Chapter 771: Laozi said to Kongzi

Laozi said to Kongzi...

April 22: Laozi said to Kongzi…

The previous chapter said that Kongzi went to Laozi to ask about the Dao..

Laozi saw Kongzi's confusion. Laozi then gave him an analogy similar to a parable. Laozi said to Kongzi: "A kind of waterbird lives by the river. This waterbird is very strange: its strangeness lies in its special way of love: when this waterbird reaches the age of youthful love, after choosing its partner, it spends some time in love, and when they mutually acknowledge a certain emotional foundation, they find a secluded place——"

Either reeds by the riverbank, or sandbars in the river middle, the male and female birds, locking eyes without moving, the female will become pregnant. Marriage is this simple. The male bird needs no bridal gifts to obtain the fruit of his love.

"Such a way of love and courtship is truly strange!" Kongzi interrupted Laozi's speech.

Laozi said to Kongzi: "Love is a kind of emotion. The common characteristic of love is the wish to never be separated. Yet the fact is the opposite: love does not necessarily mean union, and may even be forever unattainable; some can only exist in dreams."

Of course, love is not the same as romantic love; love does not equal possession; love is a silent, selfless giving. Like those waterbirds by the river that become pregnant just by locking eyes, this seems impossible.

Actually, this is a kind of Big Love. Big Love leaves no trace, Big Love never harms. These birds that become pregnant just by locking eyes seem impossible, but in fact they have hearts that communicate instantly; though their bodies appear not to touch, their hearts have actually merged into one.

This mental fusion is true love. The love that satisfies **** is bestial love. Love that satisfies carnal desire is a trampling of the beloved. Such love is not 'taking' but 'giving'. Like those waterbirds by the river that gaze at each other affectionately, neither wishes to harm the other; although their love is deep, precisely because it is deep, a special resonance arises in their minds. With this resonance, love's 'result' arises. That love's 'result'.

Of course, human love and birds' love are different. Birds belong to the beastly kind; most beasts seek possession. People, on the other hand, see giving as their duty. As one poet put it——

Ah! Worldly people! (What are worldly people? Those who follow whatever others do? Those who go with the flow? Regardless of who they are, follow the poet's words! Follow the poet's feelings.)

You are just like

Your original mother: Xiawa (Xiawa's love is curiosity about the future, a longing and exploration of the future, which made her eat the forbidden fruit. The serpent tempted Xiawa, saying: 'Is it really true that God forbids you to eat all the fruit in the garden?' The serpent is very cunning; it uses the tactic of 'catch and release', seizing Xiawa's curious psychology, using a rhetorical question to test her, tempting her to eat the forbidden fruit. Who would have thought, Xiawa did not know the serpent's malicious intent. She said: 'The fruit of the trees in the garden, we may eat; but the fruit of the trees in the garden, God once said: "You shall not eat it, nor touch it, lest you die."' Xiawa is very pure; a pure woman is easily deceived by wicked people. That poisonous snake hardly needed any scheming to make Xiawa reveal God's entrusted secret. Having grasped that secret, the serpent quickly deceived Xiawa.

The serpent said to women: 'You will not surely die. For God knows that on the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will know good and evil as God does.' The serpent tightly grips women's psychology: curiosity, desire to explore the future. Thus, that woman is easily led into another realm by one state. The forbidden fruit is always sweet; the prohibited thing is always good. As in ancient Greek myth: Zeus once gave a girl named Pandora a box. The box contained all of humanity's sins. Zeus told Pandora: under no circumstances may you open the box. Pandora, like other girls, is curious. Zeus said, since you cannot open the box, what could possibly be inside? How she longs to open it! Under the sway of this curiosity, Pandora finally opened the box.

Thus, all the evils in the box ran out into the human world.

Actually, Zeus had long grasped Pandora's girl's heart: girls' curiosity exceeds boys'! Otherwise, why wouldn't Zeus have given the box of sins to a boy to guard?

Women are more prone to deception than men.

Whatever is at hand, you do not like. (Xiawa is indeed like this: look how beautiful the Garden of Eden is: in the Garden of Eden there are rivers, the river water is alive; by the banks are pleasing-to-the-eye fruit trees, on the trees bloom flowers and bear fruit in all seasons. Flowers can be admired; fruit can be made into food, and it is pure natural green food. Yet Xiawa, instead of enjoying the days of paradise, insists on going to steal the forbidden fruit. Whatever is at hand, she does not like.)——

Only the serpent's call,

and the mysterious tree, makes you yearn,

and the mysterious tree, makes her yearn;

Go, go eat that forbidden fruit,

Otherwise, heaven will no longer be heaven.

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