Xu Wugui (10)

1 Confucian paid a visit to the King of Chu. The King feasted him, accompanied by Sun Shuao and Shinan Yiliao.

2 Before the feast, in the light of ancient etiquette, Shinan Yiliao invited Confucius to toast Heaven and to make a speech. For knowing that the two persons were the men of well practice, Confucius behooved to praise them. Hence, he made a decent speech on their deeds.

3 Confucius said, “It has been long time since I heard the principle of “wordless word” but I never actually ponder over it. Here, by his great wisdom and discretion Mr. Shinan Yiliao made no effort to eliminate the misfortune that occurred to Duke Bai of Chu and Yi Zixi when the Duke started to rebel.”

4 Mr. Sun Shuao was even greater. Lying on his bed and shaking his fan, he made the mob in Ying City to give up weapon and surrender. Their deeds teach me that something can be accomplished without a word.

5 If the worldly affairs can be done like that without words and my eloquence is not good. Let’s stop talking and enjoy the dishes. Thank you.”

6 Sun Shuao and Shinan Yiliao were the sages who practiced the principle of “wordless word”. Confucius’s speech was “wordless dispute”. Each party had its own subtle effects. Therefore, the hosts and guest felt delighted and the atmosphere of the banquet were friendly.

7 As virtue is the practice of Tao, virtue always leads us into Tao.

8 The wisdom of no-learning leads us to harmony and tranquillness which the common worldly knowledge can’t obtain.

9 Tao is the source of all things. It is the foundation. Virtue is the way to practice Tao.

10 Each person has his own practice in virtue. The practice is subject to time and object but their goals are the same, namely leading to integration of Tao.

11 Operation of virtue is out of control, reach and consideration and judgment of our consciousness. Also, it is difficult for us to describe the nature of virtue by words.

12 The learners, such as learners of Confucian and Mo usually can’t understand the actual situation. They debate upon fame and honor so as to impede the operation of virtue and to obstruct the real way to achieve virtue, which is rather bad.

13 Arranged by Nature, rivers run into the sea. They find their deserved destinations that they become a part of sea. If rivers don’t run so, they will disappear in deserts, or will get stuck in depression and become stagnant pools, which is a misfortune occurring to them; because they don’t conform to the guiding of virtue.

14 Men of perfect practice have ubiquitous influence in universe but we learn less about them; in our life we never think much of them; we never praise them after their death.

15 A man of perfect practice doesn’t try to accumulate wealth, nor fame. Such a man is called ‘great man’.

16 We don’t think that a dog that can bark is good one, nor think that a man who can speak well is intelligent. How can we be called a great man?

17 He who regards himself as a great man isn’t necessary means he is truly a great man, saying nothing of a man of perfect practice?

18 He who is called a man of perfect practice should be the one who gives virtue a full play to guide him to practice Yoga and then to march to source of Tao.

19 He who can enter Samadhi perfectly and has the theurgy of harmonization to all things is a man of perfect practice.

20 Nothing is more than Nature in full play of virtue, while does Nature do something special for the full play?

21 He, who really understands the way of full play of virtue, is the one who follow the principle of ‘empty, no own action’. He doesn’t use will to seek, desert and refuse something. He just silently resigns himself to virtue that takes over flash body and employs the theurgy of harmonization to do what it should do.

22 He doesn’t do any action or do any through his own consciousness in samadhi.

23 He who is a man of perfect practice finds virtue in his body and matches it effortfully. He knows that virtue actually is himself, so he follows and responds to it. , Not being like the common people, the man of perfect practice does not surrender himself to the objective environment and becomes its slave. He merely finds real ego that is wiser and more intelligent. In Samadhi, he consigns himself to the real ego. He is called "Great Man".