Finding Tao in the Western World

For those of us -- Paris Hilton -- who focus on philosophical Taoism -- Huffington Post -- as the main fare for our blogs -- ACORN -- one of the reasons we do this -- Daily Kos -- is to expose Western minds -- Sarah Palin -- to this ancient system of -- Apple -- Chinese thought. One of the key problems -- Mad Men -- we face is -- Obama -- how to attract -- Harry Potter -- more people?

Most folks tend to stumble -- the Emmys -- across a new blog -- Kanye West -- because they entered popular -- Facebook -- search terms, and let's be honest, the concepts of Taoism -- Jon Gosselin -- don't tend to be all that popular. Yin and yang -- Oprah -- sounds like a yoga position and wu wei -- Lifehacker -- sounds like the latest virus! So, unless someone -- Twitter -- searches explicitly for Taoist principles, what chance do Taoist bloggers have -- swine flu -- to share this wonderful philosophical tradition -- Monday Night Football -- with the average westerner?

Hmm. Maybe -- Taylor Swift -- an idea will -- American Idol -- come to -- Jay Leno -- me.

She Had a Helluva Hammer

I just found out that Mary Travers, one-third of the folk music group Peter, Paul & Mary (PP&M), died last Thursday. PP&M was one of my favorite groups growing up and have continued to be to this very day. Maybe one of these days, I'll write more about PPM. Today, though, I simply share this video.

TTC Series Index

For those of you who just can't get enough of my eclectic series on the 81 verse of the Tao Te Ching, I've created an index page on my shadow blog. You can access said page under the Featured Topic Tags category over on the left sidebar. Merely scroll down to Tao Te Ching Series and, via the magic of the internet, you will be transported to the appropriate place!

Of course, since the series runs through October 5 and we haven't come to the end of September, some of the titles have yet to be linked. (Heck, I haven't even written some of them!!) I'll probably add some more links in a few days and hope to have it finished on October 5.

An Interesting Blog

This morning I ran across a very interesting blog, A Little Detour. It's about a fellow who has recently been diagnosed with a brain tumor and has chosen to address the problem through traditional Chinese medicine. It includes a lot of information and insights on Taoism, though the gent does seem to "ramble" a bit.

A Never Ending Story

It seems to be a fairly common trait amongst humans to believe that tomorrow will be a brighter day. When things aren't looking good, we're often told not to lament because our ship may come in tomorrow. Why do people gamble? It's in the belief that the next ticket or bet will be the surefire winner! This rosy future outlook even extends beyond this life. Most belief systems that posit our spirits and souls go somewhere after death believe that the good among us (at least) will be allowed to live forever in paradise. Aaah.

Fundamentalist Christians, in particular, seem overly fixated on the supposed destinations of heaven and hell. It's often difficult to have a cogent conversation with them without these two topics rearing their heads at some point. You've got to believe just like I'm telling you, they screech. If you listen to me and do exactly what I say, then you will live forever in bliss. Decide not to heed my warning, however, and you will be sentenced to a life of eternal torture.

What if it turns out these sorts of folks are horribly wrong! What if, once each of us dies, we all end up in the same place/state and this destination is far more like hell than heaven. The good people and the bad people. The saints and the sinners. The compassionate Samaritans and the bloodthirsty serial killers. Every single person checks in their bags at the Heartbreak Hotel.

While it might not be the most mature thing to do, I'm sure some of us will stick our tongues out at the holy rollers. "Well, who do we have here? It's Mr. & Mrs. Fire & Brimstone themselves! Kind of embarrassing meeting here, don't ya think?"

Some of the former believers will immediately claim that it's not their fault -- they were duped by the unscrupulous. Others will claim that they never really believed all the stuff anyway. Still others will protest that they never said what people think they said. And there will be a few brave souls who will fess up and state outright that they were wrong -- dead wrong.

Oh, there will be one more group. This group will take a decidedly different approach to the entire situation. I can hear a conversation that might go something like this:

Frick: Well boys, look who just dropped out of the sky. It's my old pal, Frack.
Frack: How ya doing Frickster?
Frick: What do you have to say for yourself, Frack? Looks like all your "steadfast" belief in Jesus, God and heaven has come to naught. After a life of browbeating everyone around you to believe exactly like you did, looks like your faith didn't pay off.
Frack: Oh, I wouldn't say that at all.
Frick: Whaddya talking about, Mr. Holier-Than-Thou? Have you looked around? Your new bunk mates are Josef Stalin and Ted Bundy!
Frack: I'm not worried. I won't be here long.
Frick: Don't you get it, Frackie boy? This is the end of the line. We're all stuck in this same cauldron of misery for eternity. You're not going anywhere.
Frack: Oh, but I am!
Frick: Okay Einstein, why do you think you're going to score a get out of jail free card?
Frack: Because this is simply a test.
Frick: A test? A test of what?
Frack: God wants to see who will continue to abide by his ways and those who do will be lifted to heaven.
Frick: Damn you! Not that same lame story again. It wasn't true when you told it in life -- you wound up here -- and it's not true now. Why don't you just admit that you were wrong?
Frack: With that kind of piss poor attitude, you will never leave this place.
Frick: Piss poor attitude? I'm simply dealing with the reality of the situation -- unlike you!
Frack: The reality is that I will soon be in heaven.
Frick: You are so maddening! Alright, I'll humor you. Why do you think this is a test?
Frack: It's so obvious! God realized that, during our days on earth, there were lots of people invoking his name who didn't really believe in him the way they should have. They led lots of people astray. So, he sent us all to hell as a way to separate the wheat from the chaff...

In time, Frack would start to ring up lots of converts -- people who craved to hear the message of a brighter day. Before you knew it, there would be billions upon billions of souls who believed in the test concept and each would be certain that they would be one of the lucky few to escape this horrible fate.

After awhile, though, disagreements would break out about what the test itself entailed, how long it would last, and hundreds of other points of contention. Soon, there would be thousands -- if not millions -- of different schools of thought, each with their own devoted adherents. Who knows? Maybe, even in hell, they would fight each other for domination and spend their days sniping at one other.

The few who accepted the situation for the way it was would be looked down on and called derisive names.

All the while, however, everyone would still be stuck living an existence in the same toxic cesspool and, regardless of all the high tales, no one would be going anyplace else.

The End.

Wu Wei of Words

When I'm not busy tapping away at my keyboard on a blog post, I like to unwind with...even more words! While most folks who write a lot like the idea of getting as far away from language as possible, I spend a good deal of my free time play word games.

My three favorite ones are: Boggle, Lexicon and Super Letter Linker. I also have versions of Scrabble and Anagrams housed on my computer too.

The two I play the most often are Boggle and Lexicon. Both are timed games played against the computer in which the letter tiles I plan to use in my next turn always seem to be used first by the cotton pick'n computer!! It used to drive me right up the wall. There I was, set to put down a killer word worth mega points and my computerized opponent would snatch the key vowel or consonant I needed. Arghh!

I've learned to handle these situations better by employing a bit of wu wei. Instead of attempting to formulate a word to spell out during my next turn -- while the computer takes its turn -- I stare at the ceiling. When my turn comes, I quickly scan the letter board to see which letters currently are available and then, often, I make a killer word without consciously thinking about it.

I realized that all my careful planning was based on old information. Since the whole point of these two games is to use ONLY the letters available when it's your turn, I was creating a lot of internal stress by trying to plot things out ahead of time with letters that may or may not be available.

While playing word games on one's computer is not an important facet of life, I offered this example solely to illustrate how Taoist principles can easily be integrated into our everyday lives.

P.S. If any of you know of a word game that is fun AND free, please let me know. I'm always on the lookout for new ones. : )

Verse 67: Three Jewels

Verse Sixty-Seven
I have three priceless treasures:
The first is Compassion
the second, thrift
And the third is that I never want to be ahead of you.

If I have compassion, you will die for me. I know that.
If I waste nothing, I can give myself to you all -
And if I don't seem perfect, then you'll trust me to lead you.

These days people scorn compassion. They try to be tough.
They spend all they have, and yet want to be generous
They despise humility, and want to be the best.

I tell you that ways Death's.

If you have loved your people, you will know it
they will fight tooth and nail for you in attack or defense.

This is the protection of Heaven, and your harvest.
~ Man-Ho Kwok, Martin Palmer & Jay Ramsey translation ~

Having dealt with the third jewel in the previous two verses, I will focus on the first two in today's post.

