Recently realized a top-level mindset that instantly eliminated all my mental exhaustion.
The principle is that those who try too hard cannot go far. Zhuangzi told us over 2,000 years ago the way to completely resolve self-attack and mental exhaustion. We have all learned the story of the butcher Ding, which is commonly interpreted as practice makes perfect.
Any skill, as long as you practice it enough, can be mastered; however, this interpretation completely reflects the one-sided wishful thinking of mainstream culture and contradicts the Daoist philosophy of non-action.
What Zhuangzi truly wanted to impart to us through this story is the wisdom of 'entering the realm of having from the realm of non-being,' and these six characters are the core principles to avoid self-wear and tear. In the story, the ordinary chef must change knives every month. Why?
Because they charge headlong, just wanting to use brute force to break bones, so the knife quickly becomes damaged. In contrast, an experienced master changes knives once a year because they have learned the basics of self-preservation. However, due to long-term cutting of meat and bones, the blade will still become dull.
Actually, the cow and knife in this story are metaphors from Zhuangzi. The cow being processed represents the external world, while the knife represents our reckless approach. Most of our mental exhaustion comes from the mindset instilled by traditional education, believing that if we work hard enough, we can solve all problems. Our habitual thinking is the gap between reality and ideals.
It’s all because we feel we are still not working hard enough, not disciplined enough, thus forcing ourselves to stay up all night studying, working overtime, and self-sacrificing in various interpersonal relationships.
But just like the knife in the story can break, humans cannot endure indefinitely either.
Reality often lacks the inspirational stories of hard work paying off; the more common situation is that before miracles appear, our spirit has already collapsed. The chef can replace a broken knife, but our self will completely lose its strength to act after repeated wear and tear.
When the knife appears at the damaged edge, we should not blame the knife for not being hard enough or sharp enough, but rather realize that the problem lies in how we are using the knife. So what is the correct way?
Zhuangzi, through the mouth of the butcher Ding, answered us: the reason my knife has remained sharp after 19 years is that I see the gaps between the muscle and bone of the cow, and this gap is more than enough for the width of the blade. So I simply place the knife in that gap; this is called entering with non-thickness, and having gaps naturally allows for ease of use.
The top wisdom of the butcher Ding lies in discovering the gaps between muscles and bones, and in reality, these gaps represent the spontaneous laws of all things. The true wisdom Zhuangzi wants to convey to us is to respect the objective laws governing the development of all things, to act in accordance with those laws, and to avoid wear and tear. This is the core principle of urban life.
A person can only maintain a certain behavior long-term and with high quality when they are comfortable. The one thing we consistently do throughout our lives is breathe, and the best state of doing something is to make it as natural as breathing, integrating it into daily life without force or resistance, following the natural flow, focused, without questioning cause or effect, taking one step at a time. This way, success will surely come. Remember these eight words: go with the flow, make rapid progress.
