WednesdayFeb 04, 2026
Quotes: 53419 Authors: 9969
Words are used to express meaning; when you understand the meaning, you can forget about the words.
Happiness is the absence of the striving for happiness.
A dog is not considered a good dog Because he is a good barker. A man is not considered a good man Because he is a good talker.
Only the intelligent knows how to identify all things as one.... When one is at ease with himself, one is near Tao. This is to let Nature take its own course.
Yen Hui: What is fasting of the heart? Confucius: The goal of fasting is inner unity. This means hearing, but not with the ear; hearing, but not with the understanding; hearing with the spirit, with your whole being... The hearing of the spirit is not limited to any one faculty, to the ear, or to the mind. Hence it demands the emptiness of all the faculties. And when the faculties are empty, then the whole being listens. There is then a direct grasp of what is right there before you that can never be heard with the ear or understood with the mind. Fasting of the heart empties the faculties, frees you from limitation and from preoccupation. Fasting of the heart begets unity and freedom. Yen Hui: I see. What was standing in my way was my own self-awareness. If I can begin this fasting of the heart, self awareness will vanish.
Being is thoughtlessbeyond and beneath all categories of thought. Expression is the realization of creative thought. Being is still; expression, moving. But then if I do not strive, who will?
If a man is crossing a river and an empty boat collides with his own skiff, even though he be a bad-tempered man he will not become very angry. But if he sees a man in the boat, he will shout at him to steer clear. If the shout is not heard, he will shout
The man who has some respect for his person keeps his carcass out of sight, hides himself as perfectly as he can.
By ethical argument and moral principle the greatest crimes are eventually shown to have been necessary, and, in fact, a signal benefit to mankind.
Great knowledge sees all in one. Small knowledge breaks down into the many.
I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly dreaming I am a man.
Those that think that wealth is the proper thing for them cannot give up their revenues; those that seek distinction cannot give up the thought of fame; those that cleave to power cannot give the handle of it to others. While they hold their grasp of those things, they are afraid of losing them. When they let them go, they are grieved and they will not look at a single example, from which they might perceive the folly of their restless pursuits such men are under the doom of heaven.
Tzu Li went to see Tzu Lai who was dying. Leaning against the door, he said, Great is the Creator! What will he make of you now? Will he make you into a rat's liver? Will he make you into an insect's leg? Tzu-Lai replied, The universe gave me my body so I may be carried, my life so I may work, my old age so I may repose, and my death so I may rest. To regard life as good is the way to regard death as good.... If I regard the universe as a great furnace and creation as a master foundryman, why should anywhere I go not be all right?
We possess our body by chance and we are already pleased with it. If our physical bodies went through ten thousand transformations without end, how incomparable would this joy be! Therefore the sage roams freely in the realm in which nothing can escape, but all endures.
When Chuang Tzu was about to die, his disciples signified their wish to give him a grand burial. I shall have heaven and earth for my coffin and its shell; the sun and moon for my two round symbols of jade, the stars and constellations for my pearls and jewels; and all things assisting as the mourners. Will not the provisions for my funeral be complete? What could you add to them?
All that is limited by form, semblance, sound, color is called object. Among them all, man alone is more than an object. Though, like objects, he has form and semblance, He is not limited to form. He is more. He can attain to formlessness. When he is beyond form and semblance, beyond 'this' and 'that,' where is the comparison with another object? Where is the conflict? What can stand in his way? He will rest in his eternal place which is no-place. He will be hidden in his own unfathomable secret. His nature sinks to its root in the One. His vitality, his power hide in secret Tao.
Goods and possessions are no gain in his eyes. He stays far from wealth and honor. Long life is no ground for joy, nor early death for sorrow. Success is not for him to be pround of, failure is no shame. Had he all the world's power he would not hold it as his own. If he conquered everything he would not take it to himself. His glory is in knowing that all things come together in One and life and death are equal.
The man in whom Tao acts without impediment harms no other being by his actions yet he does not know himself to be 'kind', to be 'gentle'.... (He) does not bother with his own interests and does not despise others who do. He does not struggle to make money and does not make a virtue of poverty. He goes his way without relying on others and does not pride himself on walking alone. While he does not follow the crowd he won't complain of those who do. Rank and reward make no appeal to him; disgrace and shame do not deter him. He is not always looking for right and wrong, always deciding 'Yes' or 'No.' The ancients said, therefore: The man of Tao remains unknown. Perfect virtue produces nothing. 'No-Self' is 'True-Self'. And the greatest man is Nobody.
The true men of old were not afraid when they stood alone in their views. No great exploits. No plans. If they failed, no sorrow. No self-congratulation in success.... The true men of old knew no lust for life, no dread of death. Their entrance was without gladness, their exit, yonder, without resistance. Easy come, easy go. They did not forget where from, nor ask where to, nor drive grimly forward fighting their way through life. They took life as it came, gladly; took death as it came, without care; and went away, yonder. Yonder! They had no mind to fight Tao. They did not try by their own contriving, to help Tao along. These are the ones we call true men. Minds free, thoughts gone. Brows clear, faces serene.