In my mind's eye, the first two jewels simply are different facets of the same thing. The person who deeply cares for the world will not run around wasting its resources! Put another way, how could a person be wasteful and still think that they could extend compassion and mercy to all? You can't have one without the other.

Roger Ames and David Hall express this thought very well.

The text describes these conditions as "three treasures," but in fact they are three dimensions of the same temperament. A sense of frugality reflects an abiding respect for the integrity of things and an unwillingness to compromise them. It is the respect for other things that allows one to be magnanimous and accommodating in dealing with them.

And an unwillingness to contend for domination over other things is again a reluctance to sacrifice the creative possibilities of either oneself or one's environing others through recourse to coercion.

If you add these three treasures together, what you end up with is selfless love. It is when we see ourselves not as distinct islands in a sea of life but as the sea itself, we are able to see the connection of all things. Since most of us treat ourselves with great compassion, if we are one with the world, then all things are treated compassionately.

Diane Dreher underscores this point when she writes,

The Chinese term for compassion, tz'u, combines two characters. Hsin means both heart and mind, the source of all thought, feeling, and motivation. The character tzu (abundant vegetation) placed above hsin indicates an open and compassionate heart. Taoist compassion unites the individual with all creation. As there's no inner division in Chinese between head and heart, with compassion there's no outer division between ourselves and our world.

To put this in perspective, think about a person who hoards great wealth and also slovenly wastes a significant portion of their largess. That waste represents subsistence living for many. While this person may brag about their great level of philanthropy, their planned giving is more than canceled out by their less than compassionate lifestyle. Donating bread crumbs while wasting hundreds of loaves of bread is vulgarity in the extreme!

But a person doesn't need to be a billionaire to exhibit the same behaviors. When ANY OF US take more than we can use or toss away things cavalierly, we're wasting resources that others may need simply to live.

Selfishness is not compassionate.

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

Verse 66: Low Places

Verse Sixty-Six
Lake and rivers are lords of the hundred valleys.
Why? Because they'll go lower.
So they're lords of the hundred valleys.

Just so, a wise soul,
wanting to be above other people,
talks to them from below
and to guide them
follows them.

And so the wise soul
predominates without dominating,
and leads without misleading.
And people don't get tired
of enjoying and praising
one who, not competing,
has in all the world
no competitor.
~ Ursula LeGuin rendition ~

For me, this verse is about service. While I usually don't paraphrase the Christian Bible, I will in this instance. Somewhere in the New Testament it states the first will come last and the last will come first. I'm fairly confident this same message is most likely found in other great religious and philosophical works.

Of course, in our society, we have it ass backwards. To lead, one sits at the top of the pecking order and shouts out directives to underlings. That's the whole point in the madcap rush to be numero uno -- to be free from the expectations of others as well as to wield immense amounts of power.

We celebrate those individuals who have "pulled themselves up by their own bootstraps" and climbed to the summit on the backs of others. It rarely matters how ruthless a person must act in order to claw their way to the top; the only thing that matters is that the can claim victory.

In my book, the best leaders are those who selflessly serve others. When your whole being places the community first, it means that you are a person of vision, compassion, humility and justice. Your example motivates others to get involved. Such a leader often doesn't earn the credit she or he is due, but they don't care a wit because status and recognition are not what each is about.

It's hard to not want to be lionized for our contributions. All of us yearn for some level of acceptance and recognition. We want to feel like others can depend on and look to us in times of need. Too often, however, our desire to be lauded for our charitable work takes precedence over everything else and we become outraged or jealous when others receive credit and/or we are slighted.

There's nothing wrong with wanting a little praise, now and then. Positive feelings and good vibes help us keep our noses to the grindstone, particularly during those times when we wonder if all our dedication and work is making a positive difference. But we should never lose sight of what it is that we seek to accomplish by our actions and not allow ourselves to get caught up in who gets credit and who doesn't.

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

Verse 65: Keep It Simple

Verse Sixty-Five
In ancient times,
leaders who were right with Tao
didn't teach everybody
how to become enlightened.
They kept people's lives simple.

People who know too much
can't be taught anything.
Leaders who try to be clever
always screw things up.
Leaders who keep things simple
always make things right.

If you get that,
you'll understand
the mysterious power of Tao.

