Let us continue with passages from Book 3: Dreams in the ‘Book of Lieh-Tzu,’ written by the Venerated Enlightened Master Lieh Tzu (vegetarian), and translated by Lionel Giles, which highlight the illusory nature of life and the importance of finding salvation.
BOOK 3 Dreams
Lao Ch’êng Tzu and the Venerable Yin Wên.
“Lao Ch’êng Tzu went to learn magic from the venerable Yin Wên. After a period of three years, having obtained no communication, he humbly asked permission to go home. Yin Wên bowed and led him into the inner apartment. There, having dismissed his attendants, he spoke to him as follows: ‘Long ago, when Lao Tzu was setting out on his journey to the West, he addressed me and said: “All that has the breath of life, all that possesses bodily form, is mere illusion. The point at which creation begins, the change effected by the Dual Principles, these are called respectively Life and Death. That which underlies the manifold workings of Destiny is called Evolution; that which produces and transforms bodily substance is called Illusion. The ingenuity of the Creative Power is mysterious, and its operations are profound. In truth, it is inexhaustible and eternal.
The ingenuity of that which causes material form is patent to the eye, and its operations are superficial. Therefore it arises anon, and anon it vanishes.’ Only one who knows that Life is really an illusion, and that Death is really Evolution, can begin to learn magic from me. You and I are both illusions. What need, then, to make a study of the subject? ‘If a person wishes to make a study of illusion, in spite of the fact that his own body is an illusion, we are reduced to the absurdity of an illusion studying an illusion.’
Lao Ch'êng Tzu returned home, and for three months pondered deeply over the words of the Venerable Yin Wên. Subsequently, he had the power of appearing or disappearing at will; he could reverse the order of the four seasons, produce thunderstorms in winter and ice in summer, make flying things creep and creeping things fly. But to the end of his days, he never published the secret of his art, so that it was not handed down to after generations.”
An Analysis of Dreams.
“The Master Lieh Tzu said: ‘A dream is something that comes into contact with the mind; an external event is something that impinges on the body. Hence, our feelings by day and our dreams by night are the result of contacts made by mind or body. It follows that if we can concentrate in abstraction, our feelings and our dreams will vanish of themselves. Those who rely on their waking perceptions will not argue about them. Those who put faith in dreams do not understand the processes of change in the external world.
‘The pure men of old passed their waking existence in self-oblivion, and slept without dreams.’ How can this be dismissed as an empty phrase?”
The experiences of Mr. Yin of Chou and his employee.
“Mr. Yin of Chou was the owner of a large estate who harried his servants unmercifully, and gave them no rest from morning to night. There was one old servant in particular whose physical strength had quite left him, yet his master worked him all the harder. All day long, he was groaning as he went about his work, and when night came he was reeling with fatigue and would sleep like a log. His spirit was then free to wander at will, and every night he dreamt that he was a king, enthroned in authority over the multitude, and controlling the affairs of the whole State. He took his pleasure in palaces and belvederes, following his own fancy in everything, and his happiness was beyond compare. But when he awoke, he was a servant once more. To some one who condoled with him on his hard lot the old man replied: ‘Human life may last a hundred years, and the whole of it is equally divided into nights and days. In the daytime, I am only a servant, it is true, and my misery cannot be gain said. But by night I am a king, and my happiness is beyond compare. So what have I to grumble at?’
Now, Mr Yin’s mind was full of worldly cares, and he was always thinking with anxious solicitude about the affairs of his estate. Thus, he was wearing out mind and body alike, and at night, he also used to fall asleep utterly exhausted. Every night he dreamt that he was another man’s servant, running about on menial business; of every description, and subjected to every possible kind of abuse and ill-treatment. He would mutter and groan in his sleep, and obtained no relief until morning came. This state of things at last resulted in a serious illness, and Mr Yin besought the advice of a friend. ‘Your station in life,’ his friend said, ‘Is a distinguished one, and you have wealth and property in abundance. In these respects, you are far above the average. If at night you dream that you are a servant and exchange ease for affliction, that is only the proper balance in human destiny. What you want is that your dreams should be as pleasant as your waking moments. But that is beyond your power to compass.’ On hearing what his friend said, Mr Yin lightened his servant’s toil, and allowed his own mental worry to abate; whereupon his malady began to decrease in proportion.”
