Friday, February 25, 2011

Chirp

Chirp
by Scott Bradley


“But human speech...You take it to be different than the chirping of baby birds. But is there really any difference between them?”
~ Zhuangzi, Chap. 2; Brook Zyporyn, translation ~

We are able to look upon Nature as we perceive it around us and accept it as it is without the imposition of the judgment of right and wrong. To do likewise with regard to the human experience is to accord with Nature fully and to be liberated from this obstruction which limits our experience of Reality. To discriminate between right and wrong is to separate ourselves from Nature and ourselves. For most, this is largely a positive value, but for those who would experience harmony with Reality in its totality, this dualistic belief can only stand in the way.

Whatever the implications of self-awareness and free-will, they do not in any way transcend the fundamental unity of Reality. All that humanity does is as much an expression of Reality as the chirping of baby birds. To realize this is to be freed from the tyranny of guilt and blame that necessarily separates us from others and even our own selves. Understanding that our lives are, as they are, an expression of Reality, we can let go in trust into the up-welling of the life we are beyond all cognitive control. Letting life live itself, free of the of the blockage of discrimination, we discover that life itself fulfills our conflicted hunger for ‘betterment’ more surely than anything we could ever have managed.

You can check out Scott's writings on Zhuangzi here.

2 comments:

  1. Some business analysts are considered "bottom down" in their approach to accessing a company. That would be a different approach than just looking at the top figures of a business profile. Likewise this type of approach can be the same with analysing a particular philosophy one subscribes to. In other words, instead of just looking at the philosophy, a bottom down approach would attempt to go underneath and try understand why or what has motivated an individual to believe in a particular belief.

    To be freed from the tyranny of guilt and blame is quite a bottom down subject you bring up. Speaking from my own experience, being caught in the delimna of guilt and shame has lead to all sorts of suffering as I tried endlessly to escape from its jaws. Looking back I can see that this was a very big driving force and maybe the primary motivation of many decisions and behaviors I developed.

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