Tao is obscured when men understand only one pair of opposites, or concentrate only on a partial aspect of being. Then clear expression also becomes muddled by mere wordplay, affirming this one aspect and denying all the rest. The pivot of Tao passes through the center where all affirmations and denials converge. He who grasps the pivot is at the still-point from which all movements and oppositions can be seen in their right relationship... Abandoning all thought of imposing a limit or taking sides, he rests in direct intuition.
When we look at things in the light of Tao, nothing is best, nothing is worst. Each thing, seen in its own light stands out in its own way. It can seem to be 'better' than what is compared with it on its own terms. But seen in terms of the whole, no one thing stands out as 'better' ... All creatures have gifts of their own... All things have varying capacities. Consequently he who wants to have right without wrong, order without disorder, does not understand the principles of heaven and earth. He does not know how things hang together. Can a man cling only to heaven and know nothing of earth? They are correlative: to know one is to know the other. To refuse one is to refuse both.
Paraphrased: When Chuang Tzu was about to die, his disciples began planning a splendid funeral. However some disciples expressed concern that given a particular arrangement, birds and kites would eat his remains. Chuang Tzu replied, 'Well, above ground I shall be eaten by crows and kites, below it by ants and worms. What do you have against birds?'
When the shoe fits, the foot is forgotten. When the belt fits, the belly is forgotten. When the heart is right, 'for' and 'against' are forgotten. No drives, no compulsions, no needs, no attractions: Then your affairs are under control. You are a free man.
All the fish needs is to get lost in the water. All man needs is to get lost in Tao.
Heaven is like an egg, and the earth is like the yolk of the egg.
The mind remains undetermined in the great Void. Here the highest knowledge is unbounded. That which gives things their thusness cannot be delimited by things. So when we speak of 'limits', we remain confined to limited things. The limit of the unlimited is called 'fullness.' The limitlessness of the limited is called 'emptiness.' Tao is the source of both. But it is itself neither fullness nor emptiness.
To exercise no-thought and rest in nothing is the first step toward resting in Tao. To start from nowhere and follow no road is the first step toward attaining Tao.
If water derives lucidity from stillness, how much more the faculties of the mind! The mind of the sage, being in repose, becomes the mirror of the universe, the speculum of all creation.
He who knows the activities of Nature lives according to Nature.
He who regards all things as one is a companion of Nature.
Let everything be allowed to do what it naturally does, so that its nature will be satisfied.
Prince Wen Hui's cook was cutting up an ox.... The ox fell apart with a whisper. The bright cleaver murmured like a gentle wind. Rhythm! Timing! Like a sacred dance.... Prince Wen Hui: Good work! Your method is faultless! The cook: Method? What I follow is Tao beyond all methods! When I first began to cut up oxen I would see before me the whole ox all in one mass. After three years I no longer saw this mass. I saw the distinctions. But now I see nothing with the eye. My whole being apprehends. My senses are idle. The spirit free to work without plan follows its own instinct guided by natural line, by the secret opening, the hidden space, my cleaver finds its own way... Then I withdraw the blade, I stand still and let the joy of the work sink in. I clean the blade and put it away. Prince Wan Hui: This is it! My cook has shown me how I ought to live my own life!
The non-action of the wise man is not inaction. It is not studied. It is not shaken by anything. The sage is quiet because he is not moved, not because he wills to be quiet.... Joy does all things without concern. For emptiness, stillness, tranquillity, tastelessness, silence, and non-action are the root of all things.
Thus, those who say they would have right without its correlate, wrong; or good government without its correlate, misrule, do not apprehend the great principles of the universe, nor the nature of all creation.
Look at this window: it is nothing but a hole in the wall, but because of it the whole room is full of light. So when the faculties are empty, the heart is full of light.
The space under the sky is occupied by all things in their unity.
Men honor what lies within the sphere of their knowledge, but do not realize how dependent they are on what lies beyond it.
If you persist in trying to attain what is never attained (It is Tao's gift), if you persist in making effort to obtain what effort cannot get, if you persist in reasoning about what cannot be understood, you will be destroyed by the very thing you seek. To know when to stop, to know when you can get no further by your own action, this is the right beginning!
... You never find happiness until you stop looking for it. My greatest happiness consists precisely in doing nothing whatever that is calculated to obtain happiness: and this, in the minds of most people, is the worst possible course... If you ask 'what ought to be done' and 'what ought not to be done' on earth in order to produce happiness, I answer that these questions do not have an answer. There is no way of determining such things. Yet at the same time, if I cease striving for happiness, the 'right' and the 'wrong' at once become apparent all by themselves. Contentment and well-being at once become possible the moment you cease to act with them in view, and if you practice non-doing (wu wei), you will have both happiness and well-being.
