The Way of Chuang Tzu

by Thomas Merton, Zhuangzi, Dalai Lama XIV (Preface)

Working from existing translations, Thomas Merton composed a series of his own versions of the classic sayings of Chuang Tzu, the most spiritual of Chinese philosophers. Chuang Tzu, who wrote in the fourth and third centuries B.C., is the chief authentic historical spokesperson for Taoism and its founder Lao Tzu (a legendary character known largely through Chuang Tzu’s writings). Indeed it was because of Chuang Tzu and the other Taoist sages that Indian Buddhism was transformed, in China, into the unique vehicle we now call by its Japanese name—Zen.


The Chinese sage abounds in wit and paradox and shattering insights into the true ground of being. Thomas Merton, no stranger to Asian thought, brings a vivid, modern idiom to the timeless wisdom of Tao.

Genres: Philosophy, Spirituality, Religion, Taoism, Nonfiction, Poetry, China

159 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 351

About the author

Thomas Merton, religious name M. Louis, was an American Trappist monk, writer, theologian, mystic, poet, social activist and scholar of comparative religion. In December 1941 he entered the Trappist Abbey of Gethsemani and in May 1949 he was ordained to priesthood. He was a member of the convent of the Abbey of Our Lady of Gethsemani, near Bardstown, Kentucky, living there from 1941 to his death.
Merton wrote more than 50 books in a period of 27 years, mostly on spirituality, social justice and a quiet pacifism, as well as scores of essays and reviews. Among Merton's most enduring works is his bestselling autobiography The Seven Storey Mountain (1948). His account of his spiritual journey inspired scores of World War II veterans, students, and teenagers to explore offerings of monasteries across the US. It is on National Review's list of the 100 best nonfiction books of the century.
Merton became a keen proponent of interfaith understanding, exploring Eastern religions through his study of mystic practice. His interfaith conversation, which preserved both Protestant and Catholic theological positions, helped to build mutual respect via their shared experiences at a period of heightened hostility. He is particularly known for having pioneered dialogue with prominent Asian spiritual figures, including the Dalai Lama XIV; Japanese writer D.T. Suzuki; Thai Buddhist monk Buddhadasa Bhikkhu, and Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh. He traveled extensively in the course of meeting with them and attending international conferences on religion. In addition, he wrote books on Zen Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism, and how Christianity is related to them. This was highly unusual at the time in the United States, particularly within the religious orders.

Reviews

[Jokoloyo · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a good introduction for Chuang Tzu/Zhuang_Zhou for readers with Catholics or Christian background, thanks to "A Note to Reader" and "A Study of Chuang Tzu" chapters by the author. The introduction chapters are gems by themselves, reflecting the rays of bright mind of the author.

The poetry part from Chuang Tzu is the main course and maybe the part that you would re-read again and again, even only for some of them.

[Bill Kerwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like to read about spirituality and are tolerant of its many forms and traditions, then this book may be just the thing for you. It is a selection from the writings of an early Daoist philosopher, chosen and rendered into English by an American Catholic Trappist monk with a great sympathy for zen Buddhism. Oh, and it possesses a brief preface by his Holiness, the Dalai Lama.

Confucian practice comes in for much criticism in this book, but I think this is because Daoism is concerned about the experience of being and enlightenment, whereas Confucianism is concerned with the proprieties of social behavior. If Chuang Tzu rails at the students of Confucianism, he does so in much the same spirit with which Jesus criticizes the scribes and the pharisees. He wishes to lead them past the practices to the heart within all of us.

Thomas Merton is not fluent in Chinese, and does not claim to be, but as he is a real poet his Chang Tzu renditions travel to the heart within all of us too.

Here are a few examples I have chosen, principally because I liked them and they were a little shorter than the rest:

THE NEED TO WIN

When an archer is shooting
He has all his skill.
If he shoots for a brass buckle
He is already nervous.
If he shoots for a prize of gold
He goes blind
or sees two targets—
he is out of his mind!

His skill has not changed. But the prize
Divides him. He cares.
He thinks more of winning
Than of shooting—
And the need to wind
Drains him of power.


APOLOGIES

If a man steps on a stranger’s foot
In the marketplace,
He makes a polite apology
And offers an explanation
(This place is so terribly
Crowded!”)

If an elder brother
Steps on his younger brother’s foot,
He says, “Sorry!”
And that is that.

If a parent
Treads on his child’s foot,
Nothing is said at all.

The greatest politeness
Is free of all formality.
Perfect conduct is free of concern.
Perfect wisdom
Is unplanned.
Perfect love
Is without demonstrations.
Perfect sincerity offers
No guarantee.


THE USELESS

Hui Tzu said to Chuang Tzu:
“All your teaching is centered on what has no use.”

Chuang replied:
“If you have no appreciation for what has no use
You cannot begin to talk about what can be used.
The earth, for example, is broad and vast
But of all that expanse a man uses only a few inches
Upon which he happens to be standing.
Now suppose you suddenly take away
All that he is not actually using
So that, all around his fee a gulf
Yawns, and he stands in the Void,
With nowhere solid except right under each foot:
How long will he be able to use what he is using?”

Hui Tzu: “It would cease to serve any purpose.”

Chuang concluded”
“This shows
The absolute necessity
Of what has ‘no use’”

[KamRun · Rating 4 out of 5]

فلسفه چین و تفاوت هایش با فلسفه غربی

فلسفه یونان و فلسفه چین باستان، در بنیاد خود از یکدیگر جدا می شوند. فلسفه یونانی از ابتدا توجه زیادی به اضداد داشت و ابتدایی ترین نظریه های فلسفی نیز بر همین اصل استوار است.اما در شرق، فلسفه نه بر اضداد، بلکه بر پیوستگی جهان و همه چیز (ذات دائو) بنا شده است
نخستین فیلسوفان چینی صرفا فیلسوف بودند اما در یونان باستان اندیشمندان فیلسوف-دانشمند بودند. فلسفه نخستین یونان دارای عناصری دینی آن روزگار، یعنی اساطیر ادیان باستانی یونانی بود و مدت ها طول کشید تا انتقال از اسطوره به علم صورت پذیرد.بعد ها نیز در غرب رابطه ی محکمی میان فلسفه ،علم و اندیشه ی دینی برقرار ماند. اما در شرق تمام عناصر دینی از اندیشه ها و مکاتب زدوده شده بودند. یعنی دو عنصر جاودانگی روح یا روان و وجود برتر مانند لوگوس در فلسفه یونان.
هرچند فلاسفه یونانی اکثرا در باب سیاست نیز رساله هایی نوشته اند یا خود منصب سیاسی داشتند، اما میان فلسفه و تفکر سیاسی آنان چنان پیوستگی ای وجود ندارد که قابل تفکیک نباشد، اما فلسفه در چین آنچنان با سیاست عجین شده بود که تفکیک آن ها در بعضی از مکاتب عملا ممکن نیست، مانند مکتب قانون
فلسفه یونانی و چینی از جنبه روش پژوهش نیز با یکدگیر تفاوت چشمگیری داشتند. فلسفه یونان از اصول منطقی و استدلال بهره می جست، در مقابل در شرق، با تاکید بیش از حد بر مدیتیشن و تزکیه نفس و ریاضت، شهود و اشراق بر استدلال غلبه کرده بود و بی میلی مفرطی برای اندیشه انتزاعی وجود داشت


