They who lose themselves in their pursuit of things, and lose their nature in their study of what is vulgar, must be pronounced people who turn things upside down. -Zhuangzi, Correcting the Nature, by Zhuang Zhou, trans. James Legge With the GMC Sierra truck commercials, I feel a twinge of discomfort. Is that repulsion…
The life of the sage is like the action of Heaven; and his/her death is the transformation common to all things. In his/her stillness his/her virtue is the same as that of the Yin, and in movement his/her diffusiveness is like that of the Yang. He does not take the initiative in producing either…
Ingrained ideas and a high estimate of their own conduct; leaving the world, and pursuing uncommon ways; talking loftily and in resentful disparagement of others; – all this is simply symptomatic of arrogance… Discoursing of benevolence, righteousness, loyalty, and good faith; being humble and frugal, self-forgetful and courteous; – all this is simply symptomatic…
If you winnow chaff, and the dust gets into your eyes, then the places of heaven and earth and of the four cardinal points are all changed to you. If mosquitoes or gadflies puncture your skin, it will keep you all the night from sleeping. But this painful iteration of benevolence and righteousness excites…
Those who think that wealth is the proper thing for them cannot give up their revenues; those who seek distinction cannot give up the thought of fame; those who cleave to power cannot give the handle of it to others. While they hold their grasp of those things, they are afraid (of losing them)….
‘I performed first the music calculated to awe; and you were frightened as if by a ghostly visitation, I followed it with that calculated to weary; and in your weariness you would have withdrawn. I concluded with that calculated to perplex; and in your perplexity you felt your stupidity. But that…
What the world thinks the most valuable exhibition of the Tao is to be found in books. But books are only a collection of words. Words have what is valuable in them; – what is valuable in words is the ideas they convey. But those ideas are a sequence of something else; – and…
Of course everyone is aware of events in Israel. No need to recount details of the attack by Hamas upon Israeli neighborhoods. Over a thousand were murdered, and hostages were taken to Gaza. The tit-for-tat bloodletting continues apace, as no leader has come to the fore lately, advocating a statehood resolution for displaced Palestinians. …
There is an interesting dialog in Zhuangzi between Confucius and a librarian, Lao Tan, who represents the Taoist philosophy of Lao Tsu. This exchange is reminiscent of the manner of conversation between Socrates and a younger student in the 4th century BCE Agora of Athens, Greece. Confucius who represents conventional thinking desires to place…
Zhuangzi has said, “This Teacher of mine, this Teacher of mine —he passes judgment on the ten thousand things, but he/she doesn’t think himself severe; his bounty extends to ten thousand generations, but he/she doesn’t think himself benevolent. He is older than the highest antiquity, but he/she doesn’t think himself long-lived; he covers heaven,…
