The Way of Chuang Tzu

by Thomas Merton

But for Chuang this paradise is not something that has been irrevocably lost by sin and cannot be regained except by redemption. It is still ours, but we do not know it, since the effect of life in society is to complicate and confuse our existence, making us forget who we really are by causing us to become obsessed with what we are not.

happiness can be found, but only by non-seeking and non-action.

When a limited and conditioned view of “good” is erected to the level of an absolute, it immediately becomes an evil, because it excludes certain complementary elements which are required if it is to be fully good.

It is when we insist most firmly on everyone else being “reasonable” that we become, ourselves, unreasonable.