Verse 59: Restraint

Verse Fifty-Nine
In caring for others and serving heaven,
There is nothing like using restraint.
Restraint begins with giving up one's own ideas.
This depends on Virtue gathered in the past.
If there is a good store of Virtue, then nothing is impossible.
If nothing is impossible, then there are no limits.
If a man knows no limits, then he is fit to be a ruler.
The mother principle of ruling holds good for a long time.
This is called having deep roots and a firm foundation,
The Tao of long life and eternal vision.
~ Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English translation ~

Ooh, another verse that teases out ideas with the use of paradox and seeming contradiction! On the one hand, we're advised to restrain ourselves, yet, through restraint, our horizons will be limitless.

Roger Ames & David Hall see this verse as speaking to us on two distinct levels.

Repeatedly the Daodejing enjoins its readers to conserve and nourish their quantum of vital energy in both their human and natural environments. We should never force life either in attempting to add to it or in allowing it to be unnecessarily squandered. Building effective character and spending it as we go, we are able to survey the land and participate fully in constructing the way for our place and time. We secure our role and make the most of our creative energies by expending them judiciously, always staying in step in the dance of life.

This chapter works on two levels. On one plane, it focuses on a regimen of self-cultivation and the nourishing of one's life-force. There is much in the text that might well be construed as formal meditative practices. On the other hand, the text uses a political vocabulary to suggest that on a second plane, such a personal regimen prepares one to take a leading role in establishing a vision for the human community, and in bringing this vision to fruition.

Compare this kind of advice with how leaders are "crowned" in our society. Those who ascend to the throne typically do so through rabid self-promotion. They pound on lecterns and stand on soapboxes. They spend more time telling us why their opponents are dirty dogs than providing us with substantive ideas. Glib sound bytes rule the day.

In essence, they thrust their names before us and try to woo us with rhetoric and sophistry. Their ascension is completely artificial and manufactured. More importantly, most of these so-called public servants are more interested in serving their own egos than anything else. What they desire most is power, recognition, money and status.

I realize it's very pollyanna, but it would be so nice if leaders rose through the ranks in an organic manner. Instead of the leaders trying to crown themselves, the masses would elevate those individuals who exemplified great wisdom and virtue to serve the public. There would be no need for slick and glitzy campaign machines. People would simply know by a person's character if they believed that she or he was the best one for the job.

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

Against One's Own Nature

One theme that we meet again and again throughout the 81 verses in the Tao Te Ching is this idea that turning against one's own nature creates problems. Both Nina Correa and Diane Dreher have underlined the point that, by not allowing ourselves to be who we really are, we generate stress and tension that results in anxiety, pain and disease.

As I have been working my way through the series on the TTC, I have taken these thoughts to heart and, recently, I have come to understand how this principle has influenced my life. For more than one decade, I tried to be something I am not and I'm suffering the consequences now.

As I have detailed in this space many times before, I'm a very introspective and introverted person. Since my formative years, I've been out-of-step with most of the world. I loathe crowds (particularly social gatherings) and spend the majority of my time alone -- usually deep in thought.

For the first 30 years of my life, I tended to keep to myself. This is not to say that I didn't have any friends -- I had several -- but my life was very compartmentalized. I spent time with a small group of pals (both individually and collectively), but always needed a lot of alone time to recharge.

To provide an example, as a young person, one of my favorite activities was hiking. I hiked all over the area in and around Hot Springs, AR. Most of these excursions were solitary ones. From time to time, a family member, friend or one particular girlfriend (my "now" wife, Della) would accompany me, but I didn't really enjoy the company!!

I felt most energized and spiritual when it was simply me and nature. When other people were there, I felt crowded. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I have a very large "personal space" and hiking with another person always made me feel as if that space was being invaded.

In addition, when someone is with you, a modicum of conversation is expected. When I hiked alone, it was sort of like energetic meditation. Consequently, the expectation of conversation interrupted my contemplative state.

In the summer of 1990, I entered Grad School at age 33. My chosen degree was a MS in Social Science with a political philosophy emphasis. Up until that juncture, I had been rather apolitical. About the only political thing I did each year was vote. Other than that, I generally ignored politics.

I had always considered myself a liberal, but, after reading a lot of the works of Karl Marx, I realized I was a quasi-Marxist! (I say quasi simply because, unlike a lot of dogmatic Marxists, I didn't view the man as a god-like figure. While I think his analysis of the modern world is spot on in many areas, I also grant he got several things wrong.)

