| 家○上○下○二○ ○二年七月二十二日 | 之能傷也○复仇者○不折鏌乾○雖有忮心者○ | 而猶若是○而况全於天乎○聖人藏於天○故莫 | 不入乎其胸中○是故遻物而不慴○彼得全於酒 | 神全也○乘亦不知也○墜亦不知也○死生惊惧 | 車○雖疾不死○骨節與人同而犯害與人異○其 | 天守全○其神無隙○物奚自入焉○夫醉者之墜 | 氣○合其德○以通乎物之所造○夫若是者○其 | 無端之紀○游乎萬物之所終始○壹其性○養其 | ○物焉得而止焉○彼將處乎不淫之度○而藏乎 | 之造乎不形○而止乎無所化○夫得是而窮之者 | 何以相遠○夫奚足以至乎先○是色而已○則物 | ○予語女○凡有貌象聲色者○皆物也○物與物 | 關尹曰○是純氣之守也○非知巧果敢之列○居 | 行乎萬物之上而不栗○請問何以至於此○ | 子列子問關尹曰○至人潜行不窒○蹈火不熱○ | ○ | ○形精不虧○是謂能移○精而又精○反以相天 | 天地者○萬物之父母也○合則成體○散則成始 | 則精不虧○夫形全精复○與天為一○ | 事奚足遺棄而生奚足遺○棄事則形不勞○遺生 | 無累則正平○正平則與彼更生○更生則幾矣○ | 矣○夫欲免為形者○莫如棄世○棄世則無累○ | 奚足為哉○雖不足為而不可不為者○其為不免 | 為養形足以存生○而養形果不足以存生○則世 | 生之來不能却○其去不能止○悲夫○世之人以 | 離而生亡者有之矣○ | 餘而形不養者有之矣○有生必先無離形○形不 | ○不務知之所無奈何○養形必先之以物○物有 | 達生之情者○不務生之所無以為○達命之情者 | 莊子
南華經 第十九章 達生 |
| 視其后者而鞭之○ | 開之曰○聞之夫子曰○善養生者○若牧羊然○ | 威公曰○田子無讓○寡人愿聞之○ | 子○ | 田開之曰○開之操拔篲以侍門庭○亦何聞於夫 | 子與祝腎游○亦何聞焉○ | 田開之見周威公○威公曰○吾聞祝腎學生○吾 | ○凡外重者內拙○ | 黄金注者殙○其巧一也○而有所矜○則重外也 | ○惡往而不暇○以瓦注者巧○以鈎注者憚○以 | ○猶其車却也○覆却萬方陳乎前而不得入其舍 | 未嘗見舟而便操之也○彼視淵若陵○視舟若履 | 仲尼曰○善游者數能○忘水也○若乃夫没人之 | ○吾問焉而不吾告○敢問何謂也○ | 者数能○若乃夫没人○則未嘗見舟而便操之也 | 若神○吾問焉曰○操舟可學邪○曰○可○善游 | 顏淵問仲尼曰○吾嘗濟乎觴深之淵○津人操舟 | 偻丈人之謂乎○ | 孔子顧謂弟子曰○用志不分○乃凝於神○其佝 | 何為而不得○ | 蜩翼之知○吾不反不側○不以萬物易蜩之翼○ | ○若槁木之枝○雖天地之大○萬物之多○而唯 | ○猶掇之也○吾處身也○若蹶株拘○吾執臂也 | 錙銖○累三而不墜○則失者十一○累五而不墜 | 曰○我有道也○五六月累丸二而不墜○則失者 | 也○仲尼曰○子巧乎○有道邪○ | 仲尼适楚○出於林中○見佝偻者承蜩○猶掇之 | 不忽於人○民幾乎以其真○ | 之天○開天者德生○開人者賊生○不厭其天○ | 殺戮之刑者○由此道也○不開人之天○而開天 | 不怨飄瓦○是以天下平均○故無攻戰之亂○無 |
| 之下者○則泆陽處之○水有罔象○丘有峷○山 | 處之○東北方之下者倍阿○鮭蠪躍之○西北方 | 曰○有○沈有履○灶有髻○户內之煩壤○雷霆 | 桓公曰○然則有鬼乎○ | 中身當心○則為病○ | 怒○下而不上○則使人善忘○不上不下○ | ○散而不反○則為不足○上而不下○則使人善 | 者○曰○公則自傷○鬼惡能傷公○夫忿滀之氣 | 公反○誒詒為病○數日不出○齊士有皇子告敖 | 對曰○臣無所見○ | 曰○仲父何見○ | 桓公田於澤○管仲御○見鬼焉○公撫管仲之手 | 取之○所異彘者何也○ | ○聚偻之中則為之○為彘謀則去之○自為謀則 | 自為謀○則苟生有軒冕之尊○死得於腞楯之上 | 為彘謀曰○不如食以糠糟而錯之牢柙之中○ | 肩尻乎雕俎之上○則汝為之乎○ | 將三月豢汝○十日戒○三日齊○藉白茅○加汝 | 祝宗人玄端以臨牢柙說彘○曰○汝奚惡死○吾 | ○而不知為之戒者○過也○ | 亦知乎○人之所取畏者○衽席之上○飲食之間 | 則父子兄弟相戒也○必盛卒徒而后敢出焉○不 | 三者若得○其名必极○夫畏涂者○十殺一人○ | 仲尼曰○無入而藏○無出而陽○柴立其中央○ | ○皆不鞭其后者也○ | 而虎食其外○毅養其外而病攻其內○此二子者 | 走也○行年四十而有內熱之病以死○豹養其內 | ○餓虎殺而食之○有張毅者○高門縣薄○無不 | 共利○行年七十而猶有嬰儿之色○不幸遇餓虎 | 田開之曰○魯有單豹者○岩居而水飲○不與民 | 威公曰○何謂也○ |
