INTRODUCTION
This is the second post in the Zhuangzi series, so please read the first here before proceeding. I’ll cover the below chapter in this post:
The Human World - 人间世
I will also include a “Ultra-Dense Summary” and a “Fasting of the Heart” guided meditation at the very bottom. You’re welcome!
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RESOURCES
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人间世: THE HUMAN WORLD
颜回见仲尼，请行。曰：“奚之？”曰：“将之卫 。”曰： “奚为焉？”曰 ：“回闻卫君，其年壮 ，其行独 。轻用其国 而不见其过。轻用民死,死者以国量，乎泽若蕉,民其无如矣！ 回尝闻之夫子曰 ：‘治国去之 ，乱国就之 。医门多疾 。’愿 以所闻思其则，庶几其国有瘳乎！”
Yan Hui went to see Confucius and asked leave to take his departure.
“Where are you going?” asked the Master.
“I am going to the state of Wei,” Yan replied.
“With what object?”
“I hear the prince of Wei . . . behaves as if the state were of no importance, and will not see his own faults. He thinks lightly of his people’s death . . . The people do not know where to turn. Once you, Master, told me: ‘Leave the state that is well governed; go to the state where disorder prevails.’ At the door of a physician there are many who are ill . . . I wish to think out some method, with which perchance I may cure the evils of Wei.”
仲尼曰 ：“嘻，若殆往而刑耳！夫道不欲杂，杂则多，多则扰，扰则忧，忧而不救。
“Ah!” said Confucius, “You will only get yourself killed! One doesn’t want dao turn into a lot of odds and ends. If it does it becomes multiple, when it’s multiple it gets you muddled, when you’re muddled you worry, and once you worry, there’s no hope for you.”
[Fung and Ziporyn translate “za” as “be mixed with extraneous things” but I like Leon’s “turn into a lot of odds and ends.”]
古之至人，先存诸己而后存诸人。 所存于己者未定，何暇至于暴人之所行！且若亦知夫德之所荡而知之所为出乎哉？
“The perfect man of the ancients stablished in other people only what he had first established in himself. Until it is firmly established in yourself, what time have you to spare for the doings of the wicked?
“Besides, do you understand that the thing in which the de in us is dissipated is the very thing by which knowledge is brought forth?”
[Ziporyn and Fung translate “de” as “Virtue,” which I agree with based on language, but, based on meaning, I prefer Leon’s translation of “de” as “Power,” an essential intuition.]
德荡乎名，知出乎争。名也者，相札也； 知也者争之器也。二者凶器，非所以尽行也。
“De is spoiled by making a name, knowledge comes forth from competition. To ‘make a name’ is to clash with others, ‘knowledge’ is a tool in competition. Both of them are sinister tools, of no use in perfecting conduct.”
[Fung translates “hu ming” as “desire for fame” rather than “making a name,” but both are correct. What undermines “de,” virtue or intrinsic power, is identifying it as a virtue, getting recognized and praised for it, and/or consciously valuing it and pursuing it]
[Leon explains the dissipation of “de” perfectly: “What we want is to be able to take fullest account of the situation before us, and respond fluidly to it, not just act out mindless automatisms. And basically, trying to form specific, articulable knowledge claims collapses the complex ‘wave function’ of the situation before us into a neat lie. This imprisons the situation into a conceptual strait-jacket, and then we respond to that constricted representation of the situation. And that lies at the root of most of our mistakes.”]
且德厚信矼，未达人气；名闻不争，未达人心。而强以仁义绳墨之言術暴人之前者，是以人恶有其美也，命之曰灾人。 灾人者，人必反灾之。若殆为人灾夫。
“There are some men who have ample Power, firm sincerity, and a disposition to disregard renown and fame, but no knowledge of the nature and the mind of man. They forcibly impose the teaching of benevolence, righteousness, and rules upon the wicked. Consequently, they are hated for the very reason that they are good. This is called to plague others. Those who plague others must be plagued by them in return. Such probably will be your end!”
[“Hui” means “harm,” “hurt,” or even “ruin.” Leon uses the less extreme “being a pest to.”]
