Perhaps there is nothing more satisfying than to observe a skilled artisan work. Here is a widely known Taoist story. A humble cook instructs the ruler of the realm on the art of ruling by his manner of dismembering an Ox in the course of meal preparation. No further comment needed. Cook Ding was…
The Mastery of Life There is a limit to our life,but to knowledge there is no limit.With what is limitedto pursue after what is unlimited is a perilous thing; and when, knowing this,we still seek the increase of our knowledge,the peril cannot be averted. There should not be the practice of what is goodwith…
Under heaven there is nothing greaterthan the tip of an autumn down,and the Thâi mountain is small. There is no one more long livedthan a child which dies prematurely,and Phang Tsû did not live out his time. ~*~ Heaven, Earth, and Iwere produced together,and all things and…
‘How do I know that the love of life is not a delusion?and that the dislike of death is not like a young person’s losing his way,and not knowing that he is (really) going home? Lî Kî was a daughter of the border Warden of Âi.When (the ruler of) the state of Tsin first…
The Tâo that is displayed is not the Tâo. Words that are argumentative do not reach the point. Benevolence that is constantly exercised does not accomplish its object. Disinterestedness that vaunts its purity is not genuine. Courage that is most stubborn is ineffectual. These five seem…
But here now are some other sayings: I do not know whether they are of the same character as those which I have already given, or of a different character. Whether they be of the same character or not when looked at along with them, they have a character of their own, which cannot…
Among the men of old their knowledge reached the extreme point. What was that extreme point? Some held that at first there was not anything. This is the extreme point, the utmost point to which nothing can be added. A second class held that there was something, but without any responsive recognition of it…
When we toil our spirits and intelligence,obstinately determined (to establish our own view),and do not know the agreement(which underlies it and the views of others),we have what is called‘In the morning three.’ What is meant by that ‘In the morning three?’ A keeper of monkeys,in giving them out their acorns, (once) said,‘In the morning…
Saturday morning brings a needed rain. Rain, even as my mind turns to the national No Kings rally scheduled for later in the morning. I plan to participate rain or no rain. What will this multi-city demonstration involving millions of citizens amount to? Nothing at all in the immediate manifestations of human injustice. I…
It was separation that led to completion;from completion ensued dissolution. But all things,without regardto their completion and dissolution,may again be comprehended in their unity; It is only the far reaching in thoughtwho know how to comprehend them in this unity.This being so, let us give up our devotion to our own views,and occupy ourselves…
