Quqiao Tzu asked Chang Wu Tzu:
“I heard from Confucius that a wise man does not burden himself with worldly affairs, does not seek gain, does not try to avoid hardships, does not strive for anything, and does not even cling to the Path. Sometimes he is silent and will express everything, sometimes he speaks and will not say anything. Thus he wanders beyond the world of dust and dirt. Confucius believed that this was all extravagant talk, but I think that this is how men who have comprehended the hidden path behave. What do you think?
Chiang Wu Tzu replied:
“Hearing such speeches, even the Yellow Lord would be embarrassed; how could Confucius understand them?” Besides, you are too quick to judge. You see an egg and you already want to hear a rooster crow; you see an onion and you want to be served roast game. However, I’ll tell you something frivolously, and you don’t seriously listen, okay?
Is anyone capable of standing next to the sun and the moon, embracing the universe in his arms, living at one with everything that exists, accepting everything that happens in the world, and not seeing the difference between low and high people? Ordinary people work tirelessly. The wise man acts without thinking, and for him ten thousand years are like an instant. For him, all things in the world exist on their own and contain each other. How do I know that attachment to life is not a deception? Can I be sure that a person who is afraid of death is not like someone who left his home and is afraid to return to it? Beauty Li was the daughter of a border guard in Ai's domain. When King Jin took her to him, she sobbed so much that the sleeves of her dress became wet with tears. But when she settled in the ruler’s palace, shared his bed and tasted expensive dishes, she regretted that she had been sad before. So how do I know if the dead person does not repent of the fact that he previously prayed for an extension of his life?
Someone drinks wine in a dream, and when they wake up, they shed tears.
Someone sheds tears in a dream, and when he wakes up, he goes hunting.
When we dream about something, we do not know that we are dreaming. In a dream, we can even guess from our dream and only when we wake up do we know that it was just a dream. But there is also a great awakening, after which you learn that there is a great dream in the world. But fools think that they are awake and know for certain who is the king in the world and who is the shepherd. How stupid they are! Both you and Confucius are only a dream, and what I call you a dream is also a dream. Such speeches seem mysterious, but if, after many thousands of generations, a great sage suddenly appears who understands their meaning, for him all eternity of time will flash by like one day!
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru