The Movements of the Heaven (2)

1 Dang, the minister of the State of Shang asked Chuang Tzu how a man could be called benevolence. Chuang Tzu took an instance. “Tiger and wolf are the animals of benevolence.”

2 Dang asked, “What do you mean?”

3 Chuang Tzu replied, “Doesn’t mother tiger love her children? So tiger is the animal of benevolence.”

4 Dang asked again, “What is the supreme benevolence?”

5 Chuang Tzu said, “The supreme benevolence is of non-self, being flexibility and no fixed object.”

6 Dang doubted it. “I heard that without object there is no love. A man without love is not a dutiful son. According to this deduction, how can you say that a man of supreme benevolence has no filial piety in his heart?”

7 Chuang Tzu said, “For sure, the supreme benevolence is of non-self and being flexibility. It is far from filial piety. The filial piety is not enough. It is not the real supreme benevolence.

8 From here, we walk to south. After a journey, you look north. The Min Mountain is not seen. Why?

9 The reason is simple -- go too far.

10 So, filial piety is easy to do but it is difficult to love parents sincerely. Loving parents is easier than remembering parents for good and remembering parents is easier than remembering them after apart from them for years.

11 It is easy for children to forget parents. On the contrary, it is difficult for parents to forget children. However, on the balance of children and power, parents incline to power.

12 A man of perfect practice has no difficulty in forgetting his country, power and preferring leisure and quiet place. However, the country doesn’t forget him. When the country is in trouble, all people ask him to go out to sever them. He has more difficulty in insisting on refusal.

13 There were many men of perfect practice who refused to assume offices, such as Xu You. They refused the invitations from Yao and Shun and always stayed in the countryside. Even so, they can long nourish all things by the power of Tao, never exhausted. Common people didn’t know that they exerted their influence in silence to maintain and take care of all things.

14 Could those people, such as Xu You, desert Tao to accept the benevolence and filial piety that are canonized by the common people?

15 I can tell you clearly: Filial piety, benevolence, righteousness, loyalty, credit, fidelity and incorruption are all artificial standards. They are fabricated to force people to carry out, which results in the distortion of humanity. It is bad. Their shortages are so many. So, it is said that the noblest man deserts power; the richest man throws away the fortune of the country; lofty man neglects fame, not lingering over it.

16 The man who can forget power, fortune and fame is qualified for practice because he is within the realm of Tao.”