instruction I have been late in seeking. I will go and learn from him. And if I,—why not those who are not equal to me? And I will take with me, not the State of Lu only, but the whole world."
"The fellow has been mutilated," said Chang Chi, "and yet people call him Master. He must be very different from the ordinary run. But how does he use his mind in this sense?"
"Life and Death are all powerful," answered Confucius, "but they cannot affect it.
- The mind, or soul, which is immortal. See ch. iii.
Heaven and earth may collapse, but that will remain. If this is found to be without flaw, it will not share the fate of all things. It can cause other things to change, while preserving its own constitution intact."
"How so?" asked Chang Chi.
"From the point of view of difference," replied Confucius, "we distinguish between the liver and the gall, between the Ch'u State and the Yüeh State. From the point of view of sameness, all things are one. Such is the position of Wang T'ai. He does not trouble about what reaches him through the senses of hearing and sight, but directs his whole mind towards the very climax of virtue. He beholds all things as though one, without observing their discrepancies. And thus the discrepancy of his toes is to him as would be the loss of so much mud."
