Wen Tzu - Verse 176, Part I

from Verse One Hundred Seventy-Six

To act in accord with essence is called the Way; to attain that natural essence is called virtue. After essence is lost, humanity and justice are valued; after humanity and justice are defined, virtue is ignored. When pure simplicity disappears, manners and music become ornate; when right and wrong take shape, the common people are blinded. When pearls and jade are valued, the whole world competes for them.

~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~

To get at the heart of this passage, let's first take a look at the word essence.

When we speak of essence, we're talking about the essential, inherent and core aspects of an entity (or idea). From Lao Tzu's perspective, the crucial part of who and what we are is pure. We move gracefully with life and easily float with the energy flow. By and large, this is how young children interact with the world.

The socialization process, however, robs us of our essential nature. We're taught rules, laws, mores, manners and proper etiquette. Life becomes a series of calculations; some are based on how much we think we can get away with and others are based more on repressing our wants and desires.

For me, this gets to the heart of the philosophies of Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu as well. It's at that moment in our lives when we start judging all thoughts, actions and deeds by external criteria that we go astray. It's when we consciously have to think everything through that we have cast off our essential nature.

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