Line by Line - Verse 4, Line 5

we should attemper our brightness,
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Soften the glare,
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Dims the glare
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

(No corresponding line)
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

Ever tried looking in the direction of the sun on a clear day? You must shield your eyes because the sheer brightness overwhelms your ability to see. If you tried to stare at the sun for any length of time -- particularly through a pair of binoculars or a telescope -- you can go blind!

It's interesting how our society considers brightness to be good and darkness to bad. Both are necessary components of life. Both serve important purposes. Each can lead to disharmony IF we focus too exclusively on one over the other.

To view the Index page for this series to see what you may have missed or would like to read again, go here.

Minty Fresh

I must admit that, since I purchased a refurbished computer, I've been very pleased with the Linux Mint operating system! (Thanks to Ta Wan for pointing me in this direction.) It is light years ahead of any of the various Windows systems that I've ever used. It doesn't freeze up and it runs like a charm.

I will admit that I initially was a bit worried about not being able to use any Microsoft-based software without an emulator like WINE (that I could not get to work anyway). It has turned out not to be much of any problem. Utilizing both the Gnome and KDE desktop packages, I have been able to add enough open source software to handle almost any task I need. They integrate well together and the various programs work on either desktop.

Switching from Windows to Linux does involve a learning curve -- no question about it -- but it's not as daunting as it might first appear. While some Linux systems necessitate the need for running a lot of stuff from a command-line, Mint works pretty darn good right out of the box!

If any of you with a pc are struggling with your Windows system, I highly recommend that you give Mint a try. You can even run it with or within Windows, if you'd like to test drive it first.

The Tao of Dark Sages - Chapter 1, Part 1

The Tao of Dark Sages
by Scott Bradley

What follows are excerpts from a spontaneous gathering of grasshoppers in a Nepalese meadow in the summer of 2000.

Madam, how can I attain enlightenment?

You can’t. Enlightenment is the realization that there is no ‘you’ to be enlightened.

Your question is a ‘plant’, right? Yes, I see some snickers among my friends.

Yes, ma’am. They asked me to ask it. But aren’t all these questions ‘plants’?

Well . . . I’d prefer to gloss that over for the moment. In any case, I thank you. You have given me the opportunity to establish my sage credentials right from the beginning.

How then can I realize there is no ‘me’?

There are no formulas. There are no how to’s. But you can set the stage for the event. The event itself is beyond your control.

So how can I set the stage?

First, I suggest that you try to understand what it means that you do not exist. This understanding cannot lead you to awakening, but can help you to prepare yourself for the openness to the Unknown that awakening requires. What then does it mean that you do not exist? Surely you must see that the entire sphere of your self-identity is a fabrication of mind. It is a fantasy world that your mind has created. It is not a real thing, not an entity in its own right. It has no reality independent of the mind. It does not exist. This is the ego-self, a construct of a more fundamental self.

Is this more fundamental self the real me, my true self, my buddha-nature?

Absolutely not. ‘True-self’ is No-self. Perhaps you’ve heard the Zen saying, ‘If you meet the Buddha, kill him!” I suggest that if you meet your buddha-nature, you should kill that, too. Any supposed entity that is in some way construed as ‘you’ is a delusion and an obstacle to awakening. When I speak of the fundamental self I mean that sense of self which awareness projects so as to see itself. This is the meaning of self-consciousness.

Like the eye that cannot see itself, awareness, as pure subject, cannot be aware of itself. The projection of a self is awareness holding up a mirror before itself so as to see itself. That sense of self is no more an entity in its own right than is the ego. The difference is that the ego-self is the creation of the self and the self is the creation of awareness. You are this self, but this self does not, in fact, truly exist.

If you're interested in reading more from this series by Scott Bradley, go here.

The American Theocracy - Creationism

In the new American theocracy, we won't have to call creationism "Intelligent Design" to get around US Supreme Court rulings anymore. No, we'll just refer to it by what it really is!

Schools will no longer be allowed to teach the theory of evolution because there is no need for a theory when we already possess God's "truth". Museums and science exhibits will be required to show how the world was created only 6,000 or so years ago. While this dumbing down of future generations is bad enough, it certainly won't be the worst of it.

As it stands right now, many science-minded individuals emigrate to the United States to further their studies and careers. They find jobs in many of our outstanding research universities, with government agencies and in a wide variety of corporations. Unfortunately, once creationism replaces bona fide science, this trend will be reversed!

