Tao The Pathless Path Vol 2 ~ 03
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| event type | discourse |
| date & time | 27 Feb 1977 am |
| location | Chuang Tzu Auditorium, Poona |
| language | English |
| audio | Available, duration 1h 41min. Quality: good. |
| online audio | |
| video | Not available |
| online video | |
| see also |
|
| online text | find the PDF of this discourse |
| shorttitle | TAO203 |
- notes
- synopsis
- Reader of the sutra: Sw Ananda Teertha.
- The sutra
- In the Middle age Hua-tzu of Yang-li in Sung lost his memory. He would receive a present in the morning and forget it by the evening; give a present in the evening and forget it by the morning. In the street he would forget to walk; at home he would forget to sit down. Today he would not remember yesterday; tomorrow he would not remember today.
- His family were troubled about it and invited a diviner to tell his fortune but without success. They invited a shaman to perform an auspicious rite but it made no difference. They invited a doctor to treat him but it did no good.
- There was a Confucian of Lu who acting as his own go-between claimed that he could cure it. Hua-tzu's wife and children offered half of their property in return for his skill.
- The Confucian told them: 'This is clearly not a disease which can be divined by hexagrams and omens, or charmed away by auspicious prayers, or treated by medicines and the needle. I shall try reforming his mind changing his thoughts there is a good chance that he will recover.'
- Then the Confucian tried stripping Hua-tzu and he looked for his clothes; tried starving him and he looked for food; tried shutting him up in the dark and he looked for light.
- The Confucian was delighted and told the man's sons, 'The sickness is curable but my arts have been passed down secretly through the generations and are not disclosed to outsiders so I shall shut out his attendants and stay alone with him in his room for seven days.' They agreed and no one knew what methods the Confucian used but the sickness of many years was completely dispelled in a single morning.
- When Hua-tzu woke up he was very angry. He dismissed his wife, punished his sons, and chased away the Confucian with a spear.
- The authorities of Sung arrested him and wanted to know the reason. 'Formerly when I forgot,' said Hua-tzu, 'I was boundless, I did not notice whether heaven and earth existed or not. Now suddenly I remember, and all the disasters and recoveries, gains and losses, joys and sorrows, loves and hates of twenty, thirty years past rise up in a thousand tangled threads. I fear that all the disasters and recoveries, gains and losses, joys and sorrows, loves and hates still to come will confound my heart just as much. Shall I never again find a moment of forgetfulness?'
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