A Deep Study of Xunzi's 'Jie Pi' Chapter: On the Cognitive Foundations of the Mind—Emptiness, Unity, and Tranquility

Section 5: The Difficulty of "Emptiness": Why is it hard for people to be "Empty"$17

If "Emptiness" is so important, why is it often difficult for people to achieve it$18

Master Xunzi provides a profound analysis in the latter half of the Jie Bi chapter. He lists various phenomena of "obscuration," illustrating how human cognition is obstructed by different factors:

"Whenever one observes things with doubt, and the center of the Mind is unsettled, the external things cannot be clear. If our deliberation is unclear, one cannot definitively affirm or deny."

When the Mind is unsettled by doubt, one’s perception of external things becomes blurry. Judgments made at such times are unreliable.

Master Xunzi offers a series of vivid examples:

"One walking in deep darkness sees a recumbent stone as a crouching tiger, and sees a standing tree as a standing man: Darkness obscures their vision (ming 明)."

Darkness obscures visual clarity, causing people to mistake stones for tigers and trees for men. This is interference with the sensory function by the external environment.

"One drunk crosses a ditch a hundred paces wide, mistaking it for a narrow stream; he lowers his head to exit the city gate, mistaking it for a small doorway: Alcohol disorders their spirit (shen 神)."

Alcohol disturbs the spirit, causing the drunkard's judgment of distance and size to be completely distorted. This is interference by a physiological factor.

"One who stares with pressure on the eyes sees one as two; one who blocks the ears hears silence as clamor: External forces disorder their organs."

Pressing the eyes causes double vision; blocking the ears causes auditory illusions. External force (shi 势) directly interferes with sensory function.

"Looking at an ox from a mountaintop makes it look like a sheep, and one searching for a sheep will not walk down to tether it: Distance obscures the large."

"Looking at a tree from the foot of a mountain, a tree ten ren (fathoms) high looks like a chopstick, and one searching for chopsticks will not go up to break it: Height obscures the long."

Distance distorts the perception of size; height distorts the perception of length. These are distortions caused by spatial limitations.

"When the water moves, the reflection shakes; people cannot reliably judge beauty or ugliness: The motion of the water is subtle (xuan 玄)."

When water ripples, the reflection wavers; people cannot use it to judge appearance. The subtle motion of the water distorts the image.

"A blind person looks up and sees no stars; people cannot determine existence or non-existence based on this: The lack of sensory acuity confounds."

A blind person looking up sees no stars, yet one cannot conclude that stars do not exist based on this. The absence of sensory capacity does not imply the non-existence of the object.

These examples vividly illustrate how human cognition is interfered with and distorted by various factors (darkness, alcohol, external force). On a deeper level, a person's existing knowledge, emotional inclinations, and vested interests similarly interfere with and distort cognition—this is why "Emptiness" is so crucial, and yet so difficult.

The fundamental reason people find it hard to achieve "Emptiness" is that existing knowledge and experience become deeply integrated into our mode of cognition, serving as the "default framework" for observing and understanding the world. Breaking through this framework requires immense self-awareness and effort.