The hearing that is only in the ears is one thing. The hearing of the understanding is another. But the hearing of the spirit is not limited to any one faculty to the ear, or to the mind.
ZhuangziRead
We possess our body by chance and we are already pleased with it. If our physical bodies went through ten thousand transformations without end, how incomparable would this joy be! Therefore the sage roams freely in the realm in which nothing can escape, but all endures.
Interpretation
Our bodies are temporary and constantly changing, yet we find joy in our existence and freedom in understanding life’s transient nature.
This quote from Zhuangzi reflects on the impermanence of our physical bodies and the joy that can be found in accepting this transience. It suggests that true wisdom lies in recognizing the fleeting nature of existence and embracing it rather than clinging to the physical form, allowing the sage to navigate life with freedom and acceptance in a realm where all things endure through transformation.
In practice
In a motivational speech about embracing change and finding joy in life’s transitions.
The hearing that is only in the ears is one thing. The hearing of the understanding is another. But the hearing of the spirit is not limited to any one faculty to the ear, or to the mind.
Either in conflict with others or in harmony with them, we go through life like a runaway horse, unable to stop.
When people do not ignore what they should ignore, but ignore what they should not ignore, this is known as ignorance.
The true man of the past waited upon Heaven when dealing with people and did not wait upon people when dealing with Heaven.
The mind remains undetermined in the great Void. Here the highest knowledge is unbounded. That which gives things their thusness cannot be delimited by things. So when we speak of 'limits', we remain confined to limited things. The limit of the unlimited is called 'fullness.' The limitlessness of the limited is called 'emptiness.' Tao is the source of both. But it is itself neither fullness nor emptiness
All the fish needs is to get lost in the water. All man needs is to get lost in Tao.
A hundred times have I thought New York is a catastrophe and 50 times: It is a beautiful catastrophe.
What we really are is a community of mind, knitted together by codes and symbols, intuitions, aspirations, histories, hopes - the invisible world of the human experience is far more real to us than the visible world, which is little more than a kind of stage or screen on which we move.
A world of few choices, whether in jeans or mates, is a world in which individual differences become sources of alienation, unhappiness, even self-loathing. If no jeans fit, you'll feel uncomfortable or inferior. If no housing developments reflect your taste for unique architecture, you'll write screeds against philistine mass culture.
It is ingrained in all living creatures, first of all, to preserve their own safety, to guard against what is harmful, to strive for what is advantageous.
To be white in America is to have the confidence to say, without a second thought: this space, this neighborhood, this city, this county, this country is mine.
I am against nature. I don't dig nature at all. I think nature is very unnatural. I think the truly natural things are dreams, which nature can't touch with decay.
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