Chapter 8, Part 4 - Chuang Tzu

Let me try explaining what I mean. From the Three Dynasties on down, everyone in the world has altered his inborn nature because of some [external] thing. The petty man? - he will risk death for the sake of profit. The knight? - will risk it for the sake of fame. The high official? - he will risk it for family; the sage? - he will risk it for the world. All these various men go about the business in a different way, and are tagged differently when it comes to fame and reputation; but in blighting their inborn nature and risking their lives for something they are the same.

The slave boy and the slave girl were out together herding their sheep, and both of them lost their flocks. Ask the slave boy how it happened: well, he had a bundle of writing slips and was reading a book. Ask the slave girl how it happened: well, she was playing a game of toss-and-wait-your-turn. They went about the business in different ways, but in losing their sheep they were equal.

Po Yi died for reputation at the foot of Shou-yang mountain; Robber Chih died for gain on top of Eastern Mound. The two of them died different deaths, but in destroying their lives and blighting their inborn nature they were equal. Why then must we say that Po Yi was right and Robber Chih wrong?

Everyone in the world risks his life for something. If he risks it for benevolence and righteousness, then custom names him a gentleman; if he risks it for goods and wealth, then custom names him a petty man. The risking is the same, and yet we have a gentleman here, a petty man there. In destroying their lives and blighting their inborn nature, Robber Chih and Po Yi were two of a kind. How then can we pick out the gentleman from the petty man in such a case?
~ Burton Watson translation via Terebess Asia Online ~

Go here to read the introductory post to the chapters of the Book of Chuang Tzu.

What Could Really Happen

Lately, as the conservative push to "re-invent government" has been taking the country by storm, I've been thinking what could really happen here IF these efforts prove successful. What if they succeeded in removing collective bargaining rights, slashing government spending for domestic programs (like food stamps, welfare, education, job training, etc.) and increasing tax breaks to the most well off.

What would become of this nation's poor and lower classes?

Initially, not a lot would change. People would rely on family and the shrinking social safety net to help them get by. In time, however, as more and more people became destitute, they would overwhelm the private sector philanthropic and social service agencies. The number of homeless persons would rise dramatically. Crime would most likely increase as desperate people are more apt to take desperate measures.

At some point, unlike what is going on in the Middle East and North Africa, we would have riots instead of peaceful protests. We Americans -- even many of the poor -- have led somewhat pampered lives (versus the poverty encountered by others in this world) and, because of our historical high standard of living, most folks couldn't countenance a daily hand-to-mouth existence.

While I would like to believe that our government would deal with the unrest more in line with what has transpired recently in Egypt, I am far more apt to believe the governmental response would look more like what is now happening in Libya.

At that juncture, I can easily envision a civil war of sorts taking place on our streets and in our communities.

If it comes to that, I hope I'm dead by then.

Chapter 8, Part 3B - Chuang Tzu

For in the world there can be constant naturalness. Where there is constant naturalness, things are arced not by the use of the curve, straight not by the use of the plumb line, rounded not by compasses, squared not by T squares, joined not by glue and lacquer, bound not by ropes and lines. Then all things in the world, simple and compliant, live and never know how they happen to live; all things, rude and unwitting, get what they need and never know how they happen to get it.

Past and present it has been the same; nothing can do injury to this [principle]. Why then come with benevolence and righteousness, that tangle and train of glue and lacquer, ropes and lines, and try to wander in the realm of the Way and its Virtue? You will only confuse the world!

A little confusion can alter the sense of direction; a great confusion can alter the inborn nature. How do I know this is so? Ever since that man of the Yu clan began preaching benevolence and righteousness and stirring up the world, all the men in the world have dashed headlong for benevolence and righteousness. This is because benevolence and righteousness have altered their inborn nature, is it not?
~ Burton Watson translation via Terebess Asia Online ~

Go here to read the introductory post to the chapters of the Book of Chuang Tzu.

Hypocrites R Us

When it comes to the Wisconsin union fights, right-wing pundits Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh have a couple of things in common. For starters, all have voiced their opposition to the plight of public employee unions in the state.

