The Empty Boat and
The Angry Man
“If a man is crossing a river, and an empty boat happens along and bumps into him, no matter how hot-tempered the man may be, he will not get angry.
But if there should be someone in the other boat, then he will shout out to haul this way or veer that. If his first shout is unheeded, he will shout again, and if that is not heard, he will shout a third time, this time with a torrent of curses following.
(Photos courtesy of Pexels and Pixabay)
In the first instance, he wasn’t angry; now in the second, he is. Earlier he faced emptiness, now he faces occupancy.
If a man could succeed in making himself empty, and in that way wander through the world, then who could do him harm?”
-Chuang Tzu (Book 20 – The Mountain Tree), translated by Burton Watson
The Empty Boat and the Angry Man
“If a man is crossing a river, and an empty boat happens along and bumps into him, no matter how hot-tempered the man may be, he will not get angry.
But if there should be someone in the other boat, then he will shout out to haul this way or veer that. If his first shout is unheeded, he will shout again, and if that is not heard, he will shout a third time, this time with a torrent of curses following.
In the first instance, he wasn’t angry; now in the second, he is. Earlier he faced emptiness, now he faces occupancy.
If a man could succeed in making himself empty, and in that way wander through the world, then who could do him harm?”
-Chuang Tzu (Book 20 – The Mountain Tree), translated by Burton Watson
(Photos courtesy of Pexels)
