A common theme of modern life is self-improvement. Lose Weight. Stop smoking, drinking or overeating. Get more education. Gain job skills. Drive a faster car. Get a boob job. Try a variety of remedies for patterned baldness. Learn a second language. On and on it goes...
But, if the truth be told, none of these things changes you or me. It does indeed alter the manifestations of who we are, but it doesn't change the essential essence.
The you or me that exists down below the multitude of human-constructed layers just is. It doesn't need to be improved; in fact, I dare say it would be impossible to alter it one way or the other.
Some folks of a religious ilk might define this essence as perfection. You won't find me using such a term because who is to say if our essence is perfect or not? I happen to believe that perfection is yet another human construct that doesn't exist independent of the human mind. In other words, Tao isn't perfect; it just is what it is.
It would do all of us a lot of good if we could learn to eschew the manifestations and accept ourselves as the essences we are. But to lead a life in the human sphere of consciousness, we must pay some heed to those outer manifestations.
What I believe it boils down to is one of the overall themes of Taoism: balance. We need not to define ourselves solely by external definitions. When we do just that, we fall into an eternal trap. No matter how hard we try to be the prettiest, fastest, strongest, most youthful person we can be, there will always be someone who is prettier, faster, stronger, and more youthful than we are. It's like running a race on a treadmill; no matter how hard and fast we run, we don't seem to get anywhere!
So, if we want improve "ourselves", we should do so for internal reasons with the understanding that all we are doing is improving the vessel we're housed in or benefiting the mind we engage the world with. We're not genuinely improving ourselves because the self -- itself -- needs no improvement.
But, if the truth be told, none of these things changes you or me. It does indeed alter the manifestations of who we are, but it doesn't change the essential essence.
The you or me that exists down below the multitude of human-constructed layers just is. It doesn't need to be improved; in fact, I dare say it would be impossible to alter it one way or the other.
Some folks of a religious ilk might define this essence as perfection. You won't find me using such a term because who is to say if our essence is perfect or not? I happen to believe that perfection is yet another human construct that doesn't exist independent of the human mind. In other words, Tao isn't perfect; it just is what it is.
It would do all of us a lot of good if we could learn to eschew the manifestations and accept ourselves as the essences we are. But to lead a life in the human sphere of consciousness, we must pay some heed to those outer manifestations.
What I believe it boils down to is one of the overall themes of Taoism: balance. We need not to define ourselves solely by external definitions. When we do just that, we fall into an eternal trap. No matter how hard we try to be the prettiest, fastest, strongest, most youthful person we can be, there will always be someone who is prettier, faster, stronger, and more youthful than we are. It's like running a race on a treadmill; no matter how hard and fast we run, we don't seem to get anywhere!
So, if we want improve "ourselves", we should do so for internal reasons with the understanding that all we are doing is improving the vessel we're housed in or benefiting the mind we engage the world with. We're not genuinely improving ourselves because the self -- itself -- needs no improvement.
Thanks -- needed that today...
ReplyDelete"...perfection is yet another human construct that doesn't exist independent of the human mind. In other words, Tao isn't perfect; it just is what it is."
ReplyDeleteWow. That's a quotation for the book right there. So true. And I wish we could really get this one through our heads. Thanks, RT, you're spot on.
One of your best posts :-)
ReplyDeleteNow, you see, this may well show why thinking too much is a problem. I had thought about this post for several hours and actually planned to put "pen to paper" this morning. However, this effort was thwarted by one of life's interruptions.
ReplyDeleteWhen I returned to the keyboard, the original ideas were all jumbled and so, instead of trying to recreate my earlier mental "masterpiece", I simply wrote spur of the moment.