The Sayings - The Tao Is Empty

The Sayings of Chen Jen

Number Two
The Tao is empty.
Seek, you will not find.
Study, you will not learn.
Believe and it will escape you.

The Tao is empty.

In emptiness find the Tao.

This post is part of a series. To view the index, go here.

Should We Be Aghast?

I'm sure most of you are aware of the killing spree that occurred in the UK last Wednesday. A taxi driver, Derrick Bird, drove around the English countryside killing family, colleagues and random strangers in cold blood. By the time he was done, 13 people (including himself) were dead and scores more were injured.

The local authorities continue their investigation into why this carnage unfolded. In its most naked sense, I think most people already know one of the key reasons: power. Granting oneself the power to decide life and death is, unfortunately, a sentiment that too many can identify with.

(I often marvel at supposed sportsmen who talk with rhapsody about the experience of the hunt. While they may need the meat to feed the little ones at home, one can't mistake the thrill they receive from killing other beings. In one way, what they are describing is the power to decide life and death.)

Since far too many individuals feel powerless their entire lives -- at the mercy of fate, God, luck or the institutions of civilized society -- the very idea of grasping the reins of power can be intoxicating. It's a way of saying, "I'm tired of playing the victim. Now, I will be the aggressor!"

While most of us possess the humanity not to grab a gun to go shoot up our neighborhood or town, if we are at least honest with ourselves, we can understand the mentality of those who do. Who has not been angry enough at some point in their life in which -- if the circumstances had been just so -- we each might have done something we would horribly regret? Who among us has not felt the humiliation of victimization from variables beyond our control and has not wanted some manner of revenge?

As I've written in this space before, what I think genuinely bothers most people about heinous mass murders is NOT that we can't understand what would drive a person to commit such atrocities, it's that deep down each of us can tap into those very emotions. In the dark recesses of our imagination, we may have played out scenarios that are just as bad, if not worse.

For all the love and beauty in the world, there is a dark side too. The light and dark are facets of who each of us are. While the hope in this life is that the light wins out, the dark continues to lurk on the edges of sanity. Pushed to the edge of this abyss, who is to say what any of us might do!

I think Lao Tzu well understood this dynamic well. He intimately understood the perpetual yin and yang of life. For me, this is why he urges each of us to cling to the center, the middle path. By residing in the middle, we stay away from the edges and the dark well that resides in us all.

Daodejing, Verse 21

Daodejing - Other Voices

The Tao, The Way, The Theory, The Method, The Idea, ... and the list goes on. The Tao could be an interpretation of all of the above terms. I have been trying to make sense with the verses in the Tao Ching of the Tao Te Ching. The more I try, the less I get. Then, I kind of get it. This is exactly what Taoism is trying to teach us.

Less is more! More becomes less.

I opened up my research the second time. Verse 21 appeared right in front of my face. It’s the verse, “Accept”:

“Harmony is only in following the Way.

The Way is without form or quality,
But expresses all forms and qualities;
The Way is hidden and implicate,
But expresses all of nature;
The Way is unchanging,
But expresses all motion.

Beneath sensation and memory
The Way is the source of all the world.
How can I understand the source of the world?
By accepting.”

Everything has its natural existing meaning. Everything is also up for interpretation. It is difficult to make the meaning make sense to daily life or even to my own understanding. However, verse 21 teaches us to “accept”. Just accepting what makes sense on the surface would be a way to approach the whole ideology. The first step is to accept what your capacity is capable to understand. Later, it will all come if it becomes significant with one’s life.
~ from Yoga Vancouver, author Danny Pui-Lung Lau, Original post date: not listed ~

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

The Sayings - There is No Tao

The Sayings of Chen Jen

Number One
There is no Tao
that can be known.

The Tao is found in emptiness.
In emptiness there is no Tao.

This post is part of a series. To view the index, go here.

A Bit of Progress

I managed to get myself to the hospital early yesterday evening for my tetanus booster shot. I would have preferred going earlier in the day, but had to wait for my wife to get home from work.

On the positive side, I didn't spend Saturday night and most of the day Sunday working myself up into an anxious frenzy. I followed my usual routines and kept to my typical schedule. I didn't toss and turn in bed either -- running over the "shot" sequence in my head. I arose Sunday and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, then spent a good deal of time checking out my favorite blogs.

