Now it came about that as Tzu-yu was on a mission to a nearby village to distribute the aid of Yi Chieh, he came upon the remains of a cemetery which had slid from its hill-side perch and deposited a great mass of old bones in a heap upon the road. Seeing the disconsolate caretaker sitting weeping beneath a nearby tree, Tzu-yu approached him saying, “It is indeed troublesome to have a heap of bones blocking the village road! Let us then hire a party of men to remove and bury them elsewhere.”
“Are you not moved to pity to see the sacred remains of our fathers, mothers, sons and daughters so grievously defiled!?” replied the caretaker. “My own mother’s bones lie here in this jumble!”
“In that case,” responded Tzu-yu, “let us summon your mother that she might repossess them. Or perhaps you can recognize them and we can bring them to her?”
“Are you simple!?” cried the caretaker. “How if my mother is dead can she come to take her bones or we bring them to her?”
“You have seen clearly,” replied Tzu-yu. “Since your mother is dead she is no more and thus she has no bones.”
“Here in this heap,” continued Tzu-yu, “are bones. Previously, they belonged to the bodies of all those of whom you spoke and many more besides. Some, no doubt, belonged to men held in high esteem. Others belonged to men of ill-repute. Yet here they all lie, beyond all sorting, equally meaningless in death. And thus do they proclaim the meaninglessness of life and the folly of our clinging to it.”
“Sir!” exclaimed the caretaker, “you would rob me of all hope!”
“I would that it were so,” replied Tzu-yu, “For here I find you bound by grief and despair and would gladly help you slip your bonds. Yet such cures are beyond my skills; indeed, they are beyond the skills of any man, save he who would be free. And if you be such a man, know that it is written:
‘Cling to hope and despair will cling to you.’
For each creates the other and in neither will peace be found. Learn today the lesson of transcendent indifference and of hope you will have no need.”
“It seems you are a sage, Sir,” answered the caretaker, “and though you no doubt speak words of wisdom, I am but a simple and ordinary man and cannot follow such an empty path.”
“Be simple. Understand the ordinary. There is nothing else to do,” replied Tzu-yu. “And you, Sir, understand much through your simplicity. For the path is indeed empty; yet emptiness is empty of only that which is not real. Emptiness is the freedom that you seek.
But let us find these bones a new home and the men to dig it and you can oversee the work as you see fit.”
This post is part of a series. To view the index, go here.
“Are you not moved to pity to see the sacred remains of our fathers, mothers, sons and daughters so grievously defiled!?” replied the caretaker. “My own mother’s bones lie here in this jumble!”
“In that case,” responded Tzu-yu, “let us summon your mother that she might repossess them. Or perhaps you can recognize them and we can bring them to her?”
“Are you simple!?” cried the caretaker. “How if my mother is dead can she come to take her bones or we bring them to her?”
“You have seen clearly,” replied Tzu-yu. “Since your mother is dead she is no more and thus she has no bones.”
“Here in this heap,” continued Tzu-yu, “are bones. Previously, they belonged to the bodies of all those of whom you spoke and many more besides. Some, no doubt, belonged to men held in high esteem. Others belonged to men of ill-repute. Yet here they all lie, beyond all sorting, equally meaningless in death. And thus do they proclaim the meaninglessness of life and the folly of our clinging to it.”
“Sir!” exclaimed the caretaker, “you would rob me of all hope!”
“I would that it were so,” replied Tzu-yu, “For here I find you bound by grief and despair and would gladly help you slip your bonds. Yet such cures are beyond my skills; indeed, they are beyond the skills of any man, save he who would be free. And if you be such a man, know that it is written:
‘Cling to hope and despair will cling to you.’
For each creates the other and in neither will peace be found. Learn today the lesson of transcendent indifference and of hope you will have no need.”
“It seems you are a sage, Sir,” answered the caretaker, “and though you no doubt speak words of wisdom, I am but a simple and ordinary man and cannot follow such an empty path.”
“Be simple. Understand the ordinary. There is nothing else to do,” replied Tzu-yu. “And you, Sir, understand much through your simplicity. For the path is indeed empty; yet emptiness is empty of only that which is not real. Emptiness is the freedom that you seek.
But let us find these bones a new home and the men to dig it and you can oversee the work as you see fit.”
This post is part of a series. To view the index, go here.
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