ying er bu
cang: respond but do not storecontents:
Respond but do not store: ying
er bu cang
The "Superior" person:
da ren
No inflexibility: wu
suo yu wu
Forget benevolence and morality:
wang ren yi
Self-generated contentment:
zi le
The strategic value of humility
Neither noble nor mean are plausible
Dao guan: the view of the
dao
Wei yong: to cause effective
utilization
Wu chang: indeterminability
Wu nei shang: Don't get
hurt by good and bad.
Cheng le: Unintended
happiness is the most reliable
Wu si does not seem
to be the same as Buddhist "selflessness"
ying er bu
cang: respond but do not store
For example: Deal with a perceived attack by responding with wu wei: using emptiness (intuition) means one applies the least amount of interference to the exact place where it will be most effective. One is effective because one does not hold on to (store) any superfilous thoughts, for example, the idea of needing to "right a wrong."
da ren: Superior
or noble person
This is a typically Confucian moral concept. The Confucian noble is a person to be honored, the "small person" (xiaoren) is to be pitied.
In contrast, Lao-Zhuang mystical philosopy perceives everything in this world of phenomena as being of equal moral worth. When the character "da" appears in Lao-Zhuang it usually refers to an ability and effectiveness, (da qing, da fang, da yi, da dao) not an intrinsic ethical value.
When the term "daren" does appear in Lao-Zhuang it is used paradoxially; the "daren" in Lao-Zhuang clearly realizes he is not "da" (great). Zhuang Zi: "He (the daren) knows that no line can be drawn between right and wrong, no border can be fixed between great and small.) In Lao-Zhuang one's "da-ness" refers to one's great ability, not one's great moral worth.
The daren in Lao-Zhuang is "da" because he has realized there is no substantial difference between da and xiao. The Lao-Zhuang "da" is an morally neutral value. Lao-Zhuang is an amoral set of scriptures.
Wu suo yu wu,
xu zhi zhi ye.
"With no inflexible point, one achieves
optimal emptiness."
Zhuang Zi chapter 15 (Watson page 169)
When there are no fixed (ding) ideas being held
in the mind, one is free to respond to a situation in whatever
way may be appropriate.
wang ren yi: Forget (suspend) thoughts of intentional benevolence and morality.
By clearing the mind of intentional thoughts of doing good, one gains the intuitive realization of what is best, and this realization translates into a benificial action that arises spontaneously (zi ran).
"Zi le" is self-generated contentment. The mystic, maintaining a unified, undifferentiated mode of awareness, surrenders to circumstances, and allows the field of his ongoing experience to unfold of its own accord. By collaborating with this nearly independent process of unfolding, the field of its own accord generates an endless series of auspicious "coincidences". The experience of this process is mystical "ecstatsy, an enduring feeling of contentment. The contentment is "self-generated" because it is a contentment which arises spontaneously and endures regardless of specific material events.
The unusual endurance of this contentment depends on the mystic's continued surrender to the field's unique ability to effectively integrate all positive and negative aspects of itself, and create a pattern that benefits the mystic. Because this feeling of satisfaction is therefore not subject to any particular "positive" or "negative" events, mystics have called it "sovereign contentment."
See also: Sovereign contentment
The strategic value of humility
In contrast to the Western appraisal of humility, in classical China humility was valued primarily for its efficacy, not its moral quality. In the following passage from the Yi Jing the writer expounds on the strategic advantage of humility:
Qian ye zhe zhi gong yi
cun qi wei zhe ye.
"A humility that expresses optimal reverence
for others allows one to preserve one's own position."
Here is entrire passage, this time translated by James Legge:
"A superior man toiling laboriously and yet humble! He will bring things to an end, and with good fortune." The Master said on this:--"He toils with success, but does not boast of it; he achieves merit, but takes no virtue to himself from it;--this is the height of generous goodness, and speaks of the man who with (great) merit yet places himself below others. He wishes his virtue to be more and more complete, and in his intercourse with others to be more and more respectful; -- he who is so humble, carrying his respectfulness to the utmost, will be able to reserve himself in his position." The I Ching page 363
Neither noble nor mean are plausible
"Bu zhi rong ru zhi zai bi ye, zai wo ye." Lie Zi
He no longer knew noble nor mean to be a fit description of himself or any other person. (Chapter 6, section 2)
ZhuangZi: Chapter Seventeen:
Yi dao guan zhi,
wu wu gui zhi,
yi wu guan zhi,
zi gui er xiang jian.
According to the Dao's view
Nothing is noble nor mean.
According to each being's view,
Itself is noble and others are mean.
The first part of the formula above amounts to complete moral relativity. The second part of the formula admits to moral discrimination. Which is Zhuang Zi's view? Is he a radical moral relativist? No. Is he on the contrary, someone who will admit of moral differences. No. He is neither one of these, but is rather a self-described "double walker" (liang xing).
Zhuangzi is mystic who believes one must be aware of and take in consideration all possible ways of rationally (philosophically rational) looking at affairs. With this clear and comprehensive view (guan) the mystic is able to make the most effective response to any situation, a response that is obtained from a synthesis of both of the following equally valid views:
One: the complete relativist = all things are equal (the dao guan)
Two: the absolute moral view = there exist
absolute and obvious moral values by which we can determine and
fix normative standards (the view of conventional human morality)
Wei yong: cause effective utilization
Wei yong
Chapter 11 of Laozi: Using wu to wei yong.
The purpose of wu (emptying) in daoism is wei yong (to cause effective utilization) Therefore one empties the mind of all preocupation (including of course, any preoccupation with effective utilization!) With the supression of all conscious intention (gu or yu) one better integrates the entire field of perception and thereby achieves the most effective utilization of the present circumstances.
Wu wo" (no me) is not to cancel my human person, but rather indicates that by forgetting the thought of "me" I will become more effective in enhancing my personal experience.
Wu Chang: indeterminability (Zhuangzi:
chapter 6 and 33)
Interminability is the attitude that one takes in order to manifest de (creative power). If one assumes any kind of fixed (a priori) knowledge, one sets up mental blocks and loses flexibility (ruo), the ability to respond to unexpected changes.
Wu nei shang: Don't get hurt by good and bad.
Wu
yi hao wu nei shang qi shen
Zhuangzi, chapter five: "Don't wound your inner being with ideas of good and evil."
Cheng le: Unintended happiness is the most reliable
Wu
yi wu wei cheng le yi
Zhuangzi chapter 18 "I consider unintended happiness to be the most reliable."
Wu si does not seem to be the same as Buddhist "selflessness"
Laozi chapter seven:
"Why does she minimize her own wants?
It's precisely to fulfill her own ends."
無聽之以心而聽之以氣。
zi le