While I AM making progress in trying to rein in my penchant for overarching anxiety, I don't want anyone to get the idea that the whole thing was smooth sailing.

Once I arrived at the hospital, my anxiety started to go into overdrive. I joked with the receptionist about my anxiety level -- when very anxious, I'm a chatterbox almost on par with comedian Robin Williams. By the time I was ushered back to the exam room, my usually low blood pressure was going through the roof. I felt so sick that I thought I might vomit.

Yet, as with most things I become anxious with, it was over and done with in seconds. The nurse was superb in her craft as I hardly felt the shot at all. I had gotten myself worked up over virtually nothing.

Now, if only I can keep my anxiety levels in check in terms of potential side effects of the shot... ;-)

Part II - The Sayings of Chen Jen

I don't know about you, but I'm not ashamed to admit that tears streaked down my face at the end of The Wanderings section. Though merely a tale, I began to think of Tzu-yu and Chen Jen as intimate friends and I mourned the passing of the latter. I am so grateful that Scott allowed me to meet these two characters and then to share their travels with you.

I will now present to you section two of his book: The Sayings of Chen Jen. Expect no more than two or three per day. Each needs time to settle in our hearts and to flow throughout our essential nature. As always, I'm certain Scott will appreciate any thoughts or feedback any of you wishes to share.

The Wanderings - Passing

Now of the wanderings and adventures of Chen Jen there were many more than I have time or inclination to here relate. Of his final passing, then, I will now write.

As he and Tzu-yu were slowly making their way toward the Northern Forest they were set upon by bandits who struck them down with clubs, stole their few possessions and left them there for dead. But Tzu-yu, awakening in the night to the moans of Chen Jen, crawled to the side of his companion whose body was terribly broken. Yet he found him conscious and lucid. “Alas, my friend,” said Tzu-yu, “the end of our wanderings has come; and at the hands of men most bestial, at that.”

“Indeed,” answered Chen Jen, “it is an end most fitting. For a death by hazard and without all pretense of meaning is the one most in harmony with the life we have led. And here in this wilderness I shall pass beyond all knowing even as I have lived. How can I not be thankful for even this? The impenetrable Unknown embraces all and thus all is just as it must be.”

“It is just as you say,” replied Tzu-yu, “for IS cannot help but be. Yet we live still, and perhaps the awareness within will yet further soar.”

“Alas, my friend, my body is broken beyond all fixing and my eyes even now grow dim. But you, Tzu-yu, may longer here abide; enjoy, then, this fleeting time when awareness is self-aware.”

“I cannot but even now begin to grieve your loss, dear friend, and wonder if death will not in the end triumph over primal trust,” exclaimed Tzu-yu.

“I will not say, ‘grieve me not,’ for grief is by nature of the human lot. But you well know to transcend all earthly care, for all that we experience is but a story made up. Like dust in the wind, it rises and swirls only to pass as if it never were.

Come then and take my hand, for I now pass into the Void.”

Taking his hand, Tzu-yu said, “Should I retain this life and from this place remove, truly I will write a book of your life and your teachings for the world of men to hold.”

“But my only true teaching is the life that I have lived,” replied Chen Jen, “and that is about to pass beyond all knowing. And my words have been but straw-effigies, useful to the point of heart-surrender and then again nothing but straw.”

“Still, I shall share of your life and of your words,” answered Tzu-yu, “for who knows but that by that sharing some might find the way of peace and harmony.”

“All shall find the same way just as all shall follow me into the same Void. In the end, it matters not that they find it in life or in death. Yet, thankful I am that I did find it in this life.”

And so Tzu-yu, holding the hand of his dear companion, waited with him his return.

And just before his passing Chen Jen said, “Bury not this body, for you are gravely hurt. Only drag this corpse off the trail, lest the bones or offal offend another.”

And then, Chen Jen was no more — just as he had never been.

I, Tzu-yu, have written this and testify that such was the life and teachings of Chen Jen.

This post is part of a series. To view the index, go here.

Daodejing, Verse 20

Daodejing - Other Voices

Chapter 20 is one of the longest (and, for me, the most difficult!) so far. I’ve decided to break it into two parts to avoid dissertation-length posts. (You’re welcome.) Let’s put our disbelief on suspension for a moment and then dive on in…

Stop thinking, and end your problems.
What difference between yes and no?
What difference between success and failure?
Must you value what others value,
avoid what others avoid?
How ridiculous!