且苟为人悦贤而恶不肖，恶用而求有以异？若唯无诏，王公必将乘人而斗其捷。
“Besides, if you do think he favors clever people and dislikes fools, will it do you any good to try to be especially clever? Better not get into an argument. A king or duke is sure to pit his wits against one’s own with the whole weight of his authority behind him.”
而目将荧之，而色将平之，口将营之， 容将形之，心且成之。是以火救火，以水救水，名之曰益多。 顺始无穷，若殆以不信厚言，必死于暴人之前矣！
“Your eye he’ll dazzle, your look he’ll cow, your mouth he’ll manage, your gesture he’ll shape, your heart he’ll form. You will find yourself using fire to quell fire, water to quell water—the name for it is ‘going from bad to worse’. If you begin with concessions, there will be no end of it. I am afraid that he will lose faith in your pleasant words, and so you’ll die at the tyrant’s hands.”
且昔者桀杀关龙逢，纣杀王子比干，是皆修其身以下伛拊人之民，以下拂其上者也，故其君因其修以挤之。是好名者也。 昔者尧攻丛枝、胥、敖，禹攻有扈。国为虚厉，身为刑戮。 其用兵不止，其求实无已，是皆求名实者也，而独不闻之乎？ 名实者，圣人之所不能胜也，而况若乎！虽然，若必有以也， 尝以语我来 。”
“In ancient times, Jie killed Guan Longfeng and Zhou killed Prince Bi Gan. Both were men meticulous in their personal conduct who, as ministers, offended kings by sympathizing with their subjects. Consequently their lords found their impeccable characters a reason to get rid of them. A good name, a great deed, tempt even the sage, and do you think you’re any better? However, I am sure you have something in mind. Let me hear about it.”
颜回曰：“端而虚，勉而一，则可乎？”曰：“恶！恶可！ 夫以阳为充孔扬，采色不定，常人之所不违，因案人之所感， 以求容与其心，名之曰日渐之德不成，而况大德乎！将执而不化，外合而内不訾，其庸讵可乎” ？”
Yan Hui said, "Proper in external demeanor, I shall appear modest and empty, but I will exert myself with a single-minded focus on my real purpose. Would that work?"
“No, those will not do! To sustain the yang at its height without reverting to the Yin puts one under great stress, the tension shows in one’s face. It is something which ordinary people prefer not to defy, so they suppress what the other man is stirring up in them in order to calm their own hearts. Even what are named ‘powers which progress day to day’ will not grow to the full in him, let alone the supreme de! He will stay obstinately as he is and refuse to reform, outwardly agreeing with you but inwardly insensible, and what’s the good of that?”
[Yin and yang are dark and light. I think they are best represented by the Daoist wheel.]
[Yan Hui speaks of “xu” to mean external shows of humility, and of “yi” to mean single-mindedness of purpose within here. He reforms this into "internally upright and externally adaptable" below. Confucius will propose a different meaning of “xu” and “yi” later, using the same characters, when describing "fasting of the mind.”]
“然则我内直而外曲，成而上比。内直者，与天为徒。与 天为徒者，知天子之与己，皆天之所子，而独以己言蕲乎而人 善之，蕲乎而人不善之邪？若然者，人谓之童子，是之谓与天为徒。外曲者，与人之为徒也。擎跽曲拳，人臣之礼也。人皆为之，吾敢不为邪？为人之所为者，人亦无疵焉，是之谓与人 为徒。成而上比者，与古为徒。其言虽教，谪之实也，古之有也，非吾有也。若然者，虽直而不病，是之谓与古为徒。
“In that case,” said Hui, “inwardly I shall be straight but outwardly I shall bend. I shall speak only in maxims appealing to antiquity.”
”In being ‘inwardly straight,’ I shall be a follower of tian. One who follows tian knows that in the eyes of tian he is just as much a son as the Son of Heaven [tian zi]. Will he care whether what he said will be approved or disapproved? Such a man will be considered by others as a child.“
"In ‘outwardly bending,’ I shall be a follower of ren [man]. Bowing, kneeling, bending the body, these are the observances of the ministers. What all men do, none will blame me for doing.”
