The Fasting of the Heart - the way of Chuang Tzu

Quite some years ago, a good mate - who is way smarter and better read than me - asked me to talk him through the work I'd done to help companies and NGOs find their way to great breakthroughs. We had a long discussion over many hours and days - a lot of back and forth messages on Skype, WA and calls - and finally, he said, "That sounds like wu wei."

"Wu what?" I responded.

Therein followed a sharing and an opening of my awareness to the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. I'd never heard of it before - it wasn't on the syllabus in the High Schools I went to in rural Australia - but I was instantly drawn to this notion of 'not-doing.' I had explained to my mate that to push in the discussions I had with the company leaders and NGOs was to ultimately push them away. It was their journey and it was my task to help them find their way and to travel it. From that work emerged the world's first No Deforestation, No Exploitation and No Peatland clearance policies. Before that, there'd been the transformation of the wooden garden furniture sector; the first FSC certificate in the Congo Basin; and the locking away of 4,000 semi-automatic weapons from the forest protection program, that regularly saw community members being shot, of Indonesia's State-owned Teak corporation. There was, and still is, something to this 'way' that led to great, unprecedented breakthroughs.

I've since read the Tao many times and carry a copy with me. The text below is not from the Tao, but it's written based on Taoist philosophy - Chuang Tzu - and in a typically indirect way, aims to help us understand what this ‘way’ might entail. If you’ve got a hot cup and a blanket, I invite you to explore it.

Should you be keen to explore further, I’ve also shared below a wonderful video from a Youtube channel called Einzelgänger, that describes this notion of 'fasting of the heart' very clearly, very beautifully.

Here's an excerpt from the video which feels very apt in these times of such intense division between people:

"Seeing the world in opposites creates friction... Our fears, our aversions, our hatred and the actions that follow, are products of our discerning faculties...
 
It's the old story of us and them, which also lies at the basis of a perceived separation between humans and nature.
 
The more we attach ourselves to our beliefs, the more hostile we become to different views."

It seems to me that this different way could help the world to be a better place. It could help each of us to let go of the many things that stress us and divide us. It certainly helped bring about amazing changes in the forest, wood, palm oil and pulp and paper sectors where it was used, completely unintentionally, as an 'unusual method' during my time at the coal face with TFT.

How to find this way? Well, we might start with some fasting of the heart.

The Fasting of the Heart - the way of Chuang Tzu

Yen Hui, the favorite disciple of Confucius, came to take leave of his Master.

 "Where are you going?" asked Confucius.

"I am going to Wei."

"And what for?"

"I have heard that the Prince of Wei is a lusty full-blooded fellow and is entirely self-willed. He takes no care of his people and refuses to see any fault in himself. He pays no attention to the fact that his subjects are dying right and left. Corpses lie all over the country like hay in a field. The people are desperate. But I have heard you, Master, say that one should leave the state that is well governed and go to that which is in disorder. At the door of the physician there are plenty of sick people. I want to take this opportunity to put into practice what I have learned from you and see if I can bring about some improvement in conditions there."

 "Alas!" said Confucius, "you do not realize what you are doing. You will bring disaster upon yourself. Tao has no need of your eagerness, and you will only waste your energy in your misguided efforts. Wasting your energy you will become confused and then anxious. Once anxious, you will no longer be able to help yourself. The sages of old first sought Tao in themselves, then looked to see if there was anything in others that corresponded with Tao as they knew it. But if you do not have Tao yourself, what business have you spending your time in vain efforts to bring corrupt politicians into the right path? ... However, I suppose you must have some basis for your hope of success. How do you propose to go about it?"

Yen Hui replied: "I intend to present myself as a humble, disinterested man, seeking only to do what is right and nothing else: a completely simple and honest approach. Will this win his confidence?"