درباره جوانگ زه

جوانگ زه ( 3 قرن پیش از میلاد) از فیلسوفان معروف مکتب دائویی و پیرو لائوزه بود.هرچند وی بنیانگذار این اندیشه نبود، اما به علت نقش اصلی در گسترش آن، وی را برجسته ترین فیلسوف این جرگه در نظر می گیرد. مولفه های اصلی اندیشه وی را بازگشت به طبیعت هرچیز (طبعیت پرستی) و ضدیت با هر نوع تمدن بشری شکل داده است. جوانگ زه و لائوزه، تلاش داشتند تا حد ممکن از سیاست دور باشند و از قبول منصب های حکومتی نیز امتناع می کردند. آن ها در سیاست با انکار مشروعیت هرگونه حکومت، طرفدار نوعی آنارشیسم فردگرا و از بین بردن هرگونه اجتماع متمدن و بازگشت به بدویت و طبیعت نخستین انسان بودند.
اساس فلسفه جوانگ زه بر این امر استوار است که حقیقت به وسیله ذهن و استدلال های منطقی قابل دستیابی نیست و به جای آن، نوعی اشراق و روشن شدگی درونی را لازمه دریافت حقیقت می دانستند که تنها با نظاره (بی عملی) حاصل می شود.
در مکتب جوانگ زه، دائو (به مفهوم راه طبیعت، اصل، نظم کیهانی) نیروی (متافیزیکی) زندگی بخش همه چیز محسوب می شود. بر اساس تعالیم این مکتب، دائو را نمی توان تعریف کرد زیرا:

دائو را نمی توان شنید، اگر شنیده شود دائو نیست. دائو را نمی توان دید، اگر دیده شود دائو نیست.از دائو نمی توان سخن گفت، اگر گفته شود دائو نیست.

اما می توان از دیدگاه برون دینی به تعریف دائو و ویژگی هایش پرداخت:
دائو آفریننده ی جهان و موجودات زنده نیست، جهان دارای ویژگی خودخدایی ست. بنابراین دائو تنها علت بودن آن هاست. آن ها خود هستی یافته اند. دائو با کنش بی کنشی آن ها را ایجاد کرده است. (اصل وی وو وی). دائو همه چیز را در بر دارد، آن را آغاز و پایانی نیست. همه چیز در دائو خلاصه می شود، تمام چیزهایی که ضد یکدیگر به نظر می رسند، در دائو ترکیب و واحد می شوند. ذات دائو، چیزی را ندیدن، چیزی نشنیدن و کاری نکردن است. هیچ واقعیت مطلق قابل شناختی جز وجود ندارد. همه چیز یکسان و واحد است. چیزی نیست که خوب نباشد و چیزی نیست که بد نباشد.


درباره گردآورنده، راهب توماس مرتون

گردآوری این کتاب توماس مرتون راهبی کاتولیک از جرگه تراپیست ها (راهبانی که قسم یاد می کنند تا پایان عمر از سخن گفتن خودداری کنند) صورت گرفته است. مرتون کتاب های بسیاری درباره زندگی رهبانی نوشت و در نگارش آن ها، از تجربه زندگی خانه به دوشی دوران کودکی اش کمک گرفت. مرتون پس از جند سال زندگی رهبانی، با انکار یگانگی خود فردی اعلام کرد که میان خود واقعی و من تجربی تفاوت زیادی وجود دارد:

حضور و مشاهده کار این خود ظاهری نیست. بین خود متعالی واقعی و این خود ظاهری که آن را با اول شخص مفرد یکی می دانیم، شکافی عمیق قرار دارد.این من ظاهری، فردیت ما و ماحصل تجربه ماست، نه آن من ی که با خداوند یکی می شود.

این طرز تفکر باعث گرایش وی به سمت دین های شرقی گشت. رامنه مهرشی ، یکی از استاید معنوی عرفان جدیدی هند بر این باور بود که خدا یا نفس مطلق، خاستگاه سرشت واقعی انسان است، در حالی که شناخت انسان از خود، محدود به عواطفش نسبت به خود است که به طور معمول تا حدی زیادی از نفس مطلق یا خود واقعی فاصله دارد. به محض اینکه این احساس شخصی با نفس مطلق یکی شود، وجود نیروی حقیقی خود را آشکار خواهد ساخت. مرتون نیز تلاش کرد در سایه ای اندیشه های این چنینی، تعالیم خود را با اصطلاحات کتاب مقدسی و زیر چتر کلیسا بیان کند:

خدا ما را آزاد می گذارد تا هرآنچه دوست داریم باشیم. می توانیم به میل خود، خودمان باشیم یا نه. آزادیم که واقعی باشیم یا غیر واقعی. می توانیم راستین یا دروغین باشیم، انتخاب با خود ماست. اما نمی توانیم این انتخاب ها را بدون مجازات انجام دهیم. هر علتی معلولی دارد و اگر با گذاشتن نقاب، به خودمان یا دیگران دروغ بگوییم، در آن صورت نمی توانیم انتظار یافتن حقیقت را در هر وقت که بخواهیم داشته باشیم. وظیفه ما این نیست که صرفا باشیم، بلکه این است که همراه با خدا دست اندر کار آفرینش زندگی خودمان، هویت خودمان و سرنوشت خودمان باشیم.

مورد دیگری که مرتون روی آن تاکید بسیار داشت، انکار من بود. یعنی دور شدن از فرد و رفتن به سوی حالتی از بودن، از طریق رها کردن چیز بودن خود:

تا وقتی منی هست که صاحب مشخص یک تجربه شهودی است، منی که از خود، حضور و مشاهده اش آگاه است، منی که می تواند واجد مرتبه خاصی از روحانیت شود، هنوز از دریای سرخ عبور نکره ایم، هنوز از مصر بیرون نرفته ایم. ما در قلمرو کثرت، فعالیت، نقص و تلاش و خواهش باقی می مانیم. من حقیقی ما فقط برای خود و خداوند شناخته شده است، این من چیزی ندارد، حتی حضور و مشاهده.

مرتون در سال 1968 در حالی که جهت سخنرانی و تعلیم جمعی از راهبان مسیحی رهسپار بانکوک بود، در اثر عیب در کلید پنکه دچار برق گرفتی و مرگ شد. وی ساعاتی پیش از حادثه در فرودگاه به دوستش گفته بود: ما زمین را ترک گفتیم. احساس می کنم سرانجام پس از سال ها انتظار و سرگردانی، در راه حقیقی ام قرار گرفته ام.