“In ‘appealing to antiquity,’ I shall be a follower of gu [ancients]. The words, although in substance instructions or criticisms, belong to the men of old—I can’t be held responsible for them. Such a person can be as straight as he likes without getting into trouble.”
仲尼曰 ：“恶！恶可！大多政法而不谍。虽固，亦 无罪。虽然，止是耳矣，夫胡可以及化！犹师心者也 。颜回曰 ：“吾无以进矣，敢问其方 。”
“No,” said Confucius, “that will not do. You have too many plans; they are right but not skillful. They save you from harm, but that is all—you accomplish nothing.”
“I can go no further”, said Yan Hui. “I venture to ask you for a method.”
仲尼曰：“斋，吾将语若。有心而为之，其易邪？易之者，皞天不宜。” 颜回曰：“回之家贫，唯不饮酒不茹荤者数月矣。如此则可以为斋乎？” 曰：“是祭祀之斋，非心斋也。” 回曰 ：“敢问心斋。”
“Fast, and I will tell you,” said Confucius. “Doing something thought out in the heart—isn’t that too easy? Whoever looks on this as easy is unfit for the radiance of Heaven.”
“My family is poor, and I have had no wine or meat for months. Can this be considered fasting?”
“That’s the kind of fasting one does before a sacrifice—not the fasting of the heart.”
“I venture to inquire about the fasting of the heart.”
仲尼曰 ：“若一志，无听之以耳而 听之以心；无听之以心而听之以气。听止于耳，心止于符。气 也者，虚而待物者也。唯道集虚。虚者，心斋也”
“Make your will as one (yi). Rather than listen with the ear, listen with the mind (xin). Rather than listen with the mind, listen with the qi. Listening stops at the ear, the heart with ideas. But the qi is an emptiness (xu) ready to receive all things. Dao abides in the emptiness; the emptiness is the fast of mind.”
[“Xin” literally means “heart,” but I follow Fung and Ziporyn to translate it as “mind” here]
[“Qi” is some sort of mystical life energy or vital force that flows through and connects all.]
[I highly recommend you scroll to the very bottom of this post and try this.]
颜回曰：“回之未始得使，实自回也；得使之也，未始有 回也，可谓虚乎？”夫子曰 ：“尽矣！吾语若：若能入游其樊 而无感其名，入则鸣，不入则止。无门无毒，一宅而寓于不得已则几矣。
Yan Hui said, "When I am not yet able to make something happen in the actual world, I regard myself as this person named Hui. But just where something is actually made to happen there, this Hui has not yet begun to exist. Can that be what you mean by vacuity?"
“Exactly,” replied Confucius. “Let me tell you. You are capable of entering and roaming free inside his cage, but do not be excited that you are making a name for yourself. When the words penetrate, sing your native note; when they fail to penetrate, desist. When there are no doorways nor protective walls, all dwellings will be as one to you. You will be of one household with all but will find temporary lodgings in whatever you cannot avoid—then you will be nearly there.”
[Fung’s translation of Yan Hui’s reply: “When I do not try the fasting of mind”, said Yan Hui, “I retain my individuality. When I try it, I no longer have my individuality. Can this be called empty?”]
绝迹易，无行地难。为人使易以伪，为天使难以伪。闻以有翼飞者矣，未闻以无翼飞者也；闻以有知知者矣，未闻 以无知知者也。
“To leave off making footprints is easy, never to walk on the ground is hard. What has man (ren) for agent is easily falsified, what tian has for agent is hard to falsify. You have heard of using wings to fly. You have not yet heard of flying by being wingless. You have learned the know-how of knowing, but not the know-how of not-knowing.
[“For agent” here means when you being moved by “ren” or “tian.”]
