Sunday, May 15, 2011

What Moves Me

What Moves Me
by Scott Bradley


I have suggested that all we are and do is 'Tao', and that there are, therefore, no conditions to meet to be one with Reality. This includes our favorite bogey-man, the ego-self. Some have taken this as simply my way of avoiding dealing with self, a justification for 'bad' behavior.

Being, as I am, a very 'bad' boy, this does have its appeal. In experience, however, it does not work out that way. I find that when I tentatively realize the reality of this Unity, self somehow drops out of sight. There does not seem to be room for the self-contained self and Unity. One way to metaphorically explain this is: I am not 'Tao'; 'Tao' is me. Yes, even Senor Self is an expression of 'Tao', but he cannot realize himself as such. It's like that proverbial bubble on the sea -- it is itself the sea, to be sure, but to realize that is to be a bubble no more.

This is, I think, essentially what Zhuangzi tells us when he has Yan Hui say, "Before I find what moves me into activity, it is myself that is full and real. But as soon as I find what moves me, it turns out that 'myself' has never begun to exist." (Chapter 4; B. Ziporyn)

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

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