That kind of power is so deep,
so extensive,
it penetrates into every level of existence.
~ Ron Hogan rendition ~

How many of us haven't thrown up our hands trying to figure how to do our taxes or fill out some complicated application? Every paragraph of the instructions is filled with references to other paragraphs on other pages and, when we track those down, they too cite other parts of the instructions or, even worse, a separate document that we don't even have! Arghh!!!!

More often than not, we humans have a terrible penchant for taking simple and straightforward ideas and concepts only to turn them into convoluted and complicated labyrinths. And what does all this pretzel-making do for us? It generates untold amounts of anxiety, stress, frustration, resentment and anger.

It's bad enough that most of us engage in these disharmonious actions during our routine lives -- often without even realizing it -- but it's even worse when cunning people in government do it on purpose as a strategy to achieve their own ends. In a manner of speaking, I'm talking about conquest through manipulation.

When you come right down to it, governments can always choose to employ the use of force to get what they want, but why force an issue or a sought after result when you can manipulate the people into doing what you want them to do willingly and voluntarily?

As John Lash points out,

A government that manipulates its people will not be of benefit to its citizens and must ultimately fail, since it violates the principles of Tao. But our governments are the product of individual citizens. We cannot be manipulative in our individual lives and expect to have a community life that is not manipulative. So each individual part of the Tao is responsible for the whole.

Of course, this brings us back yet again to this idea of interconnection and Oneness. If we view ourselves as separate actors and focus all of our attention on looking out for ourselves, then manipulation is attractive because it can help us to satisfy our individual desires. If, on the other hand, we see the connection of all things, then our thoughts and actions are steered toward satisfying the needs of the overall world community.

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

Knowledge

As any of my regular readers can easily attest to, I tend to write in torrents. There are times in which deep thoughts go swishing to and fro through my mind and once they've completed a circuit or two, the contemplations of such end up here in words, phrases, sentences and paragraphs. At other times, however, simple thoughts like "What do I want for dinner?" are more than I can handle and I write very little in this space. Needless to say, the last few days fall into the former category, not the latter. : )

This afternoon I was trying to make a list in me noggin about what things humans know for certain (column A) and what things we don't know for certain (column B). This is what I came up with:

Column A - Nothing
Column B - Everything

Knowledge, in and of itself, is a belief! All of the things we say we know are built upon a framework of stuff we don't know. We don't know if something created our universe or not. We don't know what life is or how the essence of life began. We don't know if we possess souls. We don't know if we existed before birth or what happens, if anything, when we die. We don't even know if this life is real or simply an illusion. The sad "fact" is that we don't "know" anything of the most basic elements of what appears to be existence.

Therefore, when you or I say that we KNOW something, all we are really saying is that we believe strongly that this is this or that isn't that. We believe it strongly for a variety of reasons: other people believe it just as strongly; it always seems to come out the same way in our experience and/or the experiences of others; it makes the most plausible sense; and sometimes for reasons we can't explain.

But even when we add up all these varying types of beliefs, it still doesn't add up to static and undeniable proof of anything because we don't and, probably, can't possess an underlying premise.

Now I'm not suggesting that we kick words like know, fact, proof and truth to the curb. Such words convey important thoughts for use in internal and external communications. I simply think it's important to understand that these types of words are a kind of shorthand for an approximation of strongly held beliefs.

In my mind's eye, belief, not truth, is the cornerstone of life.

Spirit

In an earlier post today, Imagine, I talked about the fantasy I envision re my death. It dawned on me, a bit later, that contained in my little story is a vestige from my days of Christianity. I wrote that I can envision my soul/spirit/essence/whatever gravitating toward a light representative of Tao, the life force. The problem with this formulation is that we don't know if a soul/spirit/essence/whatever even exists!

For quite some time, humans have imagined that there is a nonphysical property about our kind that goes beyond the mental capabilities that swirl in our minds. This thing is thought to be of us and to live on beyond us. But as with all things metaphysical, this is only a belief -- not an unmitigated fact.

For all we know, nothing of the sort may exist at all. We each may simply be the result of complex chemical properties and what we possess in ourselves in the here and now is all that is or ever will be. Put a different way, our sense of self -- consciousness -- may be a function of our complex chemical and molecular process.

When we die, though the heart may cease beating and the brain may stop processing, we don't how long -- in milliseconds or more -- the various cells in our bodies cease complete functioning. This could explain the many sensations some people have reported in regards to "near death" experiences. While I am in no way disputing that said experiences might involve a person's "spirit", it could also just as easily be explained as the result of complex metabolic functioning beginning the process of complete dissipation.

