Jo of the North Sea said, "You can't discuss the ocean with a well frog - he's limited by the space he lives in. You can't discuss ice with a summer insect - he's bound to a single season. You can't discuss the Way with a cramped scholar - he's shackled by his doctrines. Now you have come out beyond your banks and borders and have seen the great sea - so you realize your own pettiness. From now on it will be possible to talk to you about the Great Principle.Go here to read the introductory post to the chapters of the Book of Chuang Tzu.
"Of all the waters of the world, none is as great as the sea. Ten thousand streams flow into it - I have never heard of a time when they stopped - and yet it is never full. The water leaks away at Wei-lu - I have never heard of a time when it didn't - and yet the sea is never empty. Spring or autumn, it never changes. Flood or drought, it takes no notice. It is so much greater than the streams of the Yangtze or the Yellow River that it is impossible to measure the difference.
"But I have never for this reason prided myself on it. I take my place with heaven and earth and receive breath from the yin and yang. I sit here between heaven and earth as a little stone or a little tree sits on a huge mountain. Since I can see my own smallness, what reason would I have to pride myself?
~ Burton Watson translation via Terebess Asia Online ~
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Chapter 17, Part 2A - Chuang Tzu
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
You can't discuss the ocean with a well frog - he's limited by the space he lives in.
ReplyDeleteLove that sentence. I wish I would know what to discuss with the frogs I meet. The problem in real life is that everybody is pretending, and we can never know their limitations, for they're all trying to hide them.
Therefore, I think, the secret to having successful conversations lies in discovering the person's limitations, as hidden as they may be, and choose our topics from their realm of understanding.