The Heaven and the Earth(14)

1 A tree of a hundred year is fell by us and sawed it open to make the vessel in order to contain wine. In the meantime, the small pieces of wood after sawed are thrown away in the drain.

2 In our viewpoint, the appearance of the wine vessel is different from those small pieces of wood. The wine vessel is beautiful and useful while those small pieces of wood are ugly and useless.

3 However, in the view of the fact that they are no longer a tree; the wine vessel is the same as those small pieces of wood.

4 Take an instance of Robber Zhi, Zeng Can and Shi You. In the eyes of us, Robber Zhi was a bad guy while Shi You and Zen Can were scholars and there was no doubt that they were good guys. However, in the view of the fact that they were deprived of their original nature, they were the same.

5 There are five factors that make us deprived of our original nature:

（１）Five colors bewilder our eyes and weaken our insights.

（２）Five notes bewilder our ears and confuse our listening.

（３）Five odors choke our noses to make us languish in thinking.

（４）Five tastes numb our mouths and spoil our tastes.

（５）Avarice and desire of possession captivate our minds and irritate our hearts, which makes us upset.

6 The said factors all invade our body but Yang Zhu and Mo Zi think that they are worthy of deep research to make people progress in practice.

7 However, in the viewpoint of Tao, it is not an achievement at all. If the achievement means people being controlled and guided by the material, then, I would say, it deserves nothing and it is unworthy of praising.

8 If the achievement tied to the material possession is regarded as a progress, then, the dove and owl in the cage with food and water and don’t need to worry about living is also an achievement.

9 As avarice and desire of possession occupy a man’s heart, the heavy grand toilette, hat and other dresses wrap his body and in his deepest mind he feels confused and doesn’t know why he come to this world and why he has to do all those boring jobs. If a man like this being called as a man of having achievement, the criminals with cuffs and fetters and the tiger and leopard in the cage could be called having achievement too.