درباره این کتاب

تعالیم کتاب را می توان به سه بخش تقسیم کرد: متافیزیک، اخلاق و شناخت. حکایت ها و مطالب بخش متافیزیک توضیحاتی در باب دائو، جهان طبیعی و رابطه انسان و جهان را شامل می شود. در بخش اخلاق اصولا روش های شاد زیستن و موانع آن مورد اشاره قرار می گیرد. جوانگ زه معتقد بود که تمام سختی و رنج انسان از طغیانش علیه روش طبیعت سرچشمه می گیرد و راه رهایی از این درد و رنج تنها کنش بی کنش و سرخوشی کودکانه ست: می رود خود بی آنکه بداند به کجا می رود. می ایستد بی آنکه بداند چرا ایستاده است. از چیزی آگاه نیست، بلکه خود را با شرایط طبیعی هستی همساز می کند. رگه های آنارشیسم در حکایت های این بخش با نفی هرگونه حکومت، قانون و تمدن به وضوح دیده می شود.
مکتب جوانگ زه دو سطح شناخت و آگاهی برای انسان درنظر می گیرد: شناخت سطح پایین تر که از طریق حواس بدن و عقل حاصل می شود. این سناخت سطحی است که میان چیزها تمایز قائل می شود و بد و خ��ب را می شناسد. شناخت والا تر با دور انداختن شناخت سطح پایین حاصل می شود. یعنی آنگاه که تمایز میان این و آن، مرگ و زندگی، هستی و نیستی، خوب و بد برای شخص از میان می رود:
این هم آن است، آن هم این است. آن نظامی از این درست و نادرست دارد. آیا به راستی میان آن و این فرقی است؟ ذات دائو این است که آن و این ضد یکدیگر نباشند. یگانه ذات، که گویی یک محور است. مرکز دایره ای است که به تغییر بی پایان جواب می دهد. راستی یک دگرگونی بی پایان است، ناراستی هم یک دگرگونی بی پایان است.

در این حالت شخص به وضعیت نه من یا بی دلی می رسد. نشان آگاهی والا، آسایش روان، آرامش، هماهنگی و بی کنشی محض است:
گوش از شنیدن فروبند و دل از اندیشیدن نگاه دار. اما بگذار روحت چون لوح سفیدی باشد که به صورتی پذیرا به چیزهای بیرونی پاسخ می دهد.

بعضی از حکایت های کتاب شباهت زیادی با تعالیم مسیحی دارد. به عنوان مثال حکایت شادی کامل جوانگ زه با موعظه سر کوه مسیح که خوشابحال ها را تعلیم می دهد دارای وجه مشترک است.
این کتاب بی فایده است! علت این انتخاب عنوان توسط مرتون چیست؟ به نظر می رسد انتخاب این نام، ریشه در این اعتقاد جوانگ زه دارد که طبع انسان ها مانند طبیعت آمیزه ای از خوبی و بدی ست و هیچ ساختار تربیتی و اخلاقی ای جز بازگشت به طبیعت نخستین نمی تواند برای انسان کارگشا باشد. بنابراین تعالیم این کتاب نیز نمی تواند برای کسی مفید باشد زیرا حقیقت را نمی توان به کسی آموخت و حقیقتی که آموختنی و بیان شدنی باشد، حقیقت نیست.
نکته ی دیگر درباره کتاب اینکه مرتون در این گردآوری به جای واژه ی دائو، لفظ خداوند را به کار برده است و علت این امر را نیز عدم آشنایی عمده مخاطبان با مفهوم دائو بیان کرده است.به عقیده مرتون مفهوم دائو در شرق با مفهوم خدا در مسیحیت برابر است.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the first books I read some time ago after first reading the Chuang Tzu. Read it because I needed to read other interpretations of the Chuang Tzu. Merton has a special appeal for me because I had read his great “Seven Story Mountain” and I am enamored of Trappist monks (maybe because I’m not sure I have the fortitude it would take to live those vows). Even given that Merton did not read Chinese, I still think that his is a unique perspective, perhaps because he more than anyone else who has interpreted the Chuang Tzu has 'lived' the Chuang Tzu. What? Well think about it and read about how a Trappist monk lives. It is a life reduced to essentials and a life where the material life most of us cannot avoid living plays little part.

“The man of Tao
Remains unknown
Perfect virtue
Produces nothing
‘No-Self’
Is ‘True-Self’
And the greatest man
Is nobody.’ (p. 92)

Perhaps more so these lines:

“He goes his way
Without relying on others
And does not pride himself
On walking alone.” (p. 91)

In my opinion a man who lived his life as humbly as Merton did is well qualified to interpret Chuang Tzu.

I’m not suggesting that Thomas Merton is the only person who could have interpreted Chuang Tzu or Daoism. But, I am suggesting that he was uniquely qualified to do so and that his perspective is a very valuable one. That’s why I’ve kept this book on my shelf for 20 or so years and that’s why I go back to it.

[Hannibal · Rating 5 out of 5]

جوانگ زه دومین استاد بزرگ فلسفه دائو پس از لائو زه است. اگر دائو دجینگ منسوب به لائوزه را مانیفست اعتقادی ایین دائو محسوب کنیم، این اثر به نوعی در برگیرنده اخلاقی دائوی است.
برگردان انگلیسی این کتاب از توماس مرتون است و نمی دانم مترجم پارسی تا چه اندازه در متن آن تصرف کرده است. برای مثال هر جا که در کتاب واژه "خدا" ذکر شده، در متن اصلی چینی "دائو" است که به معنای راه و سلوک و ... می باشد. از این روی این ترجمه را نباید ترجمه ای دقیق انگاشت، هر چند که خواندنش خالی از لطف نیست و برای آشنایی با حال و هوای کلی مرام دائو مفید خواهد بود.
علاقه من به این کتاب ناشی داستانک هایی است که نقل شده و در پایان یک نتیجه اخلاقی را به دنبال دارد.

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am a great admirer of Thomas Merton. However, the content of his translation is too frequently wrong to make this translation a reliable representation of what Zhuang Zi (Chuang Tzu) meant.

There are many places in ancient Chinese where, e.g., one person might translate: "The sage always..." and another person might translate: "The Dao always..." That is because the original text did not have a subject. The reader has to supply that part. Usually there is no way to figure it out for sure; either or both might be what the original author intended.

Too many of the things that appear in Merton's English cannot be supported by the Chinese text. The idea did not come from the Chinese text because Merton could not read Chinese. The idea must have come because Merton was able to push the English of translators into the interpretation that seemed to Merton, on the basis of his own experience as a meditator, to be correct.

If you want to understand Merton then this translation may well help. If you want to understand Zhuang Zi then this translation can get you into trouble.

[Guy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable and well worth while reading! Curiously, when I first read it I felt it wasn't up to 5 stars, and gave it a 3. However on recent re-read, I now rate it a full five stars. Not sure what has changed about me to make such a change in my perception of the writing, but on this read even the introduction stood out as exceptionally entertaining.

And now I find myself going to it from time-to-time to partake of its charm and wisdom. It is a truly refreshing and delightful book of wise humour. Or, perhaps, humous wisdom.

A couple of paragraphs from Merton's introduction stand out as worthy of citing:

[My:] 'readings' [of Chuang Tzu:] are not attempts at faithful reproduction but ventures in personal and spiritual interpretation. Inevitably, any rendering of Chuang Tzu is bound to be very personal. Though, from the point of view of scholarship, I am not even a dwarf sitting on the shoulders of these giants, and though not all my renderings can even qualify as 'poetry,' I believe that a certain type of reader will enjoy my intuitive approach to a thinker who is subtle, funny, provocative, and not easy to get at (9).

