Hui Shi asked Chuang Tzu:
—Can a person not feel anything at all, not experience any desires?
“Perhaps,” replied Chuang Tzu.
- But can we then call him a man? Hui Shi asked.
“You don’t understand what feelings are,” Chuang Tzu replied. “I’m talking about a person who does not harm his body by indulging passions.” He accepts life as it is and allows it to take its course.
- But if he does not improve what is given by life, how can he manifest himself in this world?
“The Tao made him what he is, Heaven gave him a body, and he himself, without indulging passions, does not harm his body.” That's it! And you tie your spirit to external things that have nothing to do with you, and inside you deplete the life force of Qi. Lean against a tree and sing! Lean on the table and sleep! Heaven gave you a body and filled it with life, and you tire your body in endless unnecessary disputes and conversations.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru