The Next Phase

The series on the Wen Tzu isn't over and done with. While I won't be adding any more posts to the series itself, I'm not quite through with it either. Over a course of time -- it could be a few scant days OR it may be much longer than that -- I plan to convert the series into a number of Google docs that anyone may access, read and/or print.

The reason for this is simple: it will be a lot easier for those interested in reading the series as opposed to clicking on 340 individual posts!! My plan is to cover ten verses per document. Since there are 180 verses, that means 18 documents of varying lengths -- it depends on how many multi-part verses are included in each set.

If you'd like to take a gander at "Verses 1 -10," here's the link. When I get the whole thing finished, I will write a brief post and add a link to the Intro page to the left sidebar.

Wen Tzu - Finito!

When I wrote my first post in this series on October 29 of last year, I had no clue what a labor of love it would become! It took me nearly 6 months, a computer crash and 340 posts to go from beginning to end. Now, with the last verse in the can, I have mixed feelings.

On the one hand, I'm sad to see my friend go. We've become very close during this period. Rarely a day has gone by when I wasn't reading or writing something related to the Wen Tzu. It has forced me to reexamine many of my long held beliefs and opinions. It has encouraged me to expand on my philosophic horizons. And it has taught me many valuable lessons, ones that I have begun to incorporate into my life.

Another important thing that the Wen Tzu has provided is a connection. This has not been a solitary journey as many of you have walked arm-and-arm with me every step of the way. Your insights, comments and contributions have enriched the experience more than I ever would have imagined possible.

On the other hand, however, it feels kind of nice to remove this yoke I've had around my neck. Of course, the yoke is borne of internal expectations and that's not very Taoist, is it? As the sort of person who values completing what I start, I have doggedly pursued the task of writing this series come hell or high water. I've written posts on days that I didn't feel like it. I've pondered deep thoughts on days I would have preferred to wolf down potato chips while watching mindless television. Even when my computer crashed, I fretted because I felt as if I was behind my appointed schedule.

But all that has been left in the dust because this represents the final post in this series.

I do want to note that the method I utilized in going through the Wen Tzu will most definitely be used again when I launch the series on the Chuang Tzu. As I'm certain many of you noticed, I didn't quote entire verses like I did with the Tao Te Ching; what I featured were only snippets.

Th reason for this tack is threefold. Reason number one should be readily obvious -- the text itself is so darn long. I might have needed another 300 or so entries to do the whole thing justice. Besides, as a one-fingered typist, the amount of text I copied was long enough!! :-)

Reason number two is less obvious. Thomas Cleary, the translator of Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries wants people like you to buy his book. If I featured the entirety of the text, you would get to read the whole enchilada for free. I'm not sure if Mr. Cleary would appreciate that!

And reason number three may be even less obvious. I simply don't wish to blemish the entire text for those of you who do buy the book to read it for yourselves. I want to leave a lot of unexplored territory for you to discover on your own.

I hope you enjoyed reading, contemplating and commenting on the Wen Tzu as much as I have. Starting today, I will focus more of my writings using 365 Tao: Daily Meditations as my springboard.

At some point later in the year, I will launch my grandest project to date: a series on the Chuang Tzu. But don't expect it to commence for AT LEAST one month or more. I need some time to read it again and take notes. I also need some time to digest the lessons learned from the Wen Tzu.

Wen Tzu - Verse 180

from Verse One Hundred Eighty

So something different is used for surprise tactics. Calm is a surprise for the frantic, order is a surprise for the confused, sufficiency is a surprise for the hungry, rest is a surprise for the weary. If you can respond to them correctly, like super-cession of a series of events, you can go anywhere successfully.

~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~

As this is a passage from the last verse of the Wen Tzu, I will let it stand on its own. Before I put this series to bed, though, I will offer my reflections in a later post about our 6 month odyssey through this large volume of thought attributed to Lao Tzu.

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

Wen Tzu - Verse 179

from Verse One Hundred Seventy-Nine

When the government is noninvasive, the people are pure; when the government is invasive, the people are lacking.

~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~

Passages such as the one above are what cause many people to see Lao Tzu as an early advocate of libertarian and anarchist ideals. It is also why, I believe, the vast majority of conservative Christians view Taoism as a subversive system of thought.

If Christian fundamentalists had their way, the main thrust of government would be to regulate people's behavior in the bedroom. If you listen to them talk -- I wouldn't advise it -- their main shtick centers around homosexuality, abortion, premarital sex, promiscuity and pornography; all things connected, in some degree, to people's sexual preferences and behaviors.

If such stuff is not the quintessential definition of invasive, I don't know what is!

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

Wen Tzu - Verse 178, Part II

from Verse One Hundred Seventy-Eight

Against a formidable enemy, of a hundred that go, one returns; those who happen to make a big name for themselves may get to have some of the annexed territory, but it costs a hundred thousand slain in combat, plus countless numbers of old people and children who die of hunger and cold.

~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~

Whenever two or more nations decide to do battle, it is important to try to ascertain which individuals will profit most from the bloodshed. While the leaders of each country will try to rally public support by throwing around religious and/or nationalist rhetoric, there are always certain sectors of the elite who will benefit financially.

In the past decade, it's been rather easy to understand who has benefited most from the US invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan: industries tied to the military-industrial complex and the petroleum industry. While this nation has been in the throes of a devastating economic slump, many of these industries have seen record profits. Those profits have been borne through the blood of the soldiers on both sides plus tens or hundreds of thousands of innocents who live in the battleground regions.

But this principle doesn't apply solely to the US; it's universal. Look at any war in any locale and you will find economic and/or status-based fingerprints all over the war plans.

Far worse, most of the people that draw up the battle strategies will never go to war themselves!!

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

Wen Tzu - Verse 178, Part I

from Verse One Hundred Seventy-Eight

When society is about to lose its essential life, it is like the arising of negative energy: the leadership is ignorant, the Way is neglected, virtue dies out.

~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~

While Taoism posits that the essence of life contains both positive (yang) and negative (yin), we become out of balance when one rises at the expense of the other.

In many ways, this can seem counterintuitive. While most people would agree that solely negative energy is harmful, purely positive energy is seen in altogether different light. If given the false choice of one over the other, most people would choose the yang.

But just as rest is needed and not sustained action, negative and positive energy go hand in hand. Focus too much on one while neglecting the other and you end up with a distorted view of yourself and the world around you.

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

Wen Tzu - Verse 177

from Verse One Hundred Seventy-Seven

Mountains, river, valleys, and canyons were divided and made to have boundaries; the sizes of groups of people were calculated and made to have specific numbers. Machinery and blockades were built for defense, the colors of clothing were regulated to differentiate socioeconomic classes, rewards and penalties were meted out to the good and the unworthy. Thus armaments developed and struggle arose; from this there began slaughter of the innocent.

~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~

I think this passage underlines the key problem with distinctions (i.e., property): when we start placing values on different people, objects and ideas, some become more coveted than others and covetousness is the engine of greed.

Modern society is typified by covetousness. Not only do powerful people and businesses own land, buildings, products and services, but we now find these same entities seeking claims to things such as water, seeds, plants and DNA!!

I think that many of the Indian cultures that we white Europeans supplanted on this continent had it right all along. No one person or group can own that which we share in common. To do so is blasphemous. This is why the Great White Father found it difficult to get the tribes to sell them specific parcels of land; in the Indian view, it wasn't theirs to sell!!

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

Wen Tzu - Verse 176, Part II

from Verse One Hundred Seventy-Six

The governments of latter-day society have not stored up the necessities of life; they have diluted the purity of the world, destroyed the simplicity of the world, and made the people confused and hungry, turning clarity into murkiness. Life is volatile, and everyone is striving madly. Uprightness and trust have fallen apart, people have lost their essential nature; laws and justice are at odds, actions are contrary to what is beneficial.

~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~

If Lao Tzu was penning these words today, no philosopher would bat an eye. What's amazing is that -- despite the fact this seems to define modern society -- the world the Taoist sage is describing took place thousands of years ago during China's Warring States period.

If the problems of antiquity regarding government so closely mirror the same problems we wrestle with today, maybe the problem is with government itself!! As a student of the political sciences, this is quite a difficult idea for me to contemplate, but that is precisely what I think Lao Tzu suggests.

I think it borders on utopian-like thinking to believe humankind will ever construct a perfect state. A perfect state is an impossibility if it's made up of imperfect people!! If none of us seems capable of reigning in our own desires and disharmony, why would we think our species could accomplish such in its collective form?

It seems that the more I read and ponder of the words and lessons of Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu, the more I seem to lean toward the concepts of libertarianism and humanitarian anarchism.

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

Wen Tzu - Verse 176, Part I

from Verse One Hundred Seventy-Six

To act in accord with essence is called the Way; to attain that natural essence is called virtue. After essence is lost, humanity and justice are valued; after humanity and justice are defined, virtue is ignored. When pure simplicity disappears, manners and music become ornate; when right and wrong take shape, the common people are blinded. When pearls and jade are valued, the whole world competes for them.

~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~

To get at the heart of this passage, let's first take a look at the word essence.

When we speak of essence, we're talking about the essential, inherent and core aspects of an entity (or idea). From Lao Tzu's perspective, the crucial part of who and what we are is pure. We move gracefully with life and easily float with the energy flow. By and large, this is how young children interact with the world.

The socialization process, however, robs us of our essential nature. We're taught rules, laws, mores, manners and proper etiquette. Life becomes a series of calculations; some are based on how much we think we can get away with and others are based more on repressing our wants and desires.

For me, this gets to the heart of the philosophies of Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu as well. It's at that moment in our lives when we start judging all thoughts, actions and deeds by external criteria that we go astray. It's when we consciously have to think everything through that we have cast off our essential nature.

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

Wen Tzu - Verse 175, Part II

from Verse One Hundred Seventy-Five

The reason people lose their lands, die at others' hands, and become a laughingstock to the world, always turns out to be greed. In you know that a fan in winter and a leather coat in summer are of no use to you, everything will turn into dust and dirt. So, if you use hot water to stop a boiling pot, it will only boil all the more; those who know the root of the matter simply take the fire away.

~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~

If desire is mucking up your life -- always pushing you to want more of this and more of that -- how does one pull desire off the table? A lot of people would say that, if you don't want desire in your driver's seat, then you should simply remove it.

But there's an inherent problem with this apparent straightforward solution. As Lao Tzu points out above, it would be like trying to cool a boiling pot with boiling water. You see, if we desire to remove desire, the impetus is the same thing as the impediment. We will merely replace one desire for another.

When we walk in step with the Way, desire evaporates. It's not a conscious process; it just happens naturally and organically.

Of course, it all looks so easy in type -- It's quite another thing truly to live it.

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

Wen Tzu - Verse 175, Part I

from Verse One Hundred Seventy-Five

Those who deliberately practice etiquette polish human nature and straighten out their feelings: their eyes may be desirous of something, but they are restrained by measures; their hearts may be fond of something, but they are regulated by etiquette. Their behavior is restrained and regulated, humble and subservient; fat meat they do not eat, and clear wine they do not drink. Outwardly constraining their appearance, inwardly worrying about their virtues, they clamp down on the harmony of yin and yang, and place stress on their feelings of life itself. Therefore they are sad people all their lives.

~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~

The chief point I think Lao Tzu is making is that any being that stands against itself is doomed to a life of misery.

This certainly is not to suggest that we should lead willy nilly lives. We can't simply take whatever we want whenever we want in the kind quantity we want. To do so would create a world of great disharmony.

