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Zen Stories
Going with the Flow
A Taoist story tells of an old man who accidentally fell
into the river rapids leading to a high and dangerous waterfall.
Onlookers feared for his life. Miraculously, he came out alive and
unharmed downstream at the bottom of the falls. People asked him how
he managed to survive. "I accommodated myself to the water, not
the water to me. Without thinking, I allowed myself to be shaped by
it. Plunging into the swirl, I came out with the swirl. This is how
I survived."
(Some versions describe Confucius as witnessing this event.
Also, in some versions, the old man explains how he has been
jumping into the waterfall like this since he was a small boy.
)
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