Not only will foreign scientists not emigrate here, but our leading home-grown scientific minds will hasten to emigrate to other nations that continue to value the scientific process. Within a generation or two, we will begin to see the real affects of this "brain drain."

Not that our religious/governmental leaders will mind!! A dumbed down populace is that much easier to fool and manipulate. By the the mid to latter part of this century -- provided "the rapture" has not occurred yet -- Americans will more closely resembled mindless zombies than cognizant human beings!

If you're interested in reading more from this tongue-in-cheek series, go to the The American Theocracy Index page.

Tao Bible - Exodus 20:3

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
~ King James Version ~

Tao makes no demands.
~ possible Taoist alternative ~

This is first of the biblical 10 commandments. God demands that his people recognize and worship him.

Tao cares not if we recognize or name it. Tao remains the same.

If you're interested in reading more from this experimental series, go to the Tao Bible Index page.

Evil Snares the Spotlight

After "praying" about it, Pastor Terry Jones has decided not to cancel his tiny church's planned Koran burning this Saturday. Saying he needs to stand up for what he believes is right, his effort is garnering massive attention, including two posts on the topic from yours truly.

In this age of instant access to information via the world wide web, it is yet another example of how evil and hate so easily snare the spotlight. People and organizations now go out of their way to think up so many dastardly positions, statements and events BECAUSE they know it will get them their 15 minutes of fame or more. It's no wonder that Jones hasn't backed down to this point; if he backs down now, the media glare goes away.

Parents know that their children often act out as a way of saying, "Notice me!". Bad behavior often generates far more focus and attention than good behavior. So, kids sometimes screw up simply to shift the focus of the family from whatever else to themselves.

This tack doesn't stop in childhood either. Adults are as guilty as any child.

That's what Jones is doing right now! In a manner of speaking, he's hijacked this year's remembrance of 9/11. When the topic is brought up today, it almost invariably goes through him and his small group of followers. I'm sure his call has motivated some other hate-filled people to join his teeny church. I'm sure his announcement is generating donations from hatemongers around the world. He will get A LOT of mileage out of this whole deal.

In the end, it really doesn't matter whether or not he actually goes through with it. If he's as savvy as he appears, he'll wait until the last possible moment to call it off, if that's his real plan. He'll wait until the media trucks fill the streets around his small church, then enjoy even more of the media spotlight as he announces WHY he decided to pull the plug at the last moment.

Whatever he ultimately decides to do, he has already won. The media and, sadly, bloggers like me have handed him precisely what he craves -- undue attention to spread his less than honorable beliefs.

Too Much Cement

The problem with ANY religion, philosophy or ideology is that, rather than utilize it as a guide to fuse with one's own experience and commonsense, it becomes set in stone and turns into dogma or orthodoxy. When this happens, new information or new consciousness is not allowed a foothold because it might well upset the apple cart of tradition.

Yet, if we look with fresh eyes at many of the foundational texts of a myriad of belief systems, it's not difficult to discern competing ideas that run throughout such works. The different strains of belief actually argue against a dogmatic approach.

For example, it is well understood by modern scholars that many different schools of thought permeate the Tao Te Ching and Zhuangzi. As we slowly explore both works, differing influences can be seen. Parts of these books feature early Chinese folk religion, shamanism and mysticism. Other parts show strong influences from Confucianism and Mohism. Other strains of thought show up as well. Taken together, they make up the generalized school of thought that today we call philosophical Taoism.

The very same kinds of patterns can be seen in the Christian Bible. There are portions of this work that emphasize an angry, warlike god. There are just as many other parts that promote a kind and loving god. Some writers view works as being an important component to faith. Others contend that works are of little importance.

Religious institutions and people land themselves in trouble when they fumble to reconcile dramatically different perspectives. They come up with laughable formulas to "prove" that light and darkness or love and hate mean roughly the same thing. They take easy to spot contradictions and errors, then try to work their magic to make them disappear.

In the end, people too often lose sight of the notion that foundational documents simply set the foundation for a way of seeing the world. While a foundation certainly will exert some impact on what the ongoing structure will look like, it does not dictate the precise floor plan, the size of the windows nor the color of the wallpaper!

Line by Line - Verse 4, Line 4

and unravel the complications of things;
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Untangle the knot,
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Unravels the knots
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

(No corresponding line)
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

In the book, The Tao of Peace, Wang Chen phrases this line as "dampens fervor, resolves confusion." For me, this is not altogether different than Legge's take and it is also not far from the other two as well.

