Hundun gave food to two beings, one who came from the north and the other who came from the south. Grateful, the two decided to help Hundun. Hundun had no eyes, nose, ears or mouth. He did not have the seven holes to appreciate the world around. So the two decided to bore seven holes into him. But when they did this, Hundun died. Instead of enjoying Hundun’s kindness and appreciating Hundun for who he was, the two were burdened by their own notions of hospitality and generosity. They gave Hundun what they felt Hundun needed even though Hundun did not ask for it. Thus they ended up killing him by unnecessary interference. This story comes to us from China’s Taoist tradition that values nature and feels humans need to avoid interfering with nature. Nature is perfect and we need to align with its perfection. A similar sentiment is found in the following story. 

The woodcarver made the perfect table. The king was so impressed that he believed the woodcarver had secured the help of spirits. But the woodcarver said he was guided by the Tao. He fasted until he no longer thought about success or failure, criticism or praise, about his head, his heart or his stomach. Thus cleansed, he ventured to the forest, and the tree appeared before him, and within the tree he saw the table which he released by carving out the tree as the table asked him to. It was not the spirits, but the flow of nature, that manifested the table. Similar stories are told of butcher and archers, who align with natural forces, chose to be pliant rather than firm. This is the stuff of Chinese mysticism.