Monday, October 8, 2012

Bit by Bit - Chapter 1, Part 8

Trey Smith


Lieh Tzu could ride the wind and go soaring around with cool and breezy skill, but after fifteen days he came back to earth. As far as the search for good fortune went, he didn't fret and worry. He escaped the trouble of walking, but he still had to depend on something to get around. If he had only mounted on the truth of Heaven and Earth, ridden the changes of the six breaths, and thus wandered through the boundless, then what would he have had to depend on?

Therefore I say, the Perfect Man has no self; the Holy Man has no merit; the Sage has no fame.

~ Burton Watson translation ~
It is not uncommon for us to think we have things all figured out. In our arrogance, we strut around like pompous roosters preening in front of a mirror. In other words, we become way too full of ourselves.

Reality has a way of bringing us back down to earth -- often dumping us on a dung heap of our own making.

To view the Index page for this series, go here.

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