Employ it the kingdom o'er,If each one of us decided right now to embrace our internal nature and to tamp down the desires of ego, the world would be transformed instantaneously! Wars would end, poverty would be averted and we could all sit around holding hands and singing Kumbaya.
And men thrive all around.
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~
Cultivate it in the universe,
And Virtue will be everywhere.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~
Cultivate it in the world; its virtue shall be widespread
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~
If the world gets in touch
with the power of Tao,
the power will be everywhere.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~
Since we each know that this happenstance is nothing more than a utopian pipe dream, it provides us with the rationale not to change the way WE interact with the world. By not changing ourselves, we rob the world of the catalyst it needs.
By not choosing to be part of the solution, we continue as part of the problem.
To view the Index page for this series to see what you may have missed or would like to read again, go here.
Well, I was with you until the last line. (Such a '60s leftist sentiment.)
ReplyDeleteAs soon as you choose to be part of solutions (whose? what? land reform? reeducate the rich through labor?), you create other problems.
Maybe the trick is to just get out of the way, neither solving problems not creating them.
What can I say? I'm a leftist!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I know, and I still like you.
ReplyDelete