Ok, what? Are we talking about complete apathy here? Is this saying, ‘Stop thinking, stop caring, and everything will be just fine’?

Putting it that way, this advice seems unwise. But let’s consider another question: do you think more people tend to err by being too apathetic? Or by being too headstrong, goal-driven and passionate?

I imagine that at the time when this was written, the latter was a bigger problem than the former. Perhaps that’s not always the case. I wonder, do we live in a similar cultural climate today? Let’s consider for a moment the dangers of being too focused on ‘the difference between success and failure‘.

The first thing that comes to my mind is the world of politics, both in the USA and UK, of which I am sometimes an interested observer, particularly during the last election cycle in the US. I’m really amazed by the incredibly immense pressure on every politician to win elections, to be on top of every 24-hour (or 30-minute!) news cycle, and spin every possible event to create an image of their own success, and their opponents’ failures. This atmosphere is so toxic and completely counter-productive, both for the individuals involved and for everyone who feels the effects of these collosal struggles.

But what about each of us? Are we exempt from this disease? I can think of many, many times when I’ve felt that I simply must suceed in something or other: being accepted to a university, getting a job, or simply arriving at a destination on time when I’m running late. This insistence that this-or-that simply must happen is what leads us to manipulate and coerce people and situations to suit our needs, or get careless in our haste, and then suffer anxiety when we realise the limits of our puny influence.

Since all of us fall into this error, it’s helpful to remind ourselves, ‘What difference between yes and no?‘ Most of the things we spend our time worrying about, and the things we spend our lives trying to achieve, are far less important than we make them out to be. If we could learn to ‘value‘ and ‘avoid‘ things a little bit less, then maybe our lives would be a little bit calmer, efficient, and more productive. What do you think?

Here's the link to Verse 20, Part 2.
~ Transformations, author C.M. Bryan, original post date: 1/8/10 ~

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

Those Unintended Consequences

For the first time in a long time, it didn't rain at all during the day yesterday. In fact, it was quite sunny and warm. It was the first day of this year in which the temperature exceeded the 70 degree mark!

So, I spent a good part of the day out in my native garden weeding. Not wishing to repeat a problem I had the previous year -- sunburn on my scalp -- I went outside with a ball cap on my head. I also wore long sleeves and my overalls to protect my limbs from the ultraviolet rays. I even kept repositioning my stool to ensure my face wasn't in direct sunlight.

With all these precautions, I was confident that I would not fall prey to sunburn -- and, of course, I was wrong!

I paid attention to all my exposed parts save one: the back of my neck. This small area of my body is about as red as a stoplight! (I'm treating it with aloe vera jelly.)

Not only did I get a sunburn, but this afternoon I have to go up to our local hospital to receive a tetanus shot booster. I was pulling yard staples out of yet another tarp used to kill grass when one of them flew up and scraped the back of my right thumb. It's really a teeny tiny abrasion, but the staple is rusty and it's been in the ground for several months. The organism that causes lockjaw resides in soil and tends to cling to rusty objects.

Since it's been over 5 years since my last booster, my family doctor strongly suggested that getting one would be a good precautionary measure. While the chance that I could come down with lockjaw is remote, it can be a real nasty condition and the mortality rate for those untreated is between 25 - 50%. In this case, I'd rather be safe than woefully sorry!

With all my various physical ailments, I was trying to be very careful yesterday. Still, the lesson here is that each time we let down our guard just a little, those unintended consequences seem to crop up.

The Wanderings - Flow, Part 2

If you haven't read Part 1 of this story, you should go back to read it first.

One day, while marveling at the simplicity and impact of the brushings of P’o-tzu, Yu Chu exclaimed, “These works move my heart to harmony! Could it be possible, dear friend, to be taught to create the same? Would you not teach me?”

“Teach you?” responded P’o-tzu. “Teach you? Yes, I will teach you. Here, take these brushes and this ink. For now, you may apply the ink to the leaves of the forest.”

“Thank you, my friend!” enthused Yu Chu. “And what of technique; how should I hold the brush; what should I brush; how are the strokes to be ordered?”

“Technique? But there is no technique. There is only flow. Flow. Let the brush and its ink do as they will; yours is to harmonize with the process, nothing more. Brushing is an exercise wherein to experience flow.”

