Webbed Toes (2)

1 Picture drawn with compasses and rulers will lose the things’ beauty of natural structure. Things, if bound with ropes and glue, it will spoil the things’ material nature.

2 We try to use music and rite to content our soul and to use benevolence and righteousness to regulate our behaviors. The regulations of behavior will affect our nature of human.

3 Everything has its own natural attribute – self-nature. The function of self-nature does not need any artificial standard to regulate or assist it.

4 Self-nature needs neither binding nor gauge. It promotes the abundant lives perfectly under the condition of unconsciousness. Though it is unknown how the self-nature to delicately arrange itself among the chains of food, every creature has had its own space for living since the beginning of the world.

5 However, the civilization of human being has been developing to such a level of today; such artificial codes of conduct as benevolence and righteousness have deeply permeated into the realm of self-nature of human. Personality is pieced together and humanity is distorted so that a lot of confuse comes out.

6 Since the beginning of the civilization of humanity, everyone changed much or less his inherent nature because of all kinds of desires.

7 Common people spoil their inherent nature for the wealth, scholars for the fame, aristocrats for their clan’s right and interest, sages for saving the world. All people, though they are different in career and rank, are the same in spoiling their inherent nature.

8 As sheepherders, Zang and Gu lost some sheep due to their neglect. Zang said that he did breach of duty because of reading books; Gu lost sheep due to gamble with others. Despite of their different causes, they were the same in guilt of losing sheep.

9 Boyi died from conserving his reputation on Mount Shouyang; Robber Zhi died from robbing wealth at Mount Dongling. Though their causes were different, both ceased their lives in their prime time and the results of destroying life were the same.

10 Was Boyi certainly sage and aloof because of dying from conserving his honor and reputation?

11 Was it wrong and blamed that robber Zhi was killed for robbing wealth?

12 In the concept of common people, it is worth praising to sacrifice his life for the benevolence and righteousness and should be the action of a gentleman, while the man robbing of wealth, is sin, condemned, suffer-deserved and is called a cad.

13 Though the two are all human being, they are differentiated from gentleman and cad. However, Robber Zhi and Boyi are the same in the viewpoint of spoiling life. Why do people classify them into gentleman and cad?

14 Shi You and Zeng Can are well known for their devoting benevolence and righteousness but even if your obedience to benevolence and righteousness are the same as theirs, I don’t think yet that you are a man of perfect virtue.

15 Yu Er is contemporarily famous master of cuisine but even if your skill of cuisine is the same as his, I don’t think yet that you are a man of perfect virtue.

16 Even if your talent of music is the same as Shi Kuang’s, I don’t think yet that you are a true great musician.

17 Even if your application of color in fine art is the same as Lizhu’s, I don’t think yet that you are an artist.

18 The man of perfection who I think is the one who sincerely takes elaborate care of his practice of virtue. The man of perfection focuses his attention on the requirements to content the life instinct. He does not listen to the sound of objective condition but that of heart in subjective condition. He does not observe the various change of objective condition but that of subjective condition—inner change.

19 He is not the one who always watches others all days instead of himself. He is not the one who always concerns possessing the thing of objective condition and spending no time in elaborating his own treasure.

20 He is not the one who always holds a load of other’s thing of objective condition but few things really belong to him.

21 He is not the one who bustles in catering for others instead of consoling his own soul.

22 Those who only cater for others and don’t know how to amuse themselves are reputed to be celebrity as robber Zhi and Boyi, but I deem that they are fool who go in wrong way of life.

23 I really dare not to waste my precious life in other irrelevant things because in managing Tao, I am too busy to handle the others.