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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 e… - Zhuang Zhou
" "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.
yang-and-yin
source
life-and-death
nonbeing
death
life
reality
tao
yin-and-yang
heaven
existence
nonexistence
taoism
being
English
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About Zhuang Zhou
莊子 Zhūangzi (c. 369 BC – c. 286 BC), literally Master Zhuang, was a Chinese philosopher, who is supposed to have lived during the Warring States Period, corresponding to the Hundred Schools of Thought. His name is also transliterated as Zhuang Zi, Zhuang Zhou, Chuang Tzu, Chuang Tse. Chuang was his surname and Tse indicates master; so he would be referred to as Master Chuang. You will also see his name given as "Chuang Chou" or "Zhuang Zhu", this was his proper name, first and last, not an alternate spelling of "Chuang Tzu" or "Zhuangzi".
Biography information from Wikiquote
Also Known As
Native Name:
莊子
•
庄子
Alternative Names:
Zhuang Zi
•
Chuang Tzŭ
•
Chuang Tzu
•
Chuangtzŭ
•
Chuangtzu
•
Chuang Chou
•
Master Zhuang
•
Tchouang-tse
•
Chuang-tzu
•
Chuang-tse
•
Zhuangzi
•
Zhuang zi
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Additional quotes by Zhuang Zhou
Such is what is called a person of kingly virtuosity. He peers into the darkest dark, he listens where there is no sound. Within the darkest dark alone he sees daybreak. Within the soundless alone he hears harmony. Thus even in the depths below the deep, he can discern a something definitely present, and even in the more imponderable than the imponderable, he can discern a certain subtle quintessence.
The man of spirit, on the other hand, hates to see people gather around him. He avoids the crowd. For where there are many men, there are also many opinions and little agreement. There is nothing to be gained from the support of a lot of half-wits who are doomed to end up in a fight with each other.
The man of spirit is neither very intimate with anyone, nor very aloof. He keeps himself interiorly aware, and he maintains his balance so that he is in conflict with nobody. This is your true man! He lets the ants be clever. He lets the mutton reek with activity. For his own part, he imitates the fish that swims unconcerned, surrounded by a friendly element, and minding its own business.
The true man sees what the eye sees, and does not add to it something that is not there. He hears what the ears hear, and does not detect imaginary undertones or overtones. He understands things in their obvious interpretation and is not busy with hidden meanings and mysteries. His course is therefore a straight line. Yet he can change his direction whenever circumstances suggest it.
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If we follow whatever has so far taken shape, fully formed,7 in our minds, making that our teacher, who could ever be without a teacher? The mind (2:12) comes to be what it is by taking possession of whatever it selects out of the process of alternation — but does that mean it has to truly understand that process? The fool takes something up from it too. But to claim that there are (2:13) any such things as “right” and “wrong” before they come to be fully formed in someone’s mind in this way — that is like saying you left for Yue today and arrived there yesterday.8 This is to regard the nonexistent as existent. The existence of the nonexistent is beyond the understanding of even the divine sage-king Yu — so what possible sense could it make to someone like me?
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