Society has a way of making us believe that we are essentially a social being. Either in a subtle way or through external force, we are, to some extent, entrapped in a circumstance that never stops trying to shape us.
Expectations from our family and closest friends can often drive us to pursuits defined by social conventions: success, power, status, and possession, forcing us to accept the fate of being someone we can never be.
In moments of quietude, we can sense that dissonance within. We realize that while we get busy chasing those external things, we are actually walking away from the original self.
What’s even more painful is that, at some point in life, we realize that the people we trust the most no longer seem to understand us. Their misunderstandings and judgments often cut deeper than strangers’ criticism, as they indirectly challenge the path we’ve chosen and our meaning of existence.
The tension between the original self and the expectations of the external world is nothing new. Hui Tzu and Chuang Tzu had stepped into this clash of worldly pursuits and the inward search.
Sometimes, misunderstanding and distrust between friends can arise not from malice but from the subtle drift of fear, insecurity, aspirations, and differing values.
Yet, what often arises from these encounters is a clearer understanding of what it means to stay true to oneself in a world that attempts to submerge the inner voice.
When Hui Tzu became a politician…
When Hui Tzu was the prime minister of the state of Liang, Chuang Tzu visited him. Someone told Hui Tzu, “Chuang Tzu is coming because he wants to replace you as prime minister!”
Alarmed, Hui Tzu ordered a search all over the state for three days and three nights, trying to find his friend.
Then, Chuang Tzu came to see him and said, “In the south there is a bird called the Yuanchu — I wonder if you’ve ever heard of it? The Yuanchu rises up from the South Sea and flies to the North Sea, and it will rest on nothing but the Wutong tree, eat nothing but the fruit of the Lian, and drink only from springs of sweet water.
“Once, there was an owl who had gotten hold of a half-rotten old rat, and as the Yuanchu passed by, it raised its head, looked up at the Yuanchu, and said, ‘Shoo!’ Now that you have this Liang state of yours, are you trying to shoo me?”1
Be the guardian of the original self