On Feb. 18, Limbaugh said on his radio program, "We are either on the side of the Wisconsin protesters or we are on the side of our country." Hannity has featured several guests critical of the union and its supporters, including Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, on his Fox News television and radio shows.

On the Feb. 18 edition of "The O'Reilly Factor," O'Reilly stated, "Governments can't afford to operate" because of "union wages and benefits." But it turns out that opposing workers' rights isn't the only thing these blowhards have in common.

As it turns out, all three of them belong to the American Federation Television and Radio Artists union (AFTRA), which is the AFL-CIO affiliate for television and broadcast workers.

Yes, you read that right. While Hannity, O'Reilly and Limbaugh have been railing against union workers in Wisconsin, all three of them belong to an AFL-CIO affiliate union... READ MORE

An Unpopular Decision

The US Supreme Court handed down a decision today that is sure to be unpopular across the political divide. By an 8 - 1 vote, they upheld the right of the hateful throng at the Westboro Baptist Church to picket at funerals.

If you're not familiar with the Westboro folks, they like to go to funerals of PEOPLE THEY DON'T KNOW to hold up signs like, "God Hates Fags."

While I find the message of the Westboro faithful to be reprehensible, I applaud the high court's decision. We must defend the right of free speech for those we most disagree with. As long as said free speech does not directly endanger the lives of others, it must be permitted or else we negate the "free" portion of this free-dom.

Free speech doesn't always make those hearing it feel comfortable. It can often be hateful, uncivil and disrespectful. It can challenge societal norms and express opinions we don't wish to hear. However, if you value the right to speak your mind, then you must value that same right for others or else you're nothing more than a hypocrite.

I deplore what the Westboro Baptist Church stands for, but I defend their right to believe it personally and to express it publicly.

Sharing Pearls

“What is the difference between a good Tao student and a bad one?” asked a new student. Master Li said, “The bad ones make distinctions about other students.”
~ from Roshi Hogan's Teachings of the Tao ~

Line by Line - Verse 23, Lines 19-20

(But) when there is not faith sufficient (on his part), a want of faith (in him) ensues (on the part of the others).
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

He who does not trust enough
Will not be trusted.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Those who do not trust sufficiently, others have no trust in them
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

Trust your instincts, and others will trust you.
~ Ron Hogan rendition, from Beatrice.com, 2004 ~

Another version of what goes around, comes around.

When I think of the word trust, I often think of the film, Pay It Forward.

Young Trevor McKinney, troubled by his mother's alcoholism and fears of his abusive but absent father, is caught up by an intriguing assignment from his new social studies teacher, Mr. Simonet. The assignment: think of something to change the world and put it into action. Trevor conjures the notion of paying a favor not back, but forward -- repaying good deeds not with payback, but with new good deeds done to three new people. Trevor's efforts to make good on his idea bring a revolution not only in the lives of himself, his mother and his physically and emotionally scarred teacher, but in those of an ever-widening circle of people completely unknown to him.

When we trust in the synchronicity of life, we can accept whatever comes around the next bend. Of course, as most of us know, that is a lot easier said than done!

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

Fantasy Island

For those of you old enough to remember, there was a TV program on in the late 70s - early 80s called Fantasy Island. The diminutive character, Tatoo, used to open each episode with the weird exclamation, "De plane, de plane!" Recently, Washington's two US Senators could be heard chortling the same line.

The B-I-G state news last week is that Boeing -- one of the state's largest employers -- was awarded a major defense contract. Unfortunately, as Robert Scheer points out,

So, faced with major problems in developing the next generation of civilian aircraft, Boeing has been blessed with a massive Defense Department contract that will allow it to use an old, about-to-be-discarded assembly line to refurbish the 767 at enormous cost to the taxpayer so that it is fit to haul fuel and serve as a gas station in the sky for planes that no longer have a pressing strategic mission requiring such refueling...

Scheer also notes that, "defense pork has always been defended as a jobs program" and, at a time when good-paying, private-sector, union jobs are hard to come by, it is easy for people to overlook the inherent waste of contracts like this AND the fact that it furthers the idea of a robust defense spending program that, at the end of the day, is about waging war.

I certainly do understand why this contract has warmed the cockles of Seattle-area officials, union workers and area service-oriented businesses. It means more money to be spread around. It provides a healthy shot-in-the-arm to a sagging state economy. For these reasons, it's easy for most to ignore the death and destruction angle.

