' Sit down and forget '...

"Yen Hui said, 'I'm getting better.'

Confucius said, 'What do you mean?'

'I have forgotten kindness and justice.'

'Fine, but that's not enough.'

On another occasion, they met again and Yen Hui said, 'I've improved.'

Confucius said, 'What do you mean?'

'I have forgotten rituals and music.'

'Good, but that is still not enough.'

On another occasion they met and Yen Hui said, 'I'm getting better.'

Confucius said, 'What do you mean?'

'I can sit right down and forget everything.'

Confucius was certainly disturbed by this and said, 'What do you mean by sit right down and forget?'

Yen Hui replied, 'My limbs are without feeling and my mind is without light. I have ignored my body and cast aside my wisdom. Thus I am united with the Tao. This is what sitting right down and forgetting is.'


Chuang Tzu
in Martin Palmer with Elizabeth Breuilly, Translators.
The Book of Chuang Tzu
NY: Penguin Arkana, 1996, pp. 57-58