Letting Be and Leaving Alone

Letting Be and Leaving Alone

One hears of letting the world be at ease and left alone; one does not hear of governing the world. To let it be is to fear that the world will overflow its inborn nature; to leave it alone is to fear that the world will depart from its virtue. If the world does not overflow its inborn nature and does not depart from its virtue, what need is there to govern it?

In the past, when Yao governed the world, he made the world joyful, so that people delighted in their nature — but this was not tranquility. When Jie governed the world, he made the world weary, so that people suffered in their nature — but this was not joy. What is neither tranquil nor joyful is not true virtue. And what is not true virtue yet can endure for long — such a thing does not exist in the world.

When people are overjoyed, the excess tilts toward the yang; when they are enraged, the excess tilts toward the yin. When both yin and yang are so tilted, the four seasons lose their proper course, the harmony of cold and heat fails to be established — and does this not in turn injure the human form! It causes people to lose the proper balance of joy and anger, to be unsettled in where they dwell, to be unable to find satisfaction in their own thoughts, and to fall short of carrying things through to completion midway. From this point, the world begins to become arrogant and overbearing, and only then do the actions of Robber Zhi and Zeng Shen and Shi Yu arise. Thus, taking the whole world to reward those who are good is not enough; taking the whole world to punish those who are wicked is insufficient. So vast is the world that it cannot be covered by reward and punishment. Since the times of the Three Dynasties, there has been nothing but noise and clamor, with reward and punishment as the constant business of the day. When do people ever have the leisure to settle into the true nature of their lives?

Moreover, is delighting in eyesight not an excess of color? Is delighting in hearing not an excess of sound? Is delighting in benevolence not a disordering of virtue? Is delighting in righteousness not a violation of reason? Is delighting in ritual not an embellishment of skill? Is delighting in music not an embellishment of excess? Is delighting in sagehood not an embellishment of artifice? Is delighting in knowledge not an embellishment of fault-finding? If the world is to settle into the true nature of its life, these eight things may be present — that is acceptable; they may be absent — that is also acceptable. But if the world is not to settle into the true nature of its life, then these eight things begin to crumple and roll up, to crowd and cram together, throwing the world into confusion — and the world then begins to honor and treasure them. How extreme the delusion of the world! Is it merely a matter of letting them pass and discarding them? No — people fast and purify themselves to speak of them, kneel in formal posture to present them, drum and sing and dance to celebrate them. What can I do about it, then?

Thus, when a gentleman is compelled to preside over the world, nothing is better than non-action. Through non-action, one can then settle the true nature of life. Therefore, if one values his own person as much as he values the world, he may be entrusted with the world. If he cherishes his own person as much as he cherishes the world, he may be handed the world to keep. Thus, if a gentleman can but refrain from loosening his five organs and refrain from promoting his cleverness in seeing and hearing, he will be corpse-like in stillness yet dragon-like in appearance, deep in silence yet thunderous in sound, his spirit moving while Heaven follows, unhurried and without action, and all things will drift along like dust. What leisure would I have to govern the world?

Cui Qu asked Lao Dan: "If the world is not to be governed, how can people's minds be set right?"

Lao Dan said: "Be careful not to disturb people's minds. The mind, when pressed down, rises up; when pushed up, sinks down — above and below it is imprisoned and tormented. Soft and yielding, it can overcome the hard and strong. It carves and cuts, it refines and polishes. In its heat it is a blazing fire; in its cold it is solid ice. So swift is it that in the time it takes to bend and straighten, it has already swept twice beyond the four seas. In repose it is deep and still; in motion it hangs suspended in the sky. Arrogant and unbridled, impossible to rein in — is this not the human mind alone?

"In the past, the Yellow Emperor first disturbed people's minds with benevolence and righteousness. From then on, Yao and Shun exhausted themselves until they had no hair on their calves or the flesh on their shins, nurturing the bodies of the world. They wore out their five organs to practice benevolence and righteousness, and they disciplined their blood and breath to establish laws and standards. Yet even so, they could not succeed. Yao therefore banished Huan Dou to Chong Mountain, cast the Miao people onto San Wei, and exiled Gong Gong to You Du — this was their failure to master the world.

"When it came down to the Three Kings, the world was thrown into great alarm. Below there were Jie and Zhi; above there were Zeng and Shi — and the Confucians and Mohists all arose at once. From then on, joy and anger doubted each other, the foolish and the cunning deceived each other, the good and the bad condemned each other, the deceitful and the trustworthy reviled each other, and the world declined. Great virtue became diverse, and the nature of life fell into ruin. The world loved cleverness, and the common people strained themselves to the limit. Then saws and shears were applied to shape them, ink lines and marking tools were used to cut them, mallets and chisels were employed to bore them. The world was thrown into chaos upon chaos — the crime lay in disturbing people's minds.

