Three husbands - Zi-Sanghu, Meng Zifan and Zi-Qinzhang - said to each other:
- Which of us is capable of being together without being together, and is capable of acting together without acting together? Which of us can fly into the skies and travel with the mists, plunge into the Infinite and live forever, forgetting about everything?
All three looked at each other and laughed. Neither of them had any objections in their hearts, and they became friends.
They lived together amicably for some time, and then Tzu-Sanghu died. Before Tzu-Sanghu's body was interred, Confucius learned of his death and sent Tzu-Gong to participate in the funeral ceremony. But it turned out that one of the deceased’s friends was humming a melody, another was playing along with him on a zither, and together they sang a song:
Hey Sanghu! Hey Sanghu! You have returned to the real, And we are still in human form! Tzu-Gong hurriedly stepped forward and said:
“I dare to ask, is it proper to sing over the body of the deceased like this?”
The friends looked at each other and laughed:
- What does he know about the true ritual!
Tzu Kung returned and said to Confucius:
-What kind of people are they? They do not observe the rules of piety, they have even renounced their own body and calmly sing songs over the body of a dead friend. I don’t know what to call all this. What kind of people are they?
“These people wander with their souls beyond the limits of the world,” answered Confucius. “And people like me live in the light.” Life outside the light and life in the light do not touch each other, and I, of course, did a stupid thing by sending you to offer condolences. After all, these people are friends with the Creator of all things and are in the same breath of Heaven and Earth. For them, life is the same as an abscess or a boil, and death is like squeezing out pus or cutting a boil. Can such people distinguish death from life, what precedes from what follows? Oh yes! They are clothed with all the images of the world, but find support in the Common Body of all things. They forget about themselves to the very liver, throw away sight and hearing, follow the cycle of things without end and beginning, know neither limit nor measure. Serene, they wander beyond the world of dust and dirt, carelessly wandering through the Kingdom of Inaction. Will they really care about worldly rituals and please the desires of the crowd?
- In that case, teacher, why keep up appearances? - asked Tzu-Gong.
“I am one of those who bear the punishment of Heaven,” answered Confucius. “But still, it wouldn’t hurt for you and me to follow the example of those husbands.”
“I dare to ask, what should we do?”
— Fish arrange their lives in the water, and people arrange their lives in the Path. For those who make their life in water, it is enough to dig a pond. And for those who arrange their lives on the Path, it is enough to renounce business. That is why they say: “Fishes forget about each other in water, people forget about each other in the art of the Path.”
“I dare to ask, what is an extraordinary person?” - asked Tzu-Gong.
“An extraordinary person is unusual for ordinary people, but is unremarkable before Heaven,” answered Confucius. “That’s why it is said: “A little man before Heaven is a noble man among people.” A noble man among people is a small man before Heaven.”
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru