《莊子．大宗師》篇「孟孫才弔母」的故事智慧地處理了方內和方外的關係，並且顯著地體現出《莊子》的「自適」觀。首先，孟孫才之所以居喪不哀、和眾人行喪禮有異，並不意味著他是一個「方外之人」。毋寧說，齊同生死的孟孫才游於方內方外之際。其次，儘管孟孫才不以生為樂，不以死為憂，但他卻不貶低喪禮，原因在於：他以「道」的視角來看待世間萬物，且並不覺得自己和眾人有高低價值的分別，而是看到了萬物的「同一」。再者，孟孫才在齊同生死的同時，還能和眾人一同躬行喪禮，並且「人哭亦哭」，這是由於他能夠隨緣自適、與時俱化。「自適」不僅是一種自己舒服的狀態，而且還能夠與周圍的人事融洽地相處。

The Mengsun Cai’s story in the chapter The Great Source as Teacher of Zhuangzi deals sagely with the common ways of the world (方內) and the ways outside (方外), reflecting the idea of “Taking comfort in someone’s own comfort” (自適). First, that he sheds no tears at his mother’s funeral and mourns in a different manner from other people does not imply that he is a man outside the common ways; rather, seeing no significant differences between life and death he roams between the common ways of the world and the ways outside. Second, although neither does he delight in life nor grieve for death, he bears no slight against funeral rituals, because he views everything in light of Dao (道), seeing no differences between himself and others in terms of value. Last, being indifferent to life and death, he wails as others wail at the funeral, because, I shall argue, he is capable of “Taking comfort in his own comfort”, which involves not only making oneself to feel at ease, but also getting along well with others.