And:

This book is not intended to prove anything or to convince anyone of anything that s/he does not want to hear about in the first place. In other words, it is not a new apologetic subtlety ... in which Christian rabbits will suddenly appear by magic out of a Taoist hat.
I simply like Chuang Tzu because he is what he is and I feel no need to justify this liking to myself or to anyone else. He is far too great to need any apologies from me (10).

[J.D. Steens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Among the classical Chinese philosophers (550-250 BCE), Chuang Tzu (d. 275) was the premier voice for Taoism. The Tao is regarded as mysterious, immune to description. Taoism's legendary founder, Lao Tzu (who may not have existed), states that "The name that can be named is not the constant name." In the same vein, Chuang Tzu writes that "Tao is a name that indicates without defining." Given this characterization or lack thereof, even a reference to "the Tao" is problematic as "the" qualifies Tao. Any attempt to define the Tao seems so fundamentally at odds with what Taoism is about. It is easy to get stuck and to resign oneself to a search for something vague but promising, something that unifies and quiets the soul.

Yet, if Taoism is viewed as cosmic energy that operates dialectically (force, counter force, equilibrium), the Taoist epigrams of Chuang Tzu begin to make some sense. Ultimate reality is not a thing, but energy that pervades all (the cosmos, nature, human relationships). Energy, while formless, manifests itself in matter that moves in certain ways that reflect its inner makeup. Matter acts and matter reacts until equilibrium is achieved. That balance is then upset and this prompts new dialectic cycles. Absolute, Eternal stasis where time stops has no place in Taoism. The only permanent reality is change itself.

The principle of change governs human affairs as well. Chuang Tzu's epigrams emphasize balance in the conduct of life. To stand out, by seeking fame and riches and power, is to upset that balance and, thereby, trigger adverse reaction (tension, conflict, violence) until order (balance) is restored. Non-striving and non-action are often interpreted as the need to retreat through self-denial. But these words can also mean that the self can attend to its basic needs without the excess that comes from striving too much and acting beyond proper bounds. While man may "think he is surpassing others, others see him merely straining, stretching, to stand on tiptoe." And, just who is the self? As in all life forms, each individual has his or her own nature: "Water is for fish, and air for men. Natures differ, and needs with them." Being true to one's nature brings peace and harmony to the soul as long as it is done with a sense of proportion and balance. This perspective stands in contrast with the Confucians who pushed individuals away from themselves and toward the needs of the social order.

From the various commentaries on the subject, "Tao" generally means the ultimate pinciple that governs all, the path of the cosmos. "Te" is the Tao translated into the life principle. This is both the force or energy that pervades all of life and the principles of change and balance that govern all life forms and their interaction with each other and nature. Virtue is to follow these principles. "Ching" refers to one's essential nature. Virtue means to care and tend to our individual natures but to do so without asserting too much and without violating "Te." Arguably, this could be the story that Taoism tells.

In the end, of course, the principle of change means that we, as all life forms do, must die and that our death, as death does throughout nature, begets new life. In our brief moment of life, though, it is in our interest to live within our bounds as individual and social harmony is the result. To assert oneself beyond those bounds brings only disharmony. As Chuang Tzu writes, "There is no robber so dangerous as Nature (Yang and Yin). Yet it is not nature that does the damage: it is man's own will!"

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

a reference book on my shelf, which I return to again and again. Chuang Tzu illustrates the way with fables rather than epigrams. More approachable than Lao Tzu, thought some stories can be as enigmatic as truisms. Not a book to read through cover to cover in one sitting, but rather a book to leave around, and pick a page at random whenever guidance is needed.

[Mobina J · Rating 5 out of 5]

عالی بود این كتاب... اندیشه های تامل برانگیزی رو تجربه كردم...
از متن:‏
وقتی كفش اندازه است، پا فراموش شود.
وقتی كمربند اندازه است، شكم فراموش شود.
نه فشاری،نه اجباری
نه نیازی،نه كششی
و اینگونه جمله ی كارها زیر مهار و تو آزادی
آرام،درست است
درست، تو آرامی
به آرامی ادامه بده و تو درستی...
راه درست آرام رفتن فراموش كردن راه درست است و فراموش كردن اینكه رفتن آرام است...‏

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd read Lao Tzu's "Tao Te Ching" before but had never had the opportunity to read anything my Chuang Tzu. This was an excellent book that I read straight through, probably not the best way to read it, I think I'll get a physical copy so I can keep it on the nightstand to read the poetry section, again and again.

[Oliver Ho · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read two other translations several years ago, and I'd been curious about this one for some time. Thomas Merton's introduction is excellent. He explains how he didn't translate the book so much as make an "imitation" based on four or five other translations, each of which was quite different. In that respect, this reminded me of Robert Lowell's book, "Imitations." Merton also gives an interesting overview of Chinese philosophy and its parallels to his particular interests, namely his mystic Christian monasticism. I will definitely read this again.

I highlighted quite a few passages. The first bunch are from Merton's introduction. (The highlights didn't capture line breaks in the poems. Each new line started with a capitalized first letter.)

