CHOPPED FOOT IN LU
“There was a man with a chopped foot in Lu, Wang Tai, who had as many disciples in his retinue as Confucius himself. Ch’ang Chi asked Confucius, “Wang Tai had his foot chopped off, but the disciples in his train divide Lu down the middle with yours. When he stands up he doesn’t teach, when he sits down he doesn’t talk things over, yet they go to him empty and come away full. Is there indeed a wordless teaching, or a heart which is whole though the body is deformed? What man is this?”
For more than a decade Chuang Tzu’s nothingness has been a source of wisdom for me. It is fascinating how all attempts at being leads ultimately to a profound understanding of nothingness and in the face of this emptiness, life emerges in the most natural form. It is as if in the face of existential non-being, one begins to see life and reality much more clearly. The image of the bird named P’eng is a metaphor that continues to guide me in my spiritual journey and psychological formation. From this walk through the paradox of Chuang Tzu’s Text came my book, Do Nothing: Inner Peace for Everyday Living. It is my genuine attempt at interpreting Chuang Tzu for my daily living. I hope it could be of help to others who begin to realize the profound wisdom of our human finiteness within the Way that is unknown and yet remains always present in our midst.
I am intrigued by the “nothingness” concept because I believe that this concept can set you free from worrying about what others think of you, which will lead you to internal and external happiness. I know better than to allow imagery displayed in magazines and television to shape who I am and should be as well as what the canon of beauty is. Within this scope of trying to please man, I embrace the nothingness attitude. Life is so much easier when you love yourself and are okay with being who you are. I am happy being me. 🙂
I also love the Darwism concept of doing nothing. I strongly agree that if we human beings will accept ourselves for who we are and love ourselves just the way we are, life we will so much better and worth living.
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