That I Was, Has Passed
This conversation takes place between Confucius and Yan Hui, a court official. Can you imagine a more precarious professional role, than a job in the administration of an autocrat?
The topic revolves around how a “fasting-of-the-mind” is advantageous to someone such as Hui.
Confucius describes a concentration, a quieting of the will, as one would allow a saucer of water to be stilled. Subsequently three stages of comprehension are indicated, with the 3rd spirit-level supreme… Achieving the spirit level, is to momentarily shed the bias of upbringing, of culture: “freedom from all pre-occupation.” Neither a superficial hearing, nor is the conventional understanding of a matter enough. The spirit clarifies what is hidden, as if behind a curtain – the truth of what is happening!
Or described in another way, “The Hui that I was has passed away.”
Maintain a perfect unity
in every movement of your will,
You will not wait for the hearing of your ears about it,
but for the hearing of your mind.
You will not wait even for the hearing of your mind,
but for the hearing of the spirit.
Let the hearing (of the ears) rest with the ears.
Let the mind rest in the verification (of the rightness of what is in the will).
But the spirit is free from all pre-occupation
and so waits for (the appearance of) things.
Where the (proper) course is,
there is freedom from all pre-occupation;
such freedom is the fasting of the mind.’
Hui said,
‘Before it was possible for me to employ (this method),
There I was, the Hui that I am;
now, that I can employ it,
the Hui that I was has passed away.
Can I be said to have obtained
this freedom from pre-occupation?’
The Master replied,
‘Entirely.
Zhuangzi by Zhuang Zhou, trans. by James Legge, Transactions in the World of Men
Time for a tune! Relationships are potential pivot points. A genuine friendship transforms us, so that a different version of ourselves is manifest. This tune by INXS, Disappear describes such an event.
2 thoughts on “That I Was, Has Passed”
Disengaging from our baggage is nigh on impossible though on rare occasions some can achieve this state of being. The first step is actually wanting to leave our prejudices behind us. That in itself is rare. Then disengaging from that personal history is even more difficult. I have not been able to achieve that in my life, though perhaps I still have a bit of time to get there. We’ll see!
Agreed. Right desire is the first step. Then comes the spade work upon ones personal history, to bring to light the demons that haunt us. I doubt the work is ever finished. Still I think this is good work. And it pays to “hang out” with those who would agree.