The central point is that nature does not twist itself up with worry over what was, is or could be. Nature simply flows from here to there and back again. We would do well to learn this lesson for use in our own lives.

To view the Index page for this series to see what you may have missed or would like to read again, go here.

A Man's World

In Chapter 4 of American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America, Chris Hedges does a masterful job of discussing one of my great pet peeves with the Christian belief system: Its cult of masculinity. From the very get-go in the bible, women are viewed as second-class citizens and/or property. The best women are those who are married and obedient to their husbands, the unquestioning head of the household.

In a manner of speaking, women are treated about the same as children: Best to be seen and not heard!

For the fundamentalist Christian church, this supposed divide between the sexes is amped up to its zenith. All the major players are male. Almost all the pastors in the various churches are male too. Like the husband is the head of the household, the pastor is the head of his flock and most of the time he is not a kindly shepherd but a ruthless dictator.

What it all boils down to, according to Hedges, is an unswerving dedication to male authority. Believers are so beat down with this perverse message that, in time, they willingly cede their ability to think independently and to make moral judgments to the powers that be. They willingly become little Christian soldiers.

Needless to say, I reject such notions.

The Tao of Dark Sages - Introduction, Part 2

The Tao of Dark Sages
by Scott Bradley

Introduction by the Buddha (con't)

Unfortunately, I am not alone in having had my simple message distorted beyond all recognition and used to justify every conceivable form of bondage and criminality. Moses is a great example. Today, we liberate ourselves. Tomorrow, we exterminate another race. Entirely justifiable, of course, since god told us to do it. We even get a repeat performance in modern times — I mean who are the Palestinians if not the remnant descendants of the Jebusites, Edomites, Philistines, Caananites and the rest of that lot?

Perhaps you are familiar with the shortest verse in the Bible? “Jesus wept.” I’ve got news for you, he’s still weeping. His message was so simple. So full of compassion and wisdom — albeit in bondage to the absurd theism of his culture. Yet, today we have the Religious Right asserting its power in his name. Half a million dead in Iraq and it ain’t over yet.

Mohammed, I have to admit, is a different kind of fish altogether. He is more a testament to the ability of one ego-maniac of very limited insight and no originality to enslave the mind of billions. The mind boggles. I can’t help but wonder, if God is so Great, why does he need a bunch of dimwits protecting his interests? At least those Taliban characters had the decency to blow up those monstrous statues of me in Afghanistan. I dare not say more — they can’t get to me, but Sue-tzu is still vulnerable.

Hinduism, I must admit, is dear to my heart. It is, after all, where I got my start. Nevertheless, it is no less a load of nonsense than the rest. But when you’ve got 300 million gods and goddesses to contend with, it’s hard to point the finger in any one direction. Still, consider the wonderful doctrine of ahimsa — absolute non-violence to all beings. Unless they are Pakistanis or your Muslim neighbor, of course. One must wonder who, among today’s spiritual teachers, will be tomorrow’s excuse for a New Age of religious madness. I do hope it isn’t Sue-tzu.

No doubt you are somewhat taken aback by this rant by the Buddha! Well, if I am to come back from the very brink of total annihilation in the bliss of Nirvana to speak with you, then I might as well get a few things off my chest.

And maybe now you will cast down your idols and grind them to dust. You see, it is all for your benefit. Consider me one of those bodhisattvas. If you are fortunate enough to be unfamiliar with bodhisattvas, allow me to fill you with more religious rubbish.

These are buddhas (yes, there are more of us — I like to call them my mini-me’s) — who, being so filled with compassion for you lot, have decided to postpone total annihilation in Nirvana until you can join them. They’ve got a long wait! So, consider me a bodhisattva. I have come back from the brink to help you on your path by way of introducing Sue-tzu’s tiny tome. And my message to you is the same as what I first gave: Eschew enlightenment! Believe Nothing! In Emptiness find your Peace.

And now I’ll add, if you meet Sue-tzu, kill her!

If you're interested in reading more from this series by Scott Bradley, go here.

Bulletin: The Poor Are Not Happy

It seems like these days people can find funding to study just about anything. The Center for Health and Wellbeing at Princeton University released a study which indicates that people without a lot of financial resources aren't as happy nor feel as successful as individuals with far more financial resources. What a discovery! I'm dumbfounded (that someone needed to conduct a study to figure that out).

