12.07.2015 Views

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

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

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

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

Chapter 11. <strong>The</strong> Folly Of Desire For Long LifeMENG-SUN-YANG asked Yang Chu:“<strong>The</strong>re are men who cherish life and care for theirbodies with the intention <strong>of</strong> grasping immortality. Isthat possible?"Yang Chu replied:“According to the laws <strong>of</strong> nature there is no such thing asimmortality."Meng-sun-Yang: “Yet is it possible to acquire a very longlife?"Yang Chu: “According to the laws <strong>of</strong> nature there is nosuch thing as a very long life. Neither can life bepreserved <strong>by</strong> cherishing or the body benefited <strong>by</strong>fostering."Meng-sun-Yang: “What would be a long life?"“All things were the same as they are now. <strong>The</strong> five goodand bad passions were <strong>of</strong> old as they are now. So also thesafety and peril <strong>of</strong> the four limbs. Grief and joy for thethings <strong>of</strong> this world were <strong>of</strong> old as they are now, and theconstant change <strong>of</strong> peace and revolution. Having seen

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!