In the last post, The External, I talked about how the belief in a supreme entity, distinct and separate from us, tends to manifest itself in real life. In this post, I will attempt to illustrate the difference when the focus is internal -- seeing ourselves as part of a universal Oneness.
I find it hard to imagine a Taoist sage being filthy rich. The whole point of Taoist philosophy is to learn when enough is enough AND to serve our fellow beings. By contrast, the attainment and maintenance of great wealth -- unless you luck out by winning the lottery! -- takes a fine-tuned persistence and devotion. A person's focus is solely on themselves and not the community at large.
From the Taoist perspective, just because an individual is financially well-off, this does not confer upon her or him any special status or powers. Money and/or wealth merely is viewed as an artificial means to satisfy the self and the self is a manifestation of the Oneness we're encouraged to shed as much as possible. About the ONLY thing Lao Tzu or Chuang Tzu would confer upon the wealthy is the inherent responsibility to give away much of their largess!
You see, while those of the Abrahamic religious ilk concentrate most of their efforts on enriching themselves as a mechanism to prove to others that their God is pleased with them, the focus of a Taoist is on the overall community, including non-human beings. The former often sacrifice the needs of the community to better themselves, while the latter sacrifice themselves for the sake of all (because we're all part of the One)!
This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.
I find it hard to imagine a Taoist sage being filthy rich. The whole point of Taoist philosophy is to learn when enough is enough AND to serve our fellow beings. By contrast, the attainment and maintenance of great wealth -- unless you luck out by winning the lottery! -- takes a fine-tuned persistence and devotion. A person's focus is solely on themselves and not the community at large.
From the Taoist perspective, just because an individual is financially well-off, this does not confer upon her or him any special status or powers. Money and/or wealth merely is viewed as an artificial means to satisfy the self and the self is a manifestation of the Oneness we're encouraged to shed as much as possible. About the ONLY thing Lao Tzu or Chuang Tzu would confer upon the wealthy is the inherent responsibility to give away much of their largess!
You see, while those of the Abrahamic religious ilk concentrate most of their efforts on enriching themselves as a mechanism to prove to others that their God is pleased with them, the focus of a Taoist is on the overall community, including non-human beings. The former often sacrifice the needs of the community to better themselves, while the latter sacrifice themselves for the sake of all (because we're all part of the One)!
This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.
"About the ONLY thing Lao Tzu or Chuang Tzu would confer upon the wealthy is the inherent responsibility to give away much of their largess!"
ReplyDeleteNot arguing here, and not defending the "Abrahamic religious ilk," but Jesus himself did say that bit about the camel and the needle's eye. Let's not confuse the actual practices of so-called "religious" people with what the gospel really says.
Baroness,
ReplyDeleteThe problem with your last sentence, "Let's not confuse the actual practices of so-called "religious" people with what the gospel really says" is that there is no definitive guide as to what the gospel does or does not say. Meaning is in the eye of the beholder!
For example, the reference to "the camel and the needle's eye" could be a general metaphor OR it could be a specific reference to a particular entrance into the ancient city of Jerusalem. As to the latter, camels were able to use this entrance, but had to get down on their "knees" to make it under the short entryway.
Indeed, meaning is in the eye of the beholder, (and that applies to these Taoist texts too) but the point was simply about wealth as a hindrance to the larger goal of percieving or achieving oneness.
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