瞻彼阕者，虚室生白，吉祥止止。夫且不止， 是之谓坐驰。夫徇耳目内通而外于心知，鬼神将来舍，而况人乎！是万物之化也，禹、舜之所纽也，伏戏、几蘧之所行终， 而况散焉者乎！”
“Consider the gaps and cracks in things: it is xu chambers that birth light, and all auspicious things roost only where there is stillness. Whenever you fail to find stillness, you're 'galloping around while sitting.' Instead, allow whatever is brought by the ears and eyes to enter into you without obstruction, kept always outside of the mind's understanding, and even the spirits and divine will seek refuge in you, not to mention human beings! . . .”
…
丘请复以所闻：凡交近则必相靡以信，远则必忠之以言。 言必或传之。夫传两喜两怒之言，天下之难者也。夫两喜必多 溢美之言，两怒必多溢恶之言。凡溢之类妄，妄则其信之也莫， 莫则传言者殃。故法言曰：‘传其常情，无传其溢言，则几乎全。’
“Human interactions, when face-to-face, are founded on mutual trust. But when handled at a distance, they must depend on words to establish reciprocal loyalty. There is nothing in the world more difficult than transmitting mutual esteem or mutual anger between two parties. The esteem gets exaggerated into flattery and the anger into insult. Exaggerations become outright lies, lies lose trust, and thus communication is destroyed—and perhaps the messenger as well. As the maxim says, 'Transmit their usual inclinations, not their occasional exaggerations, and you can probably preserve yourself intact.’”
[Confucius is giving advice to the Duke of She, who has been designated envoy to Qi]
且以巧斗力者，始乎阳，常卒乎阴，泰至则多奇巧；以礼饮酒者，始乎治，常卒乎乱，泰至则多奇乐。凡事亦然，始乎谅，常卒乎鄙；其作始也简，其将毕也必巨。言者，风波也； 行者，实丧也。夫风波易以动，实丧易以危。故忿设无由，巧 言偏辞。兽死不择音，气息勃然于是并生心厉。剋核太至，则 必有不肖之心应之而不知其然也。苟为不知其然也，孰知其所 终！
“When two people test their skills against one another, it starts yang but ends yin. A drinking ritual is orderly at first but usually ends up in turmoil . . . All things are like this. They begin with good faith, but end with contempt. They begin simple, but become complex. . .”
故法言曰 ：‘无迁令，无劝成。过度益也。’迁令劝成殆事。美成在久，恶成不及改，可不慎与！且夫乘物以游心，托不得已以养中，至矣。何作为报也！莫若为致命，此其难者？”
“Thus the maxim says, ‘Do not compromise your mission, do not qiu cheng. Do not surpass du!’ . . . Satisfactory cheng is to be made with time. Bad cheng, once made, is too late to be changed. Can one afford to be careless? Let yourself by carried along by things so that the mind wanders freely. Let yourself accept what is necessary and inevitable to cultivate your spirit. This is the perfect way. What need is there to deliberately seek any reward? There is nothing better than accepting fate—to be what you can't help being. How could there be any difficulty in that?"
[I want to discuss “du”: it is a temperature, a benchmark, and a measure we can surpass (guo). There is a concept of conforming/aligning with “du” (shi du) to achieve harmony, as all things have a “du” we can surpass or undershoot. Traditional “good” and “bad” fails because there can be “too much of a good thing” or even “too little bad.”]
[Translations for “qiu cheng” include “hurry to completion” (Ziporyn) and “urge a settlement” (Fung), but I choose to keep the Chinese. “Cheng” can mean success as in “cheng gong” or completion (good results or bad) in the context of “cheng guo.” In “qiu cheng,” it is left up to interpretation. I like them all.]
…
颜阖将傅卫灵公大子 ，而问于蘧伯玉曰；“有人于此，其德天杀。与之为无方则危吾国，与之为有方则危吾身。其知适足以知人之过，而不知其所以过。若然者，吾奈之何？”
When Yan He was appointed tutor to the crown prince of Wei, son of Duke Ling, he went to consult with Qu Boyu, saying:
“Here is a man who is just naturally no good. If l find no way to contain him, he will endanger my state, but if l do try to contain him, he will endanger my life. He has just enough wit to see the faults of others, but not his own. What should I do?”