“And will this result in creations such as yours? And if so, how can they be appreciated if only applied to the leaves of the forest?”

“Ah,” said P’o-tzu, “you have failed to understand the first and only lesson that I can give you. To convey harmony you must be in harmony, and this is accomplished when you act not. Nor are you to think of a result, for flow knows no end and covets no ‘creation’. The end of flow is flow. Let each brush stroke arise as it will and the tableau will likewise arise. Be one with the process; there is nothing more to do.”

“And the leaves? How will I know what flow has wrought, if it is confined to the backs of leaves?”

“When you flow, you will know. Then we will find you some rice paper and even silk! But care not for what flow has wrought; flow is the beginning and the end; the end and the means.

What can these brushes do? Let them show you.

Let the brushes dance, Let the brushes live.
Result means nothing. Experience is all.”

“Kindly tell me more of The Flow, for you have said little of it until now,” entreated Yu Chu.

“’The Flow’? But I know nothing of ‘The Flow,’” replied P’o-tzu. “I know only flow, the experience of flow. What more could I know? Flow is harmony. Harmony is peace. Your heart hungers for peace. Why is this so? I neither know nor care. It is your heart-experience. Flow is peace.”

With this, Yu Chu retired to his hut and entered the process of cultivating the experience that is flow.

This post is part of a series. To view the index, go here.

The Wanderings - Flow, Part 1

Yu Chu found his friend P’o-tzu amongst the ferns which he called his friends and asked him saying, “Tell me, my friend, what is it that you find among these ferns that you spend so much time among them?”

“What? Oh, it’s you, Yu Chu! What do I find? Come, regard this fiddle! Do you see it? Here reside all the mysteries of the universe! Here mystery abides in such profusion that my heart would break if not surrendered thereto!”

“Is it only here in these ferns that you find it so?”

“But no! As surely you must know! Mystery is found in all things whatever they be. And all things are mystery! Mystery is all things and there is nowhere it is not! But these ferns — it was here, years ago beyond count, that I first experienced mystery and surrender thereto. I return to them now as to a first love.”

“My time in this vale,” continued Yu Chu, “has brought me peace beyond reckoning and at the fringes of harmony I have begun to know flow. But of surrender to The Great Mystery, I have yet to enjoy. How might I find it and surrender thereto?”

“’The Great Mystery’? What is this ‘The Great Mystery’? I know it not. Mystery is not a thing that we might call it ‘The’ no matter how great. Mystery is an experience of the human heart and nothing more of it can be said. It is neither the answer to a riddle nor the riddle itself.

As to finding mystery, how can you but not! It is the root of all things and the substance of your heart! And what is surrender but for the heart to proclaim: ‘Thank you! Yes!”

This post is part of a series. To view the index, go here.

The Yin and Yang of Pain

I have continued to struggle mightily with the pain in my right shoulder. It seems to be constant now, punctuated by little bursts here and there when I absentmindedly reach for something or jar it ever so slightly. Like many injuries of this nature, it's worse at night. When I reposition myself in my sleep, it invariably screams out and wakes me up.

I have seen two specialists and both have told me that the underlying problem is inoperable. The second specialist did say there is one surgical procedure that might offer some pain relief -- it works for some and not for others -- but this procedure does not address the underlying issue at all.

Of course, I do understand that there may be some cutting edge procedures out there and all I would need to do is keep trying out different specialists until uncovering the one who would recommend such. Unfortunately, my health plan is Medicaid (government-funded health coverage for the poor and disabled) and cutting edge therapies tend not to be covered. So, I'm beginning the process of wrapping my head around the fact that life, from here on out, is going to be more painful than before.

While I would certainly appreciate some relief from the constant pain -- it really drags on a person -- I am also very cognizant of what my Osteopath grandfather taught me about pain: it's the body's way of sending an important message to the brain! While it may get on a person's nerves, it is not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself.

Pain often will indicate to a person that something is wrong. It informs us when certain body movements are not advisable. It warns us to keep more in balance and to avoid those things that cause it to flare up even more. More importantly, without pain in our lives, joy and pleasure would hold little meaning!

Modern society is afraid of pain. At the first hint of it, too many folks reach for all different kinds of drugs and medications. Whether legal or illegal, we're creating a flood of walking zombie drug users/abusers. Far too many people don't think twice about the side effects of all the pills they pop or whatever else they subject their body to.

