Read this book, visit that temple. Always someone is eager to guide us to the truth. There is no language of the Tao. The sage learns from observing the ordinary world around us.
~ Today's Daily Quote from The TaoWoods Center ~
At almost even given moment, there's at least one self-help book on the bestseller's list. Self-styled experts, gurus, learned professionals and the like will provide you with the secrets of how to lose weight, deal with unpleasant people or find meaning where no meaning seems to exist. All you have to do is read -- better yet, buy -- their book and you too can find bliss and unceasing happiness.
While I have nothing personal against any such authors and I'm not suggesting a person can't glean some pertinent information from these sorts of books, none of us truly needs them. The answer to almost any question we could ask can be found within and around us. Unfortunately, those two places seem to be the two least utilized.
Much of the problem is derived from our society. The Judeo-Christian ethos states that we're all worthless wretches and we're lost without various kinds of shepherds. If a person seeks to go it alone, society brands them as a loner, anti-social or worse. Far too many folks accept these pronouncements carte blanche and would never even consider solving a problem by using their own intuition and/or by observing the world around them.
As with most things in society, this type of perspective is tied to power relations and economics. If you can convince a majority of the masses that each is an inherent moron and certainly not to be trusted, they willingly will cede power and money to you. Not only that, but they will spend the vast majority of their resources fighting amongst themselves while you lead a life of opulent leisure.
That fairly well defines America!
~ Today's Daily Quote from The TaoWoods Center ~
At almost even given moment, there's at least one self-help book on the bestseller's list. Self-styled experts, gurus, learned professionals and the like will provide you with the secrets of how to lose weight, deal with unpleasant people or find meaning where no meaning seems to exist. All you have to do is read -- better yet, buy -- their book and you too can find bliss and unceasing happiness.
While I have nothing personal against any such authors and I'm not suggesting a person can't glean some pertinent information from these sorts of books, none of us truly needs them. The answer to almost any question we could ask can be found within and around us. Unfortunately, those two places seem to be the two least utilized.
Much of the problem is derived from our society. The Judeo-Christian ethos states that we're all worthless wretches and we're lost without various kinds of shepherds. If a person seeks to go it alone, society brands them as a loner, anti-social or worse. Far too many folks accept these pronouncements carte blanche and would never even consider solving a problem by using their own intuition and/or by observing the world around them.
As with most things in society, this type of perspective is tied to power relations and economics. If you can convince a majority of the masses that each is an inherent moron and certainly not to be trusted, they willingly will cede power and money to you. Not only that, but they will spend the vast majority of their resources fighting amongst themselves while you lead a life of opulent leisure.
That fairly well defines America!
Just stopping in to let you know I'm thanking you - and others - for linking to my All Considering blog on this lens on squidoo: http://www.squidoo.com/spiritual-friends
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