Mair 20:2

[Marblehead]

When Yiliao of Southmarket met the Marquis of Lu, the latter had a worried look.

"Why do you have such a worried look?" asked Master Southmarket.

"I have studied the Way of the former kings and have cultivated the inheritance of the former rulers of Lu," said the Marquis of Lu.  "I respect the ghosts of the departed and honor men of worth.  All this I attend to personally and without being idle for a moment, yet I cannot avoid calamity.  That is why I am worried."

"Your techniques for ridding yourself of calamity are shallow," said Master Southmarket.  "The thick-furred fox and the elegantly spotted leopard inhabit the mountain forest and lurk in cliffside caves - such is their stillness.  At night they move around but during the day they stay at home - such is their caution.  Though hungry and thirsty, they keep aloof, preferring instead to range far afield along lakes and rivers in search of food - such is their determination.  Yet they cannot avoid the calamity of nets and snares.  Where lies the blame?  It's their pelts that bring them disaster.  Now, is not the state of Lu your lordship's pelt?  I would have you strip away your form and peel off your pelt, cleanse your mind and remove your desires, and go wandering in no-man's-land.  In Namviet {{South (nam) of the state of Yŭeh (viet).  This being unfamiliar territory to the Chinese during Chuang Tzu's time, its use here is to indicate a place that is remote.}} there is a fief called Country of Established Integrity.  Its people are ignorant and simple, with little selfishness and few desires.  They know how to make things but do not hoard them.  They give but do not expect recompense.  They know nothing about the application of righteousness and the operation of ceremony.  Though they move about randomly as if they were mad, their footsteps follow the great method.  Their births are celebrated with joy; their deaths are observed with funerals.  I would have you leave your state and renounce common custom, and proceed there under the guidance of the Way."

"The way there must be distant and dangerous," said the lord.  "Furthermore, there are rivers and mountains.  Since I have no boat or carriage, what should I do?"

Master Southmarket said,

"Do not appear haughty,
Do not be obstinate,
That will be your carriage."

"The way there must be remote and isolated," said the lord.  "Who will be my companion?  I have no grain or other food.  How can I obtain enough to reach there?"

Master Southmarket said, "Diminish your expenditures; decrease your desires - although you have no grain, it will be sufficient.  Wade through the estuary and float on the sea, till no matter how hard you gaze you cannot see the shore and the farther your journey takes you the less you know where it will end.  Those who escort your lordship to the shore will return.  From that point on, you will be distant indeed!

"Thus he who possesses others is tied down with troubles and he who is possessed by others is beset by worries.  Hence Yao neither possessed men nor was he possessed by them.  I would have your lordship throw off the ties that trouble you, get rid of the worries that beset you, and wander alone with the Way in the land of great Nothingness.

"If someone is crossing a river in a double-hulled vessel and an empty boat comes and strikes against it, even though he may be a quick-tempered person, he will not be angry.  But if there is a person in the boat he will shout to him to steer clear.  If his first shout goes unheeded, he will shout again.  If the second shout goes unheeded, he will shout a third time, and that will certainly be followed by a stream of abuse.  In the previous instance he did not get angry but in the present instance he is angry, because the previous boat was empty but this one has a person in it.  If a person can empty himself and go wandering in the world, who can harm him?"

[wandelaar]

The prize seems too high. One can indeed ward off calamity by no longer desiring to be without calamity (because then a calamity will no longer be seen as a calamity) and by avoiding contact with all other creatures, but isn't that saying goodby to ones humanity also?

 

Maybe the point of all this is to prove that in actual practice calamity cannot be avoided.

[Marblehead]

2 hours ago, wandelaar said:

The prize seems too high. One can indeed ward off calamity by no longer desiring to be without calamity (because then a calamity will no longer be seen as a calamity) and by avoiding contact with all other creatures, but isn't that saying goodby to ones humanity also?

 

Maybe the point of all this is to prove that in actual practice calamity cannot be avoided.

I have never viewed these comments/suggestions as realistic.  But I do agree that the fewer desires and attachments we have the fewer problems we will have in our life.  Therefore I think "a middle path".  And, of course, knowing when we have enough.

 

To the story itself, delegating authority and responsibility to subordinate would allow Lu more free time and fewer worries.

 

[OldDog]

Worries and troubles come from our human and social entanglements and attachments to things. The more one has, the more one is invested in conforming to social standards, the greater the chance of feeling constrained and unsatisfied. Yet, it is these things that we are most familiar with. And even though we find ourselves oppressed by them, we fear letting go of them because we accept that they are what define us. 

 

Our true humanity (using Wandelaar's term) lies in being free enough from our circumstances to be able to live naturally. 

 

From a Daoist point of view this is definitely a shot across the bow of Confucian doctrines. Confucius was good at providing the standards and rules for organizing society ... and to some extent, society may need such doctrines. They provide a framework for large groups of peoples to live together. But they do little to help the individual wrestle with his own feelings.

 

As I read this, I thought how many historical figures reached a point in their lives ... some sooner, some later ... where they give up their commissions and retired to the mountains away from society.

 

 

[wandelaar]

I think retiring to the mountains may be a good thing for some people, but not for most. Humans are social animals whether they like it or not. The prize of retiring to the mountains in terms of extreme loneliness would be to high. A middle road is probably the best for most of us.

[OldDog]

31 minutes ago, wandelaar said:

A middle road is probably the best for most of us.

 

Yeah, I agree. Though I tend to be more solitary than most. I have always placed a high value on having time to read and reflect on same.