So, if we are urged not to repress our true feelings, yet we concurrently can't take everything we desire, where does that leave us? For Lao Tzu, the answer is that our focus is in the wrong place; rather than try to hold our desires back, we need to remove our desires from the equation.

If desire doesn't rule our lives, we have no need to put on airs. If we only take what the situation offers, there is no need to restrain ourselves. If we follow the ways of Tao, there is no need to regulate ourselves.

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

Wen Tzu - Verse 174, Part VI

from Verse One Hundred Seventy-Four

Now if you have the unworthy rule over the good, then even strict penalties cannot prevent their treachery. The small cannot regulate the great, the weak cannot employ the strong. This is the nature of the universe. So sages promote the wise to get things done, while unworthy rulers promote their own associates: observe whom they promote, and it will be clear whether there is going to be order or disorder; examine their associations, and you can tell who is wise and who is unworthy.

~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~

Too often, I think most people become enamored with the glossy surface of life. All attention is focused on the top layer, the superficial sheen, and little notice is taken of what lies beneath. So books are judged solely by their covers, not their content.

We see this at work in the field of politics. In the US, the landscape has been flooded with "front groups", groups that present a specific public face, but tend to have a far different agenda than what they promote.

For example, we might see a TV ad from a group that states it advocates the reasonable use of petrochemicals. Majestic music and pictures of young fawns frolicking in the woods serve as a backdrop for what appears to be a reasonable discussion of the pros of using such chemicals to benefit the lives of many.

When the average person views the ad, they nod in silent agreement. Hey, lots of people from scientists, researchers and educators believe that petrochemicals enhance life, so I guess it can't be as bad as the doomsayers say.

Of course, what the group running the ad doesn't mention is that it is funded by Petrochemists of America! Ya know, folks with a strong vested interest in the widespread use of petrochemicals! But few people will dig that deep and so they will fail to see the connection and/or understand how the connection impacts the message.

Another great example of this tack involves the administration of President Barack Obama. On the campaign trail, he spoke of hope and reigning in corporate power. His rhetoric motivated many disaffected citizens to get involved. And his charge to make the changes needed to reinvent America swept him into office.

Yet, even before he took the oath of office, he began to build a cabinet that was made up of the very people who have brought our nation to its economic knees! He named lobbyists and corporate bigwigs to most of the top posts. It has been these individuals that have pushed through the biggest taxpayer-funded giveaways in our nation's history!

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

Wen Tzu - Verse 174, Part V

from Verse One Hundred Seventy-Four

Those who keep their jobs and do not quit; who do not compromise in matters of justice, who do not try to escape when they see difficulty, and do not try to grab an advantage when they see it, are exceptional people.

~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~

Really lofty standards, aren't they?

However, that is indeed the standard of being exceptional -- someone who rises above the morass.

It should be noted that, unlike many religions, Lao Tzu doesn't provide us with a rulebook for the precise scheme to become exceptional. He understood that external morals and mores often create the very thing they wish to counter.

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

Wen Tzu - Verse 174, Part IV

from Verse One Hundred Seventy-Four

It is the Way of the universe to turn back when it has come to an extreme; increase leads to decrease.

~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~

When the winds blow, the rain falls incessantly, the storm batters, or the fire burns, it is not long before the wind becomes a light breeze, the sun comes out, the clouds part or the flame dies. No matter what the weather dishes out, the extremes never last very long.

The same can be said of people and the situations of our lives.

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

Wen Tzu - Verse 174, Part III

from Verse One Hundred Seventy-Four

When the rulers are wise, they guide and judge fairly; wise and good people are in office, skilled and capable people are at work. Wealth is distributed downward, and all the people are aware of their blessings. When they degenerate, cliques and factions each promote their cronies, discarding public interest for private.

~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~

Here in America, the two major political parties -- the Democrats and Republicans -- spend most of their time casting aspersions at each other as well as trying to convince the voting public that the OTHER party is to blame for the mess we find ourselves in. However, as a popular saying goes: It takes two to tango. Both parties often are guilty of the same shenanigans!

