Bit by Bit - Chapter 22, Part 16

Trey Smith

"Why don't you try wandering with me to the Palace of Not-Even-Anything -- identity and concord will be the basis of our discussions and they will never come to an end, never reach exhaustion. Why not join with me in inaction, in tranquil quietude, in hushed purity, in harmony and leisure? Already my will is vacant and blank. I go nowhere and don't know how far I've gotten. I go and come and don't know where to stop. I've already been there and back, and I don't know when the journey is done. I ramble and relax in unbordered vastness; Great Knowledge enters in, and I don't know where it will ever end.
~ Burton Watson translation ~

This is how I've come to understand the totality of existence. It's a road that never ends or a room not defined by size. There are stops along the path -- life and death -- but these are mere periods of transition, not permanent destinations. In my mind's eye, existence (and nonexistence) are ever unfolding.

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