‘Well!’ said Hsu Yu. ‘You never know. I will just tell you the basic outline of the teachings.
‘Oh my Master, oh my Master!
He judges all life but doesn’t believe himself to be a judge.
His blessings extend to all life, but he doesn’t see himself as blessed.
Older than antiquity, yet not old.
Overarching Heaven, carrying Earth and forming all things, he is no craftsman.
It is through him that I wander.’
Yen Hui said, ‘I’m getting better.’
Confucius said, ‘What do you mean?’
‘I have forgotten kindness and justice.’
‘Fine, but that is not enough.’
On another occasion, they met again and Yen Hui said, ‘I’ve improved.’
Confucius said, ‘What do you mean?’
‘I have forgotten rituals and music.’
‘Good, but that is still not enough.’
On another occasion they met and Yen Hui said, ‘I’m getting better.’
Confucius said, ‘What do you mean?’
‘I can sit right down and forget everything.’
Confucius was certainly disturbed by this and said, ‘What do you mean by sit right down and forget?’
Yen Hui replied, ‘My limbs are without feeling and my mind is without light. I have ignored my body and cast aside my wisdom. Thus I am united with the Tao. This is what sitting right down and forgetting is.’
Confucius said, ‘If you are one with the great Way, then you no longer have preferences. If you are one with the cosmos, you are transformed. If this is what you have done, then I would like to follow you.’
Masters Yu and Sang were friends. It happened to rain for ten days, and Master Yu said, ‘Master Sang may be in trouble!’ So he packed some food to take to him. Arriving at Master Sang’s door he heard strange noises and someone playing a lute, singing,
‘Oh Father! Oh Mother! Oh Heaven! Oh humanity!’
It sounded as if the singer’s voice was about to break and the singer was rushing to finish the verse. Master Yu entered and said, ‘Master, why are you singing like this?’
He said, ‘I was trying to work out what has reduced me to this. My father and mother wouldn’t want me to be so poor, surely? Heaven treats all alike. Earth supports all alike. Heaven and Earth wouldn’t wish me poor, would they? I seek to know who has done this, but I can’t find an answer. When you come down to it, it must be simply fate.’
CHAPTER 7
Dealing with Emperors and Kings
Yeh Chueh questioned Wang Ni. Four times he raised a question and four times he said he did not know. Yeh Chueh started jumping around in great excitement and went off to inform Master Pu Yi.
Master Pu Yi said, ‘Have you only just discovered this? The noble ruler Shun32 was not equal to the noble ruler Tai.33 Noble ruler Shun tried to use benevolence to bind the people to him. This certainly worked, but he was unable to escape into being aware of no-man. Noble ruler Tai slept the sleep of innocence and awoke in calm collectedness. Sometimes he believed himself to be a horse, other times he might believe he was an ox. His wisdom was utterly true, his Virtue was profoundly real. He never came into awareness of no-man.’
Chien Wu went to visit the eccentric Chieh Yu, who asked him, ‘What did Chung Shih say to you recently?’
Chien Wu replied, ‘He said to me that the nobleman who has authority over people should set a personal example by proper regulations, law and practices. The corollary of this will be that no one will disobey him and everyone will be transformed as a result.’
Eccentric Chieh Yu said, ‘That would ruin Virtue. If someone tries to govern everything below Heaven in this way, it’s like trying to stride through the seas or cut a tunnel through the river or make a mosquito carry a mountain. When a great sage is in command, he doesn’t try to take control of externals. He first allows people to do what comes naturally and he ensures that all things follow the way their nature takes them. The bird flies high in the sky and thereby escapes from the risk of being shot with arrows. The mouse burrows down under the hill of the spirits and thus escapes being disturbed. Don’t you even have as much understanding as these two creatures?’
Tien Ken was travelling to the south of Yin Mountain. He reached the river Liao, where he met the Man without a Name and said to him, ‘I wish to ask you about governing everything under Heaven.’
The Man without a Name said, ‘Get lost, you stupid lout! What an unpleasant question! I am travelling with the Maker of All. If that is too tiring, I shall ride the bird of ease and emptiness and go beyond the compass of the world and wander in the land of nowhere and the region of nothing. So why are you disturbing me and unsettling my heart with questions about how to rule all below Heaven?’
Tien Ken asked the same question again. The Man without a Name replied,
‘Let your heart journey in simplicity.
Be one with that which is beyond definition.
Let things be what they are.
Have no personal views.
This is how everything under Heaven is ruled.’
Yan Tzu Chu went to visit Lao Tzu and he said, ‘Here is a man who is keen and vigilant, who has clarity of vision and wisdom and who studies the Tao without ceasing. Such a person as this is surely a king of great wisdom?’
‘In comparison to the sage,’ said Lao Tzu, ‘someone like this is just a humble servant, tied to his work, exhausting himself and distressing his heart. The tiger and the leopard, it is said, are hunted because of the beauty of their hides. The monkey and the dog end up in chains because of their skills. Can these be compared to a king