As I studied the political process, it began to dawn on me that almost everything in our lives is, at least, small p political. Politics permeates families, social groups, companies, churches, and, of course, government. If I wanted to help affect positive social changes, I needed to get more involved in the political process.

Of course, this created a serious dilemma for me. To become more involved in the process meant I would need to become extroverted because the only way one can be influential WITH groups is if one is an active participant IN groups. With much soul searching and trepidation, I slowly eased myself into the kiddie pool. In time, I found myself in a crowded swimming pool at the adult end!

Not only did I become involved in many progressive organizations, but I served as a leader in many of them. I organized conferences, led marches and demonstrations, conducted workshops, and testified before state and local government bodies. On three occasions, I ran for public office: governor, congress and the local transit board.

However, almost all of these public activities made me very uncomfortable and, as I've detailed here before, I still kept the masses at arm's length. I was always looking for a way to escape -- even if only for a few minutes or an hour or so -- to get by myself to allow me that precious alone time. My favorite escape strategy was to disappear at lunchtime -- when everyone else was networking and socializing. It became a common joke amongst my colleagues as almost everyone got to play the "Where did Trey go?" game.

All this public involvement went against my nature. While I have suffered with Asperger's, Klinefelter's and arthritis all my life, my physical and neurological problems began to intensify during this period. I began to encounter serious bouts of fatigue, tremors, vertigo and intense pain. As the 1990s turned into the 21st century, my health was going downhill rapidly.

It was during this time that I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and my Asperger's tendencies were becoming more and more prevalent. It got to the point in which I realized I simply couldn't keep going this way. I was driving myself mad. And so, slowly but surely, I began to deactivate my public self. Today, I border upon being a hermit.

This whole experience has provided me with a valuable lesson. By fighting against my own nature, I unwittingly exacerbated many of my maladies and changed manageable conditions into hard to manage ones. I created enormous amounts of internal stress and tension by trying to be someone I am not.

Today, I'm wrestling with the fallout in my experiment in extroversion. My overall health is only so-so and I don't think it will ever be right again. That said, I'm much more content with my solitary lifestyle than before. I no longer beat myself up for being a loner. I no longer push myself to fit into other people's external definitions.

I'm now living WITHIN -- not against -- my nature. My chief way of connecting with the world is through my writings on this blog.

My purpose in writing this long personal reflection today is the hope that it can serve as a warning to others to try to live the life consistent with the person you are. When we try to be who we are not, we often create the framework for our own downfall. This has certainly proven to be the case for me.

Why Insurance?

For the past few months, one of the big topics across the US has been health care reform. Embedded in this discussion has been how to insure the greatest number of people at the least amount of cost. One issue that I haven't seen discussed at all is why is insurance part of the health care equation to begin with?

Every person is born and every person dies. Between these two points on the spectrum, every single one of us will become sick or injured at one time or another. About the only way a person could avoid either is if he or she lived inside a bubble and they still might end up going crazy (i.e., they might need some mental health intervention). So, the question of a person needing health care is not an if, but a when.

Since preventive and maintenance health care is needed, in one form or another, by every person who walks the face of the earth, why isn't it treated as a right? We don't have insurance policies for free speech!! I've never heard of anyone paying a monthly or yearly premium to insure that she or he can speak their mind. I certainly haven't taken out an insurance policy to insure that I can type whatever I might on this blog. So, why should I need insurance for my health?

In a democracy or republic, one of the central responsibilities of the state is to craft laws and policies to protect people's rights. Here, in the US, the government doesn't outsource the protection of the freedom of religion to outside companies. No, it is handled by the US Congress and the various state legislatures.

So, why are outside companies put in charge of protecting our right of health? In a capitalist system, the whole point of any company is to generate profits and we've seen easily that this aim often conflicts with the health rights of the people. Insurance companies routinely deny needed procedures, exclude pre-existing conditions and kick people off their plan if they get too sick and/or their needs become too costly.

While we all like to rant and rave when insurance companies behave in this manner, the system dictates that they do so! The chief way any company can sustain a healthy profit margin is to hold down costs and sick people cost a pretty penny!! If an insurance company simply allowed every test, procedure, operation and what not to move forward with little or no scrutinizing, said company would soon be out of business and their customers would be out a lot of money with no coverage to boot!

Consequently, these health care insurance companies are behaving in a manner that helps to insure their own economic survival.

So, from my perspective, the problem IS NOT how insurance companies manage their business; it's the fact that insurance companies are allowed to be players in the health care industry at all. As Bill Maher has stated several times, not everything in this world needs to generate a profit and health care should be one of those things.

We Need a Leader Like THIS!

I don't always agree with him -- though I do far more often than I don't -- but I sometimes think the US would be better off if Bill Maher was president. In my opinion, he's taken the mantle from the late George Carlin to become the comedic social conscience of the current generation.

From my humble perspective, what makes Maher so wonderful is that, while he can get almost anyone to roar in hysterical laughter, like Carlin, he's making many serious points at the same time. He's sort of a modern day Chuang Tzu!!

Here's his New Rules segment from last night's show on HBO:

Verse 58: Even Keel

Verse Fifty-Eight
'If you govern with a generous hand -
then your people will be good people.
But if your system is too constricting
then your people will outwit you . . .'

Good fortune, we say, can come from disaster:
And the reverse is true as well.

Who knows where all this will lead?

Honesty can flip into deceit in a moment,
People trying to be good can fall into the dark
And it can take them years to get out of it.

So the sage is like a razor, but he doesn't cut
He is straight as a die, but not pointedly so -
He is bright, but not blindingly so . . .
~ Man-Ho Kwok, Martin Palmer & Jay Ramsey translation ~

America is a litigious society. Almost every act, law, code, statute, regulation, ordinance, bylaw and administrative decision can be challenged in a court of law. In fact, we Americans have a penchant for doing just that!! We're constantly try to find strategies to circumvent any kind of limitation on our cherished "personal rights".

However, while everyday folks challenge a few things here and there, it's the big companies who clog the judiciary system. The moment a law or rule is passed -- heck, they probably get to work on it sooner than that -- lawyers and lobbyists immediately get to work on finding loopholes to exploit for the company's benefit.

This never-ending dance generates a snowball effect. Knowing that the rich and powerful will immediately devise methods to try to game the system, our legislators try to insulate every sort of possible loophole with a plethora of words, sentence, phrases and citations times ten. Straightforward ideas quickly become convoluted nightmares. It often gets to the point where NO ONE, including the very people who drew up the legislation, know what it means or what impacts it will generate.

Of course, that's the positive view of this landscape. The negative view -- one I often share -- is that our legislators purposely insert loopholes into the text of the legislation itself as sort of a wink wink accommodation to the people who fund the lion's share of their campaigns. It's a mechanism for the legislator to look "tough on crime," while leaving the bank vault door wide open.

Lao Tzu reminds us repeatedly that the more complicated a system of government is, the more clever the people will become. Though the early Taoists lived thousands of years ago, this provides a very apt description of the present day United States.

The problem we find ourselves in now is that we're in too deep of a hole to dig ourselves out. If a Taoist was elected president in 2012, I don't think she or he would be able to reverse the direction we're headed. If the new Taoist president declared that we were going to return to a simpler and more direct form of government, companies and individuals would flood the court system with legal challenges and the whole thing would get just as bogged down as it is now.

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

Peace of Mind

I often wonder, when new folks stop by this blog, if they may get the wrong impression of my chief aim. While the vast majority in the western world are highly suspicious of a philosophy like Taoism, there's another group of individuals that I believe think of this ancient system of thought in warm and cuddly terms. Hey, it's about nature 'n bees 'n birds 'n trees 'n mountains 'n rivers. What could be challenging about that?

To be quite frank, my hope is that my chicken scratchings make people a tad bit uncomfortable. I want folks to think about things in ways that may seem very weird and strange. For me, that's one of the hallmarks of the words of Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu. Both are basically suggesting to us that we roll up conventional wisdom into a big ball and then chuck it in a waste bin and burn it.

In my own way, I'm trying to accomplish the same thing. Whether I'm succeeding or not in this vein is open to debate. But that's what drives me and why I pretty much lay it all out there.

While I hope that some of you find a smattering of resonance in what is written here, my greater desire is that some of these posts will cause you to scratch your head and mutter WTF?

Just Suppose

I've been thinking a lot about the Alan Watts' quote I featured in Tuesday's post, A Word About Flies. To refresh your memory, the last part of what he said was "our universe may be inside an atom in somebody else's world, and all our galaxies may be part of the same speck of dust sitting on a giant piano."

When it gets right down to it, Alan may be correct!! Since we don't really know HOW our world was created or if there is a specific being responsible, almost ANY explanation is as plausible as any other.

Conventional wisdom in the western world is that a god or gods (the religious explanation) created the world and all its various life forms. Some believe this entity created existence, then left the rest up to us (deists, for one). Others believe this entity created existence and sort of hangs around rewarding and punishing us as we go our merry ways (Christians & Muslims, for two).

But who among us can say, with any degree of certainty, that existence even exists at all? Instead of being a speck of dust on a grand piano, we may each be unwitting participants in a dream! At some point, whatever it might be that's dreaming this dream will wake up and everything we know to be substantive and tangible will simply go poof.

Who knows? Maybe we're all pawns on a giant chess-like board. We think we have free will, but all of our thoughts and actions are orchestrated by the various players competing at this game.

For all we know, maybe all the other life forms on this planet got together to create a play for their own amusement. Each of us is nothing more than a drawn out character.

I'm sure the real explanation is something that no human could ever fathom. None of our religions, philosophies or speculations will ever come close to defining what is, is. So, we each create a methodology that works for us and helps us move from moment to moment without going stark raving mad.

Without these myths, stories and explanations, it would be next too impossible to function. How could a person go to work, make love or peck out blog posts if you know that some of your most elemental questions regarding life, truth and existence can never be answered in a way that makes any sense?

Verse 57: Letting Go

Verse Fifty-Seven
If you want to be a great leader,
you must learn to follow the Tao.
Stop trying to control.
Let go of fixed plans and concepts,
and the world will govern itself.
The more prohibitions you have,
the less virtuous people will be.
The more weapons you have,
the less secure people will be.
The more subsidies you have,
the less self-reliant people will be.
Therefore the Master says:
I let go of the law,
and people become honest.
I let go of economics,
and people become prosperous.
I let go of religion,
and people become serene.
I let go of all desire for the common good,
and the good becomes common as grass.
~ Stephen Mitchell translation ~

If this verse had been written in contemporary times, it would be directed at the Radical Right in every nation. The conservative zealots of every belief system talk about love and compassion, but they advocate and support policies that are authoritarian, restrictive, regressive and, often, draconian!

In the US, the Radical Right is all about limiting other people's rights and waging war. They desire to erect a rigid set of laws that seem unnaturally focused on what people do inside their own bedrooms. What's worse is that they believe that crafting a society of this nature will force people to toe the line of their arbitrary sense of morality, but, as Nina Correa points out, "The more strict society tries to be, the more people will rebel."

No one, including these same zealots, likes to be confined in a small area with no elbow room. When people feel stifled, the number one thing on their mind is to be set free and so they spend an inordinate amount of time and energy hatching schemes to escape. So, the very thing the conservatives want to accomplish is thwarted by the strategy they want to employ. It's like thinking that the best way to quell a fire is to pour gasoline on it!

Correa warns us, however, that we err if we don't realize that Lao Tzu concurrently is directing this verse directly at each of us. She writes that "the more strict and demanding you are of yourself, the more problems you'll have to deal with."

And, you know, she's right! When we try to make ourselves feel or do things against our nature -- too often utilizing strict external controls -- we become sick and diseased. In essence, we're attempting to confine ourselves in a little box which causes our natural center to want to break free.

When any of us represses our natural inclinations and flow, this bottled up energy builds and builds. At some point, we find that we can't contain it any longer and it spills out of us in torrents. We blow up in a rage or we engage in self-destructive behavior. The fury of the energy can't be managed and that's why we have a strong tendency to act like a mutant roman candle spewing sparks in every direction.

It is only when we loosen the reigns that the tension abates. When we allow ourselves the freedom to flow as we may, there is nothing in our being that gets bottled up. There is no tension that must be released.

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

More on Words

The order of the world is very different from the order we create with the rules of our syntax and grammar. The order of the world is extraordinarily complex, while the order of words is relatively simple, and to use the order of words to try to explain life is really as clumsy an operation as trying to drink water with a fork. Our confusion of the order of logic and of words with the order of nature is what makes everything seem so problematic to us. [emphasis added]

~ Alan Watts in What is Tao? ~

Tzu-Jan

There is always something we don't know. This is well illustrated by the elusive qualities of energy in physics: We cannot really define energy, but we can work with it, and this is the case with the Tao. The Tao works by itself. Its nature is to be, as is said in Chinese, tzu-jan, that which is "of itself," "by itself," or "itself so." Tzu-jan is almost what we mean when we say that something is automatic, or that something happens automatically.
~ Alan Watts in What is Tao? ~

When the concept of tzu-jan is combined with the concept of wu wei, what we end up with is going with the flow by and of itself. That, in a manner of speaking, goes hand in hand with today's verse from the TTC.