They say money can't buy happiness. They're wrong.

At least up to a point.

People's emotional well-being — happiness — increases along with their income up to about $75,000, researchers report in Tuesday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

For folks making less than that, said Angus Deaton, an economist at the Center for Health and Wellbeing at Princeton University, "Stuff is so in your face it's hard to be happy. It interferes with your enjoyment."

Deaton and Daniel Kahneman reviewed surveys of 450,000 Americans conducted in 2008 and 2009 for the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index that included questions on people's day-to-day happiness and their overall life satisfaction.

Happiness got better as income rose but the effect leveled out at $75,000, Deaton said. On the other hand, their overall sense of success or well-being continued to rise as their earnings grew beyond that point...

Hmm. Let's see if we might be able to figure out why poor people are less happy.

Could it be that a lot of these people have no health insurance? Without health insurance, it's very difficult to receive preventive care to keep in tip top shape. Little problems have a way of mushrooming into much larger and more serious problems. Add to this the stress of the realization that one medical crisis would bankrupt you and it's hard to go skipping down merry lane.

Could it be that a lot of these people do not make a living wage? Trying to figure out month-to-month which bills you'll pay and which you'll let slide certainly adds to a person's stress level. It's even worse when you must hold down two jobs (assuming you can find a job at all!) simply to make ends meet. By the time you come home from your day of toil, you don't have the energy to enjoy life.

Could it be that a lot of these people are drowning in debt? Many people of limited financial means were suckered into obtaining credit cards and purchasing homes that they couldn't afford. Now, with the economy headed into the deep south, they are being hauled into court and/or thrown out into the streets. Not a good recipe for happiness there.

Could it be that they live in a culture that measures the worth of each person by the amount of money you have in the bank and the number of needless personal possessions you own? Despite the economic depression, advertisers certainly haven't let up. We're still being told that the kind of car we drive or the kinds of clothes we wear signal to others who we really are. When you don't have the money to pay your regular bills, let alone useless crap, it causes a lot of people to question there own self-worth!

What this study tells me is something I already knew: Our society has its priorities all screwed up!!!

Tao Bible - Exodus 19:12

And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death.
~ King James version ~

Tao does not hide from anything. Every being and non-being, every substance and non-substances abides in Tao the same.
~ possible Taoist alternative ~

God cordons off a certain mountain from the people. If they so much as touch the border of the mountain, they will be put to death.

Because Tao is of everything, there is no designated place to find Tao. Tao is all around us and is available for anyone at any time.

If you're interested in reading more from this experimental series, go to the Tao Bible Index page.

Sounds So Practical, Yet...

There is an article posted on AlterNet in which Van Jones points out the potential for further ecological damage and has some suggestions regarding oil well safety in the gulf. On the surface, it sounds so practical!

Failing oil rigs are like roaches — if you see one, it probably means that you have 1,000 more somewhere in your house. So it is not surprise that another offshore oil rig exploded last week in the Gulf of Mexico about 100 miles off the Louisiana coast.

Thankfully, no lives were lost, but at least one was injured, according to early reports. We were told that the rig was not ‘producing’ oil and gas at the time – but then again, the BP well that dumped 4.9 million barrels of oil into the gulf was not technically ‘producing’ either.

All of us can feel some relief that this incident was not as catastrophic as the BP disaster. But it shouldn’t take an oil apocalypse to get our attention. We are facing a continuing threat in the gulf from multiple points of potential peril.

There are currently more than 4,000 active oil and gas rigs in the gulf, along with 27,000 abandoned oil and gas wells lurking in the hard rock. There are 1,000 decaying oil rigs and drilling structures. We have been told time and time again by the oil industry, lobbyist, and pro-drilling lawmakers that offshore drilling is safe. They have told us that serious accidents cannot happen here in the United Sates because the technology is too advanced.

No one should be fooled anymore – accidents do, in fact, happen. Sometimes these ‘accidents’ look more like acts of criminal negligence, like the $500,000 safety valve on the Deepwater Horizon that BP failed to install.

Needless to say we have a systemic problem. But powerful forces in Washington keep convincing themselves that these tragedies are isolated incidents. But the American people should not accept this political game. Each one of those oil rigs is a potential disaster waiting to happen.

