Inquiring Minds Want to Know

It should surprise no one that one of the key search terms that leads people to The Rambling Taoist is some derivation of the word Tao. In many cases, after having followed the link to the particular search engine, it is fairly apparent that the search is being conducted by someone who doesn't know a lot about Taoism and wants to learn more.

I take this as a very good sign. Many people are growing disillusioned with the trappings of so-called modern western society; they are looking for a way to get better in touch with themselves and the natural world. While Taoism isn't the only way to make this connection, it is gaining more traction in the minds of westerners every day.

If you are a person who desires to learn more about what is called classical or philosophical Taoism, I'm going to share with you some of the books I first utilized/am utilizing to learn more about this ancient Chinese philosophy. It is my hope that the regular readers of RT will use the comments section to add to this list. (You can, of course, include non-Taoist sources of inspiration in your life as well.)

One word of caution: While reading material can certainly help illuminate the path, each individual must connect with Tao on their own and in their own way. None of the books listed will outline the creed or "official" doctrine of Taoism because there are no such things.

I'm going to divide the list into three components: books I've read from cover-to-cover (more or less), books I'm reading right now and a few books that are not necessarily Taoist, in nature, but inspirational nonetheless.
All links are to Amazon.com.

Books I've read on Taoism

• The Complete Idiot's Guide to Taoism
• The Tao of Pooh
  
• Simple Taoism: A Guide to Living in Balance
• Taoism: Way Beyond Seeking
• Aidan's Way
• The Tao of Inner Peace
• The Living Tao
• What Is Tao?
• The Tao of Philosophy
• Tao: The Watercourse Way
• The Book of Chuang Tzu
• Tao Te Ching

Books I'm Reading on Taoism

• The Way: According to Lao Tzu, Chuang Tzu, and Seng Tsan
• The Tao Is Silent
• A Personal Tao
  
• Dao De Jing : A Philosophical Translation
• The Complete Idiot's Guide to I Ching

Inspirational Books That Aren't Necessarily Focused on Taoism

• God's Debris : A Thought Experiment
• The Book : On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are

There are my lists. As indicated above, I hope my regular Taoists readers will add to this list and I hope the materials suggested help anyone looking to follow the path of Tao.

UPDATE: After posting this entry, I read a superb (and short) comparison of Taoism with open source software compliments of A Quiet Watercourse. I warmly encourage new AND old seekers of Tao to read, "Free Software & The Watercourse".

Technorati: Taoism, Daoism
del.icio.us: Taoism, Daoism
Wikipedia: Taoism

Feets by the Foot

It's really weird how thoughts pop into our heads. While touching up my crewcut, a poem I wrote nearly 30 years ago started bubbling up in my brain. Here it is, more or less.

Feet are for walking (or so I've been told).
It's been that way since the days of old.
But, from what I've seen, that's not really true.
There are other things that most feet do.

There are footballs and footsteps and footprints of age;
footers and footnotes to cover each page;
footing and footwork to help make a stand;
footholds and foothills that cover this land.

But whether in north, east, west or south,
feet are commonly found in one's mouth.
A phenom I'll grant, so hard to be so
to totally cover the heel and each toe.

Still, most people won't let this get in their way
for they cram it in once and that's where it stays.
We're talking 'bout doctors and lawers -- people of wealth
plus the folks in the ghetto; heck, even myself.

This penchant we have it's like a disease
one that moves 'round on the wings of the breeze.
Whether in romance or nations at war
your mouth is the place your foot was made for.

But one shouldn't laugh for it sometimes brings pain
'cause sandals and boots are made of coarse grain.
We should all know by the way it appears
that some keep their feet in their mouths for years!

The solution, it seems, is to quit making shoes
for a shoe in one's mouth has hardly a use
(except, of course, to remind of what's there
that fashionable piece of unsightly footware).

Well, I've now come to the end of this tragic tale.
I covered it all from hill to the dale.
The moral, I guess, should not be in doubt --
This foot in my mouth will never come out!

Church of Reality Challenges Other Religions on Morality

Here's an interesting press release I received yesterday from Marc Perkel of the Church of Reality. I think he makes several valid points. What do you think?

The Church of Reality today issues a challenge to other religions on the issue of ethics and morality. We live in a world where the hatred among religions grows daily between Christianity and Islam and the time has come to put a stop to it. Both sides claim the superior moral position and to represent the word of God while taking up arms and going to war with no concern for the costs to civilization and the future of the human race. Both religions claim divine inspiration from the same source, but as an outside observer, we do not see it. We believe that what you do represents what you believe and, if you are dishonest and you are violent, then that is what you are and that is what you believe.

Both religions claim to be a religion of peace, yet neither side has not the will nor the divine inspiration to make peace happen. If your religions truly have divine inspiration and guidance, then one can only conclude that your gods are failures. On the other hand, if your gods actually do represent love and peace, then your religions do a disservice to your creator.

It is logical, therefore, to assume that the superior religion would be the one which wins based upon the nature of the gods that one believes in. Therefore, our challenge is: Show us your God through you and show you are the true voice of the master by winning through peace and not by war. According to your own holy books, when you turn to war over peace and when you put hate before love, you are violating the very core principles that you claim that God stands for. Therefore, you cannot win a religious war by doing the opposite of what you claim God wants you to do.

We in the Church of Reality are Atheists. We look at your behavior and we conclude that, if a God does exist, that you are not in touch with it. We are committed to believing in whatever is real. We would believe in God if God were real. Your religions claim that you have a personal relationship with God, that you communicate with God directly, and that God transforms you into something that reflects its nature. So we say, show us the fruits of that transformation. We ask you, if your God is powerful enough to erase the hatred from your heart and to bring peace through each of you, to stop the violence. If your God is so weak that his followers can't stop killing, then you aren't going to convert any Realists to your religions.

We in the Church of Reality also believe, "By their fruits you shall know them." So, if you are filled with the spirit of the Lord, then lets see if you can shine the light of God's peace and love and end the wars.

0

From All Over

For me, one of the greatest joys of blogging is the opportunity to relate to people from all over the world. I consciously seek out blogs that originate from beyond the Pacific Northwest as well as from around the world. It's both interesting and informative to see what others in distant places are thinking and writing about. In many ways, it only strengthens my belief that, regardless of differing cultures and mores, we humans share far more in common than what separates us.

As I'm sure is true of most blogs, The Rambling Taoist receives visits from individuals from the far flung corners of this global sphere. In looking over the locales for the last 100 visitors, nearly 30% originated from outside of the 'ol US of A. Here's a partial list:

• Paris, Ile-de-France
• Surrey, Prince Edward Island, Canada
• Manchester, England
• Lancaster, Blackpool, England
  
• Merelbeke, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium
• Taipei, T'ai-pei, Taiwan
• Heerenveen, Friesland, The Netherlands
• Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
• Priestdale Lagoons, Queensland, Australia
• Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan, Malaysia
• Alboraya, Comunidad Valenciana, Spain

Some of these visitors I've come to know in a virtual way. For one example, Bert hails from Belgium and has afforded me the opportunity to read (though certainly NOT understand) Flemish on his blog, Haunted by Tao.

In many cases, however, certain regular readers hail from some of the locations listed above and yet I don't know the correlation between their name and their place of residence -- I only know they drop by frequently.

So, I'm offering an open invitation both to regular readers and anyone who just happens by who lives outside of the 50 states to use the comments for this post to share with me and others a little bit about where you live and/or who you are.

The best chance we have to create a world of peace and community is by getting to know each other, by having the opportunity to walk in another person's shoes, to see life from someone else's eyes. This is one of the great beautifies of the blogosphere. While we may never meet face-to-face or hear each other's voices, we CAN come to know each other and knowing people is the first step toward understanding.

Let's all endeavor to travel the path of life together as brothers and sisters.

Like Grains of Sand

One of the most basic elements of human life is the act of questioning. Each time we encounter a new experience, we make sense out of it -- or at least TRY to -- by seeking to engage or embrace it in an inquisitive fashion. We compare the current thing or circumstance with other things or circumstances in order to try to discern similarities or differences. By approaching life in this way, we seek to derive answers.

Not all questions are equal. Most share the quest to pinpoint something specific or tangible. Who said that? What are those? Where are we going? How did you know?

These types of questions lead to quantifiable or qualitative answers. Who said that? It was Mike. What are those? Plantains. Where are we going? To the beach. How did you know? I read it in the newspaper.

There is one question, however, that genuinely cannot be answered. Asking it only begins a never ending process in which each answer only leads back to the same question. Why?

Despite all our advances in the sciences, the why of life is still beyond human comprehension. We can describe processes, quantify data, and sometimes predict outcomes, but we can't answer the most fundamental of questions. Why?

While religion seeks to make vain attempts at answering this question, it really ends up no better than science. To answer why by saying God, still begets the question of why God?

The myriad answers to why are tantamount to the grains of sand on an ocean beach. There's no way any of us can count these grains of sand. While we begin our count, some grains are washed to the sea, while others are freshly deposited on the shore. If we each spent the entirety of our lives on the beach counting these grains, we would be no nearer done once our lives came to an end.

One of the central messages of Taoist thought is that why is a question that need not be asked. The Tao is the way of the way of the Way. Why it is that it is should not concern us. If it could be explain to us, we wouldn't understand it anyhow.

Rather than ask why, we should simply embrace this mystical force like the flowers, rivers and clouds do. By eschewing the search for the answer to why, we will find the answer to the question unasked.

Heads or Tails?

One of the great legacies of a life filled with chronic pain or unending sorrow is how this affects a person's personality and the way such a person interacts with others. While it is certainly true that no one personality can be boiled down to a mere one or two traits, this manner of semi-constant experience forms the foundation of a person's overall outlook.

From my perspective, it's like a coin. You can choose to be heads or tails.

For some, pain and misery become the lens that all life is viewed through. Such people become cynical, crabby, insulting, difficult to be around and completely negative. They feel as if the world purposely has dealt them a bad hand and somebody -- EVERYBODY -- is going to pay dearly!

I have some sympathy for such people. Life is a crap shoot and some people just seem to be born on the short end of a short stick. While I can understand the tendency to want to blame others for situations beyond anyone's control, it's not helpful -- both to the sufferer and the world at large.

There is another choice available -- empathy. Because I must deal with chronic pain, I know this has allowed me to feel empathy for others in difficult situations and circumstances. While the particulars of my personal misery may be far different from another person's, the base emotion allows me to get in touch with what they too must be feeling.

And let's face it, pain, misery and sorrow are part of each of our lives. I've never met a person that has not been touched by all three. In fact, I dare say that, if a person could escape them, then they aren't living much of a life and they aren't in touch with their inner being.

In the end, however, both pain and joy are transitory. They flow into each other and both represent steps along the path of life. Both are part of Tao as is everything else.

How we deal with pain and sorrow is up to each of us. How do you flip the coin?

Finding Joy in Misery

Our hedonistic society exalts pleasure and joy over misery. Being popular, attractive, wealthy and powerful is the name of the game. Besides, who wants to embrace pain and sorrow anyway? Both can be such abject downers.

Yet pain and misery have their place in the scheme of things. If nothing else, their existence is what makes joy and happiness possible. As both the dialectical method and Taoist philosophy realize, concepts only hold meaning when posited against their opposites. Consequently, misery contains the substance of joy.

This very idea is something I need to embrace. As mentioned in the previous entry, I was born XXY which has developed into Klinefelter Syndrome (KS). Individuals who develop KS have a tendency later to develop autoimmune diseases and disorders. My autoimmune disorder has been diagnosed as Mixed Connective Tissue Disease (MCTD).

MCTD causes pain in joints and connective tissue -- a lot of pain. Like Multiple Sclerosis, it comes in episodes. Between these episodes there are periods of remission. However, for some people (like me), the disease progresses to a point where the remissions are only partial and the episodes grow in intensity.

In some ways, this disorder borders on being funny. It's sort of like my immune system has taken on the persona of the Keystone Kops. My antibodies sit around playing cards when, all of a sudden, the intruder alarm goes off, "Warning: Intruder spotted in Sector 4!" The antibodies jump into their police cars to race off with sirens blaring to a particular area of connective tissue in my body.

Upon arrival, they soon discover there is no intruder. It was a false alarm. "Hey guys, what do you think we should do now?" one of the antibodies asks. "I think we need to attack something. I mean, that's our job, isn't it?" says another. So, despite the fact there is no germ or virus to repel, they attack the connective tissue itself. And they obviously have great fun doing this!!

Of course, the affected joint is not happy at all. It becomes stiff and painful. And since my Keystone Kop antibodies go off on several such escapades simultaneously, I generally end up feeling like warmed-over crap.

Still, I hold to the thought that my misery makes my joy possible. It's true for all of us.

Technorati Tag: Autoimmune Diseases

Of Beautiful Minds & Other Things

While the film A Beautiful Mind won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2002, I didn't happen to get around to seeing it until last night on TV. The movie is a loose adaptation of the life of the great mathematician John Nash and his battle with paranoid schizophrenia.

I wish I had done almost anything else last night EXCEPT watch the film. It has left me feeling very discombobulated. You see, I can identify with many of the emotional nightmares depicted. In my late teens and 20s, I struggled mightily to cope with the realities of life. I dealt with obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, excessive mood swings and extreme introversion.

My problem is not schizophrenia; it's Klinefelter Syndrome (KS). Unlike most males, I have an additional chromosome in my genetic make-up -- XXY. This extra X has wreaked a lot of havoc in my life.

While it's certainly true that not every XXY male will develop KS, I certainly have! Unfortunately, it wasn't uncovered until I was in my early 30s. Had it been discovered earlier -- in most males its diagnosed by the beginning of puberty -- testosterone replacement therapy (TRP) would have started at an earlier point and I probably would have avoided the hell of my 20s.

Be that as it may, TRP has made a world of difference in my life. It's almost like I've lived two different lives in one lifetime -- before TRP and after. Friends and family who knew me more in my pre-TRP days generally are surprised when they meet the more confident and less passive TRP me.

Yet, despite the significant differences between these two people, I still suffer from the same symptoms. Like Nash, however, I've learned not to listen to the "voices" (though, for me, I suffer more from disassociated emotional impulses than auditory hallucinations). It's a constant battle not to allow them to take hold, but the TRP me has more weapons to keep them at bay.

Like I said, I really wish I hadn't watched THAT movie. It landed way too close to the heart.

How Does One Become a Taoist?

It's always interesting to see which search terms bring a person to your blog. Today, one of those search terms involved the question: How Does One Become a Taoist?

I suppose there are trillions of ways this question could be answered. For me, the answer is very easy. No one can become a Taoist...because you already are one.

From the perspective of Taoism, everything that exists is part of the one cosmic reality. If you and I are part of Tao, then there's no need to "become" something you are inherently part of.

And here's the best part of being a Taoist, you don't even need to acknowledge it. It doesn't matter one wit if you ever utter the word Tao. The fact that you exist is enough.

This is one way that Taoism is set apart from religion. In order to call yourself a Christian, Jew, Buddhist, Muslim, Hindu, etc., you must subscribe to certain beliefs and understand the world from a particular perspective.

This matters not in Taoism. It's of no consequence as to what you believe in nor how you refer to yourself. It doesn't matter where you live or your position in life. It's not dependent on your age, race or gender. In fact, you don't even have to be human!

The fact that you are is all that matters. So, for anyone (or thing) that is reading this, I say: Welcome fellow Taoist.

Sex, Lies & Videotapes

When Bill Clinton twisted in the wind trying to mangle the English language and the definition of the words "is" and "sex", the ardent Right jumped on him like there was no tomorrow. Though Clinton ensnared himself in a web of half-truths and outright lies concerning his interaction's with a specific intern, he seem incapable of facing the truth.

So one would think the ardent Right would be pouncing with claws extended over the latest escapades of Misters Bush & Cheney. As I'm sure you're well aware, videotapes have surfaced recently which clearly show that the mighty Shrub was fully informed of the possible breach of levees in New Orleans PRIOR to Hurricane Katrina's landfall. These tapes easily contradict his statement, made 4 days AFTER landfall, that no one in his administration had any inkling that said levees might be in trouble.

Not wishing to be outdone, the mad hunter Dick Cheney has steadfastly stated that he played no role whatsoever in the outing of Valerie Plame. However, email correspondence released by the White House show the exact opposite -- that Cheney was involved in this process for nearly one year!

Yet, while Clinton was verbally flogged by the ardent Right, they seem more than willing to look the other way when it comes to Bush & Cheney.

As the Church Lady would say, How c-o-n-v-e-n-i-e-n-t!

Change is Good...I Think

As a person who has limited knowledge of html and the like, I've stayed with the same layout template I chose in the beginning because I was nervous about my ability to change it. Well, I decided to throw caution to the wind.

This is a work in progress. Who knows? Maybe I'll decide I don't like this new look. Maybe I will. We'll see.

Addendum: I changed it back. While I really like a 3-column format, I still need to tweak the new template. At some point, it will probably return for good.

A Self-Inflatable Raft

Religions and philosophic beliefs don't arise in a vacuum. They spring forth as the result of historical events and societal conditions. They are attempts to promise future stability and security amongst the insecurities, worries and fears of the people in a particular culture. And they are not built in a day, but evolve over a number of generations.

In other words, religions and philosophic belief systems are not akin to a self-inflatable raft. Neither pops up one day completely filled out ready to sail.

What if the great whatever decided today to rid the world of all religions and philosophic belief systems? With the wave of its mighty hand (for lack of a better term), the Bible, Koran, Tao Te Ching and all such texts simply vanished, both in their written form and in the consciousness of collective society. The names Buddha, Jesus, Mohammad, Lao Tzu, Moses, God and any others no longer hold any special meaning.

As society sets forth to tackle the challenges of living in this world, ideas concerning the purpose of life and our place in it will necessarily begin to take root and flower. In this specific instance, if you had the capacity to create a religion and/or philosophic belief system that IS akin to a self-inflatable raft, what will it look like?

What principles will form its foundation? What Golden Rules will you write? What will you name it?

The pages of this new Great Book are empty now. How will you fill them in?

The Art of Class Blowing

Let's say you work for WalMart or McDonald's. Your boss discovers that you lied on your time sheet about the number of hours you've worked. Over the course of 2 or 3 years, about 10% of the time you SAID you were at work, you weren't. What do you think your boss will do?

The most obvious repercussion is that you will be shown the door, fired! The company may file suit against you to recover the fraudulant wages you received. Even if you somehow manage to keep your job, you can be assured that future paychecks will be docked a percentage until every last penny you bilked from the company has been repaid in full.

Yes, that's the way the world works IF you are a working stiff, but it's NOT the way the world works if you happen to be a powerful, politically-connected corporation. According to The New York Times, Halliburton is being paid it's entire [no bid] contract by the Army despite the fact that over 10% of the work supposedly performed is disputed!

The Army has decided to reimburse a Halliburton subsidiary for nearly all of its disputed costs on a $2.41 billion no-bid contract to deliver fuel and repair oil equipment in Iraq, even though the Pentagon's own auditors had identified more than $250 million in charges as potentially excessive or unjustified.

The Army said in response to questions on Friday that questionable business practices by the subsidiary, Kellogg Brown & Root, had in some cases driven up the company's costs. But in the haste and peril of war, it had largely done as well as could be expected, the Army said, and aside from a few penalties, the government was compelled to reimburse the company for its costs...auditors began focusing on the fuel deliveries under the contract, finding that the fuel transportation costs that the company was charging the Army were in some cases nearly triple what others were charging to do the same job.

Not only are they being reimbursed the full contract, but you can bet that they will be awarded more such contracts in the future. If you worked at WalMart or McDonald's, do you think they would gladly hire you back after you had defrauded them of wages?

Is the Biblical God Possible?

At some point in almost each person's life in the western world, we ask ourselves: Is the Christian God possible? I think a lot of Christians skate over this question because the apparent contradictions should make even the most devout among us a tad bit queasy. How can the creator of everything be uniquely perfect when there is so much imperfection in the world? How can an entity that is the picture of absolute love allow so much hate and misery to abound?

While web surfing the other day, I came across an interesting site, Evil Bible. Its author goes to a great deal of trouble to debunk the Christian religion. While you may not agree with that site's general thesis or you may not agree with all the points raised, it does provide some excellent fodder for discussion.

In the section, "Why the Christian God is Impossible", there are two good points I offer for consideration:

Perfection Seeks Even More Perfection

What did God do during that eternity before he created everything? If God was all that existed back then, what disturbed the eternal equilibrium and compelled him to create? Was he bored? Was he lonely? God is supposed to be perfect. If something is perfect, it is complete--it needs nothing else. We humans engage in activities because we are pursuing that elusive perfection, because there is disequilibrium caused by a difference between what we are and what we want to be. If God is perfect, there can be no disequilibrium. There is nothing he needs, nothing he desires, and nothing he must or will do. A God who is perfect does nothing except exist. A perfect creator God is impossible.

The Omniscient is Surprised

A God who knows everything cannot have emotions. The Bible says that God experiences all of the emotions of humans, including anger, sadness, and happiness. We humans experience emotions as a result of new knowledge. A man who had formerly been ignorant of his wife's infidelity will experience the emotions of anger and sadness only after he has learned what had previously been hidden. In contrast, the omniscient God is ignorant of nothing. Nothing is hidden from him, nothing new may be revealed to him, so there is no gained knowledge to which he may emotively react.

We humans experience anger and frustration when something is wrong which we cannot fix. The perfect, omnipotent God, however, can fix anything. Humans experience longing for things we lack. The perfect God lacks nothing. An omniscient, omnipotent, and perfect God who experiences emotion is impossible.

It's Not About the Money

How many times have we heard an athlete, who has just signed a huge new contract, say the following: "It's not about the money"? (We also hear celebrities and CEOs say the same kind of thing.) These people will tell you that the current position is the culmination of a "life long dream" and, heck, to get a chance to play for this team, they'd do it for free.

After waxing eloquently for minutes or hours, they go skipping gleefully all the way to the bank with $10, $20, $50 or $100 million or more filling their pockets.

Yeh right, it's not about THE MONEY.

Well, in looking at my life, I can honestly say, It's NOT about the money. I recently received my periodic social security statement. If I judged my life in terms of dollar signs, I should locate the nearest bridge and heave myself off of it.

Over the past 25 years, I've earned about $150,000. Mere pocket change by Bill Gates' standards.

I'm not looking for your pity. I've chosen this kind of lifestyle. For the past decade, I've worked for several progressive advocacy organizations and, what I haven't earned in money, I've earned in class consciousness. Before that, I worked in children's social services -- A needed occupation that doesn't make one monetarily rich.

To be certain, there are times I wish I made more money. I half-wish I could buy a new vehicle every few years or purchase a faster computer. But these are fleeting desires. I've made my bed and I'm happy to lie in it.

Money has a certain value, but it's not genuinely what makes the world go 'round OR brings happiness to anyone. In fact, money seems to bring more pressure to people's lives as they're always trying to make or get more. For many people, no matter how much monetary wealth they accumulate, it's never enough.

They long for some worth and security that they can never seem to find. They surround themselves with baubles and trinkets, yet their internal misery continues unabated.

I don't have these worries. Like Lao Tzu, I cherish the simple things and, by choosing to live a life of simplicity, my life is full. By having a little, I have a lot.

Really. It's NOT about the money.

Morality Against Itself

One of the chief aspects of Taoism that seems to defy the expectations of the typical Western mind is the lack of deference to a code of morality. Unlike the Judeo-Christian tradition, there are no commandments nor creeds nor dictums. There is no middleman (i.e., priest, minister, holy one) between Tao and the masses.

In fact, according to Taoist sages, morality is its own worst enemy. The very act of instructing people how to think and behave encourages them to act or behave in the opposite manner. Like a child testing parental boundaries, morality causes most people to see what they think they can get away with and still fall within the boundary.

More importantly, morality serves as an impetus to "do the right thing" out of self-interest rather than because it's the right thing to do. To illustrate this point, I'm going to use a tool popular with Raymond Smullyan, author of The Tao Is Silent. In often humurous ways, he likes to explain particular ideas via dialogue between two people with opposing viewpoints.

My imaginary conversation is between a Christian and a Taoist.

Taoist: By and large, Christians seem to want to do the right thing based solely on self-interest.

Christian: How on earth can you say that? We desire to do the right thing because its God's will.

Taoist: Let me see if I can get a handle on this. You believe that humanity is flawed and can only find redemption through the grace of God, right?

Christian: Yes. We are so flawed that none of us deserves God's mercy, but he gives it to us anyway, if we only believe in him.

Taoist: If faith is all that's needed, then why worry about doing good works? As long as you have faith, you're saved.

Christian: But good works show that your faith is genuine.

Taoist: Oh, I understand now. You're trying to prove your worthiness to God.

Christian: No! Didn't you hear what I said earler? None of us is worthy!

Taoist: If none of us is worthy and there's no way to prove our worthiness through good works, then why worry about doing the right thing?

Christian: Oh, you amaze me! People should do the right thing because, if we don't, we face an eternity of hell and damnation, estranged from our father.

Taoist: I get it now. You behave properly because you don't wish to displease God.

Christian: Precisely!

Taoist: In other words, you now admit that right behavior is out of self-interest?

Christian: I'm saying nothing of the sort!

Taoist: You just told me that displeasing God by not having faith in him and not performing good works to illustrate the genuiness of said faith is what motivates you to be a good person. In other words, you behave rightly to avoid a sanction or punishment. I'd call that self-interest.

Christian: Aaah! But there's more to it than that. A person has strong faith and right conduct to please God and to go to heaven to live forever with God.

Taoist: Oh, so you behave properly because you wish to please God?

Christian: Now you got it!

Taoist: Just as before, you must now agree with me that you behave rightly due solely to self-interest.

Christian: What? Aren't you listening?

Taoist: I certainly am listening. I'm beginning to wonder if you're listening to yourself. You're now saying that people should behave rightly because they will receive a reward of eternal life with God. Again, the motivation is self-interest.

Christian: No! No! No! It's because we want to do God's will!

Taoist: From what you've explained to me, people try to exhibit right behavior in order to prove themselves to God or to avoid punishment or to gain a reward. Under any and all of these circumstances, right behavior is motivated by a person's self-interest. In Christian thought, you can't escape it.

So, how does Taoist thought differ? Taoists believe that people will do the right thing simply because its the right thing to do. Because we do not believe in a personified God, right behavior isn't performed as a proof of worthiness. Because we do not believe in Hell, right behavior isn't performed to escape a punishment. Because we don't believe in heaven, right behavior isn't performed to gain a reward.

There is no need for morality. There are no oughts or shoulds. There is just Tao, the Way. And we try to walk its path.

The Taboo on Violence

Ask the average person if we live in a world that celebrates violence and/or aggression and you'll most likely find the answer is yes. People will point to the excessive amount of gratuitous violence on TV, in movies and video games, and in the sporting world. Consequently, on a superficial level, it seems that the human species is naturally a violent one.

If you share this perspective, then it appears self-evident that the chief way to solve serious international conflicts is through a military strategy. If one or more nations can't convince another that a certain action or behavior is not in the world's best interest, then there's no other choice but war.

While I won't naively suggest that there isn't a lot of violence in our society, I think that far too many people over emphasize it's supposedly inherent nature. When a natural catastrophe strikes a particular region, MOST people rush to the area to provide aid and comfort, NOT to loot the area. When MOST people find themselves in conflict with another person, they try to work out their differences peacefully, instead of resulting to violence.

Our society is built upon the foundation of nonviolence. In sports, athletes are penalized for being overly aggressive or violent. Our penal system --whether one agrees with all of its many aspects or not -- is built upon the idea of punishing people for behaving or acting in a violent manner. Our system of laws and legislation is based on the idea that reasonable people can come to rational decisions about how we can all share in the public sphere of life.

It should follow then that we should and can use nonviolent means to solve international conflicts. One organization that has taken this ideal to heart is Nonviolent PeaceForce. Their mission is

to build a trained, international civilian nonviolent peace force. The Nonviolent Peaceforce will be sent to conflict areas to prevent death and destruction and protect human rights, thus creating the space for local groups to struggle nonviolently, enter into dialogue, and seek peaceful resolution.

It's an idea whose time has come!

Some Observations on Faith

Faith. It plays a crucial role in the life of every person. There are far too many variables for any one person to know or understand, so we must each have faith that laws, customs, mores and principles consistently will apply to the various situations in our lives. As has often been stated, each time we go out on the road in a vehicle, we need to have faith that other drivers will stay on their side of the road and will not run the next stoplight.

By definition, faith means to hold a "confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing" and to acknowledge that said beliefs "do not rest on logical proof or material evidence". In other words, faith is a belief in the validity of something without knowing for absolute certainty that this something is valid.

While faith is encompassed in all human interaction and institutions, it is most closely associated with religion. The followers of any given religious system have faith that their understanding of the world and beyond is THE correct understanding and, by virtue of this correct understanding, such followers will be in some way rewarded for holding to this faith.