It's when we allow ourselves not to over think or over analyze a given situation that we can come to know it via tzu-jan and wu wei. These are the time when, like an athlete or an artist, we find ourselves in the zone. We simply react or create without consciously thinking about it. We flow with the situation and do what only is necessary to accomplish the task without any excessive movement or wasted breath.

Verse 56: Those Who Talk

Verse Fifty-Six
Those who know, don't talk.
Those who talk, don't know.

Shut your mouth.
Be still. Relax.
Let go of your worries.
Stay out of the spotlight.
Be at one with the world
and get right with Tao.

If you get right with Tao,
you won't be worried
about praise or scorn,
about winning or losing,
about honor or disgrace.
That's the way to be.
~ Ron Hogan rendition ~

Our society places so much importance on talking. It's near impossible to go a day without hearing any of it. To get away from all this blathering would mean:

• No TV
• No radio
• No video or audio anything
• No telephone or cell phone or blackberry, etc.
  
• No internet
• No computer-related work or entertainment
• No conversations
• No prayer
• No going anyplace in which you might run into somebody
• No thinking

As you can easily see, this would not be an easy assignment at all. It is something that can be achieved in a true meditative state, but most of us only meditate for no more than an hour or so, if that much.

As Carl Abbott of Center Tao sees it,

When I’m speaking, I can’t really think. When I’m thinking I can’t really know. Only when thinking ceases does knowing emerge. Thinking is, after all, just speaking to myself. Thus, One who (thinks) does not know…. must also hold true.

Knowing lies beyond words whether spoken or thought. At a moment of knowing, all the ‘pieces’ fall into place. Thought is an act of assembling bits and pieces of ‘knowing’ after an event of knowing has occurred. Speaking is an act of remembering (out loud) what I have thought about.

True knowing is like true love. Indeed, I see them as synonymous. I can only feel it when I set aside all discriminations.

Of course, this concept is an ideal. None of us can go through life without thinking -- our brains would suffer atrophy. But the underlying message of this verse still rings true. If we could each learn to shut up every once in awhile, we might amaze ourselves with what we could come to understand and know.

It is in the stillness that realization flowers.

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

Held Hostage by Words

Words and symbols are magical savers of time and effort otherwise spent in pointing at things, drawing them, or dragging them around in the intellectual equivalent of barter. It is no wonder at all that words have been felt to be supernatural, and because of their astonishing power, to have greater reality and antiquity than the material universe. But this, possibly superstitious, conception has had quite remarkable consequences for the further development of consciousness. It has laid the foundations for anxiety and guilt. It has made it possible for man to compare himself as he is with himself as he should be, and to realize that the world of events falls far, far short of the rationality, simplicity, orderliness and intelligibility of the world of words.

~ Alan Watts in Beyond Theology: The Art of Godmanship ~

It's interesting how the human mind continuously confuses the various fingers pointing at moons to be the moons themselves. We too often treat words like love, hate, compassion, freedom, heaven, democracy, etc., as if solely the word itself is the tangible thing we're talking about. It's nothing more than a symbol or an abbreviation for a concept that defies words.

Words, we can say, represent a double-edged sword. On the one hand, words allow us the ability to exchange ideas and make complicated formulations. Words are the breeze that lifts our sails through the water and aid us in getting from point A to point B and beyond.

At the same time, words confine us -- they hold us as virtual hostages. We begin to think that we must put every feeling, every sensation, every sense of knowing into words or else these feelings, sensations and knowing-ness are useless.

But language belies true knowledge. Most of us understand this intuitively, but we continue to flail at trying to find the right words and phrases to express it. But when we try to express it -- both externally AND internally -- we cheat it of its very essential nature.

And by writing what I'm writing right now, I'm doing it too. So, I'll stop.

The Circle of Life

Nature is in flux as it unfolds and grows, then shrinks and declines. All living things have their cycle from creation to destruction: they are born, they live, and they die. Within the life cycle is a continual interplay of yin and yang, activity and inactivity, tension and relaxation, being and nonbeing.

The life cycle should be allowed to evolve naturally and fully. Life becomes a struggle when people try to impose their personal will on inner nature, when they try to disrupt the natural cycles. When we learn to let things be, we live as nature intended, and orderliness and fulfillment of destiny comes of itself.

~ Alexander Simpkins & Annellen Simpkins in Simple Taoism: A Guide to Living in Balance ~

We always seem to be in a hurry to get to the next stage in life. When we're very young, it's often a rite of passage to move from the kiddie table to the adult table at big family gatherings. We want the training wheels taken off our bike even before we learn to ride the darn thing. When older siblings or friends start school, many of us become upset when we're told we have to stay behind and wait until we're old enough.

