Talks on the Stories of Chuang Tzu
Talks given from 11/10/74 am to 20/10/74 am English Discourse series
1 When The Shoe Fits2 The Tower Of The Spirit3 Flight From The Shadow4 Fighting Cock5 Monkey Mountain6 Symphony For A Seabird7 Autumn Floods8 The Turtle9 Duke Hwan And The Wheelright10 Man Is A Born In Tao
< Previous | Contents | Next > CHAPTER 1 When The Shoe Fits 11 October 1974 am in Buddha Hall CHU’I THE DRAFTSMAN COULD DRAW MORE PERFECT CIRCLES FREEHAND THAN WITH A COMPASS. HIS FINGERS BROUGHT FORTH SPONTANEOUS FORMS FROM NOWHERE. HIS MIND WAS MEANWHILE FREE AND WITHOUT CONCERN WITH WHAT HE WAS DOING. NO APPLICATION WAS NEEDED, HIS MIND WAS PERFECTLY SIMPLE AND KNEW NO OBSTACLE. SO, WHEN THE SHOE FITS, THE FOOT IS FORGOTTEN, WHEN THE BELT FITS, THE BELLY IS FORGOTTEN, WHEN THE HEART IS RIGHT, ‘FOR’ AND ‘AGAINST’ ARE FORGOTTEN....
< Previous | Contents CHAPTER 10 Man Is A Born In Tao 20 October 1974 am in Buddha Hall FISHES ARE BORN IN WATER, MAN IS BORN IN TAO. IF FISHES, BORN IN WATER, SEEK THE DEEP SHADOW OF POND AND POOL, ALL THEIR NEEDS ARE SATISFIED. IF MAN, BORN IN TAO, SINKS INTO THE DEEP SHADOW OF NON-ACTION TO FORGET AGGRESSION AND CONCERN, HE LACKS NOTHING, HIS LIFE IS SECURE....
< Previous | Contents | Next > CHAPTER 2 The Tower Of The Spirit 12 October 1974 am in Buddha Hall THE SPIRIT HAS AN IMPREGNABLE TOWER WHICH NO DANGER CAN DISTURB AS LONG AS THE TOWER IS GUARDED BY THE INVISIBLE PROTECTOR WHO ACTS UNCONSCIOUSLY, AND WHOSE ACTIONS GO ASTRAY WHEN THEY BECOME DELIBERATE, REFLEXIVE AND INTENTIONAL. THE UNCONSCIOUSNESS AND ENTIRE SINCERITY OF TAO ARE DISTURBED BY ANY EFFORT AT SELF-CONSCIOUS DEMONSTRATION....
< Previous | Contents | Next > CHAPTER 3 Flight From The Shadow 13 October 1974 am in Buddha Hall THERE WAS A MAN WHO WAS SO DISTURBED BY THE SIGHT OF HIS OWN SHADOW AND SO DISPLEASED WITH HIS OWN FOOTSTEPS, THAT HE DETERMINED TO GET RID OF BOTH. THE METHOD HE HIT UPON WAS TO RUN AWAY FROM THEM. SO HE GOT UP AND RAN. BUT EVERY TIME HE PUT HIS FOOT DOWN THERE WAS ANOTHER STEP, WHILE HIS SHADOW KEPT UP WITH HIM WITHOUT THE SLIGHTEST DIFFICULTY....
< Previous | Contents | Next > CHAPTER 4 Fighting Cock 14 October 1974 am in Buddha Hall CHI HSING TZU WAS A TRAINER OF FIGHTING COCKS FOR KING HSUAN. HE WAS TRAINING A FINE BIRD. THE KING KEPT ASKING IF THE BIRD WERE READY FOR COMBAT. ‘NOT YET’, SAID THE TRAINER. ‘HE IS FULL OF FIRE. HE IS READY TO PICK A FIGHT WITH EVERY OTHER BIRD. HE IS VAIN AND CONFIDENT OF HIS OWN STRENGTH’....
< Previous | Contents | Next > CHAPTER 5 Monkey Mountain 15 October 1974 am in Buddha Hall THE PRINCE OF WU TOOK A BOAT TO MONKEY MOUNTAIN. AS SOON AS THE MONKEYS SAW HIM THEY ALL FLED IN PANIC AND HID IN THE TREETOPS. ONE MONKEY, HOWEVER, REMAINED, COMPLETELY UNCONCERNED, SWINGING FROM BRANCH TO BRANCH – AN EXTRAORDINARY DISPLAY. THE PRINCE SHOT AN ARROW AT THE MONKEY, BUT THE MONKEY DEXTEROUSLY CAUGHT THE ARROW IN MID-FLIGHT....
< Previous | Contents | Next > CHAPTER 6 Symphony For A Seabird 16 October 1974 am in Buddha Hall YOU CANNOT PUT A BIG LOAD IN A SMALL BAG, NOR CAN YOU, WITH A SHORT ROPE, DRAW WATER FROM A DEEP WELL. HAVE YOU NOT HEARD HOW A BIRD FROM THE SEA WAS BLOWN INSHORE AND LANDED OUTSIDE THE CAPITAL OF LU? THE PRINCE ORDERED A SOLEMN RECEPTION, OFFERED THE SEA BIRD WINE IN THE SACRED PRECINCT, CALLED FOR MUSICIANS TO PLAY THE COMPOSITIONS OF SHUN, SLAUGHTERED CATTLE TO NOURISH IT....
< Previous | Contents | Next > CHAPTER 7 Autumn Floods 17 October 1974 am in Buddha Hall THE AUTUMN FLOODS HAD COME. THOUSANDS OF WILD TORRENTS POURED FURIOUSLY INTO THE YELLOW RIVER. IT SURGED AND FLOODED ITS BANKS UNTIL, LOOKING ACROSS, YOU COULD NOT TELL AN OX FROM A HORSE ON THE OTHER SIDE. THEN THE RIVER GOD LAUGHED, DELIGHTED TO THINK THAT ALL THE BEAUTY IN THE WORLD HAD FALLEN INTO HIS KEEPING....
< Previous | Contents | Next > CHAPTER 8 The Turtle 18 October 1974 am in Buddha Hall CHUANG TZU WITH HIS BAMBOO POLE WAS FISHING IN THE PU RIVER. THE PRINCE OF CHU SENT TWO VICE CHANCELLORS WITH A FORMAL DOCUMENT: WE HEREBY APPOINT YOU PRIME MINISTER. CHUANG TZU HELD HIS BAMBOO POLE. STILL WATCHING PU RIVER, HE SAID: ‘I AM TOLD THERE IS A SACRED TORTOISE OFFERED AND CANONISED THREE THOUSAND YEARS AGO, VENERATED BY THE PRINCE, WRAPPED IN SILK, IN A PRECIOUS SHRINE ON AN ALTAR IN THE TEMPLE....
< Previous | Contents | Next > CHAPTER 9 Duke Hwan And The Wheelright 19 October 1974 am in Buddha Hall DUKE HWAN OF KHI, FIRST IN HIS DYNASTY, SAT UNDER HIS CANOPY READING HIS PHILOSOPHY. AND PHIEN THE WHEELWRIGHT WAS OUT IN THE YARD MAKING A WHEEL. PHIEN LAID ASIDE HAMMER AND CHISEL, CLIMBED THE STEPS, AND SAID TO DUKE HWAN: ‘MAY I ASK YOU, LORD, WHAT IS THIS YOU ARE READING?...