"Thus worthy men hide away beneath the crags of great mountains, while rulers of ten thousand chariots tremble with dread in their ancestral halls. In the present age, those who have been executed lie head to foot; those bound in stocks and fetters are pushed one against another; those mutilated by punishment stare at each other without end — and the Confucians and Mohists begin to stand on tiptoe and wave their arms among the shackles and chains. Alas! How extreme! They are without shame and do not know disgrace — how extreme! I did not know that the wisdom of the sages becomes the fittings of stocks and fetters, that benevolity and righteousness become the hasps and sockets of shackles, that the deeds of Zeng and Shi become the whistling arrows that signal the attacks of Jie and Zhi. Therefore it is said: 'Cast away the sages and abandon knowledge, and the world will be in great order.'"

Huangdi had been established as the Son of Heaven for nineteen years, and his decrees were carried out throughout the world. Hearing that Guangchengzi was on Mount Kongtong, he went to see him, saying, "I have heard that you have attained the utmost Way. May I ask about the essence of the utmost Way? I wish to take the essence of Heaven and Earth to aid the five grains and nourish the people. I also wish to regulate the yin and yang to bring completion to the life of the multitudes. How should I go about this?"

Guangchengzi said, "What you wish to ask about is the substance of things. What you wish to regulate is the dregs of things. Since you have governed the world, the rain falls before clouds have gathered, the leaves drop before they have yellowed, and the light of the sun and moon grows ever more dim. And with a flatterer's mind so narrow, how could you possibly be spoken to about the utmost Way?"

Huangdi withdrew, relinquished the empire, built a solitary chamber, spread white rushes for a mat, and dwelt in seclusion for three months. Then he went again to invite Guangchengzi's counsel.

Guangchengzi lay on his head to the south. Huangdi approached on his knees, keeping to the wind, bowed twice with his head to the ground, and asked, "I have heard that you have attained the utmost Way. May I ask: how should I govern my person so that I may last long?"

Guangchengzi started up and said, "What a fine question! Come, I shall tell you about the utmost Way. The essence of the utmost Way is dark and obscure. The extreme of the utmost Way is dim and silent. Do not look, do not listen; embrace your spirit in stillness, and your person will correct itself of its own accord. Be still, be pure, do not weary your form, do not agitate your essence, and you may live long. Let your eyes see nothing, your ears hear nothing, your mind know nothing; your spirit will guard your form, and your form will live long. Guard what is within you, shut out what is without; much knowledge leads to ruin. I shall bring you to the height of great brightness, to the source of the utmost yang. I shall bring you through the gate of dim obscurity, to the source of the utmost yin. Heaven and Earth have their offices, yin and yang have their storehouses. Carefully guard your person, and things will flourish of their own accord. I hold to the One and dwell in its harmony; therefore I have cultivated my person for twelve hundred years, and my form has never yet declined."

Huangdi bowed twice with his head to the ground and said, "Guangchengzi may be called Heaven!"

Guangchengzi said, "Come, I shall tell you: that which constitutes things is limitless, yet all men believe it has an end; that which constitutes things is unfathomable, yet all men believe it has an extreme. Those who attain my Way become emperors above and kings below; those who lose my Way see light above and become soil below. Now all the hundred growths are born from the soil and return to the soil. Therefore I shall depart from you, enter the gate of the limitless, and roam in the wilds of the boundless. I shall share my light with the sun and moon; I shall be constant as Heaven and Earth. When men approach me, what of that? When men flee from me, what of that? Men will all die, and I alone shall remain!"

Yunjiang was traveling east and passed by the branch of Fuliu when he happened to encounter Hongmeng. Hongmeng was just at that moment clapping his thigh and hopping about like a sparrow, enjoying himself.

Yunjiang saw him, stopped short, and stood in awe, saying, "Who are you, old man? What are you doing?"

Hongmeng clapped his thigh and hopped about without stopping, answering Yunjiang, "Enjoying myself!"

Yunjiang said, "I have a question I would like to ask."

Hongmeng looked up at Yunjiang and said, "Ah!"

Yunjiang said, "The heavenly energies are not in harmony; the earthly energies are blocked and congested; the six energies are not regulated; the four seasons are not in proper order. Now I wish to unite the essences of the six energies to nurture the life of the multitudes. How should I go about this?"

Hongmeng clapped his thigh and hopped about, shaking his head and saying, "I don't know! I don't know!" Yunjiang could not get his question answered.

Three years later, he was again traveling east, passed through the wilds of Youzong, and happened to encounter Hongmeng. Yunjiang was greatly pleased and hurried forward, saying, "Has Heaven forgotten me? Has Heaven forgotten me?" He bowed twice with his head to the ground and wished to hear counsel from Hongmeng.

