from Verse Fifty-NineTherefore when praise appears, then censure follows along; when good appears, then evil comes along. Profit is the beginning of harm, fortune is the forerunner of misfortune. If you do not seek advantages, you will come to no harm; if you do not seek fortune, you will have no misfortune.~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~
Every concept gives rise to its opposite. Love cannot be understood without hate and good means nothing if not juxtaposed against bad. This is the inherent aspect of drawing distinctions; for something to be deemed different, it must be deemed different from something else.
Lao Tzu is suggesting that when we act fluidly with the circumstances and with no concept of self, then distinctions will melt away. We will do what needs to be done -- NOT because it is right, good, moral, ethical or compassionate -- but because it flows with the situation.
Morality comes from thought. You must size up all the variables within your purview and then apply some static and external rule to the situation. Unfortunately, because thought involves the ego, it's not uncommon for the ego to distort the circumstances in our minds and so we speak or act in a manner that doesn't address the current situation at all or, at least, not very well.
The capacity to flow with the situation cannot be derived from thought. The moment we put our thinking cap on, the flow is interrupted and so we use distinctions to try to conjure up our next move. As the Way makes no distinctions, whatever we do at that point is not one with the Way.
This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.
Lao Tzu is suggesting that when we act fluidly with the circumstances and with no concept of self, then distinctions will melt away. We will do what needs to be done -- NOT because it is right, good, moral, ethical or compassionate -- but because it flows with the situation.
Morality comes from thought. You must size up all the variables within your purview and then apply some static and external rule to the situation. Unfortunately, because thought involves the ego, it's not uncommon for the ego to distort the circumstances in our minds and so we speak or act in a manner that doesn't address the current situation at all or, at least, not very well.
The capacity to flow with the situation cannot be derived from thought. The moment we put our thinking cap on, the flow is interrupted and so we use distinctions to try to conjure up our next move. As the Way makes no distinctions, whatever we do at that point is not one with the Way.
This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.
Well said!
ReplyDeleteNot necessarily.
ReplyDeleteThe mind does not necessarily operate through ego. Although this is often the case.
When emotion overpowers reason, for example.
The mind, being a tool, may be used on an ego-less level. Ego may use mind to justify its perspective.
The sage uses all his/her tools, while giving preference to none.
Blah blah...
Crow,
ReplyDeleteI think the difference here is well explained by Alan Watts. The mind works through ego, but the brain itself does not. Watts liked to say that our minds too often interfere with our brains. :)
Fair enough. It can be difficult to translate what we know into words, in order to convey it.
ReplyDeleteIt was pointed out to me recently that I seem to exist in a permanent state of zen.
I pondered this, and did some research into what zen is.
It means - literally - no mind.
So while I am most definitely cerebral, I tend not to use mind.
I suppose I should be happy about this, but I am left wondering...
It would go a long way to explaining the exasperation I often experience in various dealings with those who are not like me.
One assumes that 20,000,000 people can't be wrong, so it must be me.
But I see now that it is entirely possible for 20,000,000 people to be wrong, however unlikely it may seem.