where else do you expect to find it?”
“Happiness is the absence of the striving for happiness.”
“You should find the same joy in one condition as in the other and thereby be free of care, that is all.
But now, when the things that happened along, take their leave, you cease to be joyful. From this point of view, though you have joy, it will always be fated for destruction.”
“To a mind that is still, the entire universe surrenders.”
“The baby looks at things all day without winking; that is because his eyes are not focused on any particular object.
He goes without knowing where he is going, and stops without knowing what he is doing.
He merges himself within the surroundings and moves along with it.
These are the principles of mental hygiene.”
“The sage is still not because he takes stillness to be good and therefore is still. The ten thousand things are insufficient to distract his mind – that is the reason he is still.”
“The fish trap exists because of the fish. Once you’ve gotten the fish you can forget the trap.
The rabbit snare exists because of the rabbit. Once you’ve gotten the rabbit, you can forget the snare.
Words exist because of meaning. Once you’ve gotten the meaning, you can forget the words.
Where can I find a man who has forgotten words so I can talk with him?”
“Let your heart be at peace.
Watch the turmoil of beings
but contemplate their return.
If you don’t realize the source,
you stumble in confusion and sorrow.
When you realize where you come from,
you naturally become tolerant,
disinterested, amused,
kindhearted as a grandmother,
dignified as a king.
Immersed in the wonder of the Tao,
you can deal with whatever life brings you,
And when death comes, you are ready.”
“It comes out from no source, it goes back in through no aperture.
It has reality yet no place where it resides; it has duration yet no beginning or end.
Something emerges, though through no aperture – this refers to the fact that it has reality.
It has reality yet there is no place where it resides – this refers to the dimension of space.
It has duration but no beginning or end – this refers to the dimension of time.
There is life, there is death, there is a coming out, there is a going back in – yet in the coming out and going back its form is never seen. This is called the Heavenly Gate.
The Heavenly Gate is nonbeing.
The ten thousand things come forth from nonbeing.
Being cannot create being out of being; inevitably it must come forth from nonbeing. Nonbeing is absolute nonbeing, and it is here that the sage hides himself.”
Quotes by Zhuangzi, author of The way of Chuang Tzu.
aditi premankit 