The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) · 25 of 57 · tr. James Legge
Book IV (part 3)
Doing what other men do, they would have no occasion to blame me.
This p.
208 is what is called being a fellow-worker with other men.
'Fully declaring my sentiments and substantiating them by appealing to antiquity, I shall be a co-worker with the ancients.
Although the words in which I convey my lessons may really be condemnatory (of the ruler), they will be those of antiquity, and not my own.
In this way, though straightforward, I shall be free from blame.
This is what is called being a co-worker with antiquity.
May I go to Wei in this way, and be successful?' 'No indeed!' said Kung-nî.
'How can you do so?
You have too many plans of proceeding, and have not spied out (the ruler's character).
Though you firmly adhere to your plans, you may be held free from transgression, but this will be all the result.
How can you (in this way) produce the transformation (which you desire)?
All this only shows (in you) the mind of a teacher!' 2.
Yen Hui said, 'I can go no farther; I venture to ask the method from you.' Kung-nî replied, 'It is fasting 1 , (as) I will tell you.
(But) when you have the method, will you find it easy to practise it?
He who thinks it easy will be disapproved of by the bright Heaven.' Hui said, 'My family is poor.
For months together we have no spirituous drink, nor do we taste the proscribed food or any strong-smelling vegetables 2 ;--can this be regarded as fasting?' The reply was, 'It is the fasting appropriate to sacrificing, but it is not the fasting p.
209 of the mind.' 'I venture to ask what that fasting of the mind is,' said Hui, and Kung-nî answered, 'Maintain a perfect unity in every movement of your will.
You will not wait for the hearing of your ears about it, but for the hearing of your mind.
You will not wait even for the hearing of your mind, but for the hearing of the spirit 1 .
Let the hearing (of the ears) rest with the ears.
Let the mind rest in the verification (of the rightness of what is in the will).
But the spirit is free from all pre-occupation and so waits for (the appearance of) things.
Where the (proper) course is 2 , there is freedom from all pre-occupation;--such freedom is the fasting of the mind.' Hui said 3 , 'Before it was possible for me to employ (this method), there I was, the Hui that I am; now, that I can employ it, the Hui that I was has passed away.
Can I be said to have obtained this freedom from pre-occupation?' The Master replied, 'Entirely.
I tell you that you can enter and be at ease in the enclosure (where he is), and not come into collision with the reputation (which belongs to him).
If he listen to your counsels, let him hear your notes; if he will not listen, be silent.
Open no (other) door; employ no other medicine; dwell with him (as with a.
friend) in the same apartment, and as if you had no other option, and you will not be far from success in your object.
Not to move a step is easy;--to walk without treading on the ground is difficult.
In acting after the manner of men, it is easy to fall p.
210 into hypocrisy; in acting after the manner of Heaven, it is difficult to play the hypocrite.
I have heard of flying with wings; I have not heard of flying without them.
§ Ask Guru about this passage →Themes
Fasting And Prayerpraxis
Ascetic disciplines that prepare the body and mind for spiritual receptivity or purification.
The dialogue centers on distinguishing physical sacrificial fasting from the spiritual discipline of mental fasting.
All passages →Inner Silencepraxis
The practice of stilling the mind and speech to open receptivity to divine knowledge or presence.
The text advocates resting the hearing of the ears and mind to allow the spirit to wait free from pre-occupation.
All passages →Meditationpraxis
Disciplined inward attention — sitting, focused, or open-awareness practice — as a stand-alone term that umbrellas active_contemplation, inner_silence, and dhyana-style sitting.
Confucius instructs Yen Hui on a disciplined inward practice of 'fasting of the mind' involving stillness and spirit.
All passages →Mystical Unionsoteriology
The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.
The goal is described as entering the enclosure at ease and maintaining perfect unity in every movement of the will.
All passages →Paradox As Teachingethics
Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.
The Master uses paradoxical statements like 'walk without treading on the ground' to convey spiritual truths.
All passages →Rejection Of Hypocrisyethics
Critique of outward religious observance that lacks inner transformation; form without substance.
Confucius warns that acting after the manner of men leads easily into hypocrisy, contrasting it with acting after Heaven.
All passages →Self Knowledgesoteriology
The recognition of one's own true divine nature as the primary path to liberation; 'know thyself' as soteriology.
Yen Hui reports a transformation where 'the Hui that I was has passed away,' indicating a shift in self-identity.
All passages →Spiritual Ascentpraxis
A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source.
The instruction moves from hearing with ears, to mind, to spirit, suggesting a hierarchical ascent of perception.
All passages →Unity Of Beingtheology
The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim.
The practice aims for 'perfect unity' in the will, reflecting a non-dualistic approach to action.
All passages →Wu Weipraxis
Effortless action aligned with the spontaneous flow of the Dao; non-coercive, non-striving conduct that yields results without forcing — the sage acts without acting.
[auto] The passage explicitly describes 'walking without treading on the ground' and acting after Heaven as effortless action aligned with the Dao.
