Rituals

Bissier 1962

"Yan Hui va preguntar a Kong Zi: "Quan va morir la mare de Meng Sun Cai, ell no va vessar cap llàgrima, no va sentir tristesa al centre del seu cor i va fer el dol sense lamentar-se. Tot i que no va fer cap d'aquestes tres coses, encara se'l considera el millor en la pràctica del ritus funerari a l'estat de Lu. Com pot rebre elogis algú que és evidentment tan superficial al seu nucli? Ho trobo sorprenent".

(Nota: Part dels rituals obligatoris a la Xina en aquell moment, considerats com un comportament adequat en un funeral, eren els tres esmentats anteriorment: plorar sense control tot vessant moltes llàgrimes, donant l'aparença tenir el cor trencat i lamentar-se cridant per la pèrdua.)

Kong Zi va dir: "Meng Sun ha arribat al cim, ha anat al fons de les coses! Ha avançat més enllà del mer coneixement. Tot i no haver assolit la plena simplicitat, ha mostrat una mena de simplicitat. Meng Sun no pensa gaire en la vida, ni pensa gaire en la mort. No pensa gaire en el que va passar en el passat, ni en el que passarà en el futur. Accepta l'evolució i espera adaptar-se al que succeeixi en el futur, del qual no sap res. Qui sap si les nostres incessants transformacions no porten a un estat sense transformació? Qui sap si els canvis incessants de l'univers no ens modifiquen en tot moment, sense que ens en donem compte? Potser tu i jo som peculiars perquè estem somiant i encara no ens hem despertat.

Davant la transformació d'una forma (la mort de la seva mare), Meng Sun va experimentar un esglai corporal, però el seu cor no va ser danyat per això. Ell viu cada moment com si fos una nova albada, i no es veu afectat emocionalment per la mort. Meng Sun està desvetllat d'una manera particular. Si la gent plora, ell també plora, perquè sap posar-se al seu lloc, pot establir connexions més enllà del que puc sentir amb les meves pròpies orelles.

De fet, el jo només representa un sentiment relatiu; com podria saber realment sobre mi mateix només escoltant les paraules que dic? Pots somiar que ets un ocell i pujar al cel, o somiar que ets un peix i enfonsar-te al fons d'un estany profund. No podem dir si les paraules que fem servir es basen en estar despert o si provenen d'un somni.

Trobant l'objecte de la seva felicitat, no riu; perdent l'objecte de la seva felicitat, continua rient. Només el que s'adapta a tota pèrdua i a tot canvi podrà entrar en la unitat il·limitada de la natura.""

Zhuangzi, del capítol 6 (versió de Raimon Ribera, a partir de la traducció a l'anglès de Nina Correa i al francès de Liou Kia-hway)

Versió anglesa de Nina Correa:

Yan Hui asked Zhong Ni (Confucius): "When Meng Sun Cai's mother died, he wept without shedding a tear, didn't feel sadness in the center of his heart, and mourned without wailing. Although he didn't do any of those three things, he's still thought of as the best mourner in the state of Lu. How can someone who's evidently so superficial to their core still receive accolades? I, for one, find this astonishing."

(Note: Part of the rituals mandated in China at the time considered to be proper behavior at a funeral were the three mentioned above: Crying uncontrollably while shedding many tears, giving the appearance that one's heart was broken, and wailing loudly at the loss.)

Zhong Ni said: "Mr. Meng Sun has reached a pinnacle! He's advanced beyond mere knowledge. By being at ease with what's been taken away, that shows a bit of being at ease. Mr. Meng Sun doesn't think much about life, nor does he think much about death. He doesn't think much about what happened in the past, nor about what's going to happen in the future. He seems to adapt to whatever happens around him. By waiting for events to come about on their own without trying to figure them out, he's already adapted to them!

"Moreover, if limitations eventually change, how can perceptions not change along with them? If limitations remain the same, does that mean that perceptions will stop changing? Maybe you and I are peculiar in that we're dreaming and haven't yet awakened?

"That guy (Meng Sun) was startled by the transformation of a shape (his mother's death), but his heart wasn't damaged by it. He dwells where each moment is like a new dawn, and isn't affected emotionally by death. Mr. Meng Sun is uniquely awake. If people cry, he too cries. That's because he can put himself in their place. Moreover, he can make connections beyond what I can hear with my own ears. So how could I really know about myself simply by listening to the words I speak? You might dream you're a bird and soar up into the sky, or dream you're a fish and sink to the bottom of a deep pond. We can't tell whether the words we're using are based on being awake or if they're coming from a dream.

"Trying to make a situation more pleasant isn't as good as laughing out loud. Faked laughter isn't as good as the kind that naturally erupts. Be comfortable with those eruptions and give up trying to modify them - only then can one enter into the boundless unity of Nature."