Zhuangzi - Screeching at Nothing

from Chapter 17
Hueitse was Prime Minister in the Liang State, and Chuangtse was on his way to see him. Someone remarked, "Chuangtse has come. He wants to be minister in your place." Thereupon Hueitse was afraid, and searched all over the country for three days and three nights to find him.

Then Chuangtse went to see him, and said, "In the south there is a bird. It is a kind of phoenix. Do you know it? When it starts from the South Sea to fly to the North Sea, it would not alight except on the wu-t'ung tree. It eats nothing but the fruit of the bamboo, drinks nothing but the purest spring water. An owl which had got the rotten carcass of a rat, looked up as the phoenix flew by, and screeched. Are you not screeching at me over your kingdom of Liang?"
~ Yutang Lin Translation ~

In reading this passage, two things come to mind.

First, possessiveness always puts us on edge and a person on edge is not in balance. When we claim things -- tangible assets, ideas, thoughts, identities, other people, etc. -- we tend to worry about losing them or, even worse, the possessions being taken from us. If we think someone might take something that is ours, this tends to make us defensive. Many times we take this a step further by being offensive because, sometimes, offensiveness amounts to the best defense.

So, rather than meeting each moment with a sense of humility and wonderment, we construct all sorts of real and imagined barriers to keep the rest of the world at arms' length. Gotta keep a keen eye on your neighbor, lest he snatch the prize away from you!

Second -- this a step-child of point one -- we tend to create huge mountains out of tiny molehills. Because we're always on guard for someone to steal what we believe solely is ours, every slight deviation from our expectations becomes a major variable to be watchful of. We manufacture mighty imbroglios and tempests if someone says the wrong thing at the wrong time or looks at us askance.

The person with no possessions has everything. Nothing can be taken nor stolen from them.

To read more musings about the Zhuangzi, you can visit the index page for this ongoing series.