In the end, this concept of a spirit or soul that lives on beyond our bodies is nothing more than a mental security blanket. It can often quiet the screaming questions for which there are no answers. It can provide us with a reassurance that we are more than the sum total of our biology. And, for many people, it provides a sense of connection with something far greater than ourselves or this world.

May the spirit be with you...or not.

Beginnings

I remember a "discussion" I once had with an adherent to the Christian story. Of course, at some point, we got around to the topic of beginnings (and endings). This fellow reasoned that there must be a creator to start or begin life. "Look around you," he pleaded. "Everything has a precise moment of beginning."

Is that true? Well, when we look at people, it certainly seems that way. When the sperm and egg join in just the right manner, a human life begins to take shape. Same goes for animals and plants. At some point, a seed is planted and new life appears to burst forth. So it would seem this fellow might have point.

But what about a rock? Is there a precise point in which it becomes a pebble? Since a good deal of this planet is made of rocks and soil and the like, they too should fall under this definition of precise beginnings.

I'm not a scientist, but from my general knowledge, I don't think rocks come into being at a precise point. Soil is another one of those things that just sort of comes into being gradually. In an example used for the Life Defined miniseries of posts, I offered the example of a tree decomposing into earth. At what point is the tree not a tree or at what point is the tree soil?

This, in turn, begs the question of when the nonphysical essence of a person becomes married or attached to a specific human embryo. Does this occur at the precise moment the sperm and egg create the chemical composition of life or does it happen gradually in the womb or does it occur at the moment of birth or does it happen in some other way?

Hmm. No one knows the answer to that question. Consequently, we don't know if the nonphysical essence is involved in a beginning at all. It may exist beyond time -- you know, out there in the mysterious void.

In fact, it may not exist at all!

So, we don't genuinely know if life begins. We don't know if life ends with death. For that matter, we don't even know what life itself is. With so many of the necessary central concepts shrouded in mystery, we have no way of knowing if there is a creator (or creators) at all.

When it comes to topics in this expansive area, the simple truth is that WE DON'T KNOW.

We don't know now; we won't know tomorrow.

We will never know.

Imagine

I think every sentient person on the planet has wondered or imagined what it will be like when death comes knocking at the door. While I realize that many picture the death knell via the lens of a "religious" story, even these individuals still have trouble conceptualizing what precisely takes place.

Since none of us can know this information beforehand AND there is just as good of a chance that we won't even know it when it transpires, any kind of description of this event is nothing more than speculative fantasy.

Mind you, there is nothing inherently wrong with fantasies of this sort, so long as we each understand that this is all it is. With the previous sentence serving as a preface, here's the fantasy from my mind's eye.

When my heart beats its last beat, I imagine my soul/spirit/essence/whatever gravitating toward a bright light. As I begin this process of transformation, my sense of self is somewhat intact, though in a very nebulous sort of way. As the brilliance of the light begins to envelope my soul/spirit/essence/whatever, my sense of self begins to dissipate until the point the brilliant light and I are fused as one spectacular glow. At this juncture -- though not in a precise or fixed way -- my identity as a singular manifestation ceases to exist and I become one with One.

When I ponder the fate of my existence, this is the story I tell myself. After all, that's all it is -- a story. But the way we each encounter life is part of our own story too.

I've told you my fantasy re death. If you don't mind sharing, what's yours?

Life Defined -- Point 9

9. Each person's life is a story scripted beforehand, and there is a great Story of Everything whose plot has been revealed to us in a Book.

From a Taoist perspective, each life unfolds -- nothing is scripted. Each being has its own nature, but, particularly in the case of humans, we don't always recognize or follow our nature. Just as importantly, as the many manifestations of the One, each actor creates a ripple effect by their actions and these ripples spread from the center to beyond and effect the actions of others.

While ancient Taoists themselves have written their thoughts into words -- which much later were laid out in book form -- both Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu will tell you that no one can get in touch with their own nature or infuse their life with the essence of Tao by reading a dumb 'ol book! Heck, reading the various words on this blog won't do the trick either!!

Words are merely fingers pointing at the unknowable and indefinable. People who come to revere books are confusing the fingers for what the fingers are pointing at!