"Certainly not," Confucius replied. "This man is convinced that he alone is right. He may pretend outwardly to take an interest in an objective standard of justice, but do not be deceived by his expression. He is not accustomed to being opposed by anyone. His way is to reassure himself that he is right by trampling on other people. If he does this with mediocre men, he will all the more certainly do it to one who presents a threat by claiming to be a man of high qualities. He will cling stubbornly to his own way. He may pretend to be interested in your talk about what is objectively right, but interiorly he will not hear you, and there will be no change whatever. You will get nowhere with this."

Yen Hui then said: "Very well. Instead of directly opposing him, I will maintain my own standards interiorly, but outwardly I will appear to yield. I will appeal to the authority of tradition and to the examples of the past. He who is interiorly uncompromising is a son of heaven just as much as any ruler. I will not rely on any teaching of my own, and will consequently have no concern about whether I am approved or not. I will eventually be recognized as perfectly disinterested and sincere. They will all come to appreciate my candor, and thus I will be an instrument of heaven in their midst. "In this way, yielding in obedience to the Prince as other men do, bowing, kneeling, prostrating myself as a servant should, I shall be accepted without blame. Then others will have confidence in me, and gradually they will make use of me, seeing that I desire only to make myself useful and to work for the good of all. Thus I will be an instrument of men. "Meanwhile, all I have to say will be expressed in terms of ancient tradition. I will be working with the sacred tradition of the ancient sages. Though what I say may be objectively a condemnation of the Prince's conduct, it will not be I who say it, but tradition itself. In this way, I will be perfectly honest, and yet not give offense. Thus I will be an instrument of tradition. Do you think I have the right approach?"

"Certainly not,' said Confucius. "You have too many different plans of action, when you have not even got to know the Prince and observed his character! At best, you might get away with it and save your skin, but you will not change anything whatever. He might perhaps superficially conform to your words, but there will be no real change of heart."

Yen Hui then said: "Well, that is the best I have to offer. Will you, Master, tell me what you suggest?"

"You must fast!" said Confucius. "Do you know what I mean by fasting? It is not easy. But easy ways do not come from God."

 "Oh," said Yen Hui, "I am used to fasting! At home we were poor. We went for months without wine or meat. That is fasting, is it not?"

"Well, you can call it 'observing a fast' if you like," said Confucius, "but it is not the fasting of the heart."

"Tell me," said Yen Hui, "what is fasting of the heart?"

Confucius replied: "The goal of fasting is inner unity. This means hearing, but not with the ear; hearing, but not with the understanding; hearing with the spirit, with your whole being. The hearing that is only in the ears is one thing. The hearing of the understanding is another. But the hearing of the spirit is not limited to any one faculty, to the ear, or to the mind. Hence it demands the emptiness of all the faculties. And when the faculties are empty, then the whole being listens. There is then a direct grasp of what is right there before you that can never be heard with the ear or understood with the mind. Fasting of the heart empties the faculties, frees you from limitation and from preoccupation. Fasting of the heart begets unity and freedom."

"I see," said Yen Hui. "What was standing in my way was my own self-awareness. If I can begin this fasting of the heart, self-awareness will vanish. Then I will be free from limitation and preoccupation! Is that what you mean?"

"Yes," said Confucius, "that's it! If you can do this, you will be able to go among men in their world without upsetting them. You will not enter into conflict with their ideal image of themselves. If they will listen, sing them a song. If not, keep silent. Don't try to break down their door. Don't try out new medicines on them. Just be there among them, because there is nothing else for you to be but one of them. Then you may have success! "It is easy to stand still and leave no trace, but it is hard to walk without touching the ground. If you follow human methods, you can get away with deception. In the way of Tao, no deception is possible. "You know that one can fly with wings: you have not yet learned about flying without wings. You are familiar with the wisdom of those who know, but you have not yet learned the wisdom of those who know not. "Look at this window: it is nothing but a hole in the wall, but because of it the whole room is full of light. So when the faculties are empty, the heart is full of light. Being full of light it becomes an influence by which others are secretly transformed.''

From The Way of Chuang Tzu, ed. and trans. By Thomas Merton, pp. 50-53