Garden of Serenity

From A Chinese Garden of Serenity (1959), by Hung Tzu-ch’eng, translated by Chao Tze-chiang:

How can the spending of thousands of gold coins to form acquaintance with eminent or influential people, be as good as pouring half the rice out of a gourd to relieve the hunger of the poor? How can the building of a stately edifice to attract more guests, be as good as repairing a thatched hut to shelter the humble and the neglected?

Garden of Serenity

From A Chinese Garden of Serenity (1959), by Hung Tzu-ch’eng, translated by Chao Tze-chiang:

Those who express loathing for pomp and vainglory might, on encountering them, revel in them. Those who profess rejoicing at contentment and simplicity might, in experiencing them, become bored with them. So one must sweep away enthusiasm and indifference, eliminate predilection and aversion, forget pomp and vainglory, and delight in contentment and simplicity.

Garden of Serenity

From A Chinese Garden of Serenity (1959), by Hung Tzu-ch’eng, translated by Chao Tze-chiang:

A pigeon, when annoyed by the bells on its neck, will fly higher and higher, but it does not know that to fold its wings will stop the tinkling of the bells. A man, when irked by his shadow, may run faster and faster, but he does not understand that to stay in a shady place will eliminate his shadow. So the foolish people who run fast and fly high find a smooth ground to be a sea of suffering, whereas people of insight who stay in the shade and fold their wings discover a craggy slope to be a level road.

Garden of Serenity

From A Chinese Garden of Serenity (1959), by Hung Tzu-cheng, translated by Chao Tze-chiang:

Since the Void is not void, a fond illusion of life is not true, and a bitter disillusionment of life is also not true. Let us ask Shakyamuni what to do. Since to live in the world is to retreat from the world, an indulgence in desires is a suffering, and a suppression of desires is also a suffering. So we must in good faith hold to our integrity.

Garden of Serenity

From A Chinese Garden of Serenity (1959), by Hung Tzu-ch’eng, translated by Chao Tze-chiang:

Since mountains, rivers, and the whole earth are but dust, what do you expect from the tiniest dust within dust? Since the flesh, the blood, and the entire human body are but a shadow, what do you look for in a shadow cast by another shadow? Thus, without wisdom one cannot have an enlightened mind.

Garden of Serenity

From A Chinese Garden of Serenity (1959), by Hung Tzu-ch’eng, translated by Chao Tze-chiang:

Manure-worms are dirty, and yet they transform themselves into cicadas, which drink dew in the autumnal wind. Decayed grasses are not bright, and yet they give birth to glow-worms, whose luster matches the summer moon. Hence we know that cleanliness often comes from filth and brilliance from gloom.

Garden of Serenity

From A Chinese Garden of Serenity (1959), by Hung Tzu-ch’eng, translated by Chao Tze-chiang:

To be conscientious is an admirable virtue, but to be painstaking does not tranquilize the mind or delight the heart. To be contented is noble, but to be lethargic does not enable one to benefit men or to utilize things.

Garden of Serenity

From A Chinese Garden of Serenity (1959), by Hung Tzu-ch’eng, translated by Chao Tze-chiang:

Walking along a narrow path, one should leave a margin; tasting rich delicacies, one should share a morsel. These are the happiest ways of dealing with the world.

Garden of Serenity

From A Chinese Garden of Serenity (1959), by Hung Tzu-cheng, translated by Chao Tze-chiang:

The purpose of the superior man is as clear as the blue sky or as bright as the white sun; it must not be kept from being known. But the talent of the superior man is like the jade hidden in a rock or the pearl covered with a shell; it must not easily become known.