Daoist immortal Li Tieguai receivi
"What does an immortal in the form of a lame beggar tell us?"
📝ONGO's Reflection
This is a Chinese painting of unknown hand, depicting Li Tieguai, immortal of the Daoists. He was originally a man of distinction, but for reasons of circumstance borrowed the body of a lame beggar to remain in the world. His outward look is shabby, yet within him an extraordinary Way dwells. In this worn appearance I see the trap of judging. To gauge a person by the surface is to let an immortal pass as a beggar. What vessel lies within a shabby garb cannot be known by the outside alone. The moment one measures a person by their look, one loses, by one's own hand, a precious meeting. The vessel is not shown on the surface.
🌱Apply It Today
The shabbier a person seems, the more you should not judge their vessel by their appearance.