We need two things right now:

1. We need to get inspectors on those rigs NOW.
2 . We need to make bolder moves to get off oil in the long-term...

In the old days, I would have said a big hurrah, but while the first suggestion seems viable, I actually don't think it would do that much good.

The problem is that the government inspectors too often are in bed with the corporations they are tasked with overseeing and/or regulating. BP had met most of its federal regulatory requirements, yet their rig still was unsafe.

Mines pass all their environmental and safety inspections, then they collapse.

Vehicles meet stringent requirements only to fall apart or, in a few cases, catch on fire or explode when hit.

Food is inspected by the USDA and then people get sick.

The FDA approves some wonder drug and then, years later, it is discovered that it makes people sicker than they already were -- In some cases it kills them!

So, what sounds like the perfect prescription for the problem is, in actuality, nothing more than a placebo. The government goes through the motions of holding various industry's feet to the fire, but it's more show than anything else. It's meant to reassure the public that their government is on the job. It's meant to calm fears so that we keep on buying the products.

And, as long as we keep on buying the products, their is no impetus for "bold moves" to change the status quo.

You gotta give these folks some credit: They've created a great racket!

The American Theocracy - Homosexuality

Without question, in the new American theocracy, homosexuality will be a grand taboo! Owing to Leviticus, 18:22, "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is an abomination" and Leviticus, 20:13, "If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them," homosexual acts and proclivities will not be tolerated.

The first step in this direction will be a new federal law that defines marriage as between one man and one woman. Steps will be taken to strike down any state statutes that provide for alternatives. Openly gay individuals will be thrown out of the military and government service. There will be a witch hunts to remove gay teachers and instructors at all levels of the educational system. Churches with gay pastors, elders, deacons and other high ranking officials will be stripped of their tax-exempt status and institutionally ostracized and harassed.

Within a generation or two, the situation will grow more dark. Homosexuality will become a crime! Anyone convicted of spreading the purposely nebulous "gay agenda" will face stiff penalties. Any individual who is openly gay will be brought before the appropriate court and given two options: 1) To be sent to a Christian residential center to be reprogrammed and rid of their homosexual desires or 2) If this fails or the individual refuses to go, sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. In some states -- Texas comes to mind -- gay individuals who refuse to attempt treatment may be sentenced to death.

Of course, while all these draconian measures are being employed on the American public, many church and government leaders will continue to indulge in their homosexual dalliances. It will be easier to spot them than they realize! Just as it is now, the ones who rail against homosexuality the most vociferously will be the queerest of the bunch!!

If you're interested in reading more from this tongue-in-cheek series, go to the The American Theocracy Index page.

Question: Why That Smell?

I am currently working my way through the Book of Exodus for the Tao Bible series. However, in just this short amount of time, I've already run across several instances of the god figure directing humans to kill animals and then burn them. And why does the almighty want animals burned? Because he likes the smell of burning flesh!!

Does god have a nose?

Why would a so-called perfect being need ANYTHING from humankind? I mean, if the burning flesh of animals is so intoxicating, couldn't he simply conjure up this smell on his own? Couldn't he create a virtual burning?

What does this god have against livestock anyway? Why doesn't he ever request the burning of bears, lions or crocodiles?

To see what other questions I've asked about the Christian Bible, go here.

Line by Line - Verse 4, Line 3

We should blunt our sharp points,
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

Blunt the sharpness,
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

It blunts the sharpness
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

(No corresponding line)
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

When I was a young lad in elementary school, one of the things I and my fellow classmates liked to do was sharpen our pencils to the finest point. There we would stand turning the handle on the pencil sharpener -- yes, back in the days before electric models -- and then we'd pull the pencil out every few turns to check on our progress. Once it looked like it could get no sharper, we would display it to the oohs and aahs of our cohorts.

Of course, the moment we tried to write with our piece of graphite perfection, the point would break off. It was maddening! All that work for naught. So, this would lead to another trip to the pencil sharpener.

The lesson here should be obvious. While a somewhat sharp point makes writing easier, a too sharp of a point makes it impossible.

To view the Index page for this series to see what you may have missed or would like to read again, go here.

Summer's End Tao Book Giveaway Winners Are...

You know, I thought I explained the rules clearly for the last planned Tao Book Giveaway of this year. The plan was for people simply to enter and then the first name drawn would get to pick one of the three books offered. A second name would be drawn and that person could choose one of the two remaining books. However, that's not how it worked out at all. People entered by noting which specific book they were interested in.

