Bit by Bit - Chapter 22, Part 7

Trey Smith

Nieh Ch'ueh asked P'i-i about the Way. P'i-i said, "Straighten up your body, unify your vision, and the harmony of Heaven will come to you. Call in your knowledge, unify your bearing, and the spirits will come to dwell with you. Virtue will be your beauty, the Way will be your home, and, stupid as a newborn calf, you will not try to find out the reason why."

Before he had finished speaking, however, Nieh Ch'ueh fell sound asleep. P'i-i, immensely pleased, left and walked away, singing this song:

Body like a withered corpse,
mind like dead ashes,
true in the realness of knowledge,
not one to go searching for reasons,
dim dim, dark dark,
mindless, you cannot consult with him:
what kind of man is this.
~ Burton Watson translation ~

Nieh Ch'ueh either found supreme peace in P'i-i's simple message...or he fell asleep due to boredom. It's hard to know which! ;-)

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