This treatise, written in the ninth century, by a pseudonymous Daoist scholar is fairly unknown. It incorporates the teachings of the Tao Te Ching and Zhuanghzi, but is also very much its own philosophical work. Master Incapable begins by discussing the Daoist concept of spontaneity, “He who relies on spontaneity will last, and he who obtains constancy will be saved…. It is the spontaneous nature of the mind to be flood-like and empty.” For him, the naming of terms was the start of unnatural distinctions, “When all-under-heaven was in its natural state, there was no distinction between rulers and subjects. That rulers and subjects were created so as to separate the venerable from the lowly means that those called “sages” used their knowledge to deceive the ignorant. Using one’s knowledge to deceive the ignorant is fraudulence.” Lack of purpose is actually a goal, “When there is no purposive action, humans are uncorrupted and correct, and accord with the natural order…. When there is purposive action, there are cravings and desires, and people’s inborn nature is brought into disorder.”
Much of Master Incapable’s teachings are on the proper role of the gentleman, “Whether you’re treated generously or poorly depends on allotment…. The gentleman can be humane towards others, but he cannot make others behave humanely towards him. He can treat others with propriety, but he cannot make others treat him with propriety…. Just now, I was formless in emptiness and silence. Free of emotions, I was immersed in unfathomable darkness. I know nothing to be anxious about and amuse myself by strumming the zither and singing.” In another discourse, he continues, “Thus is the mind of the gentleman: he cultivates himself without fault with others, and he conceals his own usefulness instead of shining among the crowd. When the right time arrives, he responds, and when approached, he gives help. He responds according to the moment, but without scheming for himself. He gives help without being zealous about his achievements. For this reason, no favors become attached to him, and resentment has nowhere to pile up.”
The Void is another recurring theme of Daoist philosophy, “Someone who has immersed in the Void and who concentrates on the Permanent would not feel ennobled to become a king or marquis, nor humbled to become a servant or slave…. Inside himself he has room for neither sadness nor happiness…. The physical form and material things are the root of decay and decline. They affect you emotionally, and you experience the impermanence of depression and happiness. If you entwine the root of decay and decline with impermanent emotions, then waking is like dreaming, and one hundred years are like a single night. If you are able to immerse yourself in the Void and to concentrate on the Permanent, then hunger, cold, wealth, and honors will lose all significance to you.”
Finally, Master Incapable concludes, “When you show a mountain with tigers and leopards or a sea with whales to an ant in an anthill, or to a frog in a well, they will certainly grow suspicious: they are only familiar with what they themselves have seen. When you talk about the principle of nonpurposive action to people who crave and desire worldly pursuits, they will certainly feel puzzled: they dwell in what they are habituated to…. They are lost in cravings and desires until death. In the whole world there is not a single person who returns to the origin and does not allow any cravings and desires to arise…. So! Nonpurposive action is our own choice, and cravings and desires are our own choice. Nonpurposive action leads to serenity, while cravings and desires lead to undertakings. Serenity leads to happiness, and undertakings lead to worrying…. Those who are enlightened turn their back on custom.”
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