Most of the legal painkillers on the market can cause liver problems down the road. A lifetime of popping acetaminophen (Advil) or ibuprofen (Motrin) for every little headache, muscle ache or hangover can lead to the possibility of serious impairment later on. Other drugs can cause serious problems with the digestive tract and other areas of the body. And most all of the narcotics available create serious dependency issues as well as other problems.

Cognizant of these facts, I certainly do not desire artificially to mask my body's way of telling me that my right shoulder is not how it should be. On the other hand, I don't want to spend the rest of my days wallowing in pain -- this causes side effects too! So, I find myself at a point in which I'm trying to ascertain a balance between these two extremes.

It will take me a while to get my bearings. For the time being though, I can tell ya that my shoulder hurts like hell and my failing left hip doesn't feel much better! :-(

Daodejing, Verse 19

Daodejing - Other Voices

Combining the wisdom of 18 and other chapters on balance we have this;

"When people are rid of convention of how to love, act and cherish; then they will naturally hold their families dear."

"Rid of knowledge; they would be wise."

I can't say any more about this, it is smack in the face clear and stark truth.
~ from Meaning of Tao Te Ching, author Ta Wan, original post date: 01/09 ~

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

The Wanderings - A River Finds Its Way

Now it came to pass that when Chen Jen and Tzu-yu had acquitted themselves of their accepted responsibilities and had recouped the funds owing to P’o-tzu, they returned to the forest of that wise hermit with the provisions they had pledged to bring.

And after spending many a sweet day in the company of their friends and that of the forest in which they dwelt, both emerged one morning from their separate huts with satchels packed and staves in their hands. Seeing them in such harmony of intention, P’o-tzu laughed heartily and exclaimed, “Truly it is but one path that these two follow, for even in their individual spontaneity they are in harmony!”

Laughing in their turn, the two sages bid their friends farewell and set off back down the trail to the river crossing which first brought them to this magic vale. And arriving again at the ferry, they found the ferryman beaming at their coming.

“My Masters!” he exclaimed, “Happy was the day you first came to my ferry and happier still this day of your returning! For all that you shared that day penetrated my heart and ever since have I contemplated that one blessed phrase: ‘A river finds its way.’ For truly in understanding this there is nothing left to know. How blessed I am to live beside this great river here that ever teaches me to let go and flow!”

“A joy indeed it is to find you thus transformed,” replied Chen Jen. “How simple, too, the teachings of all that is; for the message is but one: to just simply be.”

Thus the sages stayed several days with the ferryman who never ceased to beam and could not hear enough of the way of nature. And among his many clients who wished to cross the river, many were they who also stayed to hear all that was said.

But when Chen Jen and Tzu-yu requested that they, too, be given passage across the river, the ferryman became distressed and cried, “But my Masters! Can you not stay here with me beside the river and here instruct all who come this way!? Under this great tree could you not found a school which would become famous throughout the land!?”

“It is pleasant indeed to share words of the Tao,” replied Chen Jen, “but to make of them a school would be to contradict their meaning. Have you not heard how all the creatures of the forest, fleeing before a fire, will take refuge together on an islet in a lake or some river? Foxes and rabbits, deer and tigers will there be met together. But is this their natural lot or merely the consequence of their distress? Would it not be better that they were all dispersed within the forest following their natural course?

So it is with men. In distress with the fears of the ego-bound they flock together and cling to words and seek in them some unity of purpose. But would it not be better if, free of all such fear and need of purpose, they all just followed the leading of their heart? Such men are we, my dear friend, and our hearts now say, ‘move on.’"

And so the sages crossed the river and turned and followed the northerly path.

This post is part of a series. To view the index, go here.

New Voices Along the Path XVII

I'm continuing to try to catch up on all the new links added to the Taoist Wanderers section in the right sidebar. In addition, it should be noted that I have removed some of the links to older, inactive blogs -- this information is still retained in my Tao Links spreadsheet. As always, anyone interested in a copy of the spreadsheet can contact me and I'll be happy to send it along.

American Taoist
I’m going to use this blog to try and convert of the more worthwhile thoughts I come up with into a more permanent and easily accessible medium. The focus of these thoughts will be questions I have or conclusions I come to for living a modern American life as a Taoist, and how following the Tao can apply to the average every day person.