| 三日○而不敢怀慶賞爵禄○齊五日○不敢怀非 | 臣將為鐻○未嘗敢以耗氣也○必齊以靜心○齊 | 對曰○臣○工人○何術之有○雖然○有一焉○ | 曰○子何術以為焉○ | 而問焉○ | 梓慶削木為鐻○囗成○見者惊猶鬼神○魯侯見 | 水○性也○不知吾所以然而然○命也○ | 曰○吾生於陵而安於陵○故也○長於水而安於 | 孔子曰○何謂始乎故○長乎性○成乎命○ | ○此吾所以蹈之也○ | ○與齊俱入○與汩偕出○從水之道而不為私焉 | 曰○亡○吾無道○吾始乎故○長乎性○成乎命 | ○請問○蹈水有道乎○ | 孔子從而問焉○曰○吾以子為鬼○察子則人也 | ○被發行歌而游於塘下○ | 苦而欲死也○使弟子并流而拯之○數百步而出 | 鼉魚鱉之所不能游也○一丈夫游之○以為有見 | 孔子觀於吕梁○縣水三十仞○流沫四十里○黿 | 其德全矣○異鷄無敢應者○反走矣○ | 矣○鷄雖有嗚者○已無變矣○望之似木鷄矣○ | 曰○未也○猶疾視而盛氣○十日又問○曰○幾 | 十日又問○曰○未也○猶應向景○十日又問○ | 曰○未也○方虛驕而恃氣○ | 紀渻子為王養鬥鷄○十日而問○鷄已乎○ | 於是正衣冠與之坐○不終日而不知病之去也○ | 桓公囅然而笑曰○此寡人之所見者也○ | ○見之者殆乎霸○ | 朱冠○其為物也惡○聞雷車之聲則捧其首而立 | 皇子曰○委蛇○其大如轂○其長如轅○紫衣而 | 公曰○請問委蛇之伏狀何如○ | 有夔○野有彷徨○澤有委蛇○ |
| 其惊而遂至於惑也○ | 扁子曰○向者休來○吾告之以至人之德○吾恐 | 曰○先生何為嘆乎○ | 孫子出○扁子入○坐有間○仰天而嘆○弟子問 | 子往矣○ | 跛蹇而比於人數亦幸矣○又何暇乎天之怨哉○ | ○汝得全而形軀○具而九竅○無中道殀於聾盲 | 以惊愚○修身以明汙○昭昭乎若揭日月而行也 | 事之業○是謂為而不恃○長而不宰○今汝飾知 | ○遺其耳目○芒然彷徨乎尘垢之外○逍遙乎無 | 扁子曰○子獨不聞夫至人之自行邪○忘其肝胆 | 天哉○休惡遇此命也○ | 事君不遇世○賓於鄕里○逐於州部○則胡罪乎 | 謂不修○臨難不見謂不勇○然而田原不遇歲○ | 有孫休者○踵門而詫子扁慶子曰○休居鄕不見 | 适也○ | ○事會之适也○始乎适而未嘗不适者○忘适之 | 适也○知忘是非○心之适也○不內變○不外從 | 灵台一而不桎○忘足○履之适也○忘要○帶之 | 工倕旋而盖規矩○指與物化而不以心稽○故其 | 曰○其馬力竭矣而猶求焉○故曰敗○ | 知之○ | 公密而不應○少焉○果敗而反○公曰○子何以 | ○入見曰○稷之馬將敗○ | 莊公以為文弗過也○使之鈎百而反○顏闔遇之 | 東野稷以御見莊公○進退中繩○左右旋中規○ | ○其是與○ | 焉○不然則已○則以天合天○器之所以疑神者 | 林○觀天性形躯○至矣○然后成鐻○然后加手 | 是時也○無公朝○其巧專而外骨消○然后入山 | 譽巧拙○齊七日○輒然忘吾有四枝形体也○當 |
| 家○上○下○二○ ○二年七月二十二日 | 錯字豢左牛右豢 | 有錯字請通知我 | ○樂鴳以鈡鼓也○彼又惡能無惊乎哉○ | 之民也○吾告以至人之德○譬之若載鼷以車馬 | 之以委蛇○則安平陸而已矣○今休○款启寡聞 | 夫以鳥養養鳥者○宜栖之深林○浮之江湖○食 | 悲眩視○不敢飲食○此之謂以己養養鳥也○若 | ○為具太牢以饗之○奏九韶以樂之○鳥乃始憂 | 扁子曰○不然○昔者有鳥止於魯郊○魯君說之 | 言是邪○彼固惑而來矣○又奚罪焉○ | 非邪○非固不能惑是○孫子所言非邪○先生所 | 弟子曰○不然○孫子之所言是邪○先生之所言 |
Chapter 19 -- The Secret Of Life
Those who understand the conditions of life devote no attention to things which life cannot accomplish. Those who understand the conditions of destiny devote no attention to things over which knowledge has no control.
[Life is used for birth. 生 word is trying to indicate the mark on our forehead.]
For the due nourishment of our physical frames, certain things are needful. Yet where such things abound, the physical frame is not always nourished. For the preservation of life it is necessary that there should be no abandonment of the physical frame. Yet where the physical frame is not abandoned, life does not always remain.