蘧伯 玉曰 ：“善哉问乎！戒之，慎之，正女身哉！形莫若就，心莫 若和。虽然，之二者有患。就不欲入，和不欲出。形就而入， 且为颠为灭，为崩为蹶；心和而出，且为声为名，为妖为孽。
Qu Boyu said, “A good question indeed! You must be attentive to him, cautious of him, but also put your own person into proper alignment! For your external bearing, there is nothing better than adaptation and conformation. For your inner mind, there is nothing better than peace and harmony. Yet in these there are two points to guard against. You must not let the external penetrate within, nor the inner harmony manifest out. In the former case, you will fall, you will ruin yourself, you will collapse, you will tumble [become a bad person yourself]. If the harmony in your heart shows itself externally, it will lead to reputation and renown, which will haunt and plague you [envy].
彼且为婴儿，亦与之为婴儿；彼且为无町畦，亦与之为无町畦； 庄子 ·19· 彼且为无崖，亦与之为无崖；达之，入于无疵。
“If the son of the prince should act as if he were a child, you also should act as if you were a child. If he should cast aside all differences, you should do the same. If he should cast aside all distinctions, you also should do the same. Then you can lead him to innocence. ”
汝不知夫螳螂乎？怒其臂以当车辙，不知其不胜任也，是 其才之美者也。戒之，慎之，积伐而美者以犯之，几矣！
“Do you not know the story of the mantis? In its rage it stretches out its arms to arrest the progress of a carriage, without knowing that it is not qualified. It thinks its ability is excellent. Be on your guard; be careful. If you always show your excellence to the son of the prince and thus offend him, probably you yourself will be in danger. ”
汝不知夫养虎者乎？不敢以生物与之，为其杀之之怒也； 不敢以全物与之，为其决之之怒也。时其饥饱，达其怒心。虎 之与人异类，而媚养己者，顺也；故其杀者，逆也。
“Do you not know how the tiger-keepers act? He does not give them living animals to eat, for fear of exciting their fury when killing them . . . He knows when the tigers are hungry and when full; he understands the reason of their being angry. The tigers are of different species from man, yet they try to please their keeper. That is because he adapts himself to them. There are some who act against the nature of the tigers. These the tigers would kill. ”
夫爱马者，以筐盛矢，以蜃盛溺。适有蚊虻仆缘，而拊之 不时，则缺衔毁首碎胸。意有所至而爱有所亡。可不慎邪？”
On the other hand, a man who loves horses even to the point of gathering their shit and piss in jeweled boxes may still get his skull or chest kicked in if he smacks away a mosquito on the unbridled animal at the wrong time. Despite the best intentions, his thoughtfulness backfires on him. Can you afford to be careless?"
…
匠石之齐，至于曲辕，见栎社树。其大蔽牛，絜之百围， 其高临山十仞而后有枝，其可以舟者旁十数。观者如市，匠伯不顾，遂行不辍。弟子厌观之，走及匠石，曰 ：‘自吾执斧斤以随夫子，未尝见材如此其美也。先生不肯视，行不辍 ，何邪？”
Carpenter Stoney was traveling in Qi when he came upon the tree of the shrine at the Qu Yuan bend. It was [so large that] thousands of oxen could shade themselves beneath it . . . It was surrounded by marveling sightseers, but the carpenter walked past it without a second look.
When his apprentice finally got tired of admiring it, he caught up with Carpenter Stoney and said, "Since taking up my axe to follow you, Master, I have never seen a tree of such fine material as this! And yet you don't even deign to look twice at it or pause beneath it. Why?"
曰 ：“已矣，勿言之矣！散木也。以为舟则沉，以为棺椁则速腐，以为器则速毁，以为门户则液樠，以为柱则蠹，是 不材之木也。无所可用，故能若是之寿 。”
Carpenter Stoney said, "Stop! Say no more! This is worthless lumber! As a ship it would soon sink, as a coffin it would soon rot, as a tool it would soon break, as a door it would leak sap, as a pillar it would bring infestation. This is a talentless, worthless tree. It is precisely because it is so useless that it has lived so long."
