A Dialectical Analysis of the Tripartite Qualities of 'Dao' in the Guanzi: Intricacy, Expansion, and Solidity

III. Similar Descriptions of Cultivation Practices in Pre-Qin Literature

Zhuangzi, Human World (人間世):

"If you unify your mind, do not listen with your ears but listen with your mind; do not listen with your mind but listen with your Qi. Listening stops at the ears; the mind stops at what it corresponds to. Qi is that which is empty and awaits things. Only the Dao gathers in emptiness. Emptiness is called 'fasting the mind'."

This description highly corresponds to the cultivation sequence in Neiye:

• "If you unify your mind" (若一志) — One intention grasping the mind (一意摶心)
• "do not listen with your ears" (無聽之以耳) — Ears and eyes are not licentious (耳目不淫)
• "listen with your mind... listen with your Qi" (聽之以心……聽之以氣) — Deepening from mind to Qi
• "Qi is that which is empty and awaits things" (氣也者，虛而待物者也) — Blood-Qi is tranquil (血氣既靜)
• "Only the Dao gathers in emptiness" (唯道集虛) — Though distant things will seem near (雖遠若近, as the Dao gathers in emptiness, the cultivator achieves emptiness and can sense the Dao)

The common point between the two is: both advocate transcending the sensory level (ears and eyes) to the level of the mind, then transcending the mind to the level of Qi, ultimately reaching the state of unity with the Dao.

Related discussions in Guanzi, Xinshu Shang:

"Heaven is called emptiness; Earth is called stillness. Then one does not attack. Cleanse your palace, open your gate, cast aside self-interest and do not speak; then the spirits and divinities seem to exist. Though chaotic as if in disorder, stillness brings self-governance. Strength cannot universally stand; wisdom cannot exhaust all plans. Things inherently have form; form inherently has names... Reside in your place and be content in your dwelling; love Qi, and your lifespan will be complete. Tian (天, Heaven) is benevolence; Di (地, Earth) is righteousness."

"Cleanse your palace" (潔其宮) means cleansing the mind's dwelling (proper body); "open your gate" (開其門) means opening the gate of the senses but not being unrestrained; "cast aside self-interest and do not speak" (去私毋言) means discarding selfish thoughts and ceasing speech; "then the spirits and divinities seem to exist" (神明若存) means the spirit is bright as if spirits exist—this is of the same lineage as the cultivation sequence in Neiye.