Life comes, and cannot be declined. It goes, and cannot be stopped. But alas! the world thinks that to nourish the frame is enough, what then is the world to do?
[Substitute Tao or Your Spiritual Soul for life to come and go.]
Although not enough, it must still be done. It cannot be neglected. For if one is to neglect the physical frame, better to retire at once from the world. By renouncing the world, one gets rid of the cares of the world. The result is a natural level, which is equivalent to a re-birth. And he who is re-born is near. (like reborn Christians. Re-born is return.)
But what inducement is there to renounce the affairs of men, to become indifferent to life?--In the first case, the physical body suffers no wear and tear; in the second, the vitality is left unharmed. And he whose physical frame is perfect and whose vitality is in its original purity,-- he is one with God.
[Perfection of vitality is by Taoist meditation. See Taoist Yoga chapter 1.]
Heaven and earth are the father and mother of all things. When they unite, the result is shape. When they disperse, the original condition is renewed. But if body and vitality are both perfect, this state is called fit for translation. Such perfection of vitality goes back to be the minister of God.
形精不虧○是謂能移○精而又精○反以相天○
Lieh Tzu asked Kuan Yin, saying, "The perfect man can walk through solid bodies without obstruction. He can pass through fire without being burnt. He can scale the highest heights without fear. How does he bring himself to this?" [1st class of meditation is body etherised, so on the death day, the body flies to the sky.]
"It is because he is in a condition of absolute purity," replied Kuan Yin. "It is not cunning which enables him to dare such feats. Be seated, and I will tell you.