A grand example of these shenanigans is through a process called gerrymandering. As the population changes each decade with the census, representative districts are redrawn to better reflect the shifts in population. Whichever party holds the majority in Congress tries to pull out all the stops to insure said lines are drawn so that their candidates benefit the most.

It's quite interesting to watch this spectacle. The minority party jumps around hooting and hollering. They complain far and wide that the game is rigged and that our democratic way of life will be forever tarnished. They decry the backroom deals and underhanded manipulation. They swear that, if they were in the majority, they would not take such unfair advantage of the situation.

Of course, when the minority party becomes the majority party, all bets are off and they behave in the exact same manner they earlier decried!! Since the two parties go back and forth between the roles of majority and minority, each party continually tries to stick it to the other.

Both would do well to heed Lao Tzu's words, but I ain't gonna hold my breath.

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

Wen Tzu - Verse 174, Part II

from Verse One Hundred Seventy-Four

When writing was invented, it was employed to manage affairs; fools could use it so as not to forget things, and the wise could use it to record events. When it became degenerate, it made treacherous falsehoods that could free the guilty and kill the innocent.

~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~

As a wordsmith, it should surprise no one that I write words, think words, speak words and even spend an inordinate amount of time playing word games. It's not a stretch at all to say that words are my life!! I'd be completely lost without them.

But as much as I love words, I readily acknowledge that they can be utilized for good or evil. In the hands of a capable person, as Lao Tzu notes above, they can save lives or bring death. I also know that the old adage -- Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me -- sadly is wrong. Words and the intent behind them can subject others, directly or indirectly, to excruciating pain.

Even in the best of situations, words still are problematic. While accepted definitions and parameters exist, each person can understand a word in a slightly different way. Therefore, a simple sentence like "Dick knows Jane" can be interpreted to mean a wide variety of things (e.g., Do you mean "knows" in the biblical sense?)

Yet, for all their obvious pitfalls, words make complex communication possible. They allow a simple Taoist like me to ramble all over the place.

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

Wen Tzu - Verse 174, Part I

from Verse One Hundred Seventy-Four

Sage kings of ancient times derived images from heaven above, derived measurements from earth below, and derived laws from humanity in between. Harmonizing yin and yang energies to attune to the structure of the four seasons, they observed the lay of the land, its moisture, fertility, and elevation, in order to set up enterprises that would produce goods and get rid of the problems of hunger and cold and avoid the calamities of illness and disease.

~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~

Upon reading this passage, it made me think of all the American cropland -- particularly in California and parts of Texas -- that really isn't located in the best locales. In order to support the vast farms in a somewhat dry area, billions upon billions of gallons of water must be diverted from faraway rivers and streams.

And what has this strategy wrought? Water tables are declining at alarming rates and, in some areas, the situation is becoming critical. At the rate of transfer, some researchers now say it may take decades, if ever, for these areas to return to a semblance of normality.

Yet, for all the dire warnings, we keep pumping the water away from its source! And why do we fail to take heed of such a serious situation? Money!! The folks growing the crops need the diverted water to survive financially and the American consumer needs it just as much, lest we not have grains and produce on our tables at somewhat reasonable prices.

We have set up a farm system that, by and large, is non-sustainable. Unfortunately, it has become so ingrained in the fabric of our economic structure that it won't be easy to change and, at present, there isn't even the political will to do so.

We would have been much better off today if past leaders had attuned the structure of our agricultural system to the four seasons.

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

Wen Tzu - Verse 173

from Verse One Hundred Seventy-Three

So it is that when people are pressed by difficulties, then they seek means of coping with them; it is because of their troubles that they take precautions. In each case they use their knowledge to get rid of what they consider harmful and take to what they consider advantageous.

