Zhi Travels North (11)

1 Yan Hui asked Confucius, “I ever heard that some learned people said that the right attitude to the objective conditions is to send nothing off and welcome nothing. What does it mean?”

2 Confucius replied, “The man of perfect practice insists the principle of personal practice; however, for the objective conditions are fluky, they are not easy to control, and therefore, people should adjust his attitude all the time according to the change of objective conditions.

3 Common people are different, they have no their own principle of practice, and their practice in soundness, tranquilness and peace are not enough. When confronting the objective conditions, they can’t recognize its fluky nature and handle them in stiff way. Finally the inflexibility brings themselves endless confusion and pain.

4 In handling objective conditions, we should hold ‘mirror theory’: we respond at full steam to the present things; we give up and neglect the things that go far from the mirror; we don’t expect and plan the future that is not coming into the mirror yet.

5 It is bad to strive for possession and control of the objective conditions.

6 For example, Xiwei Shi’s park, Yellow Emperor’s garden, Youyu Shi’s palace and Tang Wu’s house presented the wrong idea that they wanted to occupy the fluky objective conditions for ever.

7 Mo Zi and I are belonging to the men who having reached a certain level of practice; however, sometime we still appraise objective conditions for right or wrong in the light of artificial code of conduct and finally misjudge the condition. As for the common people their appraisals certainly are mistake-ridden and are not able to have the right direction in dealing with the fluky objection conditions.

8 A man of practice who reaches the level of no-self and being flexibility doesn’t try to require, squeeze and make use of anything of the objective conditions. He to the objective conditions is as you to the stone that is located in front of your gate. You don’t spend energy in playing tricks to, curse and beat the stone. Also, the stone itself will not jump up to baffle you.

9 A man of perfect practice dulls all sharpness, closes all doors, unties all tangles, tempers all glares and get along well with everyone. He doesn't stimulate, collide with, hurt and offend others as he can as possible. Meanwhile, he disguises himself as a good-for-nothing who is unworthy being employed.

10 In the viewpoint of the subjective conditions, he is a common, useless, silly and old man. In the viewpoint of the objective conditions, he is simple and plain in life so as to give other no pressure. He is like the disabled young man who swaggered freely and leisurely on the street when most young men tried to escape from the conscription.

11 If you can do so among people, you are indeed a free man, keeping away from any hurt when roaming among masses.

12 The objective conditions have all-pervasive influences on us. We tour around in the beautiful and splendid mountains and plain, enjoying the beautiful scenes and being touched by them. Su Dongpo’s poem on West Lake is ‘both heavy make-up and light make-up are beautiful.’ When we appreciate the blooming flower, a sad mood emerged simultaneously as we bemoan the withering and falling flowers.

13 The objective conditions make people happy and sad. The happy and sad mood swing like a pendulum. Since common people don’t have their own principle and do not know the fluky nature of objective conditions, they can’t resist the attacking of the mood of sadness, and can’t keep the happiness when it leaving. People are pitiful indeed.

14 To us, the objective conditions take our people as a hotel or a place where they can pause and then leave. Their staying and leaving are out of our control.

15 Things which stayed and left in our mind are what we know and sense. In the same time and space, there are so many things happened and disappeared which we don’t feel and miss.

16 So paltry are people because the time and space they are able to meet are so narrow. The objective conditions that people can see, touch and confront directly are very limited, which is the reality that people can’t overcome and change.

17 Nevertheless some people bemoan, complain and do remorse to the unchangeable reality. Aren’t they pitiful?

18 When we know the limitation and the uncontrollable nature of our ability in facing the objective conditions, we will not talk volubly what we don’t know but pretend to know; we will not be imprudent in judging the development of things and even impede it. They, who want to know everything well, are too shallow to estimate their ability.”