First, an empty boat is not going anywhere because there is nobody to direct it, nobody to manipulate it, nobody to drive it somewhere. This is what Chuang Tzu means when he says: A perfect man is like an empty boat. Then the journey has started, then a new seed has sprouted. You may become an Alexander, but you remain ordinary - then who is the extraordinary one? The extraordinariness starts only when you don’t hanker after extraordinariness. The ordinary mind hankers to be extraordinary, that is part of ordinariness the ordinary mind desires to be somebody in particular, that is part of ordinariness. But if you penetrate deeper, if you really become intimate with me, if you forget the body, the boat, then you come to encounter a nothingness.Ĭhuang Tzu is a rare flowering, because to become nobody is the most difficult, almost impossible, most extraordinary thing in the world. If you simply look at the surface, then somebody is there, because the boat is there. If you meet a Chuang Tzu, or a Lao Tzu, or me, the boat is there, but it is empty, nobody is in it. “I SHALL HAVE HEAVEN AND EARTH FOR MY COFFIN Existence takes care of itself.Ĭhuang tzu said before his death to his disciples: They are not concerned with doing, they are not concerned with the future. He says Persons like Chuang Tzu are concerned with being, not becoming. Osho has spoken on Chuang Tzu beautifully in his discourse series the empty boat. The Zhuangzi consists of a large collection of anecdotes, allegories, parables and fables.

It is one of the two foundational texts of Taoism, along with the Tao Te Ching. Zhuangzi had written a book named after his own name the Zhuangzi. Chuang-Tzu, however, only laughed and refused to be in restrictions of great palace. King Wei of Chu, heard of the ability of Chuang Tzu, sent messengers with large gifts to bring him to his court, and promising also that he would make him his chief minister. The ablest scholars of his day could not escape his satire nor reply to it, while he allowed and enjoyed himself with his sparkling, dashing style and thus he was the greatest men, even kings and princes, could not use him for their purposes. He was an admirable writer and skilful composer, and by his instances and truthful descriptions hit and exposed the Mohists and Literati. Chuang Tzu was a Taoist master also known as Zhuangzi, was a disciple of Lao Tzu.

Chuang tzu empty boat