We’re still doing the commentary on The Book of Lieh Tzu with my version as My travels with Lieh Tzu with number one hundred nineteen of one hundred fifty-eight. 
We first look back at the ending of our previous post where Yang Chu tells us,
“If we presume on the praise or slander of the hour, so that we wither the spirit and vex the body, seeking a reputation which will survive our deaths by a few hundred years, how will this suffice to moisten our dry bones and renew the joys of life.”
And finally… As worldly events swirl around us what can be of importance as you have seen it all before. The names and places may have changed, but in the end, there is nothing new. Do not these re‑occurrences remind us to look no further than the perfection found only within ourselves?
Striving for inner perfection has always been the first challenge we encounter. This chapter called Yang Chu explores the idea of embracing each moment with acceptance, resilience, and serenity—a balance of calmness in action and intensity in stillness. What the yogi might describe in seated meditation as “the flame in a windless spot that does not flicker”. Questioning what we don’t know isn’t always about finding answers but about getting closer to something we can relate to in our own lives. It often comes down to the authenticity of the storyteller—the one who shares the events of the day that are simply to be built on overtime.
Telling ancient stories that are designed to convey universal truths and timeless lessons. To look at things we may have taken for granted in a different way that adds nuance and layers that can contribute to our own reasoning, and even our own reckoning.
The teachings of Confucius, Tao, and others focus on personal spiritual growth, highlighting that everyone has a spiritual nature meant to harmonize with the world around them. To truly make an impact, we should nurture sincerity in our hearts to respond appropriately to the spiritual and physical needs of our surroundings.
Nature shows us the mechanism for attaining spiritual unity, which forms the foundation of each individual life. For anyone, living a simple and normal life reflects this spiritual unity. Spiritual cultivation is key to personal happiness, health, and strong relationships, forming the foundation of spiritual attainment. You can’t achieve a higher level of inner spirit without first focusing on your own spiritual growth.
My travels with Lieh Tzu / Interpolations along the Way
Chapter Seven – Yang Chu
119. Traveling in the wake of Dragons
Bringing order where none existed before, heaven and earth giving man the chance that none had had before or will have again. Giving man the responsibility to come forward to find his own destiny through knowledge. Generation after generation given the chance to travel through time and space. With no sense or attention paid to race, creed, or color. Each of us is given a body to keep intact as we look for a way to preserve ourselves.
Keeping calm and open to nature and the Tao. Knowing that neither our body nor other things are our possessions.
Yang Chu continues:
“Man resembles the other species between heaven and earth and like other things owes his nature to the five elements. He is the most intelligent of living things. But in man, nails and teeth are not strong enough to provide defense, skin, and flesh too soft for protection.
He cannot run fast enough to escape danger and lacks fur and feathers to ward off heat and cold. He must depend on other things to tend his nature, must trust knowledge, and not rely on force. Hens the most valuable use of knowledge is for self-preservation. While the most ignoble use of force is to attack others.”
Knowing my body is not my possession, while accepting the responsibility to keep it intact. Knowing other things are not my possession, yet once here not dispensing with them. 
Knowing that it is through our body that we live but it is by other things we tend to it.
From the beginning, knowing that neither my body nor other things can be in my possession. How can one keep for oneself that which belongs to the universe? In the end does not Lieh Tzu extort us to look beyond the seeming allure of the comforts living brings you and to challenge Yang Chu and his assault on knowledge?
Can it be only the sage, only the highest of the highest, who treats as common possessions the body and the things which belong to the world? Are not our own growth and decay common to all things found in nature? 7/24/95
Number one hundred nineteen of one hundred fifty-eight entries.
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