Hongmeng said, "Drifting and floating, not knowing what to seek; wild and reckless, not knowing where to go; wanderers bustle about, observing only what is without falsehood. How should I know anything?"

Yunjiang said, "I myself thought I was wild and reckless, but the people followed wherever I went. I could not free myself from the people, and now the people follow me. May I hear a word of counsel?"

Hongmeng said, "To disorder the warp of Heaven, to go against the nature of things—dark Heaven will not bring this to completion. It will scatter the herds of beasts, and the birds will cry out in the night; disaster will reach the grasses and trees, and calamity will reach the insects. Ah! This is the error of those who govern men!"

Yunjiang said, "Then what should I do?"

Hongmeng said, "Ah! How poisonous! Go away, go away!"

Yunjiang said, "I have met with difficulty from Heaven. May I hear a word of counsel?"

Hongmeng said, "Ah! Nurture your mind! You must dwell in non-action, and things will transform of themselves. Cast off your bodily form, spit out your cleverness, let your identity be forgotten along with things, and become one with the vast and formless. Loosen your spirit, release your soul, and be unconscious like one without a soul. The multitudes of things each return to their roots; each returns to their roots without knowing it. In a state of chaos and confusion, they never depart from their roots. If they were to know it, they would depart from them. Do not ask their names, do not pry into their nature; things will then live of themselves."

Yunjiang said, "Heaven has bestowed virtue upon me and shown me silence. I sought it with my own person, and now I have found it." He bowed twice with his head to the ground, rose, took his leave, and departed.

People of the world all delight in others agreeing with themselves and dislike others differing from themselves. When others agree with them, they are pleased; when others differ from them, they are displeased—because their hearts are set on standing out from the crowd. But one whose heart is set on standing out from the crowd—how could he ever stand out from the crowd? To rely on the approval of the multitude to settle what one has heard is to surpass the skills of the multitude by far. But one who wishes to govern the state of others sees only the advantages of the Three Sovereigns and does not see their calamities. Such a one gambles for the state of others. How many gambles can he win before he loses the state of others? The chances of preserving the state of others are not one in ten thousand, while the chances of losing it are more than ten thousand to one with nothing gained! How pitiful—the ignorance of those who hold territory!

One who holds territory holds a great thing. One who holds a great thing cannot be treated as a thing. He treats things as things without being treated as a thing himself, and thus is able to treat all things as things. He who understands that one who treats things as things is not himself a thing—is he merely fit to govern the people of the world? He passes in and out of the six directions, wanders through the nine regions, goes alone, and comes alone. This is called "the one who is unique." The one who is unique is called "of the highest worth."

The teaching of the Great Man is like the body's relationship to its shadow, like the voice's relationship to its echo. When questioned, he responds, giving fully of what he holds within, becoming a match for all under Heaven. He dwells in the soundless, moves without fixed direction, leading you through the restless turning and returning, wandering without end. He comes and goes without reliance, and with the sun he knows no beginning. In tracing and comparing the forms and bodies of things, he accords with the Great Unity—the Great Unity which has no self. Having no self, how could it possess possession? Those who perceive possession are the gentlemen of old; those who perceive the selfless are the friends of Heaven and Earth.

What is lowly yet cannot be left unrelied upon: things. What is humble yet cannot be left unheeded: the people. What is hidden yet cannot be left undone: affairs. What is coarse yet cannot be left unexpressed: laws. What is distant yet cannot be dwelt in: righteousness. What is intimate yet cannot not be broadened: benevolence. What is measured yet cannot not be accumulated: ritual. What is centered yet cannot not be elevated: virtue. What is unified yet cannot not be transformed: the Way. What is spiritual yet cannot not be acted upon: Heaven. Therefore the sage observes Heaven but does not assist it; completes virtue but is not burdened by it; emerges from the Way but does not scheme; meets with benevolence but does not depend upon it; approaches righteousness but does not hoard; responds to ritual but does not shrink; takes up affairs but does not decline; aligns with laws but does not create disorder; relies upon the people but does not treat them lightly; heeds things but does not abandon them. Among things, none are worth acting upon, yet none can be left unacted upon. He who does not understand Heaven is not pure in virtue. He who is not connected to the Way has nowhere he can go. He who does not understand the Way—alas! What is meant by the Way? There is the Way of Heaven and the Way of Man. What acts through non-action and is honored: the Way of Heaven. What acts through action and is burdened: the Way of Man. The ruler is the Way of Heaven; the minister is the Way of Man. The Way of Heaven and the Way of Man are far apart from one another; they cannot be left unexamined.