"All that has form, sound, and color, may be classed under the head thing. Man differs so much from the rest, and stands at the head of all things, simply because the latter are but what they appear and nothing more. But man can attain to formlessness and vanquish death. And with that which is in possession of the eternal, how can mere things compare?
"Man may rest in the eternal fitness; he may abide in the everlasting; and roam from the beginning to the end of all creation. He may bring his nature to a condition of ONE; he may nourish his strength; he may harmonize his virtue, and so put himself into partnership with God. Then, when his divinity is thus assured, and his spirit closed in on all sides, how can anything find a passage within?
"A drunken man who falls out of a cart, though he may suffer, does not die. His bones are the same as other people's; but he meets his accident in a different way. His spirit is in a condition of security. He is not conscious of riding in the cart; neither is he conscious of falling out of it. Ideas of life, death, fear, etc., cannot penetrate his breast; and so he does not suffer from contact with objective existences. And if such security is to be got from wine, how much more is it to be got from God. It is in God that the Sage seeks his refuge, and so he is free from harm.
"An avenger does not snap in twain the murderous weapon; neither does the most spiteful man carry his resentment to a tile which may have hit him on the head. And by the extension of this principle, the empire would be at peace; no more confusion of war, no more punishment of death.
"Do not develop your artificial intelligence, but develop that intelligence which is from God. From the latter, results virtue; from the former, cunning. And those who do not shrink from the natural, nor wallow in the artificial,--they are near to perfection."
When Confucius was on his way to the Ch'u State, he came to a forest where he saw a hunch-back catching cicadas as though with his hand.
"How clever you are!" cried Confucius. "Have you any way of doing this?"
"I have a way," replied the hunchback. "In the fifth and sixth moons I practice balancing two balls one on top of the other. If they do not fall, I do not miss many cicadas. When I can balance three balls, I only miss one in ten; and when five, then it is as though I caught the cicadas with my hand. My body is as motionless as the stump of a tree; my arms like dead branches. Heaven and earth and all creation may be around me, but I am conscious only of my cicada's wings. How should I not succeed?"
Confucius looked round at his disciples and said, "Singleness of purpose induces concentration of the faculties. Of such is the success of this hunchback."
Yen Yuan said to Confucius, "When I crossed over the Shang-shen rapid, the boatman managed his craft with marvelous skill. I asked him if handling a boat could be learnt. 'It can,' replied he. 'The way of those who know how to keep you afloat is more like sinking you. They row as if the boat wasn't there.'
"I enquired what this meant, but he would not tell me. May I ask its signification."
"It means," answered Confucius, "that such a man is oblivious of the water around him. He regards the rapid as though dry land. He looks upon an upset as an ordinary cart accident. And if a man can but be impervious to capsizing and accidents in general, whither should he not be able comfortably to go?
"A man who plays for counters will play well. If he stakes his girdle, he will be nervous; if yellow gold, he will lose his wits. His skill is the same in each case, but he is distracted by the value of his stake. And every one who attached importance to the external, becomes internally without resource."
T'ien K'ai Chih had an audience of Duke Wei of Chou. The Duke asked him, saying, "I have heard that Chu Hsien is studying the art of life. As you are a companion of his, pray tell me anything you know about it."
"I do but ply the broom at his outer gate," replied T'ien K'ai Chih; "what should I know about my Master's researches?"
"Don't be so modest," said the Duke. "I am very anxious to hear about it."
"Well," replied T'ien, "I have heard my master say that keeping life is like keeping a flock of sheep. You look out for the laggards, and whip them up."
"What does that mean?" asked the Duke.
"In the State Lu," said T'ien, "there was a man named Shan Pao. He lived on the mountains and drank water. All worldly interests he had put aside. And at the age of seventy, his complexion was like that of a child. Unluckily, he one day fell in with a hungry tiger who killed and ate him.
"There was also a man named Chang I, who frequented the houses of rich and poor alike. At the age of forty he was attacked by some internal disease and died.
"Shan Pao took care of his inner self, and a tiger ate his external man. Chang I took care of himself externally, but disease attacked him internally. These two individuals both omitted to whip up the laggards."
Confucius said, "Neither affecting obscurity, nor courting prominence, but unconsciously occupying the happy mean,--he who can attain to these three will enjoy a surpassing fame.