there is a monastic outlook which is common to all those who have elected to question the value of a life submitted entirely to arbitrary secular presuppositions, dictated by social convention, and dedicated to the pursuit of temporal satisfactions which are perhaps only a mirage.
---
This book is not intended to prove anything or to convince anyone of anything that he does not want to hear about in the first place.
---
I simply like Chuang Tzu because he is what he is and I feel no need to justify this liking to myself or to anyone else.
---
Chuang Tzu is not concerned with words and formulas about reality, but with the direct existential grasp of reality in itself. Such a grasp is necessarily obscure and does not lend itself to abstract analysis. It can be presented in a parable, a fable, or a funny story about a conversation between two philosophers.
---
The book of the Bible which most obviously resembles the Taoist classics is Ecclesiastes. But at the same time there is much in the teaching of the Gospels on simplicity, childlikeness, and humility, which responds to the deepest aspirations of the Chuang Tzu book and the Tao Teh Ching.
---
He might easily be read today as one preaching a gospel of license and uncontrol. Chuang Tzu himself would be the first to say that you cannot tell people to do whatever they want when they don’t even know what they want in the first place!
---
After all, the idea that one can seriously cultivate his own personal freedom merely by discarding inhibitions and obligations, to live in self-centered spontaneity, results in the complete decay of the true self and of its capacity for freedom.
---
Personalism gives priority to the person and not the individual self. To give priority to the person means respecting the unique and inalienable value of the other person, as well as one’s own, for a respect that is centered only on one’s individual self to the exclusion of others proves itself to be fraudulent.
---
Chuang Tzu held that only when one was in contact with the mysterious Tao which is beyond all existent things, which cannot be conveyed either by words or by silence, and which is apprehended only in a state which is neither speech nor silence (xxv. II.) could one really understand how to live.
---
To put it simply, the hero of virtue and duty ultimately lands himself in the same ambiguities as the hedonist and the utilitarian. Why? Because he aims at achieving “the good” as object. He engages in a self-conscious and deliberate campaign to “do his duty” in the belief that this is right and therefore productive of happiness. He sees “happiness” and “the good” as “something to be attained,” and thus he places them outside himself in the world of objects. In so doing, he becomes involved in a division from which there is no escape: between the present, in which he is not yet in possession of what he seeks, and the future in which he thinks he will have what he desires: between the wrong and the evil, the absence of what he seeks, and the good that he hopes to make present by his efforts to eliminate the evils; between his own idea of right and wrong, and the contrary idea of right and wrong held by some other philosophical school. And so on.
---
Chuang Tzu agrees with the paradox of Lao Tzu, “When all the world recognizes good as good, it becomes evil,” because it becomes something that one does not have and which one must constantly be pursuing until, in effect, it becomes unattainable.
---
The more “the good” is objectively analyzed, the more it is treated as something to be attained by special virtuous techniques, the less real it becomes. As it becomes less real, it recedes further into the distance of abstraction, futurity, unattainability. The more, therefore, one concentrates on the means to be used to attain it. And as the end becomes more remote and more difficult, the means become more elaborate and complex, until finally the mere study of the means becomes so demanding that all one’s effort must be concentrated on this, and the end is forgotten.
---
The way of Tao is to begin with the simple good with which one is endowed by the very fact of existence.
---
If one is in harmony with Tao—the cosmic Tao, “Great Tao”—the answer will make itself clear when the time comes to act, for then one will act not according to the human and self-conscious mode of deliberation, but according to the divine and spontaneous mode of wu wei, which is the mode of action of Tao itself, and is therefore the source of all good.
---
The other way, the way of conscious striving, even though it may claim to be a way of virtue, is fundamentally a way of self-aggrandizement, and it is consequently bound to come into conflict with Tao.
---
Chuang Tzu is not against virtue (why should he be?), but he sees that mere virtuousness is without meaning and without deep effect either in the life of the individual or in society.
---
All deliberate, systematic, and reflexive “self-cultivation,” whether active or contemplative, personalistic or politically committed, cuts one off from the mysterious but indispensible contact with Tao, the hidden “Mother” of all life and truth.
---
No one is so wrong as the man who knows all the answers.
---
A program or a system has this disadvantage: it tends to situate happiness in one kind of action only and to seek it only there. But the happiness and freedom which Chuang Tzu saw in Tao is to be found everywhere (since Tao is everywhere), and until one can learn to act with such freedom from care that all action is “perfect joy because without joy,” one cannot really be happy in anything.
---
The true character of wu wei is not mere inactivity but perfect action— because it is act without activity. In other words, it is action not carried out independently of Heaven and earth and in conflict with the dynamism of the whole, but in perfect harmony with the whole. It is not mere passivity, but it is action that seems both effortless and spontaneous because performed “rightly,” in perfect accordance with our nature and with our place in the scheme of things. It is completely free because there is in it no force and no violence. It is not “conditioned” or “limited” by our own individual needs and desires, or even by our own theories and ideas.
---
What is impossible today may suddenly become possible tomorrow. What is good and pleasant today may, tomorrow, become evil and odious. What seems right from one point of view may, when seen from a different aspect, manifest itself as completely wrong.
---
When a limited and conditioned view of “good” is erected to the level of an absolute, it immediately becomes an evil, because it excludes certain complementary elements which are required if it is to be fully good.
---
He retains his perspective and clarity of judgment, so that he knows that “Yes” is “Yes” in the light of the “No” which stands over against it. He understands that happiness, when pushed to an extreme, becomes calamity. That beauty, when overdone, becomes ugliness. Clouds become rain and vapor ascends again to become clouds. To insist that the cloud should never turn to rain is to resist the dynamism of Tao.
---
The pivot of Tao passes through the center where all affirmations and denials converge. He who grasps the pivot is at the still-point from which all movements and oppositions can be seen in their right relationship. Hence he sees the limitless possibilities of both “Yes” and “No.”
---
No one seems to know How useful it is to be useless.
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“All the fish needs Is to get lost in water. All man needs is to get lost In Tao.”
---
By ethical argument And moral principle The greatest crimes are eventually shown To have been necessary, and, in fact, A signal benefit To mankind.
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This one sees in the dark, hears where there is no sound. In the deep dark he alone sees light. In soundlessness he alone perceives music. He can go down into the lowest of low places and find people. He can stand in the highest of high places and see meaning. He is in contact with all beings. That which is not, goes his way. That which moves is what he stands on. Great is small for him, long is short for him, and all his distances are near.
---
The bird opens its beak and sings its note And then the beak comes together again in Silence.
---
The sage is quiet because he is not moved, Not because he wills to be quiet. Still water is like glass. You can look in it and see the bristles on your chin. It is a perfect level; A carpenter could use it.
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From emptiness comes the unconditioned. From this, the conditioned, the individual things. So from the sage’s emptiness, stillness arises: From stillness, action. From action, attainment.
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There are no fixed limits Time does not stand still. Nothing endures, Nothing is final.
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Nothing endures, Nothing is final.
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The game is never over Birth and death are even The terms are not final.
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Can a man cling only to heaven And know nothing of earth? They are correlative: to know one Is to know the other. To refuse one Is to refuse both.
---
Kui, the one-legged dragon, Is jealous of the centipede. The centipede is jealous of the snake. The snake is jealous of the wind. The wind is jealous of the eye. The eye is jealous of the mind.
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The man in whom Tao Acts without impediment Harms no other being By his actions Yet he does not know himself To be “kind,” to be “gentle.” The man in whom Tao Acts without impediment Does not bother with his own interests And does not despise Others who do.
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“Go home!” said Chuang Tzu. “Leave me here To drag my tail in the mud!”
---
I ask myself if after all their concept of happiness has any meaning whatever. My opinion is that you never find happiness until you stop looking for it. My greatest happiness consists precisely in doing nothing whatever that is calculated to obtain happiness: and this, in the minds of most people, is the worst possible course.
---
My opinion is that you never find happiness until you stop looking for it.
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Contentment and well-being at once become possible the moment you cease to act with them in view, and if you practice non-doing (wu wei), you will have both happiness and well-being.
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“Heaven and earth do nothing Yet there is nothing they do not do."
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So a drunken man, falling Out of a wagon, Is bruised but not destroyed.
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If there is such security in wine, How much more in Tao.
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So, when the shoe fits The foot is forgotten, When the belt fits The belly is forgotten, When the heart is right “For” and “against” are forgotten.
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The right way to go easy Is to forget the right way And forget that the going is easy.
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The straight tree is the first to be cut down, The spring of clear water is the first to be drained dry.
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Such is the perfect man: His boat is empty.
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Those who are caught in the machinery of power take no joy except in activity and change—the whirring of the machine! Whenever an occasion for action presents itself, they are compelled to act; they cannot help themselves.
---
Where there is no longer word or silence Tao is apprehended.
---
“If you have no appreciation for what has no use You cannot begin to talk about what can be used."

