Wen Tzu - Verse 77, Part I

from Verse Seventy-Seven

Beings are many, knowledge is shallow. It is impossible to treat the many adequately by means of the shallow, those who rely on their own knowledge alone inevitably miss a lot.

~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~

This is one of many passages in the writings of Lao Tzu that seems adverse to rational thinking. While I can certainly understand why some people may view this sage to be opposed to intellectualism, that's not what I take away from him. I believe that Lao Tzu understands that rational thought has its place; it's simply a different place than most of us would situate it.

Human knowledge is limited. No matter how much we study, conceptualize and discover, there will always be far more that we don't know than we know. In fact, I would dare say that all the human knowledge ever assembled to this point only represents one grain of sand on an endless beach.

Not only do we know very little about life and existence, but knowledge is just like the shifting sands on a beach. What we know today as fact may be fallacy tomorrow. What our species thought was rock solid knowledge in the 1500s is mostly laughed at today.

Since our knowledge is limited by design and it is ever shifting, we need something deeper to govern ourselves and our societies. For Lao Tzu, that something deeper is the Way -- the unchangeable rhythms of the life force.

We can't come to understand nor embrace the Way via rational thought because our ego-infused minds will distort it. It is only through emptying our minds of facts, preconceived notions and feelings that we can allow the essence of life itself to fill us with an understanding that goes way beyond rational knowledge.

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