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You hear not with the ears, but with the mind; not with the mind, but with your soul. But let hearing stop with the ears. Let the working of the mind stop with itself. Then the soul will be a negative existence, passively responsive to externals. In such a negative existence, only Tao can abide. And that negative state is the fasting of the heart.
Source Chuang Tzu, chapter 4, §5 · 📖 Read the full passage
✨ To meditate on today
According to Chuang Tzu, who here gives the word to Confucius speaking to his disciple Yen Hui, the "fasting of the heart" consists in emptying oneself so that the Principle can appear there, listening with the spirit rather than with the ears. Today, during a conversation, let your judgments settle for a moment and listen to the other person with this empty and open heart.
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