AncientWay
I’m Kevin O’Neil, a human in Southern Oregon who spends much time practicing acupuncture, working with Chinese herbs, and studying alchemy and Daoism, while staying on the edge of tech. With tendencies towards introversion, but an academic passion for sharing and helping increase knowledge, I am blogging to keep a ‘live’ conversation going about the these things.

Divine Tao
Taoism includes basic principles or "theories" regarding the body, diet, breathing and physical exercises, uses of herbs, philosophical inquiry and, of course, meditation. The Taoist is in a constant process of transformation, knowing that balance is an ongoing process of coming into closer alignment with the "natural order".

Nothing Just Is
Nothing just is is an assertion: Nothing is what it is. It is a rejection of a certain sort of simplicity: There is more to something than what it claims to be; and simplistic accepted truths must be subject to the same skepticism as complex conjecture. This is not simple contrarianism so much as it is a guard against the assumption. More precisely, it is a prompt to seek how something came to be understood as it is, and even how something comes to understand itself as it does.

Paperdubs
My name is Mike Bigtime, and this blog is called Paperdubs. A woman at Blockbuster thought it meant that I was rolling on twenty inch rims made of paper. That was not correct, but it was entertaining. This blog was going to be focused on music, but I have decided against that. Instead, it will hold my thoughts on several topics, including things like music, science and skepticism, books, Taoism, my new-found interest in minimalism, Robert E. Howard’s Conan, my attempts at self-improvement, tools that I enjoy using, and more. Some of it will be inspired, but most of it will be banal. I love discussion and will respond to the best of my ability to any comments or e-mails I receive.

Siu Tao
You want to learn about the Tao or you already know a lot, but you need more...Here's how to get it! May be you know a lot about Tao, but what does it exactly mean? SiuTao.com organized by Taoists with the purpose of providing information about Tao. SiuTao.com allows you to read all the articles about Tao. Want to solve your puzzle or share your opinion? Visit the Discussion Area. We hope by visiting SiuTao.com, You can obtain a knowledge what Tao really is.

Taoist Arts Center
The Taoist Arts Center was established in New York City in 1990 out of a long term commitment to practicing the internal arts and creating a vibrant community where people can learn about the internal arts and share what they know. Our students come from all walks of life and from all backgrounds. We invite you to come by and check us out.

Taoist Online
A site with loads of information and a blog plus Taoist-related items for sale.

The Dude De Ching
Dudeism is a religion deeply inspired by The Big Lebowski, as well as several other traditions that predate Lebowski - most particularly: Taoism, Zen Buddhism, American Transcendentalism and humanism. However, it is not affiliated with the film in any way.

The Wanderings - Old Bones

Now it came about that as Tzu-yu was on a mission to a nearby village to distribute the aid of Yi Chieh, he came upon the remains of a cemetery which had slid from its hill-side perch and deposited a great mass of old bones in a heap upon the road. Seeing the disconsolate caretaker sitting weeping beneath a nearby tree, Tzu-yu approached him saying, “It is indeed troublesome to have a heap of bones blocking the village road! Let us then hire a party of men to remove and bury them elsewhere.”

“Are you not moved to pity to see the sacred remains of our fathers, mothers, sons and daughters so grievously defiled!?” replied the caretaker. “My own mother’s bones lie here in this jumble!”

“In that case,” responded Tzu-yu, “let us summon your mother that she might repossess them. Or perhaps you can recognize them and we can bring them to her?”

“Are you simple!?” cried the caretaker. “How if my mother is dead can she come to take her bones or we bring them to her?”

“You have seen clearly,” replied Tzu-yu. “Since your mother is dead she is no more and thus she has no bones.”

“Here in this heap,” continued Tzu-yu, “are bones. Previously, they belonged to the bodies of all those of whom you spoke and many more besides. Some, no doubt, belonged to men held in high esteem. Others belonged to men of ill-repute. Yet here they all lie, beyond all sorting, equally meaningless in death. And thus do they proclaim the meaninglessness of life and the folly of our clinging to it.”

“Sir!” exclaimed the caretaker, “you would rob me of all hope!”

“I would that it were so,” replied Tzu-yu, “For here I find you bound by grief and despair and would gladly help you slip your bonds. Yet such cures are beyond my skills; indeed, they are beyond the skills of any man, save he who would be free. And if you be such a man, know that it is written:

‘Cling to hope and despair will cling to you.’