Uncreated To name Tao is to name no-thing. Tao is not the name of (something created). 'Cause' and 'chance' have no bearing on the Tao. Tao is a name that indicates without defining. Tao is beyond words and beyond things. It is not expressed either in word or in silence. Where there is no longer word or silence Tao is apprehended.
Chuang Tzu or Chuang Chou was a Taoist sage, living sometime before 250 B.C. The book, by the same name, Chuang Tzu, is believed to contain both his own writings and writings by others about him and his teachings. '... the Chuang-Tzu is distinguished by its brilliant and original style, with abundant use of satire, paradox, and seemingly nonsensical stories. Chuang-Tzu emphasizes the relativity of all ideas.... He puts forward as the solution to the problems of the human condition, freedom in identification with the universal Tao, or principle of Nature.' The Columbia Encyclopedia, 4th Edition.
The sage has the sun and moon by his side and the universe under his arm. He blends everything into a harmonious whole.... He blends the disparities of ten thousand years into one complete purity. All things are blended like this and mutually involve each other.
Nu Yu was teaching Pü-liang I to be a sage. It was three days before he was able to transcend this world. After he transcended this world I waited for seven days more, and then he was able to transcend all material things. After he transcended all material things, I waited for nine days more and he was able to transcend all life. Having transcended all life, he became as clear and bright as the morning. Having become as clear and bright as the morning, he was able to see the One. Having seen the One, he was then able to abolish the distinction of past and present. Having abolished the past and present, he was then able to enter the realm of neither life nor death. Then, to him, the destruction of life did not mean death and the production of life did not mean life ...
To him everything was in process of destruction, everything was in process of construction. This is called tranquility in disturbance. Tranquility in disturbance means that it is especially in the midst of disturbance that [tranquility] becomes perfect.
Tao is beyond words and beyond things. It is not expressed either in word or in silence. Where there is no longer word or silence Tao is apprehended.
To name Tao is to name nothing. Tao is not the name of (something created). 'Cause' and 'chance' have no bearing on the Tao. Tao is a name that indicates without defining. Tao is beyond words and beyond things. It is not expressed either in word or in silence. Where there is no longer word or silence Tao is apprehended.
Love of colors bewilders the eye and it fails to see right. Love of harmonies bewitches the ear, and it loses its true hearing. Love of perfumes fills the head with dizziness. Love of flavors ruins the taste. Desires unsettle the heart until the original nature runs amok. These five are enemies of true life. Yet these are what men of discernment claim to live for. They are not what I live for. If this is life, then pigeons in a cage have found happiness!
You train your eye and your vision lusts after color. You train your ear, and you long for delightful sound. You delight in doing good, and your natural kindness is blown out of shape. You delight in righteousness, and you become righteous beyond all reason. You overdo liturgy, and you turn into a ham actor. Overdo your love of music, and you play corn. Love of wisdom leads to wise contriving. Love of knowledge leads to faultfinding. If men would stay as they really are, taking or leaving these eight delights would make no difference. But if they will not rest in their right state, the eight delights develop like malignant tumors. The world falls into confusion. Since men honour these delights, and lust after them, the world has gone stone-blind. When the delight is over, they still will not let go of it....
When he tries to extend his power over objects, those objects gain control of him. He who is controlled by objects loses possession of his inner self... Prisoners in the world of object, they have no choice but to submit to the demands of matter! They are pressed down and crushed by external forces: fashion, the market, events, public opinion. Never in a whole lifetime do they recover their right mind!... What a pity!
When an archer is shooting for nothing, he has all his skill. If he shoots for a brass buckle, he is already nervous. If he shoots for a prize of gold, he goes blind or sees two targets He is out of his mind! His skill has not changed. But the prize divides him. He cares. He thinks more of winning than of shooting And the need to win drains him of power.
Three Friends There were three friends Discussing life. One said: 'Can we live together and know nothing of it? Work together and produce nothing? Can people fly around in space and still forget to exist World without end?' The three friends looked at each other and burst out laughing. They had no explanation. Thus they were better friends than before. Then one friend died. Confucius sent a disciple to help the other two Chant the traditional funeral ritual. His disciple found that one of them had composed a song. While the other played the lute, They sang: 'Hey, Sung Hu! Where'd you go? You have gone Where you were before. And we are here-- Damn it! We are here!' Then the disciple of Confucius burst in on them and exclaimed: 'May I inquire where in the funeral ritual it allows you to sing so irreverently in the presence of the departed?' The two friends looked at each other, smiled, and said: 'Well trained in liturgy, but the poor fellow doesn't understand life and death!'
To regard the fundamental as the essence, to regard things as coarse, to regard accumulation as deficiency, and to dwell quietly alone with the spiritual and the intelligent herein lie the techniques of Tao of the ancients.
When there is no more separation between 'this' and 'that,' it is called the still-point of the Tao. At the still point in the center of the circle one can see the infinite in all things.
The perfect man uses his mind as a mirror. It grasps nothing. It regrets nothing. It receives but does not keep.
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