World Philosophical Heritage

Wisdom and teachings of
Daoism

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W hen we are rich and famous and powerful, we do not want to die. On the other hand, if we are miserable and suffering, we want to die and leave it all. But can joy or misery last forever? There is a saying, “All celebrations must end sometime.” Any wish to live forever or die immediately is often a whim of the moment. How do we know that, although we are happy now, we may not be sad the next day, or sad now but may be happy soon? Given that good and ill, fortune and misfortune come in their own way, we should not cling to life or embrace death. Life and death will come of their own. Why be greedy about life and afraid of death?

quote 7404 | The Liezi

S trength should always be complimented by softness. If you resist too much, you will break. Thus, the strong person knows when to use strength and when to yield, and good fortune and disaster depend on whether you know how and when to yield.

quote 7403 | The Liezi

P eople use the words “beginning” and “end” to describe the start and end of things. However, “beginning” is really the event of coming together when energy gathers, and “end” is simply the dissolution of that energy. That which came together can easily dissolve if conditions become unfavourable. That which has dissolved may come together again if circumstances are appropriate. Therefore, who is to say that there is a beginning and an end?

quote 7402 | The Liezi

T he ancient saying that force outdoes inferiors while gentility outdoes superiors.

quote 7401 | The Liezi

T here was a man whose only son died of a sudden illness. He did not mourn for his son, nor was he sad about it. His friends were curious about his behaviour, so they asked him, “Your only son is dead. You should be heartbroken. Why do you act as if nothing had happened?” The man replied, “Before my son came, I had no son. I was certainly not heartbroken back then. Now I have no son. Why should I be heartbroken now?”

quote 7400 | The Liezi

P eople all know the pleasure of life but not the pain of life; they know the fatigue of old age, but not the freedom of old age; they know the horror of death but not the peace of death.

quote 7399 | The Liezi

I f you play a game where scrap pieces of glass are at stake, you will play skillfully. If your expensive belt buckle is at stake, you’ll start to get clumsy. If it’s your money that’s at stake, you’ll fumble. It’s not that you’ve lost your skill. It’s because you are so flustered by things happening outside that you’ve lost your calmness inside. Lose your stillness and you will fail in everything you do.

quote 7398 | The Liezi

T he contented person finds rest in death, and for the greedy person, death puts an end to his long list of desires.

quote 7397 | The Liezi

T o solve a problem, you need to remove the cause, not the symptom.

quote 7396 | The Liezi

D ivision and differentiation are the processes by which things are created. Since things are emerging and dissolving all the time, you cannot specify the point when this division will stop.

quote 7395 | The Liezi

H e likes to use his wit and verbal finesse to confuse others and win arguments. Although he can argue successfully that white is black and straight is crooked, you walk away with the feeling that he’s won the argument not because he is correct but because you can’t outwit him.

quote 7394 | The Liezi

T ravel is such a wonderful experience! Especially when you forget you are traveling. Then you will enjoy whatever you see and do. Those who look into themselves when they travel will not think about what they see. In fact, there is no distinction between the viewer and the seen. You experience everything with the totality of yourself, so that every blade of grass, every mountain, every lake is alive and is a part of you. When there is no division between you and what other is, this is the ultimate experience of traveling.

quote 7393 | The Liezi

O nce you transcend the external differences, anything can be merged with anything.

quote 7392 | The Liezi

T he ancients said that for persons who cultivated body and mind, and who are virtuous and honourable, death is an experience of liberation, a long-awaited rest from a lifetime of labour. Death helps the unscrupulous person to put an end to the misery of desire. Death, then, for everyone is a kind of homecoming. That is why the ancient sages speak of a dying person as a person who is ‘going home’.

quote 7391 | The Liezi

I f you can dispense with reputation, then you are free from care. Reputation is only a visitor, but reality is here to stay.

quote 7390 | The Liezi

I n infancy, our blood is strong and our energy is plentiful. Mind and body, thought and action are one. Everything we do is in harmony with the natural order. The infant is not affected by things that happen around him. Virtue and ethics cannot restrain his will. Naked and free of social conventions, he follows the natural path of the heart.

quote 7389 | The Liezi

T o be truly happy and contented, you must let go of the idea of what it means to be truly happy or content.

quote 7388 | The Liezi

L et your eyes see what they see, not what others want you to see. Let your ears hear what they naturally hear, not what others want you to hear. Let your mouth speak your mind freely and not be constrained by other people’s approval or disapproval. Let your mind think what it wants to think and not let other people’s demands dictate your thoughts. If your senses and your mind are not allowed to do what they want to do naturally, you are denying them their rights. When you cannot think, sense, feel, or act freely, then your body and mind are injured. Break these oppressions, and you will cultivate life.

quote 7387 | The Liezi

A person with a mind is bound to be filled with conceptions. These conceptions prevent him from knowing things directly, so a person with a mind shall never really know.

quote 7386 | The Liezi

I f a branch is too rigid, it will break. Resist, and you will perish. Know how to yield, and you will survive.

quote 7385 | The Liezi

I n youth, our blood rises and becomes volatile. Desire, worry, and anxiety increase. External circumstances now direct the rise and fall of emotions. Will and intention become constrained by social conventions. Competition, conflict, and scheming are the norm in interactions with people. The approval and disapproval of others become important, and the honest and sincere expression of thoughts and feelings is lost.

quote 7384 | The Liezi

Z huangzi once told a story about two persons who both lost a sheep. One person got very depressed and lost himself in drinking, sex, and gambling to try to forget this misfortune. The other person decided that this would be an excellent chance for him to study the classics and quietly observe the subtleties of nature. Both men experience the same misfortune, but one man lost himself because he was too attached to the experience of loss, while the other found himself because he was able to let go of gain and loss.

quote 7383 | The Liezi

… do things merely co-occur and we give meaning to these co-occurrences based on our belief system? Lieh-tzu’s answer: It’s all in how you think.

quote 7382 | The Liezi

S ome people think they can find satisfaction in good food, fine clothes, lively music, and sexual pleasure. However, when they have all these things, they are not satisfied. They realize happiness is not simply having their material needs met. Thus, society has set up a system of rewards that go beyond material goods. These include titles, social recognition, status, and political power, all in a package called self-fulfillment. Attracted and goaded on by social pressure, people spend their short lives tiring body and mind to chase after these goals. Perhaps this gives them the feeling that they have achieved something in their lives, but in reality they have sacrificed a lot in life. They can no longer see, hear, act, feel, or think from their hearts. In the end, they’ve spent their lives following other people’s demands and never lived a life of their own. How different is this from the life of a slave or a prisoner?

quote 7381 | The Liezi

W hat Gives Life to Life . . . Therefore forms come to depletion but spirit never undergoes transformation; this is because when what undergoes no transformation responds to what is transformed, it will never reach an end even throughout one thousand alterations and ten thousand reversals. Undergoing transformations means returning to formlessness; not undergoing transformations means living as long as Heaven and Earth.

quote 7380 | The Huai-Nan Tzu

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Wisdom and teachings ofDaoism

Wisdom and teachings of
Daoism