Confucius asked Lao-tsu,
“Some men approach the tao
as a regimentation to submit to.
they say a thing is either admissible or inadmissible;
it is so or not so.
They are like disputers who claim
that they can distinguish clearly
what is hard and what is white.
Can such men be considered sages?”

Lao-tsu replied,
they are like the subordinates in a court
who toil and are distressed in their minds.
They are like dogs
that are put to work to catch the yak
and monkeys
that are brought down from the forest
for their agility.

I will tell you this, Confucius:
it is what you cannot hear, what you cannot speak of.

Those who have heads and feet but neither
minds nor ears are numerous. Those who have
their bodies but esteem that which
has no bodily shape or form are rare.
What is to be esteemed is not found in the events
of living or dying
but in attending to the human element in them.
When people have forgotten external things and heaven,
they are to be regarded as men/women
who have forgotten themselves.

The man/woman who has forgotten him/herself
can be regarded as one who can be
identified with heaven.*

Zhuangzi, by Zhuang Zhou, trans. Hyun Hochmann, Yang Guorong, Heaven and Earth

The Zhuangzi is a collection of anecdotes, imagined exchanges with an ironic twist. The point is not to be found on the surface of the words. Its in the irony of the matter, which occurs to the reader who lingers to consider the scenario described by the author.

Here is rendered an ostensive conversation between Lao-tsu and Confucius. 

*~*

One of the memories with which my day concluded yesterday, was the news report of a renewed push by ICE on the streets of the city. Gregory Bovino, commander of the Border Patrol is on video urging forward his men to capture and hold random Hispanics. Operation Midway Blitz is a race motivated agenda to remove non-white individuals from the general population.

Certainly you have known someone with unwavering confidence in their ability to exercise logic, to determine right from wrong, black from white. They know who qualifies to live here, and who qualifies for forcible exile. Trump, Noem, Bovino and company belong to this group.

The inquiry posed to Lao-tsu is whether this approach, if such assertions of certainty ought to be taken seriously… Lao-tsu replies by metaphorically comparing such thinking to the activities of dogs and monkeys. Dogs trained to herd yaks, and monkeys adept to entertain…

Lao-tsu is not finished and offers an alternative style of thought, a way-of-life. What is most important, essential and authentic is the zone of meaning, not unlike a shadow, which is appended to the words which we speak. Literal meaning, is a mere beginning, and isn’t the truly important dimension of meaning. What is not seen, under the surface, unexpressed history is the weight of meaning, not the black and white of surface appearance. The “human element” is ineffable, and weighty. 

Lao-tsu plainly observes that the majority of our fellows are unprepared, unable to attribute importance to the unseen and unheard dimension of life. To forget oneself, to lose yourself in a moment of wonder at a sunset, before a dogwood blossom, or to abide in the aroma of a cup of coffee – is to be identified with heaven.

Wittgenstein to conclude his Tractatus succinctly agrees with Lao-tsu:

Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.

* We are reminded of how Socrates was in the habit of forgetting himself when gripped by a problem: he stood still in one place oblivious to everything around him.