The artisan Chui
made things round (and square)
more exactly than if he had used the circle and square.
The operation of his fingers on (the forms of) things
was like the transformations of them (in nature),
and required no application of his mind;
and so his Intelligence was entire and encountered no resistance.

To be unthought
of by the foot that wears it is the fitness of a shoe;
to be unthought
of by the waist is the fitness of a girdle.

When one’s wisdom
does not think of the right or the wrong (of a question under discussion),
that shows the suitability of the mind (for the question);
when one is conscious of no inward change,
or outward attraction,
that shows the mastery of affairs.

He who perceives at once the fitness,
and never loses the sense of it,
has the fitness that forgets all about what is fitting.

–Zhuangzi, The Full Understanding of Life, By Zhuang Zhou, trans. by James Legge

I once knew a guy who…

Such a memory is familiar to many.  We have know individuals who with exquisite delicacy, accomplished things, achieved results due to a deep understanding of the materials, of the processes entailed within the circle of their passion.  To be so in touch with the innate nature of things, to sense what is necessary is a scene that that beautiful and meaningful to an external observer.  Moreover for the practitioner the satisfaction felt by this manner of “doing” is unsurpassed.  There is no need for laboriously calculating according to the instruction book, according to a recipe.  One just does.

I know that any TV show is created as entertainment first and foremost.  A story is presented visually even and especially when what actually happened must be edited to enhance the drama, to sharpen the point of the director/story teller.  Still The Great British Baking Show uses video and interview of amateur bakers from all walks of life, exploring the drama of assembling, baking, and judging a variety of specified baked pies, cakes, which have sweetness as the common denominator.  I cannot get enough of the show.  Moments seem to overlap when reverence is demonstrated for deep intelligence and experience brought to bear under constraints of time to offer a visually pleasing as well as delicious cake, or cookie, or…

I know a guy who owed a performance auto parts business, offering Ford 500 cubic inch engine blocks, parts, and entire race car fabrication to his customers.  I watched once while he assembled to an engine block, the bearings, crankshaft, camshaft, etc. according to tolerances remembered.  And he just “knew” when the resistance on the turned wrench “felt right”, the bite of the hardened steel bolt threads into the cast aluminum.  I observed his method of tuning a 12,000 horsepower nitro methane fuel engine.  He evaluated the exhaust temperature from each idling cylinder by passing the tips of his fingers through the hot exhaust gases exiting the pipes.  And tuning by sound, I recall his comment about how necessary for the engine to sound happy.

Wisdom is the suitability of the mind, is it not?