Yang Tzu Chu was startled and said, ‘May I be so bold as to ask about the rule of a king who is great in wisdom?’
Lao Tzu said,
‘The rule of a king who is great in wisdom!
His works affect all under Heaven, yet he seems to do nothing.
His authority reaches all life, yet no one relies upon him.
There is no fame nor glory for him but everything fulfils itself.
He stands upon mystery and wanders where there is nothing.’
In Chen there was a shaman of the spirits called Chi Hsien. He could foretell when people would die and be born; he knew about good fortune and failure as granted by Heaven; he knew about happiness and distress, life and its span, knowing the year, month, week and day, as if he were a god himself. As soon as the people of Cheng saw him coming, they would run away. Lieh Tzu went to see him and was fascinated by him. Coming back to Hu Tzu, he said, ‘I used to believe, Master, that your Tao was perfection. Now I have found something even better.’
Hu Tzu said, ‘What I have shown you is the outward text of my teaching, but not what is central. How can you think you have grasped my Tao? If you have hens but no cockerel, how can you have eggs? You flaunt your Tao before the world. This is why this man can read your fortune. Bring this shaman to me and let us meet.’
The next day Lieh Tzu brought the shaman to visit Hu Tzu. And as he left Hu Tzu’s house with Lieh Tzu, the shaman said, ‘Oh dear! Your Master is dying. There’s virtually no life left – he has maybe a week at most. I saw a strange sight – it was like wet ashes!’
Lieh Tzu went in again, weeping so copiously that tears soaked his coat, and told Hu Tzu what had been said. Hu Tzu said, ‘I made myself appear like the earth. I was as solid as the mountain, showing nothing to him. He probably perceived me to be a closed book, apparently without virtue. Bring him again if you can.’
The next day Lieh Tzu came again with the shaman to see Hu Tzu. As they went out, the shaman said to Lieh Tzu, ‘How lucky for your Master that he has met me. He is getting better. Indeed he is truly alive. Life is flowing again.’
Lieh Tzu went back in and commented on this to Hu Tzu. Hu Tzu said, ‘I made myself appear to him like Heaven, without fame or fortune on my mind. What I am wells up in me naturally. He saw in me the full and natural workings of life. Bring him again if you can.’
The next day they came again to see Hu Tzu. As they went out, the shaman said to Lieh Tzu, ‘Your Master is never the same. I cannot grasp the fortune shown in his face. If he returns to some constancy then I will come and see him again.’
Lieh Tzu went back in and reported this to Hu Tzu. ‘I showed him myself as the great Void where all is equal,’ said Hu Tzu. ‘He almost certainly saw in me the harmony of my innate forces. When water moves about, there is a whirlpool; where the waters are calm, there is a whirlpool; where the waters gather, there is a whirlpool. There are nine types of whirlpool and I have shown him just three. Bring him back again if you can.’
The next day they both came again to see him. However, before he had even sat down, the shaman panicked and ran off. Hu Tzu said, ‘Follow him!’
Lieh Tzu ran after him. But he could not catch up with him. Coming back to Hu Tzu, he said, ‘He has gone, I’ve lost him. I couldn’t catch him.’
Hu Tzu said, ‘I just appeared to him as hitherto unrevealed potential. I presented myself as not knowing who is who, nor what is what. I came flowing and changing as I willed. That’s why he bolted.’
As a result of this, Lieh Tzu realized that he had so far learnt nothing real, so he returned home. For three years he did not go out. He cooked for his wife and tended the pigs as if they were humans. He showed no interest in his studies. He cast aside his desires and sought the truth. In his body he became like the ground itself. In the midst of everything he remained enclosed with the One and that is how he remained until the end.
Do not hanker for fame.
Do not make plans.
Do not try to do things.
Do not try to master knowledge.
Hold what is but do not hold it to be anything.
Work with all that comes from Heaven, but do not seek to hold it.
Just be empty.
The perfect man’s heart is like a mirror.
It does not search after things.
It does not look for things.
It does not seek knowledge, just responds.
As a result he can handle everything and is not harmed by anything.
The Emperor of the South Sea is known as Change. The Emperor of the North Sea is called Dramatic. The Emperor of the Centre is called Chaos. Change and Dramatic met every so often in the region of Chaos. Chaos always treated them kindly and virtuously. Change and Dramatic said, ‘Everyone has seven orifices so they can see, hear, eat and breathe. Chaos does not have these. Let us bore some holes into him.’ Each day they bored a hole into Chaos… but on the seventh day Chaos died.
CHAPTER 8
Webbed Toes
The big toe being webbed with the other toes, or an extra finger, may both be quite natural, but they do not spring from virtue. Swellings and tumours certainly arise from the body, but do not spring from what is natural. There are many acts of kindness and
