Chuang Tzu 2.9

Khü Tshiâo-tsze asked Khang-wû Tsze, saying, "I heard the Master speaking of such language as the following:

"'The sagely man does not occupy himself with worldly affairs. He does not put himself in the way of what is profitable, nor try to avoid what is hurtful; he has no pleasure in seeking for anything from any one; he does not care to be found in any established Way; he speaks without speaking; he does not speak when he speaks; thus finding his enjoyment outside the dust and dirt of the world.' 

"The Master considered all this to be a shoreless flow of mere words, and I consider it to describe the course of the Mysterious Way. What do you, Sir, think of it?" 

Khang-wû Tsze replied, "The hearing of such words would have perplexed even Hwang-Tì, and how should Khiû be competent to understand them? And you, moreover, are too hasty in forming your estimate of their meaning. 

"You see the egg, and immediately look out for the cock that is to be hatched from it; you see the bow, and immediately look out for the dove that is to be brought down by it being roasted. I will try to explain the thing to you in a rough way; do you in the same way listen to me. 

"How could any one stand by the side of the sun and moon, and hold under his arm all space and all time? Such language only means that the sagely man keeps his mouth shut, and puts aside questions that are uncertain and dark; making his inferior capacities unite with him in honoring the One Lord. 

"Men in general bustle about and toil; the sagely man seems stupid and to know nothing. He blends ten thousand years together in the one conception of time; the myriad things all pursue their spontaneous course, and they are all before him as doing so. 

"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? Lì Kì was a daughter of the border Warden of Âi. When the ruler of the state of Tsin first got possession of her, she wept until the tears wetted all the front of her dress. But when she came to the place of the king, shared with him his luxurious couch, and ate his grain-and-grass-fed meat, then she regretted that she had wept. How do I know that the dead do not repent of their former craving for life? 

"Those who dream of the pleasures of drinking may in the morning wail and weep; those who dream of wailing and weeping may in the morning be going out to hunt. When they were dreaming they did not know it was a dream; in their dream they may even have tried to interpret it; but when they awoke they knew that it was a dream. And there is the great awaking, after which we shall know that this life was a great dream. 

"All the while, the stupid think they are awake, and with nice discrimination insist on their knowledge; now playing the part of rulers, and now of grooms. Bigoted was that Khiû! He and you are both dreaming. I who say that you are dreaming am dreaming myself. These words seem very strange; but if after ten thousand ages we once meet with a great sage who knows how to explain them, it will be as if we met him unexpectedly some morning or evening." 

IMAGE: Jusepe de Ribera, Jacob's Dream (1639)