"Tao believes in spontaneity, individuality, freedom. Tao is rebellious; Confucius is very conformist.

"Taoism is the profoundest non-conformism that has ever been evolved anywhere in the world, at any time in history; essentially it is rebellion. So there has been a rebellion and the Taoist mystics, Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu and Lieh Tzu, go on ridiculing the Confucian attitude. This is a parable of ridicule. You will understand it when I explain it to you. Their ridicule is also very subtle, not gross. First let us understand the surface meaning.

When Confucius was roaming on Mount T'ai, he saw Jung Ch'i Ch'i walking on the moors of Ch'ang in a rough fur coat with a rope round his waist, singing as he strummed a lute.

"Singing, music, dancing, are the language of joy, of happiness. They are an expression that the person is not miserable. But it may be just an appearance, it may be just projected, it may be just cultivated; deep down the situation may be just the opposite. Sometimes it happens that you laugh because you don't want to cry. Sometimes it happens that you smile because tears are coming and, if you don't smile, they will start rolling down your cheeks. Sometimes you maintain an attitude, a cultivated face, a mask, that you are happy, because what is the point of showing your unhappiness to the world? That's why people look so happy. Everybody thinks he is the unhappiest person in the world. because he knows his reality and he knows only the faces of others, the cultivated faces. So everybody deep down thinks: 'I am the most miserable person, and why am I the most miserable person when everybody is so happy?'

"Singing, dancing, are certainly a language of joy, but you can learn the language without knowing what joy is. That's what humanity has done: people have learned gestures – empty gestures.

"But Confucius is deceived. He says

'Master, what is the reason for your joy?'

"The mask has deceived Confucius; the man may be joyful, may not be joyful. The man has to be looked into directly – through his nature, not through his expression. The expression can be false: people have learned expression."