems of knowledge.  Petty knowledge is injurious to one’s Character, and petty conduct is injurious to one’s soul.  Therefore, it is said, “All that one needs to do is to return to the norm himself.”

Perfect happiness is described as success.  When the ancients spoke of success, they did not mean the symbols of rank and honor; they meant by success the state wherein one’s happiness was complete.  The modern man means by success the badges of rank and honor.  But the badges of rank and honor on a man’s body have nothing to do with his original self.  They are things that are accidentally loaned to him for a period.  You cannot refuse them when they are loaned to you, nor can you keep them when they are taken away from you.  Therefore, one should not forget oneself over such insignia of authority, nor should one do what the world is doing because of failure or poverty.  He is happy in failure as well as in success, and, therefore, he is without sorrow.  If a man is unhappy because things loaned to him have been taken away from him, then it is clear that when he thought he was happy, he had lost his true self.  Therefore, it is said, “Those who lose their selves in the material world may be compared to people who stand on their heads.”
 

[Marblehead]

And Chuang Tzu continued with:

 

 

Ownership

“Can one obtain Tao and possess it?” asked the Emperor of the Sage.

“You don’t even own your self.  How can you possess Tao?”

“If I don’t possess my self, who possesses it?” asked the Emperor.

“Your self,” replied the Sage, “is a body lent to you by the Universe.  Your life is not possessed by you; it is a harmony of body and Spirit lent to you by the Universe.  Your nature is not possessed by you; it is a natural evolution lent to you by the Universe.  Your children and grandchildren are not possessed by you; they are the thrown-off skins of your past, as of snakes and cicadas, lent to you by the Universe.  Therefore, one goes about without knowing where he is going, stops without knowing what he is holding on to, and eats without knowing how the food tastes.  Such activities are merely the working of the Yang principle of the Universe when it is in dominance.  How can you ever possess anything let alone possess Tao?”
 

[Marblehead]

And continuing, Chuang Tzu said:

 

 

Man Is Born In Tao

Fishes are born in water; man is born in Tao.  If fishes, born in water, seek the deep shadow of pond and pool, all their needs are satisfied.  If man, born in Tao, sinks into the deep shadow of non-action to forget aggression and concern, he lacks nothing; his life is secure.

Moral:  “All fish need is to get lost in water.  All man needs is to get lost in Tao.”


(From this general point of view, the Taoist develops the teachings that “the perfect man is selfless,” that instead of seeking security in a special corner of one’s home and family, one should rather “entrust that which belongs to the Universe to the whole Universe,” and, therefore, “men should lose themselves in Tao as fish lose themselves in water.”)
 

[Marblehead]

And with the little breath he had remaining Chuang tzu said:

 

 

To Preserve The Principle Of Things

If a person is perfectly at ease with his soul and physical power, whether he lifts something heavy or carries something light, it is due to the fact that he is using his strength to a desired degree.  If a person loves fame and is fond of supremacy and is not satisfied even when he has broken his back in the attempt, it is due to the fact that he believes human knowledge knows no limit.  Therefore what is called knowledge is born of our losing our balance and will be eliminated when ultimate capacity is realized intuitively.  Intuitively realizing ultimate capacity means allowing one’s lot to reach its highest degree, and, as in the case of lifting weights, not adding so much as an ounce beyond that.  Therefore though a person carries ten thousand pounds, if it is equal to his capacity he will suddenly forget the weight upon his body.  Though a person attends to ten thousand matters, if his capacity is equal to them, he will be utterly unaware that the affairs are upon him.  These are the fundamentals for the cultivation of life.  If one attains the Mean and intuitively realizes the proper limit, everything can be done.  The cultivation of life does not seek to exceed one’s lot but to preserve the principle of things and to live out one’s allotted span of life.
 

[Marblehead]

Silence.  (Lao Tzu was waiting for Chuang Tzu to say more.)

 

More silence.

 

Lao Tzu said:

 

 

Weapons Are Instruments Of Ill Omen

As for weapons; they are instruments of ill omen.

And of things, there are those that hate them.

Therefore, the one who has the Tao,
With them weapons do not dwell.

When the gentleman is at home,
With weapons he does not dwell,
For weapons are not the instruments of the gentleman;
Weapons are instruments of ill omen.

However, when you have no choice but to use them,
It is best to remain tranquil and calm.

You should never look upon weapons as things of beauty.

If you see them as beautiful things;
This is the same as to delight in killing,
And when you delight in killing,
You will not realize rest in Tao.

Therefore the man possessed of Tao avoids them.

They are not the instruments of the Sage.

Even in victory,
There is no beauty or boasting,
And who calls it beautiful
Is one who delights in slaughter.

He who delights in slaughter
Will not realize rest in Tao.

The slaying of multitudes
Should be mourned with sorrow.
 

[Marblehead]

Chuang Tzu thought for a moment then responded with:

 

 

On The Futility Of Disarmament

“I have long wanted to meet you,” said the prince who was well known for his war exploits to the Sage.  “I love my people and follow righteousness.  I am thinking of disarmament.  What do you think?”

“You cannot do it,” replied the Sage.  “To love the people is the beginning of hurting them.  To plan disarmament in the cause of righteousness is the beginning of rearmament.  If you start from there, you will never accomplish anything.  The love of a good name is an instrument of evil.  Although Your Highness wishes to follow the doctrine of humanity and justice, I am afraid you are going to end in hypocrisy.  The material leads to the material; pride comes with accomplishment, and war comes with the change of circumstances.  Do not parade your soldiers before the towers; do not display your infantry and cavalry in the palace.  Do not obtain things by immoral means.  Do not gain your end by astuteness, by strategy, or by war.  For to slaughter the people of another country, take their territory in order to increase one’s private possessions and please oneself; what good will such a war do?  In what does such a victory consist?  You should leave it alone, and search within yourself, and let things fulfill their nature without your interference.  Thus the people will already have escaped death. What need will there be for disarmament?”


(The Taoist’s argument against disarmament may appear fallacious on the surface, but is fundamentally correct.  When it becomes necessary to talk of disarmament, all plans of disarmament must fail, as man has learned today.  The better argument is essentially that of moral rearmament.)
 

[Marblehead]

Lao Tzu returned with:

 

 

Thinking You Have No Rival

Of disasters,
None is greater than thinking you have no rival.

Of catastrophes,
None is greater than underestimating the enemy.

To think you have no rival
And to underestimate the enemy
Is to come close to losing my treasures.

Those who use weapons have a saying which goes,
“I don’t presume to act like the host,
But instead play the part of the guest;
I dare not be the first to invade,
But rather be the invaded.
I don’t advance an inch,
But rather retreat a foot.”

That is,
To march without formations,
To be prepared to fight
Without showing your preparedness,
To charge not in frontal attacks,
And to arm without weapons.

This is called moving forward without moving forward;
Rolling up one’s sleeves without baring one’s arm.


(My treasures refer to the Three Treasures which will be explained later.

“To arm without weapons”, or to feel like being in this condition, i.e., the subjective condition of humanity.  This is entirely consistent with the Taoist's philosophy of camouflage, the earliest in the world.  Cf. "great eloquence is like stuttering".)