By and large, the fundamentalists of any given religion -- those who cling to the old teachings and tend to not believe that changing circumstances necessitate changing time-honored doctrines -- place great emphasis on faith. In my estimation, however, the faith that they speak of is very shallow and one-dimensional.

For such fundamentalists, faith provides the key to salvation. They hold strongly to the belief that THEY will be pardoned for any earthly transgressions and will thus be welcomed into the halls of heaven or nirvana. They hold to a faith that the righteous will be rewarded when the end time comes by their deity or deities.

Yet, far too many of these very same people are the ones who most favor war, oppression, discrimination and hatred. It seems that their concept of faith only pertains to themselves, their family or group. In other words, their faith is exclusive, not inclusive.

They don't have faith in other people. They don't have faith in Mother Earth. They don't have faith in the collective consciousness. In actuality, they don't truly have a deep abiding faith in their own God because this entity created all of us and so all of us are part of that entity.

If you genuinely believe that humankind is created in the image of God, then how can you turn around and preach the destruction of some of those images? How can you show the steadfastness of your faith in the absoluteness of love by advocating for the misery and repression of some of God's children?

The simple answer is that you can't. To do so, contradicts the very faith you say you hold so dear.

The Draped Flag

There was a time, not so long ago, when American life came to a near standstill during the Olympics (though more the Summer version than the Winter one). That doesn't happen anymore. You know things are faring poorly when millions more people watch American Idol than US hopes for gold, silver and bronze.

Consequently, a great deal of the American viewing public is unaware of a nasty tempest that is brewing toward the boiling point. While the issue itself is painted as a disagreement among two athletes, as with many things in today's world, race plays a huge part in it.

Over the past weekend, Shani Davis became the first African American athelete EVER to win a gold medal in an individual event at the Winter games by scoring the winning time in the 1,000 meter speedskating race. His erstwhile teammate Chad Hedrick wasn't in a congratulatory mood, however, because Davis had decided to skip an earlier team race in order to concentrate on his speciality.

Hedrick, who is white, has painted his complaint in red, white and blue. In Hedrick's estimation, Davis put himself before his country.

It sounds like a good argument, if it were true. The problem with Hedrick's characterization of Davis' selfishness is that Hedrick's own gripe is based on self-interest too. Before the Olympics began, Hedrick had marketed himself as America's next potential 5-medal winner. If he garned the 5 medals, he was certain to rake in millions of dollars in endorsement contracts.

In essence, Hedrick is far more upset with Davis because Davis' decision means that Hedrick can't live up to his own hype. That has nothing to do with mom, apple pie and the flag!

Many in the sports media, however, seem willing to overlook Hedrick's obvious conflict of [self-] interest. This brewing controversary has gained a lot of traction and Davis is bearing the brunt of a slew of ill feelings.

If you don't think race plays a big part in the controversy, imagine if the roles were reversed. Imagine that Shani Davis was a member of the relay team and Chad Hedrick decided not to participate in the team event to instead concentrate on his speciality.

If it was Davis who was now complaining, I can almost hear the general response. "That Davis is only thinking of himself. His only chance for a medal is in the relay. Chad Hedrick stands a far better chance of winning gold for the US if he skates solely in the 1,000 meter race."

I know that there are a lot of Americans who want to believe we live in a colorblind society, that each of us IS judged by personal merit alone. Examples such as the one above prove we have a long, long way to go to realize that kind of reality!

Hats off to Shani Davis!! We should all be proud of his hard-earned gold medal.

Engagement Across the Pond

It's common knowledge that far too many Americans don't understand what it's like to live in a world with occupying troops and threats of war on the horizon. What we know about every day life in Iraq, Iran and the Middle East comes from the self-censoring mainstream media. To say the least, much of the information shared with us is sketchy and skewed.

To combat this problem, I've been visiting blogs written by those who live these realities every day. It's an eye-opening experience and reminds me that people of differing cultures, religions and geographic locations hold much in common.

If you'd like to see the world through the eyes of the Arab and/or Muslim world, below I will list several blogs for your perusal. Read what they have to say and leave comments. Let's try to bridge the government-created chasm between people and countries, one blogger at a time.

Baghdad Dweller
The Black Iris of Jordan
Blogging the Middle East
Sabbah's Blog
Raising Yousuf
Healing Iraq
Iran's View from Outside