Our Master Lieh Tzu dwelt on a vegetable plot in the Chêng State for forty years, and no man knew him for what he was. The Prince, his Ministers, and all the State officials looked upon him as one of the common herd. A time of dearth fell upon the State, and he was preparing to migrate to Wei, when his disciples said to him: 'Now that our Master is going away without any prospect of returning, we have ventured to approach you, hoping for instruction. Are there no words from the lips of Hu-Ch'iu Tzu-lin that you can impart to us?Go here to read the introductory post to the chapters of the Book of Lieh Tzu.
Lieh Tzu smiled and said: 'Do you suppose that Hu Tzu dealt in words? However, I will try to repeat to you what my Master said on one occasion to Po-hun Mou-jên.
I was standing by and heard his words, which ran as, follows:--
"There is a Creative Principle which is itself uncreated; there is a Principle of Change which is itself unchanging. The Uncreated is able to create life; the Unchanging is able to effect change. That which is produced cannot but continue producing; that which is evolved cannot but continue evolving. Hence there is constant production and constant evolution. The law of constant production and of constant evolution at no time ceases to operate.
~ Lionel Giles translation via Terebess Asia Online ~
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Chapter 1, Part 1A - Lieh Tzu
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Aha! The Laws of Thermodynamics. For those who get stuck in the distinction of Taoism as philosophy or religion, I would say (as a Taoist master told me in May) that Taoism is natural science. Taoism is everything! (Except politics...although it explains a lot there.)
ReplyDeleteI'm going to follow along here with my copy of Eva Wong's Lieh Tzu. She calls this chapter "That which is not born gives birth to everything."
She writes of Hu Tzu's words:
"All things have their place in the universe, whether it is active or passive, moving or not moving. They fulfill their function in the world simply by being what they are. Everything plays a part in the process of creating, nourishing, transforming, and destroying. The creation of one thing is the destruction of another, and the destruction of one thing is the creation of another. In this way, life carries on in the universe. In every moment there is birth and death, and there is coming and going. This process never stops."
Maybe not as lyrical as Giles, but clear and accessible, a little more contemporary. Tao 101.
Thank you for sharing this!
Delete