Posts tagged ‘yang chu’
From: The .99c Guide to Enlightenment
The Art Of Nourishing Life
Yen Ping Chung asked Kuan Yi Wu about nourishing life.
Kuan replied, “It’s enough to give life its free course, neither blocking nor obstructing it.”
Yen said, “How do I do that?”
Kuan replied, “Let the ear hear what it likes, the eye see what it likes, the nose smell what it likes, the mouth say what it likes, the body to enjoy the comfort it likes, and the mind to do what it likes.
Now what the ear likes to hear is music, and prohibiting that is what I call obstruction of the ear.
What the eye likes to look at is beauty, and if it is not permitted to view beauty I call this obstruction of sight.
What the nose likes to smell is perfume, and it’s not being permitted to smell I call obstruction to scent.
What the mouth likes to talk about is right and wrong, and if it is not permitted to speak I call it obstruction of the truth.
The comforts the body enjoys is to have rich food and fine clothing. And if this is not permitted, I say this is obstruction of the senses of the body.
What the mind likes is to be at peace. If this is not permitted I call this obstruction of the mind’s nature.
All these obstructions are a source of the most painful irritation.
Morbidly to cultivate this cause of irritation, unable to get rid of it, and so have a long but very sad life of eighty to a hundred years, is not what I call nourishing life.
But to stop this source of obstruction and with calm enjoyment to await death – for a day, a month,a year or ten years – is what I understand by enjoying life.
Now that I have told you about cherishing life, please tell me about the burial of the dead?
Yen said,
Burying the dead is of little importance. What shall I tell you about it?
Kuan replied,
I really would like to hear it.
Yen answered him,
What can I do when I am dead? They may burn my body or cast it into deep water or bury it or leave it exposed or throw it wrapped up in a mat into some ditch or cover it with princely apparel and embroidered garments and rest it in a stone sarcophagus. All that depends on mere chance.
Kuan said,
Good. Both of us have made some progress in the principles of life and death.
Yang Chu’s The Vanity Of Celebrity
When he was young, Yang Chu lived only for pleasure.
Once he was travelling in the state of Lu and stayed at the house of Mr. Meng. Meng asked him, “A person is just a person. Why do people strive for fame?”
Yang Chu replied, “If they do, it’s because they want to become rich.”
Meng said, “But when they’ve become rich, why don’t they stop?”
Y: Then they are after high status.
M: Why don’t they stop once they are honoured?
Y: It will help when they are dead.
M: But what good is fame when they are dead?
Y: It will help their descendants.
M: What good is fame to their descendants?
Y: For fame’s sake they have endured all kinds of hardship and pain. But one person’s fame can benefit their family, and even their fellow citizens. Their descendants will benefit even more.
However it’s better for those who desire real fame to be disinterested in becoming famous. But to be disinterested in fame means you live in poverty. And to be disinterested means you have to show restraint, and this is equivalent to being humble.
Meng was puzzled, and asked, “How can one be disinterested in fame, and yet fame arrives by itself?”
Yang Chu replied, “The ignorant strive so hard to maintain their fame, that they sacrifice reality. Doing this they eventually regret that nothing can rescue them from illness and death. They also regret not knowing the difference between ease and pleasure and sorrow and grief.