While I am no prude, I'm often amazed at the very young ages folks begin engaging in sexual intercourse. Kids want to feel grown-up love and so too many engage in grown-up behavior without firmly understanding the ramifications of their actions. I lost my virginity on the night of my senior prom (way too early for an immature me) and I was far, far behind the curve!

I didn't get my driver's license until I was nearly 19, but most of my compatriots arrived at the DMV the day they turned 16. They couldn't wait to get that piece of paper that would allow them to drive like "bats out of hell" in a mechanized killing machine.

At almost every step along the way in life -- with the exception of when we become feeble and frail -- we humans seem to desire to push the envelope. We want to get to the next stop as fast as we can. Too often, unfortunately, in later life we lament the fact that our rush to get to the next destination meant we never took the time to enjoy the scenery along the road!

It is only then -- once it is far too late -- that we come to understand that we have rushed through our lives and missed out on so much. By refusing to allow our lives to unfold naturally, we have robbed ourselves of the richness, beauty and diversity our lives had to offer.

Stop and smell the roses before the winter of your life sets in.

Verse 55: Childlike

Verse Fifty-Five
Stay childlike and be one with Heaven
Without seeking gain all is given
Snakes will not bite and eagles will not pluck your eyes
Though bones become brittle and sinews weaken
Spirit is forever robust

To wonder at the fullness of it all
Continue to give pleasure when not all is known
Children learn that all is different
Enjoying each and every thing
Sameness in all things abounds
The Way is maintained in peace

Deny the Way and you will die strangely
~ Stephen F. Kaufman translation ~

This talk of each individual retaining a childlike nature may lead some to think that Lao Tzu is suggesting that growth and maturity are inherently bad, that we should remain as innocent babes throughout each life. As usual, what we have here before us is a metaphor, not something to be taken literally. The writer[s] of the TTC understands intuitively that life is a cycle and every entity is born, lives and then dies.

So, what might the metaphor in verse 55 mean? From the perspective of Tai Chi Master John Lash it means:

To the child, the world is Oneness. The child sees no separation between himself and his mother or between himself and the toy he holds in his hand. Everything he touches becomes an extension of himself.

This, of course, brings us back to the concept of the interconnection of all things. As Lash points out, we experience this interconnection as infants. Unfortunately, as we age and mature, we often spend the rest of our lives unlearning this basic lesson!

In many ways, as Roger Ames & David Hall point out, an infant represents the dynamic of equilibrium.

The newly born child is the image of fullness of potency: a robustness that makes it immune from environing evils. This image is instructive. What gives the baby its vigor is its capacity to respond from the center, being supple yet firm, flexible yet potent. The baby, unconsciously and without motivation, is the embodiment of harmony and equilibrium. Vitality, then, is sustaining this kind of balance in the rhythms of the day.

In time, however, society starts to impinge on the child's natural nature. Through the process of socialization, each child slowly begins to shed that which is truly hers or his. As Nina Correa explains it,

The newborn doesn't stop and wonder why he acts the way he does. His natural life force just constantly emanates from within him. It's so plainly and simply obvious for him to act that way. His life is progressing and increasing as though he had received some special gift.

Then adults come along and try to tell the growing infant which parts of himself he has to control. The child is forced and cajoled into following societal rules and dismiss those parts of himself that don't conform. He's told that true strength comes from discipline, and that he must discipline himself. But all the while as a child is repressing his own natural urges and the parts of him that make him an individual, he still has moments of anger and sadness. He ends up pretending he's much stronger than he actually is because everyone tells him that's the way he has to be. All that self-discipline makes him grow up too early and lose the life force he received at birth. He's no longer following Dao, but following a course that's been prescribed for him by others. It's no wonder so many people get old before their time and die from stress-related illnesses.

So, if we want to live a life in accord with Tao, we need to retain those childlike qualities of connection and expression. In time, our body will grow old and "brittle", but, if we remain young at heart, the aging process won't be a part of life that we dread but embrace.

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

A Word About Flies

One of the first things everyone should understand is that every creature in the universe that is in any manner of speaking conscious regards itself as a human being. That is to say, if a creature is sensitive, it knows and is aware of a hierarchy of beings above it and a hierarchy of beings below it. Even such a tiny creature as the fruit fly, which lives only a few days, is aware of all sorts of weird little animals and pollens and spores floating in the atmosphere that we don't even notice, unless we happen to be looking through a microscope.

