从内外观念看庄子的幸福观 = ZHUANGZI'S VIEW ON HAPPINESS BASED ON THE CONCEPTS OF "INNER" AND "OUTER"

Abstract

The human body forms a natural border between the outside world and the inner human body, giving rise to the objective presence of “inner” and “outer”. Through our everyday encounter, we realize that the outside world is in a continuous state of dynamic. Changes from the outside often create an impact on our inner self. However, Zhuangzi believed that there was a ‘natural life’ that originally lived within the body of every human being. This ‘natural life’ resembled the state of the calmest water at all times. Hence, regardless of the happenings in the outside world, this ‘natural life’ remained undisturbed. However, Zhuangzi’s idea of the inner and outer was not one of complete separation. Rather, it displayed a relationship with the inner life as the fundamental and the outer world as the incidental. The ‘natural life’ moved along with every encounter that one met from the outside world, remaining unmoved or undisturbed through the process. A classic illustration that described the above would be a man standing on a moving cloud. In the image, it was the cloud that was in motion. The man remained motionless while appearing to be moving. An understanding of Zhuangzi’s idea of inside and outside shall provide the stepping stone into his world of happiness. The master notion of happiness is one that is absolute and complete, existing naturally within the ‘natural life’. It has an eternal life-span that overrides the idea of life and death. In the light of the recent Tsunamis attack, which exposed our human vulnerability before nature, Zhuangzi’s idea of happiness seems to provide the possibility of eternity.