"In dangerous parts, where one wayfarer out of ten meets his death, fathers and sons and brothers will counsel each other not to travel without a sufficient escort. Is not this wisdom? And there where men are also greatly in danger, in the lists of passion, in the banquet hour, not to warn them is error indeed."
The Grand Augur, in his ceremonial robes, approached the shambles and thus addressed the pigs:--
"How can you object to die? I shall fatten you for three months. I shall discipline myself for ten days and fast for three. I shall strew fine grass, and place you bodily upon a carved sacrificial dish. Does not this satisfy you?"
Then speaking from the pigs' point of view, he continued, "It is better perhaps after all to live on bran and escape the shambles......"
"But then," added he, speaking from his own point of view, "to enjoy honor when alive one would readily die on a war-shield or in the headsman's basket."
So he rejected the pigs' point of view and adopted his own point of view. In what sense then was he different from the pigs?
When Duke Huan was out hunting, with Kuan Chung as his charioteer, he saw a bogy. Catching hold of Kuan Chung's hand, he asked him, saying, "What do you see?"
"I see nothing," replied Kuan Chung. But when the Duke got home he became delirious, and for many days was unable to go out.
There came a certain Huang Tzu Kao Ngao of the Ch'i State and said, "Your Highness is self-injured. How could a bogy injure you? When the vital strength is dissipated in anger, and is not renewed, there is a deficiency. When its tendency is in one direction upwards, the result is to incline men to wrath. When its tendency is in one direction downwards, the result is loss of memory. When it remains stagnant, in the middle of the body, the result is disease."
"Very well," said the Duke, "but are there such things as bogies?"
"There are," replied Huang. "There is the mud spirit Li; the fire spirit Kao; Lei T'ing, the spirit of the dust-bin; Pei O and Wa Lung, sprites of the north-east; Yi Yang of the north-west; Wang Hsiang of the water; the Hsin of the hills; the K'uei of the mountain; and P'ang Huang of the moor, the Wei I of the marsh."
"And what may the Wei I be like?" asked the Duke.
"The Wei I," replied Huang, "is as broad as a cart-wheel and as long as the shaft. It wears purple clothes and a red cap. It is a sentient being, and whenever it hears the rumble of thunder, it stands up in a respectful attitude. Those who see this bogy are like to be chieftains among men."
The Duke laughed exultingly and said, "The very one I saw!" Thereupon he dressed himself and sat up; and ere the day had closed, without knowing it, his sickness had left him.
Chi Hsing Tzu was training fighting cocks for the prince. At the end of ten days the latter asked if they were ready. "Not yet," replied Chi, "they are in the stage of seeking fiercely for a foe."
Again ten days elapsed, and the prince made a further enquiry. "Not yet," replied Chi, "they are still excited by the sounds and shadows of other cocks."
Ten days more, and the prince asked again. "Not yet," answered Chi, "the sight of an enemy is still enough to excite them to rage. "But after another ten days, when the prince again enquired, Chi said, "They will do. Other cocks may crow, but they will take no notice. To look at them one might say they were of wood. Their virtue is complete. Strange cocks will not dare meet them but will run."
Confucius was looking at the cataract at Luliang. It fell from a height of thirty jen, and its foam reached forty li away. No scaly, finny creature could enter therein.
Yet Confucius saw an old man go in, and thinking that he was suffering from some trouble and desirous of ending his life, bade a disciple run along the side to try and save him. The old man emerged about a hundred paces off, and with flowing hair went caroling along the bank. Confucius followed him and said, "I had thought, Sir, you were a spirit, but now I see you are a man. Kindly tell me, is there any way to deal thus with water?"
"No," replied the old man; "I have no way. There was my original condition to begin with; then habit growing into nature; and lastly acquiescence in destiny. Plunging in with the whirl, I come out with the swirl. I accommodate myself to the water, not the water to me. And as I am able to deal with it after this fashion."
"What do you mean," enquired Confucius, "by your original condition to begin with, habit growing into nature, and acquiescence in destiny?"
"I was born," replied the old man, "upon dry land, and accommodated myself to dry land. That was my original condition. Growing up on the water, I accommodated myself to the water. That was what I meant by nature. And doing as I did without being conscious of any effort so to do, that was what I meant by destiny."
