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家
二○ ○二年五月二十一日 |
○ | 立○為之四顧○為之躊躇滿志○善刀而藏之○ | 遲○動刀甚徵○謋然已解○如土委地○提刀而 | 於族○吾見其難為○怵然為戒○視為止○行為 | 是以十九年○而刀刃若新發於硎○雖然○每至 | 無厚入有閒○恢恢乎其於遊刃○必有餘地矣○ | 若新發於硎○彼節者有閒○而刀刃者無厚○以 | ○今臣之刀十九年矣○所解數千牛矣○而刀刃 | 軱乎○良庖歲更刀○割也○族庖月更刀○折也 | ○導大窾○因其固然○技經肯綮之未嘗而況大 | 以目視○官知止而神欲行○依乎天理○批大卻 | ○未嘗見全牛也○方今之時○臣以神遇○而不 | ○始臣之解牛之時○所見無非牛者○三年之後 | 庖丁釋刀對曰○臣之所好者○道也○進乎技矣 | 君曰○譆○善哉○技蓋至此乎○ | 不中音○合於桑林之舞○乃中經首之會○文惠 | 之所履○膝之所踦○砉然嚮然○奏刀騞然○莫 | 庖丁為文惠君解牛○手之所觸○肩之所倚○足 | 養生主二 | ○可以養親○可以盡年○ | 惡無近刑○緣督以為經○可以保身○可以全生 | 已○已而為知者○殆而已矣○為善無近名○為 | 吾生也有涯○而知也無涯○以有涯隨無涯○殆 | 養生主一 |
莊子南華經
第三章養生主 |
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家
二○ ○二年五月二十一日 |
指窮於為薪○火傳也○不知其盡也○ | 養生主六 | 是帝之懸解○ | 子順也○安時而處順○哀樂不能入也○古者謂 | 者謂之遁天之刑○適來○夫子時也○適去○夫 | ○不蘄哭而哭者○是遁天倍情○忘其所受○古 | ○如哭其母○彼其所以會之○必有不蘄言而言 | 人而弔焉○有老者哭之○如哭其子○少者哭之 | 曰○然○始也吾以為其人也○而今非也○向吾 | 然則弔焉○若此可乎○ | 曰○然○ | 子之友邪○ | 老聃死○秦失弔之○三號而出○弟子曰○非夫 | 養生主五 | 雖王○不善也○ | 澤雉十步一啄○百步一飲○不蘄畜乎樊中○神 | 養生主四 | 有與也○以是知其天也○非人也○ | 曰○天也○非人也○天之生是使獨也○人之貌 | 天與○其人與○ | 公文軒見右師而驚曰○是何人也○惡乎介也○ | 養生主三 | 文惠君曰○善哉○吾聞庖丁之言○得養生焉○ |
Chapter 3 - Nourishment Of The Soul
My life has a limit, but my knowledge is without limit. To drive the limited in search of the limitless, is fatal; and the knowledge of those who do this is fatally lost.
In striving for others, avoid fame. In striving for self, avoid disgrace. Pursue a middle course. Thus you will keep a sound body, and a sound mind, fulfill your duties, and work out your allotted span. (Meditate with a mind thinking neither good nor evil is the Middle Path. Another is focus on the point in between our 2 eyes. On your daily life thread the middle path of all extremes, like high and low, front and back, good and evil, fast and slow, happy and sad, honour and disgrace etc etc.
Prince Hui's cook was cutting up a bullock. Every blow of his hand, every heave of his shoulders, every tread of his foot, every thrust of his knee, every 'whshh' of rent flesh, every 'chhk' of the chopper, was in perfect harmony,- rhythmical like the dance of the Mulberry Grove, simultaneous like the chords of the Ching Shou.
"Well done!" cried the Prince, "yours is skill indeed."
"Sire," replied the cook; "I have always devoted myself to Tao. It is better than skill. When I first began to cut up bullocks, I saw before me simply whole bullocks. After 3 years' practice, I saw no more whole animals. And now I work with my mind and not with my eye. When my senses bid me stop, but my mind urges me on, I fall back upon eternal principles. I follow such openings or cavities as there may be, according to the natural constitution of the animal. I do not attempt to cut through joints; still less through large bones. A good cook changes his chopper once a year - because he cuts. An ordinary cook, once a month - because he hacks. But I have had this chopper 19 years, and although I have cut up many thousand bullocks its edge is as if fresh from the whetstone. For at the joints there are always interstices, and the edge of a chopper being without thickness, it remains only to insert that which is without thickness into such an interstice. By these means the interstice will be enlarged, and the blade will find plenty of room. It is thus that I have kept my chopper for 19 years as though fresh from the whetstone.
"Nevertheless, when I come upon a hard part where the blade meets with a difficulty, I am all caution. I fix my eye on it. I stay my hand, and gently apply my blade, until with a 'hwah' the part yields like earth crumbling to the ground. Then I take out my chopper, and stand up, and look around, and pause, until with an air of triumph I wipe my chopper and put it carefully away."
"Bravo!" cried the Prince. "From the words of this cook I have learnt how to take care of my life." (The art of butchery is not Tao. It is simply art like painting, carving, fishing, fighting, running, making love etc.)
When Hsien, of the Kung-wen family, beheld a certain official, he was horrified, and said, "Who is that man? How come he to lose a foot? Is this the work of God, or of man? Why, of course," continued Hsien, "it is the work of God, and not of man. When God brought this man into the world, he wanted him to be unlike other men. Men always have 2 feet. From this it is clear that God and not man made him as he is. (This is called Fate. Your life is fated on earth.)
"Now, wild fowl get a peck once in ten steps, a drink once in a hundred. Yet they do not want to be fed in a cage. For although they would thus be able to command food, they would not be free."
When Lao Tzu died, Ch'in Shih went to mourn. He uttered 3 yells and departed.
A disciple asked him saying, "Were you not our Master's friend?"
"I was," replied Ch'in Shih.
"And if so, do you consider that a sufficient expression of grief at his loss?" added the disciple.
"I do," said Ch'in Shih, "I had believed him to be the man of all men, but now I know that he was not. When I went in to mourn, I found old persons weeping as if for their children, young ones wailing as if for their mothers. And for him to have gained the attachment of those people in this way, he too must have uttered words which should not have been spoken, and dropped tears which should not have been shed, thus violating eternal principles, increasing the sum of human emotion, and forgetting the source from which his own life was received. The ancients called such emotions the trammels of mortality. The Master came, because it was his time to be born; he went, because it was his time to die. For those who accept the phenomenon of birth and death in this sense, lamentation and sorrow have no place. The ancients spoke of death as of God cutting down a man suspended in the air." (Spiritual masters do not cry over death of kins or friends. Funeral is actually a waste of money and time.)
The fuel is consumed, but the fire may be transmitted, and we know not that it comes to an end. (Death is not the end. Body dies, but the Spiritual Soul or Tao is free to take another form. Tao is 'free' when IT is Sealed at the 'chu chiao'.)
Edited on 9th June 2008