Three in the Morning

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When we wear out our minds, stubbornly clinging to one partial view of things, refusing to see a deeper agreement between this and its complementary opposite, we have what is called " three in the morning." What is this "three in the morning?"
A monkey trainer went to his monkeys and told them:
"As regards your chestnuts: you are going to have three measures in the morning and four in the afternoon."
At this they all became angry. So he said: "All right, in that case I will give you four in the morning and three in the afternoon." This time they were satisfied.
The two arrangements were the same in that the number of chestnuts did not change. But in one case the animals were displeased, and in the other they were satisfied. The keeper had been willing to change his personal arrangement in order to meet objective conditions. He lost nothing by itl
The truly wise man, considering both sides of the question without partiality, sees them both in the light of Tao.
This is called following two courses at once.

* The "two courses" are, on one level, the higher way of Tao, the "divine" way, and on the other, the ordinary
human way manifested in the simple conditions of everyday life.


*******
✍ Thomas Merton (Prades, France, January 31, 1915 ~ Bangkok, Thailand, December 10, 1968). "The Way of Chuang Tzu".
◙ Artwork:  Pieter Brueghel the Elder
*******
Cuando desgastamos nuestras mentes, aferrándonos tozudamente a una visión parcial de las cosas, negándonos a ver un más profundo acuerdo entre éste y su opuesto complementario, sufrimos lo que se llama "las tres de la madrugada".
¿Qué es esto de "las tres de la madrugada"?
Un domador de monos fue a ver a sus monos y les dijo:
"Con respecto a lo de vuestras castañas: vais a recibir tres medidas por la mañana y cuatro por la tarde."
Ante esto, todos se enfadaron. De modo que dijo: "Está bien, en este caso os daré cuatro por la mañana y tres por la tarde". En esta ocasión quedaron satisfechos.
Ambas soluciones eran lo mismo, en tanto en que el número de castañas no variaba. Pero, en un caso, los animales quedaban descontentos y en el otro satisfechos. El guarda estuvo dispuesto a cambiar sus planes para hacer frente a las condiciones objetivas. ¡No perdió nada al hacerlo!
El hombre verdaderamente sabio, considerando ambos lados de una cuestión sin parcialidad, ve ambos a la luz del Tao.
Esto se llama seguir dos cursos a la vez.
******* 
 ✍ Thomas Merton.'El Camino de Chuang Tzu'.
 ◙ Artwork: Frans Snyders

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