________________
PT. 1. SECT. IV.
THE WRITINGS OF KWANG-BZE.
209
of the mind.' 'I venture to ask what that fasting of the mind is,' said Hui, and Kung-nî answered, 'Maintain a perfect unity in every movement of your will. You will not wait for the hearing of your ears about it, but for the hearing of your mind. You will not wait even for the hearing of your mind, but for the hearing of the spirit? Let the hearing (of the ears) rest with the ears. Let the mind rest in the verification of the rightness of what is in the will). But the spirit is free from all pre-occupation and so waits for the appearance of) things. Where the (proper) course is 2, there is freedom from all pre-occupation ;-such freedom is the fasting of the mind.' Hui said *, ' Before it was possible for me to employ (this method), there I was, the Hui that I am; now, that I can employ it, the Hui that I was has passed away. Can I be said to have obtained this freedom from pre-occupation ?' The Master replied, 'Entirely. I tell you that you can enter and be at ease in the enclosure (where he is), and not come into collision with the reputation (which belongs to him). If he listen to your counsels, let him hear your notes; if he will not listen, be silent. Open no (other) door; employ no other medicine; dwell with him (as with a friend) in the same apartment, and as if you had no other option, and you will not be far from success in your object. Not to move a step is easy; to walk without treading on the ground is difficult. In acting after the manner of men, it is easy to fall
1 The character in the text for spirit' here is the breath.' 2 The Tâo. 3.Said ;' probably, after having made trial of this fasting.
[39]
Digitized by Google