KEY CONCEPTS

TERMBASES

Having Something to Depend on

As opposed to wudai (无待 having nothing to depend on), youdai (有待) literally means “having something to depend on.” The concept comes from Zhuangzi. The author Zhuangzi (369?-286BC) believed that both humans and things are never independent of their surroundings and thus are subject to external restrictions. In other words, they always “have something to depend on.” In this sense, youdai reveals the interconnection and interdependence between all things that exist. Only when a person is able to detach himself from his surroundings and clear his mind of all external constraints and encumbrances can he attain the free and unhindered state of wudai.

CITATION
1
Penumbra asked Umbra, “You were moving a moment ago, and now you are still. You were sitting a moment ago, and now you stand up. Why don’t you follow a constant code of conduct?” Umbra answered, “Is it because I have something to depend on? Is it because what I depend on still has something else to depend on? Is what I depend on to me what ventral scales are to a snake or what wings are to a cicada? How do I know what causes it to be so! How do I know what causes it not to be so!”
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