匠石归，栎社见梦曰 ：“女将恶乎比予哉？若将比予于文木邪？夫楂梨橘柚果蓏之属，实熟则剥，剥则辱。大枝折，小枝泄。此以其能苦其生者也。故不终其天年而中道夭，自掊击于世俗者也。物莫不若是。且予求无所可用久矣！几死，乃今 得之，为予大用。使予也而有用，且得有此大也邪？”
Back home that night, the tree appeared to Carpenter Stoney in a dream. It said to him, "What do you want to compare me to, one of those cultivated trees? The hawthorn, the pear, the orange . . . when their fruit is ripe they get plucked, and that is an insult. Their large branches are bent, their small branches are pruned. Thus do their abilities embitter their lives. That is why they die young, failing to fully live out their Heaven-given lifespans. They batter themselves with the vulgar conventions of the world, as do all the other things of the world. As for me, I've been working on being useless for a long time. It almost killed me, but I've finally managed it—and it is of great use to me! If I were useful, do you think I could have grown to be so great?
“且也若与予也皆物也，奈何哉其相物也？而几死之散人，又恶知散木！”
"Moreover, you and I are both things, objects—how then should we objectify each other? We are members of the same class—is either of us in a position to classify and evaluate the other? How could a worthless man with one foot in the grave know what is or isn't a worthless tree?"
匠石觉而诊其梦。弟子曰：“趣取无用，则为社何邪？”曰：“密！若无言！彼亦直寄焉 ！以为不知己者诟厉也 。不为社者，且几有翦乎！且也彼其所保与众异，而以义喻之，不亦远乎！
Carpenter Stoney awoke and told his dream to his apprentice. The apprentice said, “If it's trying to be useless, what's it doing with a shrine around it?”
Carpenter Stoney replied, “Hush! Don't talk like that! Those people came to it for refuge on their own initiative. In fact, the tree considers it a great disgrace to be surrounded by this uncomprehending crowd. If they hadn't made it a shrine, they could easily have gone the other way and started carving away at it. What it protects, what protects it, is not this crowd, but something totally different. To praise it for fulfilling its responsibility in the role it happens to play—that would really be missing the point!"
…
孔子适楚，楚狂接舆游其门曰：“凤兮凤兮，何如德之衰也。来世不可待，往世不可追也。天下有道，圣人成焉；天下无道，圣人生焉。方今之时，仅免刑焉！福轻乎羽，莫之知载； 祸重乎地，莫之知避。已乎，已乎！临人以德。殆乎，殆乎！ 画地而趋。迷阳迷阳，无伤吾行。吾行郤曲，无伤吾足。”
When Confucius went to Chu, the madman Jieyu wandered past his gate singing:
"O Phoenix! O Phoenix! How your virtuosity has declined! The future cannot be waited for; the past cannot be sought again.”
“When the world has dao, the sage perfects himself (cheng). When the world lacks dao, he simply lives (sheng). Today, avoiding punishment is the best he can do!
“Good fortune is lighter than a feather, but no one knows how to carry it. Calamity is heavier than the Earth, and yet no one knows how to avoid it. Confronting the world with your virtuosity—let it rest, give it up!”
“Drawing a straight line and restraining yourself to it—foolish! Brambles and thorns don’t impede my steps; my crooked steps keep my feet unharmed."
山木，自寇也；膏火，自煎也。桂可食，故伐之；漆可用， 故割之。人皆知有用之用，而莫知无用之用也。
The mountain tree plunders itself. The candle fat scorches itself. The cinnamon tree is edible, and thus it gets chopped down. The lacquer tree is useful, and so it is cut down. Everyone knows how useful usefulness is, but no one seems to know how useful uselessness is.
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ULTRA-DENSE SUMMARY
Righteous men who impose righteousness upon the wicked are hated for the very reason that they are good. This is called to plague others. Those who plague others must be plagued by them in return.
The sage establishes in others only what he first establishes in himself. After he has established in himself, those who would learn will learn without being taught.
