Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Bit by Bit - Chapter 22, Part 14

Trey Smith

Master Tung-kuo asked Chuang Tzu, "This thing called the Way - where does it exist?"

Chuang Tzu said, "There's no place it doesn't exist."

"Come," said Master Tung-kuo, "you must be more specific!"

"It is in the ant."

"As low a thing as that?"

"It is in the panic grass."

"But that's lower still!"

"It is in the tiles and shards."

"How can it be so low?"

"It is in the piss and shit!"

Master Tung-kuo made no reply.

~ Burton Watson translation ~
We humans have a penchant in believing that the sacred and holy must be profound. We create elaborate rituals and build mighty structures to honor that which we do not understand. We pour money, time and devotion into those institutions that promise salvation from the one mystery we cannot unravel. And we wait to be struck by lightening in the form of God speaking directly to us.

All the while, the Way IS talking to us, but not in the manner we expect. The Way communicates with us via the most mundane avenues of existence. A person could more easily find God in piss and shit than in anything else!

To view the Index page for this series, go here.

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