Hua Hu Ching - Verse 28

Verse Twenty-Eight
It is tempting to view the vast and luminous heavens as the body of the Tao. That would be a mistake, however. If you identify the Tao with a particular shape, you won't ever see it.
~ Translated by Brian Walker ~

At the outset of this miniseries, I stated that I might not feature the verses in order. However, due to my patterned nature, this aim has been difficult to accomplish. However, with this verse, I'm allowing myself to flow beyond pattern. It may only happen one time, but who knows?

I can remember from my earliest days the teachings of the church about God and heaven above. When people want to marvel at the beauty and mystery of creation, it almost seems natural to look up. I suppose this could be explained by the fact we each are so small and the sky seems so expansive. It may also be a symbolic way we can look at ourselves through the eyes of that which we feel we are not (more thinking along this line in my next post about Don Cupitt's book.)

But if Tao (or God, for you religious folk) is everything, then looking up, down, sideways or nowhere accomplishes the same thing. As soon as we fixate on one manifestation of the universal IT, we lose sight of what IT is.

It's like if we were to focus our attention on one note in a musical composition, we lose the essence of the song itself. The song is not the individual notes; it's all of them joined together in sequence, rhythm and harmony.

This post is part of a "miniseries". For an introduction, go here.