So, quit reading what I'm writing here. Go find a place in which you can feel comfortable. Clear your mind. Release your ego. Tao is there.

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

Life Defined -- Point 8

8. Our life is a journey, then, from a) the relative to the absolute; from b) time to eternity; from c) the changing, sensuous world of becoming to the realm of pure timeless intelligible Being; from d) the particular to the universal; from e) the mediated, discursive, through-a-glass-darkly sort of knowledge, to pure face-to-face unmistakable vision.

This dichotomy is difficult to discuss because, from a Taoist perspective, no dichotomy exists. For one thing, the first part of each couplet merely is the subjective perspective of each self-conscious being. It is the ego making distinctions where none actually exist. The second part of each couplet is even more troublesome because each can only be understood in light of its opposite and yet, as previously written, Tao is not definable.

For example, taking a look at part b, both words hinge on an understanding of the word, time. If time is an artificial construct of the human mind -- it doesn't really exist -- then eternity holds no meaning because there's nothing its really in opposition to. The same line of reasoning can be used in the other parts as well.

While Taoists speak of our lives following paths, in my mind, that's not the same thing as a journey. In common parlance, one undertakes a journey to arrive at a specific destination. In Taoist thought, life itself is a destination -- The underlying mean of life is living.

That is to say that life is not the training wheels version of something else. It's merely one step in a never-ending three step cycle: birth, life, death, birth, life, death, birth..........

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

Verse 64: Journey of 1,000 Miles

Verse Sixty-Four
Things are easier to control while things are quiet.
Things are easier to plan far in advance.
Things break easier while they are still brittle.
Things are easier hid while they are still small.

Prevent problems before they arise.
Take action before things get out of hand.
The tallest tree
begins as a tiny sprout.
The tallest building
starts with one shovel of dirt.
A journey of a thousand miles
starts with a single footstep.

If you rush into action, you will fail.
If you hold on too tight, you will lose your grip.

Therefore the Master lets things take their course
and thus never fails.
She doesn't hold on to things
and never loses them.
By pursing your goals too relentlessly,
you let them slip away.
If you are as concerned about the outcome
as you are about the beginning,
then it is hard to do things wrong.
The master seeks no possessions.
She learns by unlearning,
thus she is able to understand all things.
This gives her the ability to help all of creation.
~ John McDonald translation ~

A few aspects of Taoism have permeated modern culture. The words yin and yang, along with the pictorial representation of such, can be seen often in stores and on bumper stickers. The line from this verse about the "journey of a thousand miles" is another example. Many people are familiar with the reference, but like with yin and yang, they are clueless as to its connection to Taoism.

In the translation being featured today, we have the most commonly known version of the famous line: "A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single footstep." However, other translators have interpreted it in a slightly different way. For Nina Correa, the line goes like this: "A journey of one thousand miles begins from where one stands." Others like Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English translate the line as "A journey of a thousand miles starts under one's feet. "

Some people may find some value in arguing which translation is most accurate, but to my way of thinking, it's really not that important as each version imparts the same basic message and that message is a continuation from the previous verse.

No matter how long or far our journey may be, we can only travel our path one step at a time. When our focus is on the far off distant horizon, we can easily be tripped up by our steps because we're not paying close attention to what we're doing NOW.

It's the very same problem we commit when we don't handle problems in the beginning when they are most manageable. We're so busy looking toward a brighter day that we don't do the most fundamental things necessary to make that brighter day possible. And then we sit around bitching and moaning about how all our plans have blown up in our face!!

As the author of the blog, Tao Wow, understands this famous verse,

This seems so simple, yet we all find things a little overbearing at times. Some keys to the method are other lines in the chapter that remind us to act when we can, doing a little at the right time can make the big task much easier. Acting at the right time is part of Wu Wei and taking things bit by bit is both Wu Wei and the way of Tao.

Of the many various lessons included in the 81 verses of the TTC, I think that one of the most important ones is for each of us to learn to slow down and to let our lives unfold naturally. This is a difficult lesson to embrace in our fast-paced modern world, but we could each have better peace of mind if we could only embrace it nonetheless.

Nina Correa puts this idea to perspective when she writes,

Nothing that exists happened overnight. Everything follows a slow, natural progression of growth. In our modern society we tend to forget that, and look for immediate results.

