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THE TEXTS OF TÂOISM.
BK. XI.
wish to have the direction of is that substance as it was shattered and divided !. According to your government of the world, the vapours of the clouds, before they were collected, would descend in rain; the herbs and trees would shed their leaves before they became yellow; and the light of the sun and moon would hasten to extinction. Your mind is that of a flatterer with his plausible words ;-it is not fit that I should tell you the perfect Tâo.'
Hwang-Tî withdrew, gave up (his government of) the kingdom, built himself a solitary apartment, spread in it a mat of the white mâo grass, dwelt in it unoccupied for three months, and then went again to seek an interview with (the recluse). Kwang Khăngzze was then lying down with his head to the south. Hwang-Ti, with an air of deferential submission, went forward on his knees, twice bowed low with his face to the ground, and asked him, saying, ' I have heard that you, Sir, are well acquainted with the perfect Tâo ;-I venture to ask how I should rule my body, in order that it may continue for a long time.' Kwang Khăng-zze hastily rose, and said, 'A good question! Come and I will tell you the perfect Tâo. Its essence is (surrounded with the deepest obscurity; its highest reach is in darkness and silence. There is nothing to be seen ; nothing to be heard. When it holds the spirit in its arms in stillness, then the bodily form of itself will become correct. You must be still; you must be pure ; not subjecting your body to toil, not agitating your vital force ;—then you may live for long. When
* The same ether, now in motion, now at rest, divided into the Yin and Yang.
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| SR No. | 007682 |
| Book Title | Questions of King Milinda Part 02 |
| Original Sutra Author | N/A |
| Author | T W Rhys Davids |
| Publisher | Oxford |
| Publication Year | 1894 |
| Total Pages | 2240 |
| Language | English |
| Classification | Book_English |
| File Size | 38 MB |