Zhuangzi - Putting On Airs

A ligament uniting the big toe with the other toes and an extra finger may be natural growths, but they are more than is good for use. Excrescences on the person and hanging tumours are growths from the body, but they are unnatural additions to it. There are many arts of benevolence and righteousness, and the exercise of them is distributed among the five viscera; but this is not the correct method according to the characteristics of the Tâo. Thus it is that the addition to the foot is but the attachment to it of so much useless flesh, and the addition to the hand is but the planting on it of a useless finger. (So it is that) the connecting (the virtues) with the five viscera renders, by excess or restraint, the action of benevolence and righteousness bad, and leads to many arts as in the employment of (great) powers of hearing or of vision.
~ from Chapter 8, Stephen R. McIntyre translation ~

Each being or form is born with what it needs to live by its internal nature. Nothing needs to be added nor subtracted. In our blissful innocence, we are closest to the Way of the cosmos.

As we leave behind this innocence, we start the slow process of adding unneeded garbage into our hearts and minds. Where we once saw the interconnection of all things clearly, our vision becomes cloudy. Where we once heard the one note of the universe, we now hear a cacophony of sound. Where we were once joined with all, we now feel a sense of separation and painful isolation.

In adulthood, our lives revolve around putting on airs; showing others that all those unnecessary aspects we've added make us somehow smarter, defter, stronger and wiser. Life becomes all about selling an image of worthiness.

For all this posturing, there is something that gnaws at us. In the depths of our being -- when we're completely alone in silence -- we search for purpose and meaning. No matter how firm a foundation we project, deep inside we're scared of a seemingly unknown world.

What we once embraced as Oneness, now becomes a frightening many-ness. What we once understood intuitively, now makes no sense at all.

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