Chuang Tzu Quotes on Mind (7 Quotes)

The true men of old were not afraid when they stood alone in their views. No great exploits. No plans. If they failed, no sorrow. No self-congratulation in success.... The true men of old knew no lust for life, no dread of death. Their entrance was without gladness, their exit, yonder, without resistance. Easy come, easy go. They did not forget where from, nor ask where to, nor drive grimly forward fighting their way through life. They took life as it came, gladly took death as it came, without care and went away, yonder. Yonder They had no mind to fight Tao. They did not try by their own contriving, to help Tao along. These are the ones we call true men. Minds free, thoughts gone. Brows clear, faces serene.

When he tries to extend his power over objects, those objects gain control of him. He who is controlled by objects loses possession of his inner self... Prisoners in the world of object, they have no choice but to submit to the demands of matter They are pressed down and crushed by external forces fashion, the market, events, public opinion. Never in a whole lifetime do they recover their right mind... What a pity.

If water derives lucidity from stillness, how much more the faculties of the mind The mind of the sage, being in repose, becomes the mirror of the universe, the speculum of all creation.

Those that think that wealth is the proper thing for them cannot give up their revenues those that seek distinction cannot give up the thought of fame those that cleave to power cannot give the handle of it to others. While they hold their grasp of those things, they are afraid of losing them. When they let them go, they are grieved and they will not look at a single example, from which they might perceive the folly of their restless pursuits such men are under the doom of heaven.

Being is thoughtlessbeyond and beneath all categories of thought. Expression is the realization of creative thought. Being is still expression, moving. But then if I do not strive, who will.

... You never find happiness until you stop looking for it. My greatest happiness consists precisely in doing nothing whatever that is calculated to obtain happiness and this, in the minds of most people, is the worst possible course... If you ask 'what ought to be done' and 'what ought not to be done' on earth in order to produce happiness, I answer that these questions do not have an answer. There is no way of determining such things. Yet at the same time, if I cease striving for happiness, the 'right' and the 'wrong' at once become apparent all by themselves. Contentment and well-being at once become possible the moment you cease to act with them in view, and if you practice non-doing (wu wei), you will have both happiness and well-being.

Yen Hui What is fasting of the heart Confucius The goal of fasting is inner unity. This means hearing, but not with the ear hearing, but not with the understanding hearing with the spirit, with your whole being... The hearing of the spirit is not limited to any one faculty, to the ear, or to the mind. Hence it demands the emptiness of all the faculties. And when the faculties are empty, then the whole being listens. There is then a direct grasp of what is right there before you that can never be heard with the ear or understood with the mind. Fasting of the heart empties the faculties, frees you from limitation and from preoccupation. Fasting of the heart begets unity and freedom. Yen Hui I see. What was standing in my way was my own self-awareness. If I can begin this fasting of the heart, self awareness will vanish.