[Allenh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've always heard of the Tao Te Ching, by Lao Tzu, but until a foray into Br. Thomas Merton's works I had never heard of Chuang Tzu. It's a true shame that more people don't know about Chuang Tzu, as I feel his work is much more close to what I would call Zen than Lao Tzu's, even though Lao Tzu's work is the definitive work on Tao. Chuang Tzu was a poet, and my Chinese friends call his work beautiful, and I have to agree, his stories about Tao mean more than Lao Tzu's sayings about Tao for me. The poem I often relay to my friends and co-workers is that of the archer entitled "Need To Win" as translated by Merton. Beautiful and clear example of how his poetry addresses the heart of the issue at hand.

I've cracked open the Tao Te Ching a few times, and I believe a more careful study will show its beauty more than the cursory one I've had time to do (a lot of linguistic beauty and play is lost in translation). But, Chuang Tzu's poetry is very accessible and conveys important concepts very quickly.

I also find it intriguing and telling that Merton would find ChuangTzu, both contemplatives, and see parallels between his contemplative life and Chuang Tzu's.

Definitely a must read at least once.

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

A joy and a challenge to read, this offered me entirely new realms of consideration for why I might shed the myths of self-made manhood and goal-oriented living and embrace a deeper way. The introduction by Merton is outstanding.

[fabi · Rating 5 out of 5]

بهترین کتابی که تا به حال خوانده ام

[Lawrence Weber · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Way of Chuang Tzu, by Thomas Merton, is the product of five years of immersion, study, prayer, and reflection on the work of Zhuangzi, one of the towering figures in Chinese Taoism (Daojia) who lived sometime between the Fourth and Third Century BC.

According to Merton, the notes based on his meditative readings, "have acquired a shape of their own and have become, as it were, 'imitations' of Chuang Tzu." Merton goes on to describe these imitations as personal spiritual interpretations and should not be mistaken for scholarship.
What evolves then becomes a multi-layered tapestry of the poetic, intuitive, provocative, and complex. Merton has found a kindred spirit in Chuang Tzu, and there is little doubt that Merton and Master Chuang share a viewpoint of life that may be common to many monastics across a broad spectrum of religious and philosophical disciplines. This kinship needs no justification by Merton, a towering figure of Twentieth Century Catholicism in his own right; and Merton goes on to say that he "may be pardoned for consorting with a Chinese recluse who shares the climate and peace of my own kind of solitude, and who is my own kind of person."

To attempt an understanding of Chuang Tzu, it is essential to understand the world in which he lived. Confucianism was the dominant Chinese philosophy of Chuang Tzu's time; and while Chuang Tzu often ridiculed Confucianism as too restrictive, it would be too simplistic to state that Taoism stood in direct contrast to Confucianism. According to Merton, "if Chuang Tzu reacted against the Ju doctrine [of Confucianism], it was not in the name of something lower-the animal spontaneity of the individual who does not want to be bothered with a lot of tiresome duties-but in the name of something altogether higher. This is the most important fact to remember when we westerners confront the seeming antinomianism of Chuang Tzu or of the Zen masters." While Confucius could advocate for Tao, Chuang Tzu believed that he was not referring to what he believed was the "great Tao" which is invisible and incomprehensible-the Eternal Tao.

For Chuang Tzu, the Eternal Tao was the source of all things. Chuang Tzu critiqued Confucius because he refused to focus his teachings on the Eternal Tao simply because it was unknowable. According to Chuang Tzu, only when one was connected in some way to the Eternal Tao (a connection beyond both words and silence), could one truly begin to understand how to live. Merton interprets Confucian understanding of Tao to be an "ethical Tao" or a "Tao of man," and he equates this understanding to be on par with the Christian interpretation of the Golden Rule. Merton concludes that this interpretation of Tao is not the Eternal Tao that Chuang Tzu espouses. Chuang Tzu eventually discarded this Confucian interpretation as illusory; where everything is distilled and categorized into a universal ethic of Tao (The Tao of Fatherhood is given as an example).

Merton brilliantly synthesizes Chuang Tzu's critique of the Confucian ethic of the "Superior Man" with the example of the heroic and the virtuous public servant by explaining that even the good and the noble person:

Engages in a self-conscious and deliberate campaign to 'do his duty' in the belief that this is right and therefore productive of happiness. He sees 'happiness' and 'the good' as 'something to be attained,' and thus he places them outside himself in the world of objects. In so doing, he becomes involved in a division from which there is no escape: between the present, in which he is not yet in possession of what he seeks, and the future in which he thinks he will have what he desires...

Chuang Tzu believed that abstractions such as "happiness," "virtue," and "justice" were concepts placed into the world of objects to be attained, and should be considered ambiguous at best, dangerous at worst. Here he means that whatever one considers good (the good) to be attained (as outside of one's self), the more the good becomes abstracted and unattainable. Instead, Chuang Tzu advocated Wu Wei, or non-action.

According to Chuang Tzu, Wu Wei is not concerned with conscious planning; in fact self-conscious action of any type is restrictive and stands opposed to the Eternal Tao. When you are in harmony with the Eternal Tao, right action, virtue, and good, which always manifest at the appropriate time without self-conscious deliberation, will intuitively become known to you, and you will act with Tao in full freedom. This concept of Wu Wei is reminiscent of the Gospel passage from Saint Matthew, "Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me (MT 16:24)." Dying to one's self or dying to one's self-consciousness is essential. Similarly, Saint Paul echoes this theme in Galatians 2:20 when he says, "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." It is not difficult to imagine the phrase sounding like this: I no longer live, but Tao (the Eternal Tao) lives in me.

Here is where I believe Merton finds a kindred spirit in Chuang Tzu. Merton recognizes that Chuang Tzu is actually moving into an area of mysticism which goes beyond mere object good, into metaphysical truth. He does not disdain virtue, good, happiness etc...He transcends them. I like that Merton recognizes in Chuang Tzu a man who challenges Merton's own vocation to solitude and contemplation, and I admire Merton all the more for confronting Chuang Tzu's critiques of contemplation and the interior life by deeply connecting his monasticism with Tao. "The true tranquility sought by the 'man of tao' is Ying ning, tranquility in the action of non-action, in other words, a tranquility which transcends the division between activity and contemplation by entering into union with the nameless and invisible Tao." I believe Merton equates this with divine union.

Finally, it is critical to understand that for Chuang Tzu, Tao is found everywhere; in the same way that Christians believe that God is both omnipresent and omniscient (Proverbs 15:3 The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good). Merton connected to this abstraction personally. In living out Wu Wei, Chuang Tzu advocated a non-action that was in complete harmony with Tao-in other words-perfect action. Merton described this as "action not carried out independently of Heaven and earth...in perfect harmony with the whole. It is not mere passivity, but it is action that seems both effortless and spontaneous because performed "rightly," in perfect accordance with our nature and with our place in the scheme of things. It is completely free because there is in it no force and no violence. It is not "conditioned" or "limited" by our own individual needs and desires, or even by our own theories and ideas."

Today, when I read John 17:21, "that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me," it is not difficult to think that Thomas Merton, perhaps more than any Catholic during the last century, truly recognized the common spiritual unity (the oneness of each other's souls as grounded in the Triune-One) we all share as brothers and sisters in this world. Reading The Way of Chuang Tzu, truly contemplating Merton’s interpretive message which is rooted in his own Christology, and then living it out through Chuang Tzu's idea of non-action, becomes a great way to continue the wonderful ecumenical work Merton engaged in so selflessly when he recognized how interconnected he was with his brother Chuang Tzu, and how God (Eternal Tao) ultimately connects all of us together in the oneness of mystery and truth.

