The original Chinese article is from https://karin0118.pixnet.net/blog/post/53063086. I edited and translated it in order to share it with you here.
A famous monastery’s residents included a certain Taoist priest. He had a pet dog, whom he fed every day at 6 pm. This dog had a very bizarre name: “Put Down.” Every day at around sunset, Master Jingxiu delivered food to the animal while calling out: “Put down! Put down!”
One of the priest’s disciples grew curious, so he asked his master: “Why did you give the dog such a strange name?” Master Jing Xiu did not reply. The young disciple decided to watch the old Taoist priest carefully in the hope of discovering the answer to his question. He soon realized that, after feeding the dog, the priest completed his reading of the scriptures for the day. Instead, in the evenings, he went to the courtyard to practice Tai Chi and take a walk.
The young disciple confessed what he had been doing to the Taoist priest and told him the results of his observations. The old Taoist priest smiled, nodded, and said: “You finally understand. When I call out to the dog, I am also telling myself to ‘let go’ of my desire to push myself to complete my work. It is impossible to finish everything in one day; only do what is urgent, and then give yourself a break.”
This point can be further illustrated by this story: A Western expedition team went deep into the hinterland of Africa and hired local tribesmen as porters and guides. Due to time constraints, they needed to travel quickly, and these indigenous people were very hardworking. They could carry a lot of the heavy equipment while still walking fast. The expedition team went as planned for three days, and everyone was thrilled. However, on the morning of the fourth day, when the expedition team was about to set off, the indigenous people decided that they needed to rest and refused to move. The expedition team was completely puzzled. Everyone had gotten along very well those past few days; what had happened? Did they accidentally offend them, or do the men they had hired want more money? Then the leader of the locals explained that according to their tradition, if you have been on the road for three consecutive days, you must stop and rest on the fourth day, lest your soul cannot catch up with your steps. I know that this belief may seem odd to many, but I found it quite touching.
靈魂趕不上我們的腳步
一個著名的寺院裏，住著一位非常有道行的道長。他每天都要在傍晚 6時去餵他的狗。狗的名字很奇怪,叫做「放下」。每到日落時分, 靜修道長就為「放下」送飯了, 嘴裏還一邊呼喚著: 「放下！放下！」
弟子覺得很奇怪, 就問道長？「為什麼要給狗起這個奇怪的名字，為什麼您的狗叫’放下’？」靜修道長不語。小弟子觀察老道長，發現：每天當道長餵完狗後，就不再讀經書，到院中打打太極拳，散散步。
小弟子到道長面前，訴說了他們觀察的收穫，老道長微笑地點點頭說：”你們終於明白了。其實我在叫狗的時候，其實也是叫自己’放下’，讓自己放下許多事情。因為人們不可能在一天內做完所有的事情，你只要將一天中最很重要的事情做完就已足夠了。
在人們越來越習慣動輒高呼殘酷競爭時，其實學會「放下」的意義就越大。正彷彿當你自學遭遇滅頂挫折時，不妨手搭涼棚，你一定會發現：天並不會塌下來。這並不是不求上進，恰恰在於懂得放下的，才最終會贏；而整日忙碌不休的人，收穫的往往只是焦慮和疲憊。
我又看到了這樣一個故事：有一支西方的考察隊深入非洲腹地考察，請了當地部落的土著人做背夫和嚮導，由於時間緊，需要趕路，而這些土著人很吃苦耐勞，背著幾十公斤的裝備物資依然健步如飛，一連三天，考察隊都很順利地按計劃行進，大家都很開心。可是第四天早上，考察隊準備出發的時候，土著人們都在休息不走了，好說歹說就是不願出發。隊員們很奇怪，這幾天大家相處得很好啊，是不小心觸犯了他們還是要坐地加錢？這時，土著人的頭領解釋道，按照他們的傳統，如果連續三天趕路，第四天必須停下來休息一天，以免我們的靈魂趕不上我們的腳步。這個現代人看來很難理解的解釋，讓我很受觸動。
