Old Longears Tells of his Method (Earth, grace, translation, grace)

[Scarlett Wampus]

Another story from Chuang Tzu:

Confucius went to see Old Longears, who had just finished shampooing and was disheveling his hair so it could dry. He was so absorbed that he seemed inhuman. Confucius waited on him off to the side for a while and then went over to introduce himself. "Were my eyes deceiving me? Or were you really like that? Just now your physical body was stiff as a withered tree, sir. You seemed to have left everything behind, parted company with humanity, and were standing there in solitude."

"I was letting my mind wander in the origin of things," said Old Longears.

"What do you mean?" asked Confucius.

"The mind is so confined that one cannot know it; the tongue is so tied that one cannot tell of it. But I shall try to describe it for you roughly,

"The ultimate yin is austere; the ultimate yang is dazzling. Discipline comes forth from earth and grace issues from heaven. When these two are in communication, harmony is achieved and great things come to be. Perhaps there is something regulating this, but no one has seen its form."

"May I ask how you let your mind wander in this realm?" said Confucius.

"The attainment of this," said Old Longears, "is the ultimate beauty and ultimate joy. She who sees ultimate beauty and wanders in ultimate joy is called the mysterious female."

"I would like to hear about your method," said Confucius.

"Herbivorous animals are not vexed by a change of pasture; aqueous insects are not vexed by a change of water. This is because a small transformation is carried out without the loss of a greater constant, so that pleasure, anger, sorrow, and joy will not enter the heart. It is under the constant of change that the myriad things are unified. When you achieve unity and share it equally, your four limbs and hundred elements of the body become so much dust and dirt; death and life, ending and beginning become as day and night; none of this can confound you, and much less can the distinctions between gain and loss, misfortune and fortune.

"Abandoning status is like abandoning a clump of mud, because value lies in being and is not lost by a change of status. Since there are myriad transformations that never begin to reach a limit, which of them is sufficient to trouble the mind? He who is already a doer of the Way comprehends this."

Confucius said, "Your integrity is a companion of heaven and earth, Master, yet you borrow ideas to cultivate the mind and exercises to cultivate the body. Were there any gentlemen of antiquity who could get beyond this?"

"No," said Old Longears. "The babbling of water is its natural quality, not an intentional act. The relationship of the ultimate man to integrity is similar in that nothing can escape its power though he does not cultivate it. He is like heaven and naturally graceful; like earth and naturally tough; and like the sun & moon and naturally bright. He embraces all studies but does not think to cultivate them."

Confucius went out and reported what he had heard to Yen Hui saying, "Is not my relationship to the Way like that of a bug in a vat of vinegar? Had the master not lifted up the lid, I would not have known the great perfection of heaven and earth."

[the_Unknown]

Confucius is like
the intellectual
in us all.

No matter
who he meets
or what is said.

He will never
truly grasp
the Tao.

[darkwaldo]

Originally Posted by Scarlett Wampus

Another story from Chuang Tzu:

Confucius went to see Old Longears, who had just finished shampooing and was disheveling his hair so it could dry. He was so absorbed that he seemed inhuman. Confucius waited on him off to the side for a while and then went over to introduce himself. "Were my eyes deceiving me? Or were you really like that? Just now your physical body was stiff as a withered tree, sir. You seemed to have left everything behind, parted company with humanity, and were standing there in solitude."

"I was letting my mind wander in the origin of things," said Old Longears.

"What do you mean?" asked Confucius.

"The mind is so confined that one cannot know it; the tongue is so tied that one cannot tell of it. But I shall try to describe it for you roughly,

"The ultimate yin is austere; the ultimate yang is dazzling. Discipline comes forth from earth and grace issues from heaven. When these two are in communication, harmony is achieved and great things come to be. Perhaps there is something regulating this, but no one has seen its form."

"May I ask how you let your mind wander in this realm?" said Confucius.

"The attainment of this," said Old Longears, "is the ultimate beauty and ultimate joy. She who sees ultimate beauty and wanders in ultimate joy is called the mysterious female."

"I would like to hear about your method," said Confucius.

"Herbivorous animals are not vexed by a change of pasture; aqueous insects are not vexed by a change of water. This is because a small transformation is carried out without the loss of a greater constant, so that pleasure, anger, sorrow, and joy will not enter the heart. It is under the constant of change that the myriad things are unified. When you achieve unity and share it equally, your four limbs and hundred elements of the body become so much dust and dirt; death and life, ending and beginning become as day and night; none of this can confound you, and much less can the distinctions between gain and loss, misfortune and fortune.

"Abandoning status is like abandoning a clump of mud, because value lies in being and is not lost by a change of status. Since there are myriad transformations that never begin to reach a limit, which of them is sufficient to trouble the mind? He who is already a doer of the Way comprehends this."

Confucius said, "Your integrity is a companion of heaven and earth, Master, yet you borrow ideas to cultivate the mind and exercises to cultivate the body. Were there any gentlemen of antiquity who could get beyond this?"

"No," said Old Longears. "The babbling of water is its natural quality, not an intentional act. The relationship of the ultimate man to integrity is similar in that nothing can escape its power though he does not cultivate it. He is like heaven and naturally graceful; like earth and naturally tough; and like the sun & moon and naturally bright. He embraces all studies but does not think to cultivate them."

Confucius went out and reported what he had heard to Yen Hui saying, "Is not my relationship to the Way like that of a bug in a vat of vinegar? Had the master not lifted up the lid, I would not have known the great perfection of heaven and earth."

I like this. Which book is it from?

[d.]

Originally Posted by darkwaldo

I like this. Which book is it from?

i believe it's from the chuang tzu. (no, i still haven't read it, much to my regret.) you can check it out here :

http://www.exploretaoism.com/Chuangtzu.htm

[Scarlett Wampus]

Yes is from Chuang Tzu.

Divine I've never seen a complete translation of Chuang Tzu available online before. Thanks for the link!

[ChrisP]

thanks both of you. Insightful reading.

[Master Vigil]

It's been a long time since I've read the Chuang Tzu, and I believe the translation was different. But I do remember this story. Truly lovely, and again...

I want to write a book, but everytime I do, I realize it has been said before. Over and over again.

[Scarlett Wampus]

Originally Posted by Master Vigil

It's been a long time since I've read the Chuang Tzu, and I believe the translation was different. But I do remember this story. Truly lovely, and again...

I want to write a book, but everytime I do, I realize it has been said before. Over and over again.

Don't let that stop you. Your book would also be unique.

[darkwaldo]

Thanks for the link. I look forward to reading it.