For each creates the other and in neither will peace be found. Learn today the lesson of transcendent indifference and of hope you will have no need.”

“It seems you are a sage, Sir,” answered the caretaker, “and though you no doubt speak words of wisdom, I am but a simple and ordinary man and cannot follow such an empty path.”

“Be simple. Understand the ordinary. There is nothing else to do,” replied Tzu-yu. “And you, Sir, understand much through your simplicity. For the path is indeed empty; yet emptiness is empty of only that which is not real. Emptiness is the freedom that you seek.

But let us find these bones a new home and the men to dig it and you can oversee the work as you see fit.”

This post is part of a series. To view the index, go here.

Of the Land

One of the critical distinctions Joseph Marshall III makes in The Day the World Ended at Little Bighorn: A Lakota History concerns how the whites and Lakotas differed in their understanding of possession of land. The former, owing to their Judeo-Christian background and the theories of philosophers like John Locke, held that possessing land and improving it made it yours, the sense of ownership.

To Lakota sensibilities this made no sense! No one could "own" what was provided for all. Tribes could control certain portions of territory, but this is not the same thing as exclusive ownership. If we look at the history of modern humankind, most conflicts are fought for ownership of land and sea.

The overall concept of private property is troublesome, to say the least. In this country, property rights advocates argue that each individual should have the right to do whatever he or she damn well wants to do with THEIR property. It doesn't matter what neighbors or the overall community desires; the freedom falls to each individual landowner.

Of course, the above statement is only partially true. Such advocates believe that their desires are paramount, not yours. If they wish to sell their land to a developer for big bucks, you shouldn't get to have a say in whether or not this will benefit the community, at large. If you decide to throw your weekly garbage onto your front lawn or burn tires in your back yard, all of sudden, these same devout property rights activists want the community and their police force to weigh in.

Beyond this, how does a person improve Mother Earth in the first place? It is perfect already. How can any entity enhance the internal nature of something else? Most of us humans have enough trouble dealing with our own internal natures, so why do we find it necessary to meddle with the internal nature of other things?

If you look at our track record, it doesn't speak highly of our efforts. What we like to call improving the land usually involves some degree of degradation and/or extraction. We take from the earth without giving back. We molest it with greed in our hearts. We attempt to change it without regard for the interconnection of other beings in the ecosystem.

The Lakota, as well as a vast majority of other native tribes, revered the earth and realized that we are her guests. They didn't lay claim to her, but treated her like a respected innkeeper. When they made use of her fruits, they paid homage to her largess. And they intuitively understood the connection of all things.

It turns out that the Lakota weren't savages at all -- we are.

Daodejing, Verse 18

Daodejing - Other Voices

When the great Way is forgotten,
there arises kindness.

When knowledge and cleverness appear,
there arise lies and hypocrisy.

When family relationships are not in harmony,
there arises filial piety.

When there is disorder and discord in the houses of the state,
there arises patriotism.

This verse is a good example of how the Laoists strove to turn conventional morality on its head, or to appear to do so. From the first line, it is clear that something strange is going on, since the authors appear to be saying that kindness is inferior to following the Way.

How can they mean this? There are two things we might infer.

First, the authors might be saying that FALSE or forced kindness is a bad thing; they believe that following the natural Way will result in, not less kindness, but an equal or greater amount of more authentic kindness. Or, they might be saying that an excess of kindness is in fact inferior to the balance achieved by following the Way. Remember that one of the ideals of the Tao Te Ching is harmony with natural processes.

It surely cannot have escaped the authors that natural processes hurt almost as much as they harm; a rainstorm in one season can save people from starvation, in another season it might drown their crops. I think that the authors had this idea of balance in mind when writing this passage, due to the positive connotations of the words they use for the "lesser values" (the words I translated as "filial piety" really refer to the love of parents and children for each other, and have a very strong positive connotation).

The authors are trying to shock us by saying that exhausting ourselves to always be kind is not in harmony with the way the world works. However, from other passages it seems like the authors do prize kindness and compassion, and so it's likely that their true position is not as extreme as it might appear here. In other words, they believe that the values they disparage in this passage are important, just not as important as conventional morality says.
~ from The Layman's Tao, author John Gathercole, original post date: 12/13/06 ~

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

The Wanderings - The Trees Dance, Part 2

If you haven't read Part 1 of this story, you should go back to read it first.

