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

He could put away the idea of self in responding to the world, but he could not do so in determining his associations. In consequence of this, more distant acquaintances did not come to lay further afflictions on him, and his nearer friends perhaps came to cast him off because of those afflictions. What was he to do in these circumstances? If one be able to comply with the requirements of the time in his relations with men, but cannot do so in his relations to Heaven, then in the world he will indeed do nothing to others contrary to what is right, but he will himself receive treatment contrary to it; and what is to be done in such a case? Dze-sang Hû saw the difficulty here and provided for it. What he said about 'a union of Heaven's appointment,' and about 'the intercourse of superior men being tasteless as water,' shows how well he knew the old lessons about a connexion growing out {p. 290} of external circumstances and one founded in inward feeling. When one has divested himself of the idea of self, there will not again be such an experience as that of Confucius, when his intimate associates were removed from him more and more, and his followers and friends were more and more dispersed. And Confucius himself spoke of such a case. What he said about its being 'easy not to receive (as evils) the inflictions of Heaven,' and 'difficult not to receive as benefits the favours of men (par. 7),' shows how truly he perceived the connexion between the Heavenly and the Human (in man's constitution), and between 'the beginning and end' of experiences. When one acts entirely according to the requirements of the time, the more he enlarges himself the greater he becomes, and the more he loves himself the more sorrow he incurs. If he do not do so, then we have the case of him who in the prospect of gain forgets the true instinct of his preservation, as shown in the strange bird of the park of Tiâo-ling (par. 8), and the case of the Beauty of the lodging-house, who by her attempts to show off her superiority made herself contemned. How could such parties so represented occupy themselves with the Tâo and Its attributes so as to escape the calamities of life?