Ch'ing, the chief carpenter, was carving wood into a stand for hanging musical instruments. When finished, the work appeared to those who saw it as though of supernatural execution. And the prince of Lu asked him, saying, "What mystery is there in your art?"
"No mystery, your Highness," replied Ch'ing; "and yet there is something. When I am about to make such a stand, I guard against any diminution of my vital power. I first reduce my mind to absolute quiescence. Three days in this condition, and I become oblivious of any reward to be gained. Five days, and I become oblivious of any fame to be acquired. Seven days, and I become unconscious of my four limbs and my physical frame. Then, with no thought of the Court present to my mind, my skill becomes concentrated, and all disturbing elements from without are gone. I enter some mountain forest. I search for a suitable tree. It contains the form required, which is afterwards elaborated. I see the stand in my mind's eye, and then set to work. Otherwise, there is nothing. I bring my own natural capacity into relation with that of the wood. What was suspected to be of supernatural execution in my work was due solely to this."
Tung Yeh Chi exhibited his chariot-steering skill before Duke Chuang. Backwards and forwards he drove in lines which might have been ruled, sweeping round at each end in curves which might have been described by compasses.
The Duke, however, said that this was nothing more than weaving; and bidding him drive round and round a hundred times, returned home.
Yen Ho came upon him and then went in and said to the Duke, "Chi's horses are on the point of breaking down."
The Duke remained silent, making no reply; and in a short time it was announced that the horses had actually broken down, and the Chi had gone away.
"How could you tell this?" said the Duke to Yen Ho.
"Because," replied the latter, "Chi was trying to make his horses perform a task to which they were unequal. Therefore I said they would break down."
Ch'ui the artisan could draw circles with his hand better than with compasses. His fingers seemed to accommodate themselves so naturally to the thing he was working at, that it was unnecessary to fix his attention. His mental faculties thus remained one, and suffered no hindrance.
To be unconscious of one's feet implies that the shoes are easy. To be unconscious of a waist implies that the girdle is easy. The intelligence being unconscious of positive and negative implies that the heart is at ease. no modifications within, no yielding to influences without,--this is ease under all conditions. And he who beginning with ease, is never not at ease, is unconscious of the ease of ease.
A certain Sun Hsiu went to the house of Pien Ch'ing Tzu and complained, saying "In peace I am not considered wanting in propriety. In times of trouble I am not considered wanting in courage. Yet my crops fail; and officially I am not a success. From my village an outcast, I am an outlaw from my State. How have I offended against God that he should visit me with such a fate?"
"Have you not heard," replied Pien Tzu, "how the perfect man conducts himself? He is oblivious of his physical organization. He is beyond the reach of sight and hearing. He moves outside the limits of this dusty world, rambling transcendentally in the domain of no-affairs. This is called acting but not from self-confidence, influencing but not from authority.
"But you, you make a show of your knowledge in order to startle fools. You cultivate yourself in contrast to the degradation of others. And you blaze along as though the sun and moon were under your arms. Whereas, that you have a whole body in a whole skin, and have not perished in mid career, dumb, blind, or halt, but actually hold a place among men,--this ought to be enough for you. Why rail at God? Be gone!"
Sun Hsiu went away, and Pien Tzu went in and sat down. Shortly afterwards, he looked up to heaven and sighed; whereupon a disciple asked him what was the matter.
"When Hsie was here just now," answered Pien Tzu, "I spoke to him of the virtue of the perfect man. I fear lest he be startled and so driven on to doubt."
"No, Sir," answered the disciple. "If he was right and you were wrong, wrong will never drive right into doubt. If, on the other hand, he was wrong and you were right, he brought his doubt with him, and you are not responsible."
"Not so," said Pien Tzu. "Of old, when a bird alighted outside the capital of Lu, the prince was delighted, and killed an ox to feed it and had the Chiu Shao played to entertain it. The bird, however, was timid and dazed and dared not to eat or drink. This was treating the bird like oneself. But to treat a bird as a bird would treat a bird, you must put it to roost in a deep forest, let it swim in river or lake, and feed at its ease on the plain. Now Sun Hsiu is a man of small understanding; and for me to speak to him of the perfect man is like setting a mouse to ride in a coach or a band of music to play to a quail. How should he not be startled?"
Edited on 9th June 2008