THE WISE MAN
(Chuang Tzu) The wise man moves about, not caring about home or possessions. He lives simply. His feet leave no footprints. Thus, the perfect person is one whose vessel is empty.
“The wise man moves about, not caring about home or possessions.” Referenced here is the phrase “not caring,” which is qualified by pointing towards home and possessions. Why is this important? Isn’t it natural to grow attached to one’s home and one’s possessions? Don’t you own your home and possessions? Isn’t your apartment your apartment? Aren’t your clothes your clothes? What about your body, isn’t that yours as well? Or your thoughts, those yours too?
Next time you’re thinking about something, ask yourself, did I ask for this thought to be present? Once you’ve asked about the thought, now try to stop thinking about the thought. Watch how little control you have over even your thoughts, and yet, the world clings to them as worth anything or as a prize worth sharing through opinions.
What we’re attached to owns us, not the other way around.
To live simply is an accomplishment. It means you are thankful for what the day provides and without the desire to acquire anything new to parry a temporary fear or boredom.
To leave no footprints is an accomplishment. It means to graciously walk through life without causing pain or injury to another, nor hold something so tightly you can’t imagine parting with it.
To have an empty vessel is an accomplishment. It means you have surrendered over your attachments and aversions, expectations, wants, desires, hopes, and dreams, all for that which created you to provide a greater context for your daily experience of life.
It is a myth that you own anything, which is why Jesus is paraphrased as saying to give away not just your shirt to someone in need, but your jacket as well. You think you own both, the shirt and the jacket, but in truth, what you have in your life is all loaned to you for the purpose of realizing that freely giving it away actually shows a higher degree of possibility for being human.
We don’t find joy in hoarding, hiding, keeping things for ourselves. True joy can be experienced in the act of giving everything away to someone in need, someone who doesn’t have what has been provided to you.
Watch how empty your vessel can get when your first inclination towards another is not to take or get but to give and let go of.
Very few choose the spiritual path, because very few understand that to know God you have to be like God, and to be like God, you have to first be willing to give another what they need, without wanting entering into the equation.
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