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One doesn’t want the dao to turn into a lot of odds and ends. If it does it becomes multiple, when it’s multiple it gets you muddled, when you’re muddled you worry, and once you worry, there’s no hope for you.
Trying to form articulable knowledge dissipates the de in us—it collapses the “wave function” of a complex reality into a neat lie. Acting on this lie is the root of many mistakes.
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Do not qiu cheng. Do not surpass du. Satisfactory cheng takes time. Bad cheng, once made, cannot be changed. Let yourself by carried along by things so that the mind wanders freely.
When the world has dao, the sage perfects himself (cheng). When the world lacks dao, he simply lives (sheng).
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All things start yang but end yin. They begin with good faith, but end with contempt. They begin simple, but become complex.
Whoever thinks doing something thought out in the mind is too easy is unfit for the radiance of Heaven. To leave off making footprints is easy, never to walk on the ground is hard.
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When dealing with a powerful man, remember: A mantis cannot stop a chariot by stretching out his arms—the virtues of the subject can offend the master.
A tiger-keeper does not feed tigers living animals for fear of awakening their bloodlust—he knows when they are hungry and adapts himself to their nature.
A horse-lover swatting a mosquito off his steed can be killed by a stray kick—his good intentions do not help him avoid death.
The master pits his wits against yours with the weight of his authority behind him. You will find yourself using fire to quell fire, water to quell water. If you begin with concessions, there will be no end of it.
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To sustain the yang at its height without reverting to the yin puts one under great stress, the tension shows in one’s face.
Inner conviction, outward amicability, and speaking through maxims save you from harm, but that is all—you still accomplish nothing.
One must fast the heart.
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Transmitting mutual esteem or mutual anger between two parties is treacherous. The esteem gets exaggerated into flattery and the anger into insult. Exaggerations become outright lies, lies lose trust, and thus communication is destroyed—and the messenger as well.
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The candle fat scorches itself. The lacquer tree is useful, and so it is cut down. Everyone knows how useful usefulness is, but no one seems to know how useful uselessness is (wu yong zhi yong)
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FASTING OF THE HEART
若一志
无听之以耳
而听之以心
无听之以心
而听之以听
听止于耳
心止于符
气也者
虚而待物者也
唯道集虚
虛者 心斋也
Make your will as one (yi).
Rather than listen with the ear, listen with the mind (xin).
Rather than listen with the mind, listen with the qi.
Listening stops at the ear, the heart with ideas.
But the qi is an emptiness (xu) ready to receive all things.
Dao abides in the emptiness; the emptiness is the fast of mind.”
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A GUIDED FAST BY DAVID S. LEON
Make your will as one. Consolidate your attention. Get to the point where your awareness is not constantly being pulled in different directions.
Now, draw your attention inwards.
Start with the external objects of sense impression (e.g. a bird singing; a car driving by).
Focus on the way you perceive these objects; notice the process of mental construction it entails, and start to break it down. Learn to separate the chirping sound you’re hearing with the idea of a bird; notice the pure rumbling noise, then notice your reflexive estimates of how fast this car is going and in which direction and whether it’s stopping in front of your house. Notice too your emotional reaction to it, and the way it pulls your attention out of yourself.
Pay attention to the internal objects of sense impression—your breath, and the living sensations of your body.
As you keep going along this path inwards, and once you have finally taken good account of the internal sensations which you usually look straight past, then the mind will eventually empty itself of even that.
Up until now, you were preoccupied by the constant flow of sense objects. Now, you notice that, once you slow down that flow, the mind does not necessarily have to allow its spotlight to be pulled around by these sense objects. It can lie quiescent, and wait for sense objects to appear in its unmoving field of focus.
At some points, so long as nothing big changes in your external environment, and once you’ve gotten used to all the usual fluctuations of internal sensation, then no sense objects will appear at all.Reaching this quiescent state is like giving your mind a deep clean. It allows you to loosen the grip of habitual, compulsive patterns of thinking and acting—the knee-jerk judgements of good or bad and the accreted mass of past associations.
This emptying removes the grime from your compass, so that it can naturally point the Way.
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