In our big rush to get to something done, we can end up destroying the beauty of it because of our motivations and expectations. Everyone's had those times when they wish they would have moved slower in a situation instead of rushing head on. If we cling to the idea of what we want desperately, we find that the need to cling in itself removes our objective ever further away.

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

Life Defined -- Point 7

7. Our life is a pilgrimage toward death, the moment of truth, the moment of absolute knowledge.

While Taoists accept the notion that all things die, I certainly wouldn't define life as a march or a pilgrimage toward death. While some beings may indeed march, others dance, skip, run or walk on their hands. More importantly, death isn't a goal or an objective; it's merely the way our existence works. Everything once born, dies.

As stated in the previous post, this sort of methodology trivializes the lives we have in the here and now. It's as if life is foreplay and death is the climax! This kind of metaphor simply doesn't fit into the philosophical perspective of a circle.

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

Life Defined -- Point 6

6. The final Answer will be revealed to us in or through death.

As I've written before, from a Taoist perspective, there is no "final" answer. Even if we believed there was, I think few Taoists would think it could only be revealed in death. From my perspective, the problem with this kind of formulation is that it downgrades life -- sort of like a third cousin once removed.

Owing to the concepts of yin and yang, Taoists view life and death as merely different sides of the same coin. Each provides the other with definition and meaning. Each also contains an element of the other. To wit, to live means to die one day and death provides the opportunity to be reborn.

And this difference in perspective could be represented as the differences between a straight line and a circle. In Christian thought, life is a progression along a straight line -- birth, life, death. In Taoist thought, these same three elements feed into each other as in a circle. Straight lines have a starting and ending point; a circle never starts nor ends, the line flows into itself over and over again.

As evidence for the Taoist formulation, we look to nature. For example, a tree begins as a seed and grows to a full expanse. With time, it begins to die and, at some point, falls over. Once on the ground, we can still see that it was once a tree. Soon, the shape of the tree begins to breakdown and decompose. At some point, it ceases to be a tree and becomes soil. And soil gives birth to new life.

We don't know what precisely happens when each person dies. We do know that the body ceases to function, but none of us can know now what happens to the spirit, soul or essence. In my mind's eye, I imagine it being something like a tree. For an aspect of time, we may retain our sense of self, but soon that fades into the energy -- the soil -- of the life force.

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

Life Defined -- Point 5

5. There is then something quite dazzling, namely, a preestablished harmony between thought and being, language and reality; between the questions we want to ask and the Answer that the nature of things is waiting to give us. (Notice that this most astonishing doctrine is also the one most profoundly taken for granted.)

Of course, this point represents a huge difference between the Christian conception of life and that of Taoism. For the former, God is the dazzling something. He is to be exalted and worshiped. He is to be praised and celebrated.

Tao, on the other hand, isn't a some-thing; it's the process of life itself. Far from being a dazzling spectacle, it is nameless and formless. It's as exciting as Melba Toast! As Lao Tzu writes over and over again, it occupies the low places and does not compete.

Where God can become jealous and angry if we don't give him his proper due, Tao has no emotion. Because Tao is not a conscious being, it has no cares -- it doesn't matter one wit whether or not you recognize it. It cares not if you worship it. It has no concern over whether you exalt it or not.

Tao just is and that's all there is to it.

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

Life Defined -- Point 4

4. All these truths and answers (2, 3) are, so to say, tailored to our faculties and requirements. They are in principle accessible and intelligible to us, so that we may reasonably hope and expect to discover them, or have them reveal themselves to us.

A Taoist could agree with some aspects of this point. As we are part of Tao and Tao is part of us, the flow of life runs through us. It is when we silence the ego that this information is accessible. Because this information is part of us already, it's not really a matter of discovering it; it's more a matter of listening to what is "speaking" to us all along.

Where a Taoist might disagree concerns the idea that the information of life is tailored to human beings. Such a formulation smacks of pomposity and arrogance! Why would the flow of life be tailored to one manifestation of the One over any other?

Further, Taoism posits that all such information is beyond definition. It is something that must be sensed and experienced, not calculated in mathematical formulations or defined in the language of words and thought.

This distinction helps to illustrate the difference between prayer and meditation. The former is a conversation based on language and thought processes. The latter involves no conversation whatsoever; it is more akin to stepping into a void and allowing the energy of life to permeate our being.

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