Since this IS a Taoist blog and I write quite a bit about "going with the flow," I'm going to go with the flow. So, I basically held 3 separate drawings, one for each book. So, with that out of the way, the winners are...

Cory - Simple Taoism
Baroness Radon - Tao & Longevity
Rita Rogers - Cha Dao

As usual, the winners have ten days -- until September 16, 11:59 p.m. -- to contact me via email to provide their mailing addresses. If for some reason I don't hear from one or more of them by then, I will move to the alternate names chosen.

A big thank you to everyone who participated throughout the summer. Maybe next year I'll do it again!

Burn Baby, Burn

I'm sure most of you are aware that there's a fundamentalist Christian church in Florida that plans to burn Quran's this Saturday as a weird sort of commemoration for 9/11. Various interfaith groups have come out against it. The National Association of Evangelicals is against. Even Gen. David Petraeus thinks the whole idea is ill-advised.

Of course, the leader of this church wants everybody to know that this event isn't about hate. No, no, no. Far from it. He simply wants to expose the inherent evil of Islam.

A lot of people are wondering WHY these folks are so hellbent on stirring up a hornet's nest. Don't they realize that this action is bound to tick off Muslims the world over? Don't they know that this sort of activity can be used as great propaganda by the Taliban? Can't they fathom that they are inviting a "terrorist" attack as an act of revenge?

Personally, I think they understand all these things. As a charismatic church, much of their focus is on Armageddon, the rapture and the end times. My guess is that, like many others of this genre, they simply want to help the process along! They are ready to be transported to heaven and so they are trying to light the flame of World War III.

I do realize that there is another reasonable and possible explanation as well. The leader of this church simply is a hateful doofus. He is so blinded by his hate that he can't think straight. He's unable to put two and two together.

While I can certainly understand why many -- including the Muslim world -- are outraged, I think the best way to deal with these hatemongers is to ignore them! I'm confident that they are basking in the glow of this controversy and are using it to recruit more hateful members. If the rest of us -- including the mainstream media -- didn't pay them any heed, their actions would be nothing more than a teeny blip on the radar screen.

[Note: I purposely did not mention the name of the church nor the name of their pastor simply because I don't wish to publicize their animus any more than is necessary.]

The Tao of Dark Sages - Introduction, Part 1

The Tao of Dark Sages
by Scott Bradley

Introduction by the Buddha

It is purported that I, who said so very little, have authored a multitude of sutras (whatever those might be). By way of introducing these few words of Sue-tzu I would like to put the record straight and declare that the only few words to which I will own are these: “I obtained not the least thing from unexcelled, complete awakening, and for this very reason it is called ‘unexcelled, complete awakening.’” It is hoped that the reader of this little tome might also obtain absolutely nothing thereby. For ‘nothing’, my dear friends, should most certainly be your most singular goal. But remember always, nothing can get you there.

What is it that is so difficult about believing nothing? My message lacked all content and yet look at my purported followers today. What a lot of religious nonsense. Everywhere one turns there’s a carved rock supposedly in my image! And none too flattering at that! Were you to in some way show disrespect to one of these rocks you’d likely be beaten to death by an angry crowd. In my name!

In Bangkok the monks have turf wars. Check out Burma. But my favorite is Cambodia. The killing fields. Buddhism at work. But at least the Khmer Rouge had enough sense to use my images at Angkor Wat for target practice.

The Dalai Lama is, at the moment, my most prominent representative. And if I have to have one I suppose I could do worse. I do feel sorry for him though. I mean the poor schmuck hasn’t even gotten laid! And to top it off, he isn’t even enlightened! He’s much too busy being a globe-trotting holy man to attend to his own soul.

Finally, just to set the record straight: Having had arthritis in my right shoulder, I never reclined as depicted in the Reclining Buddha; I left no tooth in Sri Lanka; and I didn’t have pendulous earlobes!

If you're interested in reading more from this series by Scott Bradley, go here.

Tao Bible - Exodus 14:16

But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.
~ King James version ~

Tao neither parts seas nor closes the space between the heavens or the earth.
~ possible Taoist alternative ~

Fleeing from the Egyptian army, God pledges to part the sea, so the people of Israel may escape. When the Egyptians continue the pursuit, the sea will swallow them up.

The laws and processes of nature are Tao. They do not change by whim or intent. They cannot be willed to do this or that.

If you're interested in reading more from this experimental series, go to the Tao Bible Index page.