Who's Yo Daddy?

Some claim that attaining the true Tao requires a master, and following a long road of discipline and sacrifice under their tutelage. The sage knows better and simply smiles at such nonsense.
~ Today's Daily Quote from the TaoWoods Center ~

One of the hallmarks of religion is hierarchy. To find peace, forgiveness, salvation or enlightenment, the average adherent must submit to the learned priests, ministers, rabbis, holy people or God incarnate on earth. Religion requires this kind of subordination -- stupid lambs to be led by knowing shepherds!

Taoism rejects such notions. While there is nothing wrong with seeking guides to help us find and travel along our path, we each must blaze that path on our own. Voltaire's question (featured in the post, "Near & Far") cuts to the quick of this matter -- "Is there anyone so wise as to learn by the experience of others?"

Of course, the answer is NO. We can get a feel for something by listening to the experiences of others, but we can't know it as our own until we experience it ourselves.

Take, for example, the experience of hang gliding. You can read tomes about it. Watch numerous videos. Practice all the necessary movements. Visualize it in your mind. But until you actually do it, you can't know what it feels like to be suspended in air.

Here's another example -- sex. I remember as a teenager imagining what the act of intercourse was like. There were certainly enough films that depicted the act of lovemaking. It seemed like every other song on the radio screamed of its intense joy and satisfaction. My mother even gave me a book that detailed the process with very vivid imagery. I thought I KNEW what the experience was all about.

Boy, was I ever wrong!! I lost my virginity as a high school senior on Prom Night and the rush of physical and emotional sensations exceeded my wildest dreams. The difference between what I thought I knew and what I experienced was like night and day.

The final example I will offer concerns death. My dear mother struggled for many years trying to defeat cancer. As it became more apparent that the cancer would win out, I started to try to deal with the emotions of grief and loss. I spent many long hours alone contemplating and wrestling with my emotions. At one point, I felt like I was prepared to deal with the inevitable.

Wrong again! As my mother languished in the hospital between life and death, I found myself wishing the heart monitor would go flat -- just to begin the process of grief. But when it finally did go flat and my mother died, the immense grief that washed over me was almost too much to bare. All my mental preparations paled in comparison to the real deal.

This bring me back to the point of Voltaire's question and the Taoist belief that no one requires a master. We each lead unique lives replete with our own personal experiences and impressions. We each must journey toward the unknown essence of life (Tao) in our own way in our time. We literally are unable to follow in someone else's footsteps because they aren't our own.