The Three Principle Texts of Daoism translated by ... - Bad Request

us by their impact."“But what if the earth should fall to pieces?"“The earth," replied the other, “is merely anagglomeration of matter, which fills and blocks up thefour comers of space. There is no part of it where matteris not. All day long there is constant treading andtramping on the surface of the earth. Why then shouldyou be afraid of its falling to pieces?"On this the man was relieved of his fears and rejoicedexceedingly. And his instructor was also joyful and easyin mind. But Ch'ang Lu Tzu laughed at them both,saying: “Rainbows, clouds and mist, wind and rain, thefour seasons—these are perfected forms of accumulatedether, and go to make up the heavens. Mountains andcliffs, rivers and seas, metals and rocks, fire and timber—these are perfected forms of agglomerated matter, andconstitute the earth. Knowing these facts, who can saythat they will never be destroyed? Heaven and earthform only a small speck in the midst of the Void, butthey are the greatest things in the sum of Being. Thismuch is certain: even as their nature is hard to fathom,hard to understand, so they will be slow to pass away,slow to come to an end. He who fears lest they shouldsuddenly fall to pieces is assuredly very far from thetruth. He, on the other hand, who says that they willnever be destroyed has also not reached the rightsolution. Heaven and earth must of necessity pass away,but neither will revert to destruction apart from theother. [1]