All passages →Related passages · 12 parallels
christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 5, Section 1a
“131 CHAPTER V Concerning ” Existence “ and also concerning ” Exemplars .” I.
Now must we proceed to the Name of “Being” which is truly applied by the Divine Science to Him that truly Is.
But this much we must say, that it is not the purpo…”
Shared concept: Mystical Union — The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity. (derived)
christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 5, Section 1i
“364 The ultimate Godhead is reached only by the Negative Path, and known only by Unknowing.
The Affirmative Path of philosophical knowledge leads only to the differentiated manifestations of the Godhead: e.g.
the Trinity, in Its creative…”
Shared concept: Mystical Union — The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity. (derived)
christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 1 (part 4)
“Let them, therefore, again go out with their will from their wilful ignorance or malignity and enter again into the will of God." ( Menschwerdung , 3, 5.) All this goes to show that it is useless and vain to seek for divine wisdom, meaning…”
Shared concept: Self Knowledge — The recognition of one's own true divine nature as the primary path to liberation; 'know thyself' as soteriology. (derived)
hinduism|Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book III|Sutra 7
“This threefold power, of Attention, Meditation, Contemplation, is more interior than the means of growth previously described. Very naturally so; because the means of growth previously described were concerned with the extrication of the sp…”
Shared concept: Meditation — Disciplined inward attention — sitting, focused, or open-awareness practice — as a stand-alone term that umbrellas active_contemplation, inner_silence, and dhyana-style sitting. (derived)
western_esoteric|The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall)|Atlantis and the Gods of Antiquity-g
“At the first gate the great crown is removed from her head, at the second gate the earrings from her ears, at the third gate the necklace from her neck, at the fourth gate the ornaments from her breast, at the fifth gate the girdle from her…”
Shared concept: Spiritual Ascent — A staged journey of the soul upward through heavenly realms or levels of being toward the divine source. (derived)
christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 10 (part 9)
“"All sacrificing without faith and divine desire is an p.
219 abomination before God, and does not reach the gate of divine glory; but if man enters therein with the power of faith, he surrenders to it his free will, and desires by that me…”
Shared concept: Rejection Of Hypocrisy — Critique of outward religious observance that lacks inner transformation; form without substance. (derived)
renaissance_hermeticism|The Heroic Enthusiasts, Part II (Gli Eroici Furori)|First Dialogue-g
“Wherefore not only can we never discourse about things divine, but we cannot even think of them without detracting from, rather than adding to the glory of them; so that the best thing to be done with regard to them is, that man, in the pre…”
Shared concept: Inner Silence — The practice of stilling the mind and speech to open receptivity to divine knowledge or presence. (derived)
greek_mystery|The Golden Verses of Pythagoras|Section 5 (part 3)
“"Thou shalt not hope what thou ought'st not to hope," knowing the nature of all things, and what is possible.
55.
The Gods near at hand are virtue and truth.
p.
17 59, 60.
The fatal strife is caused by our inclination "madly to run cou…”
Shared concept: Fasting And Prayer — Ascetic disciplines that prepare the body and mind for spiritual receptivity or purification. (derived)
western_esoteric|Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi)|1. The Candidate-d
“One who neglects his moral dignity in order to obey blindly the instincts of Nature.
As a fact, in the presence of danger it is natural to be afraid and seek flight: why, then, is it shameful?
Because honour has erected it into a law that…”
Shared concept: Fasting And Prayer — Ascetic disciplines that prepare the body and mind for spiritual receptivity or purification. (derived)
hinduism|Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Book III|Sutra 3
“When the perceiving consciousness in this meditative is wholly given to illuminating the essential meaning of the object contemplated, and is freed from the sense of separateness and personality, this is contemplation (samadhi). Let us revi…”
Shared concept: Meditation — Disciplined inward attention — sitting, focused, or open-awareness practice — as a stand-alone term that umbrellas active_contemplation, inner_silence, and dhyana-style sitting. (derived)
hermeticism|Corpus Hermeticum 13: The Discourse of Hermes to Tat|Section 1a
“The Secret Sermon on the Mountain <This dialogue is in many ways the culmination of the whole Corpus, summing up the theory of the Hermetic system at the same time as it provides an intriguing glimpse at the practice.
The focus of the dial…”
Shared concept: Inner Silence — The practice of stilling the mind and speech to open receptivity to divine knowledge or presence. (derived)
western_esoteric|The Book of Ceremonial Magic (A.E. Waite)|Page 6 (part 1)
“PART I THE LITERATURE OF CEREMONIAL MAGIC Click to view THE SERPENT OF THE GARDEN OF THE HESPERIDES.
From a Greek Vase Painting.
CHAPTER I The antiquity of Magical Rituals § 1.
The Importance of Ceremonial Magic THE ordinary fields of ps…”
Shared concept: Paradox As Teaching — Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight. (derived)