More on Discombobulated Virtuosity

Scott Bradley

Shu the Discombobulated was a physical wreck, yet this proved to be a boon in that he was able to provide a living for himself and to live out a full span of years. And not only this, but he was also able to provide for others as well. Because of his disabilities he was able to avoid the draft and forced labor, and was thereby able to pursue his sewing, washing and divination. Who could ask for more? Us.

What Zhuangzi does not, and need not, tell us is that Shu didn't get the girl, didn't get rich, was not envied and thought a great success. No bling. No cool. No "pride of life". We, on the other hand, 'left the farm' so long ago that we cannot even begin to relate to such simplicity as anything but misfortune. The modern ethos has so externalized us that we cannot find contentment in anything other than reputation and 'success'. We are required to "get a life", rather than to simply live and find contentment in the one we have.

If physical discombobulation can work in our favor, Zhuangzi asks, "How much more can be accomplished with discombobulated Virtuosity!? (de)" (4:19; Ziporyn) But like physical discombobulation, the benefits of spiritual discombobulation are largely counter-intuitive. Taking the way of water, being empty of rigid form and simply filling the spaces available, being content in the lower places spurned by others — this is a path which the world can only see as discombobulated.

The world is quite capable of paying lip-service to such virtue, of course, but like the 'saints', they are considered so extraordinarily other-worldly that they can easily be ignored. Jesus' virtues as expounded in the Sermon on the Mount, for example, are widely touted as the essence of virtuosity, but no one would be so foolish as to try and live them. "Blessed are the meek." Yeah, well a bit of humility is nice, but we shouldn't let others walk over us. "Blessed are the peacemakers." Well, yes, but sometimes we have to go to war; how else can we defend "God's country"? It is one of the great ironies of today's evangelical Christians that they are among the most militant, but this has its roots all the way back in the formation of Christianity when a redemptive theology took the place of redemptive living. A life lived, Jesus’, was displaced by a life explained. Dogma became more important than life.

A discombobulated virtuosity does have its 'accomplishments', however; it’s just that we cannot see them unless we live them. Only the free are able to appreciate freedom in adversity; the world can only see the latter. That's why it’s discombobulated.

You can check out Scott's writings on Zhuangzi here.