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There is a beginning. There is no beginning of that beginning. There is something. There is nothing.

Zhuangzi

Once Zhuangzi dreamt he was a butterfly.
ZHUANGZI

Butterfly Dreams Himself Incarnation
The torch of doubt and chaos, this is what the sage steers by.
ZHUANGZI

Chaos Doubt Priest
When an archer shoots for enjoyment, he has all his skill; when he shoots for a brass buckle, he gets nervous; when he shoots for a prize of gold, he begins to see two targets.
ZHUANGZI

Beginning Enjoyment Himself Nervous Skill Target
He who regards all things as one is a companion of Nature.
ZHUANGZI

Himself Infinite Nature Oneself Regard Whole
The ten thousand things belong to one storehouse and life and death share the same body.
ZHUANGZI

Body Death Life Share Store
The man who has some respect for his person keeps his carcass out of sight, hides himself as perfectly as he can.
ZHUANGZI

Hide Himself Man Perfection Person Respect Sight
But you now, you wear your soul on your sleeve, exhausting your energy, propping yourself up on a tree, mumbling, or bent over your desk, asleep. Heaven gives you a form and you wear it out by pointless argument.
ZHUANGZI

Argument Energy Exhaust Form Heaven Point Soul Tree
Only fools imagine they are already awake. How clearly they understand everything! How easily they distinguish this deception from that reality!
ZHUANGZI

Awake Easy Fools Imagination Reality Understand
We cling to our own point of view, as though everything depended on it. Yet our opinions have no permanence; like autumn and winter, they gradually pass away.
ZHUANGZI

Gradual Opinion Ourselves Perspective Point View
Let everything be allowed to do what it naturally does, so that its nature will be satisfied.
ZHUANGZI

Allow Natural Satisfaction Yourself
Let your mind wander in simplicity, blend your spirit with the vastness, follow along with things the way they are, and make no room for personal views-then the world will be governed.
ZHUANGZI

Government Mindset Personal Room Simplicity Spirit View Wander Way World
Perfect happiness is the absence of striving for happiness.
ZHUANGZI

Absence Happiness Perfection Wisdom
A petty thief is put in jail. A great brigand becomes a ruler of a Nation.
ZHUANGZI

Greatness Nation Prison Rule
When the heart is right, “for” and “against” are forgotten.
ZHUANGZI

Forget Heart Right
The perfect man employs his mind as a mirror.
ZHUANGZI

Employment Himself Man Mindset Mirror Perfection
Standards are different for all things, so the standard set by man is by no means the only ‘certain’ standard. If you mistake what is relative for something certain, you have strayed far from the ultimate truth.
ZHUANGZI

Different Man Mistake Standard Truth Ultimate Yourself

There is a beginning. There is no beginning of that beginning. There is something. There is nothing.

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There is a beginning. There is no beginning of that beginning. There is something. There is nothing.

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