Indeed, the fruit fly may well criticize these spores and think they are inferior to it, and at the same time human beings are incomprehensible, from its perspective, because we are outside its perceptual range as a quasar is outside of ours. And actually, our universe may be inside an atom in somebody else's world, and all our galaxies may be part of the same speck of dust sitting on a giant piano.
~ Alan Watts in Taoism: Way Beyond Seeking ~

The above quote really resonates with me. What about you?

Watching the Uncarved Rock

Last night I read a fabulous post, "Rock Watching for Beginners", over at The Uncarved Block. It is both hilarious and insightful. It will be added to my Tumble Log. Here's a snippet:

For some its the thrill of Bird Watching. For others its spotting butterflies, trains, mushrooms or rare Spider-man comic books. Each to their own.

But for those seeking the very latest in slow-pastimes; the very latest in meditative moments and inexpensive home hobbies then the time is right to try your hand at Rock Watching.

Its not necessary to go out and buy binoculars, multi-pocketed waistcoats with brown or green colour schemes or to hide in reed bushes for the appearance of flighty beaked animals. Rock watching is far more substantial and demands none of this hanging around and waiting business.

With Rock Watching, you just simply select a rock - try and find the most uncarved looking one you can see - approach it with humility and a tasteful tea-shirt and then go about watching it...

Check it out -- you'll be glad you did!

Verse 54: Ripples of Water

Verse Fifty-Four
Do you want to be a positive influence in the world?
First, get your own life in order. Ground yourself
in the single principle so that your behavior is
wholesome and effective. If you do that, you will earn
respect and be a powerful influence.

Your behavior influences others through a ripple
effect. A ripple effect works because everyone influences
everyone else. Powerful people are powerful influences.

If your life works, you influence your family.
If your family works, your family influences the community.
If your community works, your community influences the nation.
If your nation works, your nation influences the world.
If your world works, the ripple effect spreads throughout the cosmos.

Remember that your influence begins with you and
ripples outward. So be sure that your influence is both
potent and wholesome.
How do I know this works?
All growth spreads outward from a fertile and potent
nucleus. You are a nucleus.
~ John Heider rendition ~

I have very mixed feelings about Heider's rendition. On the positive side, I think he expresses the verse very well in terms of a methodology for how each of us can have a beneficial impact on the world around us. When we begin to realize that even the smallest of actions can achieve expansive results, it should cause each of us to take more time to concentrate on and be aware of what we do and say in each moment.

On the negative side, however, I disagree with the first clause of each of the sentences in paragraph 3. Whether our lives "work" or not, we still influence all the elements he lists. You or I could be a complete screw-up and we would still influence our family and, most likely, our community.

For me, the last two sentences of his rendition are the most important. A nucleus can be bad or good and, generally, is a mixture of both. No matter how hard we might try, we can't stop the ripple effect as it is an inherent part of life. Even the actions of a hermit will impact all the beings and entities in his locale. Since most of us aren't hermits -- though I often come close -- the impact of the ripples spreading outward from our center are magnified.

So, the question each of us must ask ourselves is: What kind of ripples do I want to create? The answer will provide us with one of the best clues as to which path each of us must follow.

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

The Chosen

I've been doing a lot of reading lately and several of the ideas and concepts have stuck with me. One thought has spent some time running through my mind and it sort of congealed this evening. If there is some type of God or supreme being, why would she/he/it select a specific group of people to be the chosen ones?

Almost all the religions and philosophies that I know of postulate that this unknown something created or caused everything in existence. So, this thing is the mother of all life forms, air, earth, thought and anything else. It simply doesn't compute in me wee noggin that this unknown entity would designate a small subset of humanity and say, "You -- and no one else -- are MY special people."

But this is precisely what most religions posit. They run around telling anyone who will listen (and even those of us who aren't interested) that via special revelations or a personal relationship with the unknown thing that THEIR group is the designated one. They possess an extra special corner on truth.

As stated above, this whole line of reasoning seems absolutely ludicrous to me. However, if I set aside my incredulity for a moment and accept that this notion is possible, I'm still left with the question of why anyone would think this special designation would apply only to humans? Since, numerically speaking, we represent a very small fraction of all the life forms in this vast world, wouldn't it be more likely that cockroaches, trees or viruses would be chosen for this special distinction?

These types of beings and entities live lives within their nature. As far as we know, unlike humans, they wouldn't have the tendency to botch the divine message because of overinflated egos and I think it is highly unlikely that they would run around proselytizing anyone within earshot. They would simply bask in the glow of the heavenly whatever.

