November 14
Yours is the work alone, never its fruit. Do not act for the sake of the yield — but do not cling to inaction either.
Bhagavad Gita (freely rendered)
Before Qing Cut into the Wood
Yours is the work alone, never its fruit. Do not act for the sake of the yield — but do not cling to inaction either.
Qing had carved a wooden bell stand that astonished all who saw it. The Prince of Lu asked him about his art.
Qing told him that before a work of this kind he fasted, to bring his mind to rest. After three days, neither wages nor rank occupied him any longer. After five days he had forgotten praise and blame as well. After seven days he no longer thought of his own body, nor of the court.
Only then did he go into the mountain forest and look at the trees. If he found one in whose grown shape he could recognize the bell stand, he began to carve. If he did not find one, he let the work be.