~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~

When I was growing up my best friend, Greg, and I liked to build models. We went about it in different ways. Greg followed the instructions and painstakingly secured every little piece into its proper place. He then took the same care in painting his masterpiece. When finished, his little plastic model often looked exactly like the real thing...except it was way, way too small!! :-D

I have never been nimble with my hands. Precise work with my fingers almost always ends up with huge amounts of frustration and a few profanities laced in for good measure. Unlike Greg, I could never make heads nor tails out of the instructions and so I tended to cast them aside. Whenever I finished MY model projects, there were always a few pieces left over and my little car or plane or whatever it was looked a bit askew. Needless to say, I painted them like I built them and, even though we often built the same models, mine never looked as neat and tidy as his.

Had I been a tad bit more disciplined in my craft work -- like my buddy -- I wouldn't have built such flawed creations. The wheels would have worked as intended or the boat would have been able to stay afloat. In my own way, I sought to cast off what I deemed to be unimportant and it only dawned on me, once the project was finished, how important to the integrity of the model that the cast off pieces represented.

And so it is with our lives, in general. Too often, we create the framework of our own misery and troubles by casting aside the integral parts of life. What we may consider harmful or advantageous at one moment may be just the opposite in the next.

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

Wen Tzu - Verse 172, Part II

from Verse One Hundred Seventy-Two

What eliminates inherent virtue is self-consciousness; what shrinks essential nature is cutting off its living creativity. If people are complete, they make certain of the meanings of death and life, and comprehend the patterns of glory and ignominy. Even if the whole world praises them, that does not give them added encouragement; and even if the whole world repudiates them, that does not inhibit them. They have attained the key of the ultimate Way.

~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~

Regardless of one's age, we each have moments when we're overly self-conscious. We feel like everyone in the world is watching our every move and they are saying to themselves, "What a blockhead!"

I can remember countless times throughout my life when I have been acutely self-conscious, but, like most people I know, the worst of it came during early adolescence. I wanted to fit in so badly and yet, due to my social awkwardness, I never had a chance to be part of the "in crowd" or, for that matter, ANY crowd!

I would measure my thoughts, deeds and actions by the external mores of my classmates. I tried to dress, talk and be like them. I could never pull it off successfully because it went against my internal nature. So, a rather awkward kid made sure he was even more awkward and the internal pressure I applied to my every movement made me more painfully aware how out of step I was with my contemporaries.

I remained a social outcast until my senior year of high school. It was at that point that I said, "Screw it" and, instead of trying to be something I am not, I decided to be myself: weirdness, warts and all. When I quit trying to put on airs, I became more authentic and people began to respond positively to the real me. I never made it into the chic social circles, but I was accepted by all groups as a rather unique and funny fellow.

For me, this is the point that Lao Tzu is driving at in the passage above.

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

Wen Tzu - Verse 172, Part I

from Verse One Hundred Seventy-Two

In high antiquity, real people breathed yin and yang, and all living beings looked up to their virtue, thus harmonizing peacefully. In those times, leadership was hidden, spontaneously creating pure simplicity. Pure simplicity had not yet been lost, so myriad beings were very relaxed.

~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~

Let's get one thing straight -- this time never existed! While Lao Tzu appears to be speaking of an earlier historic time, he's really referring to his ideal of the perfect state of humankind.

It might be nice to try to convince ourselves that, at one time, people embodied the Way and nothing else. It makes a lovely fairytale, doesn't it? But our species has wrestled with the same questions, mysteries, traits, and basic desires since Day One. And I imagine it will be that way forevermore.

This is not to suggest that any of us cannot rise above the general state of humanity. We can, but it will be fleeting. No matter how wise any person can become, there will always be so much more that he/she can learn. No matter how mindful or virtuous we might be, none of us will ever reach a state of mindless perfection.

We are each saddled with the human condition; for better and for worse. For me, the main thrust behind philosophical Taoism is not to run away from ourselves, but to learn to accentuate the positive, compassionate and just sides of our being. It is to become the full measure of our own internal nature, while at the same time, embracing and celebrating the interconnection of all things -- the community of life.

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