Sacred Books of the East Vol. 40 - Taoism Vol. 2

{fn. 1. This question arose out of the previous statement that man and Heaven might be one,--acting with the same spontaneity.} {fn. 2. Confucius recognises here, as he often does, a power beyond his own, 'his appointed lot,' what we call destiny, to which the Tâo requires submission. This comes very near to our idea of God.} {fn. 3. Human gifts had such an attraction, that they tended to take from man his heavenly spontaneity; and were to be eschewed, or received only with great caution.} {p. 39} mouth, it abandons it, and hurries off. It is afraid of men, and yet it stealthily takes up its dwelling by his; finding its protection in the altars of the Land and Grain{fr. 1}. 'What do you mean by saying that there is no beginning which was not an end?' Kung-nî said, 'The change--rise and dissolution--of all things (continually) goes on, but we do not know who it is that maintains and continues the process. How do we know when any one begins? How do we know when he will end? We have simply to wait for it, and nothing more{fr. 2}.' 'And what do you mean by saying that the Human and the Heavenly are one and the same?' Kung-nî said, 'Given man, and you have Heaven; given Heaven, and you still have Heaven (and nothing more). That man can not have Heaven is owing to the limitation of his nature{fr. 3}. The sagely man quietly passes away with his body, and there is an end of it.' 8. As Kwang Kâu was rambling in the park of Tiâo-ling {fr. 4} he saw a strange bird which came from the south. Its wings were seven cubits in width, and