Chuang Tzu—Part 2

 "The Peace of the Dead" 

While wandering along the road one day, a scholar finds a human skull lying off the path, in the woods. He steps aside and picks up the skull, and gazing at it, Hamlet-like, asks it questions. How did you die? Was your time simply up, or were you involved in some nefarious activity? Were you murdered? Was your death just? What activities were you ripped from, by death?

The skull remains silent. The scholar remains looking at the skull for a while longer, then stuffs it in his pack and continues his trek. Later, when it comes time to bed down for the night, the scholar uses the skull as a pillow. As he falls asleep, the skull appears to him in a dream; telling the scholar that all his questions had been about the struggles and problems of the living, and how one comes to meet death. When you are dead, the skull now replies in the dream, all those concerns are gone. Human struggles are of no concern to the dead. He asks the scholar if he'd like to know what it's like to be dead. Yes, certainly, replies the scholar... all people want to know about what the afterlife is like.

Well, the skull says, when you are dead, there are no tyrants or oppressive rulers above you, making life difficult. There are no concerns or or hassles of all those below you to deal with. There are no such humanly problems. Time passes very leisurely, as it does in heaven—not frantically and so fast, as it does for the living. Indeed, even the lavish life of a king has no appeal for the dead.

Hmmm, the scholar thinks. That's interesting. In order to understand better, he then asks the skull, supposing he had the power to restore life to him, giving the skull back all that he had lost, would he go for it? The skull ponders the question for a moment and says no. After all, how could he abandon something that is better than the lavish life of a king, let alone revisit all those other difficulties of life?

"The Poor Scholar"  

A high official encounters a scholar who is dressed in shabby clothes; who appears very raggedy. The official asks the scholar why he is so wretched. The scholar responds that what the man is seeing is not wretchedness, but poverty. Wretchedness is far worse; it occurs when one understands the Way and when one knows how to follow the Tao, but does not do either. That's internal wretchedness. My clothes are tattered. That's just an external sign that I'm poor, not wretched.