[Arda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book showed up in my mail one day and I had no idea where it came from, until months later. I was not sure why the person who sent it to me decided that I should read it. Did I look lost? Did I seem as the type of person who needed guidance? Was this a way to maneuver me into religion? On the back-page I read: "Fishes are born into water. Man is born into Tao..." This looked way too simplistic for my taste. Would I have the patience for it?

And so the book stayed on my shelf for almost two years before I decided to give it another shot. This time, I ended up reading it in one sitting. Then I read it again, underlined many parts of it, looked back at the parts I liked, read a little more, kept the book near my bed, took comfort in the wisdom I discovered, and soon heard my voice telling random friends about Chuang Tzu and Taoism!

Among the things I found particularly interesting was the concept of TAO: Tao does not mean "God". Tao is not some outer being or some person up there looking down at the little creatures that we are. Rather, Tao is a "way" which signifies a certain taste for "simplicity, for humility, self-effacement, silence, and in general a refusal to take seriously the aggressivity, the ambition, the push, and the self-importance which one must display in order to get along in society. The other is a 'way' that prefers not to get anywhere in the world, or even in the field of some supposedly spiritual attainment."

The idea seems to be that there is no need to hold on to one's own knowledge, for holding on to knowledge or wisdom might lead to "losing" the peace of mind. "The right way is to go easy - Is to forget the right way - And forget that the going is easy." Part of the wisdom shared here is not to "grasp" to things (including wisdom) but rather to "thrust them away". Learn to ignore them, Chuang Tzu advises, try to get untied! "If they are within yourself, You cannot destroy them piecemeal, But you can refuse To let them take effect. If they are both inside and outside, Do not try To hold on to Tao - Just hope that Tao Will keep hold of you!"

Thomas Merton writes a very enjoyable introduction to the readings and study of Chuang Tzu He seems to have really "grasped" the simplicity of the importance of getting lost to save oneself. "The life of riches, ambition, pleasure, is in reality an intolerable servitude in which one 'lives for what is always out of reach,' thirsting 'for survival in the future' and 'incapable of living in the present."

The book also gives some understanding of certain concepts. I especially liked the idea of "WU WEI", which refers to "non-action, non-volitional living, obeying the Tao"; "Wu Wei is not intent upon results and is not concerned with consciously laid plans or deliberately organized endeavors" and according to Chuang Tzu: "My greatest happiness consists precisely in doing nothing whatever that is calculated to obtain happiness... Perfect joy is to be without joy... if you ask 'what ought to be done' and 'what ought not to be done' on earth to produce happiness, I answer that these questions do not have [a fixed and predetermined] answer" to suit every case." If one is in harmony with Tao, Merton clarifies, the answer will make itself clear when the time comes to act, for then one will act not according to the human and self-conscious mode of deliberation, but according to the divine and spontaneous mode of wu wei, which is the mode of action of Tao itself, and is therefore the source of all good.

Basically, Chuang Tzu insists on abandoning the "need to win", and gives attention to the humility of fully realizing one's own nothingness. This humility is not only 'cosmic' but it is also full of life and awareness. Chuang Tzu, Merton succeeds in explaining, does not look at paradise as "something that has been irrevocably lost by sin and cannot be regained except by redemption. It is still ours, but we do not know it, since the effect of life in society is to complicate and confuse our existence, making us forget who we really are by causing us to become obsessed with what we are not. It is this self-awareness, which we try to increase and perfect by all sorts of methods and practices, that is really a forgetfulness of our true roots in the 'unknown Tao' and our solidarity in the 'uncarved block' in which there are as yet no distinctions."

There is much wisdom in this book and, unlike religious texts I have previously read, this one actually managed to make me feel comfortable while reading it. Perhaps that is due to the fact that Chuang Tzu realized the dangers of claiming knowledge or trying to convert others into one's own beliefs. He makes sure one does not stick to their creeds and principles or distinguish oneself from others, for that is actually harmful, and it is more useful to be useless in that respect.

Act without activity, the concept repeats itself. Empty your boat. The water of the ocean is never filled - it is also never emptied. Achievement is the beginning of failure, fame is the beginning of disgrace. Like an infant, be free from care and be unaware of self. Act without reflecting. Grow without having the need to watch yourself growing. Be like a fish that swims unconcerned. "When the shoe fits, the foot is forgotten."

[Glen Grunau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chuang Tzu is considered the greatest of the Taoist writers (at least among those whose historical existence can be verified) that lived during the classic period of Chinese philosophy from 550 to 250 BC. This roughly parallels the timeline in Bible history from the time of the exile of Judah to Babylon and extending well into the "400 years of silence" between the OT and NT scriptures.

If one has an openness to accept the idea of religious pluralism, then the teachings of Chuang Tzu may be considered as one form used by God to penetrate this period of silence in Christian prophetic teaching. Thomas Merton emphasizes that "it would be a great mistake to confuse the Taoism of Chuang Tzu with the popular, degenerate amalgam of superstition, alchemy, magic, and health-culture which Taoism later became". Merton finds a certain analogy between Chuang Tzu and St. Paul, although warns against pushing the analogy too far as Chuang Tzu "lacks the profoundly theological mysticism of St. Paul".

The focal point of Chuang Tzu's teaching is the criticism of any pursuit that sees the ultimate good outside of oneself - as something to be acquired or attained through purposeful effort. Chuang Tzu claims that such a pursuit is an ultimate loss of freedom - in reality an intolerable servitude in which one "lives for what is always out of reach," thirsting "for survival in the future" and "incapable of living in the present."

Chuang Tzu understands the extent to which our daily activities are a slave to such ulterior motives. Yet he not only challenges the ulterior motives of the hedonist and utilitarian but also of the hero of virtue and duty. How many of us as Christians today would fall into this latter category?!

Merton recognizes that once "the good" is externalized as something outside of oneself, to be attained by special and virtuous techniques (we are reminded that the ultimate good of God's love has already been given and can never be attained), we find that the study and analysis of the "means" becomes so commanding and all-consuming that the end is completely forgotten. Merton sees that "this is, in fact, nothing but organized despair: 'the good' that is preached and exacted by the moralist thus finally becomes an evil, and all the more so since the hopeless pursuit of it distracts one from the real good which one already possesses and which one now despises or ignores." How often do we see this when the church becomes preoccupied with attaining holiness through an emphasis on perfecting the moralisms of external behavior while forgetting the real good - which is love freely given and received.

Therefore, the essence of the way proposed by Chuang Tzu is not the accumulation of virtue and merit, common in the philosophy taught in his day (and perhaps in much of Christendom today despite a vocalized and often hollow allegiance to a "faith and not works" religion), but the non-doing or non-action which is indifferent to results and unhindered by consciously laid plans or deliberately organized endeavors. In capturing the essence of Chuang Tzu's teaching, Merton recognizes that "the other way, the way of conscious striving, even though it may claim to be a way of virtue, is fundamentally a way of self-aggrandizement, and it is consequently bound to come into conflict with Tao."

