The Writings of Chuang Tzu (Inner Chapters) · 51 of 57 · tr. James Legge
Book VI (part 12)
All things begin from nothing and end in nothing.
Their birth and their death are only the creations of our thought, the going and coming of the primary ether.
When we have penetrated to the non-reality of life and death, what remains of the body of so many feet?' 247:3 The 'Creator' or 'Maker' ( ) is the Tâo.
248:1 Compare this description of Dze-yü's deformity with that of the poor Shû, in IV, 8.
248:2 Such is the submission to one's lot produced by the teaching of Tâoism.
248:3 Compare the same phraseology in III, par.
4, near the end.
In correcting Mr.
Balfour's mistranslation of the text, Mr.
Giles himself falls into a mistranslation through not observing that the p.
249 is passive, having the that precedes as its subject (observe the force of the after in the best editions), and not active, or governing the that follows.
249:1 Compare the account of the scene at Lâo-dze's death, in III, par.
4.
249:2 Here comes in the belief in transformation.
249:3 The name of a famous sword, made for Ho-lü, the king of p.
250 Wû (B.
C.
514-494).
See the account of the forging of it in the , ch.
74.
The mention of it would seem to indicate that Dze-lâi and the other three men were of the time of Confucius.
250:1 These three men were undoubtedly of the time of Confucius, and some would identify them with the Dze-sang Po-dze of Ana.
VI, i, Mäng Kih-fan of VI, 13, and the Lâo of IX, vi, 4.
This is very unlikely.
They were Tâoists.
250:2 Or, 'without end.' 250:3 Or, 'Some time went by silently, and.' 251:1 In accordance with the ancient and modern practice in China of calling the dead back.
But these were doing so in a song to the lute.
251:2 Or, 'they do not regulate their doings (in the usual way).' 252:1 The idea that the body is composed of the elements of earth, wind or air, fire, and water.
252:2 A strange description of himself by the sage.
Literally, 'I am (one of) the people killed and exposed to public view by Heaven;' referring, perhaps, to the description of a living man as 'suspended by a string from God.' Confucius was content to accept his life, and used it in pursuing the path of duty, according to his conception of it, without aiming at the transcendental method of the Tâoists.
I can attach no other or better meaning to the expression.
253:1 Misled by the text of Hsüang Ying, Mr.
Balfour here reads instead of .
253:2 Here, however, he aptly compares with the language of Christ in Matthew vii.
28.--Kwang-dze seems to make Confucius praise the system of Tâoism as better than his own!
253:3 Must have been a member of the Ming or Ming-sun family of Lû, to a branch of which Mencius belonged.
254:1 The people set such store by the mourning rites, that Mäng-sun felt he must present the appearance of observing them.
This would seem to show that Tâoism arose after the earlier views of the Chinese.
254:2 I adopt here, with many of the critics, the reading of instead of the more common .
254:3 This is to me very obscure.
254:4 Are such dreams possible?
§ Ask Guru about this passage →Themes
Apophatic Theologytheology
Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.
The text defines reality through negation ('nothing', 'non-reality'), describing the divine or ultimate state by what it is not.
All passages →Body As Obstacleanthropology
The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return.
The rhetorical question 'what remains of the body' implies the physical form is secondary to spiritual insight.
All passages →Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology
Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.
The text describes 'penetrated to the non-reality of life and death,' indicating salvation or insight through direct experiential knowledge.
All passages →Mystical Unionsoteriology
The merging of the individual soul or self with the divine, transcending personal identity.
The phrase 'submission to one's lot produced by the teaching of Tâoism' implies a state of alignment or union with the Tao.
All passages →Return To Sourcesoteriology
The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination.
The passage states 'All things begin from nothing and end in nothing,' implying a cyclical return to the origin.
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 assertion that 'All things begin from nothing' suggests a singular underlying substance or reality.
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.
The commentary explicitly links 'submission to one's lot' to the teaching of Taoism, reflecting the principle of effortless alignment with the Dao.
All passages →Related passages · 8 parallels
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“Now in the former treatises the course of the argument, as it came down from the highest to the lowest categories, embraced an ever-widening number of conceptions which increased at each stage of the descent, but in the present treatise it…”
Shared concept: Apophatic Theology — Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa. (derived)
christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Divine Names|Chapter 4, Section 1l
“Need is there to understand that in proper truth we do but use the elements and syllables and phrases and written terms and words as an aid to our senses; inasmuch as when our soul is moved by spiritual energies unto spiritual things, our s…”
Shared concept: Apophatic Theology — Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa. (derived)
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“The Secret Doctrine by H.
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1 [[Vol.
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[[This page continued from previous section ]] § III.
PRIMORDIAL SUBSTANCE AND DIVINE THOUGHT.
"As it would seem irrational…”
Shared concept: Unity Of Being — The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim. (derived)
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“Herbert Spencer has of late so far modified his Agnosticism, as to assert that the nature of the "First Cause,"* which the Occultist more logically derives from the "Causeless Cause," the "Eternal," and the "Unknowable," may be essentially…”
Shared concept: Unity Of Being — The doctrine that all existence is ultimately one substance or one divine reality; non-duality as a theological claim. (derived)
western_esoteric|Transcendental Magic I: The Doctrine (Éliphas Lévi)|3. The Triangle Of Solomon-c
“These shells, envelopes petrified or carnified, were such an expression possible, are the source of errors or of evil, which connects with the heaviness and hardness of animal envelopes.
In the book Zohar , and in that of the Revolution of…”
Shared concept: Body As Obstacle — The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return. (derived)
christian_mysticism|Pseudo-Dionysius: The Mystical Theology|Chapter I-b
“They are useful and necessary up to a point, but the Truth lies beyond them and is to be apprehended to a supernatural manner by what later writers call “infused” contemplation.
The sum of the whole matter is that God is incomprehensible.…”
Shared concept: Return To Source — The soul's journey back to its divine origin, reversing the fall into matter through stages of purification or illumination. (derived)
western_esoteric|The Secret Teachings of All Ages (Manly P. Hall)|The Mysteries and Their Emissaries-a
“DID that divine knowledge which constituted the supreme possession of the pagan priestcrafts survive the destruction of their temples?
Is it yet accessible to mankind, or does it lie buried beneath the rubbish of ages, entombed within the…”
Shared concept: Gnosis Direct Knowledge — Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone. (derived)
christian_mysticism|The Life and Doctrines of Jacob Boehme|Chapter 12 (part 12)
“255:1 However gratifying it may be for the curious seeker in history to know whether or when such an event has actually occurred in the history of the Jewish nation, such a historical belief would be of little benefit to him if he could not…”
Shared concept: Body As Obstacle — The material body viewed as a prison, tomb, or source of error that hinders spiritual knowledge and return. (derived)