Hmm. Sort of like they do now anyway. Maybe all of creation EXCEPT HUMANS are the chosen ones!?

Verse 53: Side Paths

Verse Fifty-Three
If I have a little knowledge
Walking on the great Tao
I fear only to deviate from it
The great Tao is broad and plain
But people like the side paths

The courts are corrupt
The fields are barren
The warehouses are empty

Officials wear fineries
Carry sharp swords
Fill up on drinks and food
Acquire excessive wealth

This is called robbery
It is not the Tao!
~ Derek Lin translation ~

I really debated as to what title I would use for today's verse. Initially, I thought of using "Shortcuts", but decided that utilizing shortcuts usually means taking a side path away from the main one, so "Side Paths" it is.

It seems that we humans like the concept of diversion, even when it tends to lead to ill health, stress and pain. We're so consumed with outcomes that we too often look for ways to win praise or rewards without doing the necessary work such entails.

For example, in the early to mid portion of the twentieth century, ready-made foods became ubiquitous. Canned, frozen and freeze-dried foods or beverages appeal to us because we can serve a meal quickly without spending much time preparing it. "Gee mom, that tasted like a home-cooked meal!" the advertisers and pitchmen told us we would exclaim.

While these ready-made meals have come a long way (though a good deal of them still aren't very nutritious), at the outset, they tasted like crap! When I was a kid back in the 60s, a frozen Swanson's TV dinner tasted like heavily salted cardboard. Aah, but it was quick!!

Of course, the push to get Americans addicted to this nutritionally-questionable tripe was borne of the desire of many companies to enrich themselves at the expense of worker and consumer health. Who cares if producing and eating this muck will lead the faithful to increased heart disease, cancer and obesity? We need to make our millions and billions!

Sadly, this is the routine methodology of our economic system. The ultimate goal is to turn out products and services at the lowest cost possible to ensure the grandest profit. These profits turn into power and the people with the most power get the biggest say in how society is managed. It is a system that creates imbalance and disharmony at every turn.

As the authors of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Taoism see it,

Human hunger for wealth, position, and power is not in keeping with the great guiding process that sustains nature. This thing-lust and status-lust is instead a dangerous variety of reckless imbalance.

Ursula LeGuin expresses this same thought more succinctly when she writes, "So much for capitalism."

Who knows? Maybe this is what led me to philosophical Taoism, in the first place. As a long-time critic of our capitalist society, I've believed for decades that it is a system of inherent imbalance. The chasm between the haves and the have nots is so great that it destroys most of the vestiges of so-called American democracy. It stresses the desires of the individual over the needs of the community. It enriches a small minority on the backs and shoulders of the vast majority.

In essence, I don't see how a Taoist-based society could be a capitalist society. Hmm. Could that be why far too many Americans aren't interested in it?

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

An Honest Reaction

Here's a tidbit on the health care debate I found interesting and right on target from the blog, Zoe Rights:

So I have a dear, dear friend, a guy I've known for over 23 years. Since I'm only 29 (.something) the longevity is totally amazing. I love him, I really do despite the fact he's a Republican moron. I just want to kneecap him sometimes but I think it might get in the way of our continued friendship.

So I posted the lovely sentiment going around...."No one should die because they cannot afford health care, and nobody should go broke because they get sick. If you agree, please post this as your status for the rest of the day."

I am not even going to debate this here other than to say I'm torn....1. It's sucky to be a position to not have health coverage and then have to decide if you should take your sick 4 year old into the emergency room. 2. It scares me to have the same entity that runs the DMV involved in our healthcare system. Back on track.....

His response to my post.... "I have health care because I choose a lifestyle, college, job, career that could afford me one. Just a thought."

Holding it in, holding it in, holding it in....OH MY GOD! Where do I even start? Your parents/grandparents/wife supported you so you could go to school. Your wife supported you for three years so you could 'figure out what you wanted to do with your life.' You've thrown away two professions so you could drink but insist you don't have a problem. You grew up in the same self-entitled upper middle class/high class neighborhood I did. Did you know, not everyone lives in million dollar houses surrounding a lake? Even though you blew through the inheritance your parents left you, you still live a fairly middle-class lifestyle, you middle-aged white, over privileged, self-entitled......honky. OMG, OMG, OMG!

Is it wrong for me to use the word honky? I'm a white, really young (middle-aged) woman from the suburbs. Not sure of the rules anymore.

Did I respond? No, I kept my cool. I breathed in, I breathed out, breathed in, out. Hmmm, that's very interesting you would say that. Stop. Done.