I found it intriguing to consider that the form that Chuang Tzu used to convey his teaching, the allegory and the parable, anticipated the form that the greatest teacher of truth, Jesus Christ, would one day rely on so extensively to convey truth to those who had "ears to hear".

After Merton's thoughtful introduction to the teaching of Chuang Tzu, the bulk of this book is composed of the often witty and humorous short stories and parables of Chuang Tzu. So much of the truth in these parables hit home for me! The way of non-doing and non-action is such an important consideration for me, given the analytical, obsessive, controlling, striving and clinging tendencies that so often trip me up in my contemplative journey. Oh to know fully that all that is needed has already been given! I would never have expected to receive such help from an ancient mystic Chinese sage!

[Keith · Rating 2 out of 5]

The dawn must look different to one living on a small lake from which he gets his dinner, idling about alone, without work, without a spouse, without a child and without a mortgage. How does the bread taste to one withdrawn from society, from politics, from family, indifferent to life, to death, to law, to friends, to duty, to good and evil?

Looking out his window he sees the swirling confusion of life, the tumbling hopes and stark anxieties of his neighbors, the whirling exasperation and sinking fear, the arguments and the lies, the lovers making love, the politicians law – all swept up in the illusory importance of the moment. From his fishing spot, he can contemplate the holistic fabric of the universe in the glimmer on the lake, and then look upon the road and frown on the senseless worries of the people around him. A thousand years from now today’s problems won’t matter.

But I must worry about the check engine light on my car, the leaves laying in the front yard as the first snowfall comes, I’ve got to figure out how to pay for my kids’ college, or what to do if I lost my job, or what to do about that strange looking mole on my arm. I’ve got to get to the bank today, buy some milk, take my son to a store 45 minutes away so he can buy an AirSoft gun, while my daughter needs 20 bucks for a regional chorus try out, and the cat just coughed up a hairball.

We all can’t retire to that lakeside hut. But can we find it within us? Can we step out of this rat race, step away from the advances in science and medicine, embrace non-action, become impassive to friends, to family, to fate? Is it possible? Is it desirable?

A thought-provoking book, but one of little practical value in my life.

[Ted Child · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the Tao Teh Ching a few years ago and become obsessed, reading various translations. I saved reading any Chuang Tzu till now. Generally Chuang Tzu is less ambiguous and more consistent than Lao Tzu. It is much easier to see the influence of Chuang Tzu rather then Lao Tzu on Zen Buddhism.
Here is some quotes I loved: “The rich make life intolerable, driving themselves in order to get more and more money which they cannot really use. In so doing they are alienated from themselves, and exhaust themselves in their own service as though they were slaves of others.”(p.99) I think this applies to the North American middle class, who are the global “rich”. This also applies, “When he tries to extend his power over objects, those objects gain control of him.” (p.136). See also the chapter Active Life which reads, “Those who are caught in the machinery of power take no joy except in activity and change- the whirring of the machine!” (p.142)

[James Klagge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Received this as a thank-you gift from a former student. I recently saw a piece about how the largest enrolled class at Harvard is now on Chinese philosophy. I was imagining using this as a text for a class. I don't see it. Of course there is the irony of all the institutional trappings of a class in connection with Zen. But it also couldn't help but feed the sense that philosophy is a silly game. Often the point of a story is that "consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." But of course the real line is that FOOLISH consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds. While I like the personal challenge of reflecting on Zen stories, I don't see how to take it any further than that.

[Mattheus Guttenberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful, witty, and enlightening. Chuang-tzu is arguably the most influential Chinese figure of antiquity. A student of Lao-tzu and other ancestral Taoist sages, Chaung-tzu brings the Taoist attitude to life with his penetrating insight into life, his pointed philosophical criticisms of the Confucians and Mohists, and his social commentary. Where the Tao Te Ching was subtle, quiet, and feminine, the Chuang-tzu is natural, funny, and exuberant. An excellent model for those seeking to emulate the spontaneous, unconcerned, and carefree lifestyle of the Taoist adept.

4 stars = a good read, nutritious, definitely worth reading

[Timothy Ball · Rating 5 out of 5]

The wise man therefore, instead of trying to prove this or that point by logical disputation, she's all things in the light of direct intuition. He is not in prison by the limitations of the I, for the viewpoint of the direct intuition is that of both I and not I. Hence he sees that on both sides of every argument there is both right and wrong. he also sees that in the end they are reducible to the same thing, once they are related to the pivot of Tao. when the wise man grasps this pivot, he is in the center of the circle, and there he stands while yes and no pursue each other around the circumference.

[Tom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Monk Thomas Merton reflects on the works of Chung Tzu, who lived in Asia nearly 2500 years ago. We are invited to release ourselves from servitude to riches, ambition, duty, and even virtue. The way begins with the simple good of being, in and through each moment. Happiness lies in doing nothing whatsoever calculated to obtain happiness, rather in bringing full presence to each situation, this making clear the path.

[Onon Bayasgalan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was given this book by a special person almost 10 years ago. I must not have been ready to read it. This book has beautiful and simply poetry describing Tao and Toaism, and in many ways I am going against many of its values of not putting on 'a display' by writing this review. Am I trying to pretend I am deep and spiritual by writing this review.... I cannot say. This is a lovely book, nevertheless!

[Ranj · Rating 4 out of 5]

تعلیمات جوانگ زه از پیشگامان مکتب دائو، راه و طریقت طبیعت.

اگر نیروهای بیرونی بر تو می تازند
در پی مهارشان مباش،
از درون خود در برابرشان مراقبت کن.
اگر نیروهای درونی بر تو می تازند،
وقتی یافتی مهار ناپذیرند،
مراقب باش به بیرون نگریزند.
ولی اگر نیروهای بیرونی و درونی هر دو بر تو می تازند.
تلاش مکن که خدا را بیابی،
دعا کن که خدا تو را بیابد.

📚این کتاب بی فایده است.
✍توماس مرتون


"این کتاب پر از فایده است." نیمه ی دوم کتاب دوست داشتنی تر از نیمه ی اوله.

[Zach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being Tzu’s words and Merton’s interpretation, this work is inherently syncretic of catholic and taoist principles. This mainly works to the advantage of the ollll Western reader as this is an uber consumable piece that leads the journeyperson through meditations that a damn occidental may not experience otherwise. Supremely enriching, spiritually thought provoking, this book says nothing and everything.

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read two other translations of Chuang Tzu and this is without a doubt the best. Other translations seem to be word for word and lose out on the poetry of the stories. Chuang is the poetic fulfillment of Taoist philosophy.

Chuang:
When the meaning of words are grasped, the words are forgotten. Find me the man who knows no words, for he is the one I'd like to talk to.

[WIZE FOoL · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are few books in the world, which will give you an insight into humanity and the world, yet also make you laugh!
Chuang Tzu is one of those few.
With his humour and wit, he gives the reader a beautiful insight to the Tao!
Enjoy!!!

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really beautiful collection, put together by Thomas Merton, the Christian contemplative. A great introduction if you’re looking for a way to build some familiarity with Taoist thought. (I am no expert. But this was beautiful and thought-provoking and pointed me toward deeper engagement.)