And when they were but a half-day’s journey distant they experienced such a great quaking of the very earth that they were thrown to the ground and were amazed to see the trees along the road dancing as though uprooted and possessed of the wine spirit. “Truly a great dragon has awakened deep in the earth!” exclaimed Tzu-yu.

“The earth has trembled like an old man in his bed!” exclaimed Chen Jen. “Let us go now and see what has happened to the villages before us!”

They had not gone far before they began to encounter refugees fleeing from these villages in a futile hope of succor in the city. And being moved with compassion for those who had nothing but the clothes they had donned that morning to farm in the paddies, the sages began to covertly dole out coins so they might have something with which to buy rice when they arrived at the city.

This went on without end until they reached the town of Yi Chieh both penniless and famished. Hearing this, Yi Chieh again employed Chen Jen to teach his children and Tzu-yu to manage his own efforts to aid the afflicted. And so it was that both sages settled into a time of employ and the exercise of their skills.

Now it came about that one morning as Chen Jen was instructing his pupils concerning the teachings of the Confucians and how they had codified and institutionalized the teaching of Virtue and had made benevolence and righteousness principles imposed from without rather than expressions welling from within, that five hands shot up.

Choosing the youngest son, Chen Jen invited him to speak. “Respected Teacher,” he asked, “all through the town people praise your benevolence and that of Tzu-yu, proclaiming how you gave away a great fortune to help those in need. And how you arrived here penniless and nearly starved yourselves. How is it then that you criticize the teachings of the Confucians who preach such benevolence?”

“I am ashamed to my core to hear such words!” exclaimed Chen Jen. “Is this not the very reason that so many sages take to the forests and dwell far from all men!? For praise and adoration is the curse of the sage. And many are the followers of Tao who have fallen prey to this insidious poison. For it is the loss of self, of all pretension, praise and name, that is the path to Tao.

And as for criticizing benevolence, I have done no such thing. For there is a true benevolence that arises from an open and surrendered heart; yet it is a benevolence that knows nothing of benevolence or of the application of principles. This is the good that arises spontaneously from our own innate nature and not the so-called good, self-conscious and self-interested. As it is written:

‘Birds flock to trees.
Fish take to water.
True good is not good.
True benevolence knows nothing of benevolence.’

We follow the middle way, the pivot of the Tao. We recognize neither good nor evil, for we know that all things are relative and all relatives feed off each other and the one exists only because of the other. As it is said:

‘Embrace the good and the wrong shall rule.
Cling to hope and despair will cling to you.’

And again:

‘Positive clings to negative, for there it finds its being.
Opposites exist only in their opposition.
Thus neither exists at all.’

Ours is the transcendent view, my pupils, and what we do arises from neither conscious decision nor attachment to the norms of convention. But this you know, for you have already found the inner voice and the light that arises from within.”

This post is part of a series. To view the index, go here.

A Matter of Brain Chemistry?

The other day Bruce at NW Ohio Skeptics sent me a link to a very interesting article in Scientific American entitled, "People with Asperger's less likely to see purpose behind the events in their lives." According to a recent study,

Bethany T. Heywood, a graduate student at Queens University Belfast, asked 27 people with Asperger’s syndrome, a mild type of autism that involves impaired social cognition, about significant events in their lives. Working with experimental psychologist Jesse M. Bering (author of the "Bering in Mind" blog and a frequent contributor to Scientific American MIND), she asked them to speculate about why these important events happened — for instance, why they had gone through an illness or why they met a significant other. As compared with 34 neurotypical people, those with Asperger’s syndrome were significantly less likely to invoke a teleological response — for example, saying the event was meant to unfold in a particular way or explaining that God had a hand in it. They were more likely to invoke a natural cause (such as blaming an illness on a virus they thought they were exposed to) or to give a descriptive response, explaining the event again in a different way.

In a second experiment, Heywood and Bering compared 27 people with Asperger’s with 34 neurotypical people who are atheists. The atheists, as expected, often invoked anti-teleological responses such as “there is no reason why; things just happen.” The people with Asperger’s were significantly less likely to offer such anti-teleological explanations than the atheists, indicating they were not engaged in teleological thinking at all. (The atheists, in contrast, revealed themselves to be reasoning teleologically, but then they rejected those thoughts.)

Interesting! Maybe my brain chemistry led me to philosophical Taoism. Maybe Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu were aspies too. Ya never know!