But any nation that continues to feed the war machine -- as little more than a jobs program -- is in deep trouble. We can't seem to find the requisite funds to pay teachers, firefighters, compliance officers and other public sector employees, but we can find the money to continue to build military crap that we don't need!!

Chapter 8, Part 3A - Chuang Tzu

The man with two toes webbed together would weep if he tried to tear them apart; the man with a sixth finger on his hand would howl if he tried to gnaw it off. Of these two, one has more than the usual number, the other has less, but in worrying about it they are identical.

Nowadays the benevolent men of the age lift up weary eyes, worrying over the ills of the world, while the men of no benevolence tear apart the original form of their inborn nature in their greed for eminence and wealth. Therefore I wonder if benevolence and righteousness are really part of man's true form? From the Three Dynasties on down, what a lot of fuss and hubbub they have made in the world!

If we must use curve and plumb line, compass and square to make something right, this means cutting away its inborn nature; if we must use cords and knots, glue and lacquer to make something firm, this means violating its natural Virtue. So the crouchings and bendings of rites and music, the smiles and beaming looks of benevolence and righteousness, which are intended to comfort the hearts of the world, in fact destroy their constant naturalness.
~ Burton Watson translation via Terebess Asia Online ~

Go here to read the introductory post to the chapters of the Book of Chuang Tzu.

Spiritual Warfare, Part 2

Spiritual Warfare
by Scott Bradley

What is this self that wages war on itself? It is that which is capable of doing so, which is to say that the self is, at heart, a duality. It takes two to tango, as they say. And I would suggest that the human experience is just this: the wonderful tango of self-consciousness. The self-other dichotomy whereby we are able to know and experience the world has its root in the self-other dichotomy wherein we are able to know and experience our own selves. Let’s hear it for self!

Yet isn’t our project (to use a spiritually incorrect term) to transcend self, to realize the no-fixed-identity of no-self, and therein realize the ineffable Oneness, the transcendence of all duality? If “all duality is falsely imagined”, how could we not aspire to be free of this most fundamental of falsehoods?

Certainly, we do. But transcendence is not negation. To transcend duality, to transcend self, is not to exterminate, but to realize. It is to experience self and the world, duality, in an entirely new way. In the end, transcendence is all-embracing. Not-one is also One. I quote from the Hsin-Hsin Ming (purportedly written by Seng-Ts’an, the Third Zen Patriarch; Richard B. Clarke translation):

If you wish to move in the One Way
do not dislike the world of senses and ideas.
Indeed, to embrace them fully
is identical with true Enlightenment....

When you live this non-separation,
all things manifest the One, and nothing is excluded.

This is likewise implied in Zhuangzi’s (Chuang Tzu) ‘Walking Two Roads’. The monkey trainer followed along with the likes and dislikes, the opinions, of his monkeys (who rejected three chestnuts in the morning and two in the afternoon in favor of two in the morning and three in the afternoon) because he himself transcended all opinions, even his own.

Having no-fixed-identity himself, he had no fixed-opinion to which he felt obliged to cling. Rather, he could embrace all opinionating as a manifestation of one Reality. The one wind blows through the trees and yet each one gives forth its own unique sound.

Ahha! But are not these likewise opinions? Does not this article itself express but another opinion opposed to others? Of course. It is not-one. And thus, like all others, it is One. Transcendence is not-one self-aware. And this, I think, is why not taking oneself too seriously is a sign of spiritual maturity.

You can check out Scott's other miscellaneous writings here.

Tao Bible - Psalm 35:8-9

Let destruction come upon him at unawares; and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall. And my soul shall be joyful in the LORD: it shall rejoice in his salvation.
~ King James version ~

Ill wishes are derived from our own selfish desires.
~ possible Taoist alternative ~

I don't know about you, but it sounds like the writer is suggesting that we should be gleeful at the downfall of others.

If you rejoice at other people's misfortunes, you have strayed far from the Way. It means that your own selfish desires are in the driver's seat and you are on the path to be a fool, not a sage.

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

Chapter 8, Part 2 - Chuang Tzu

He who is overnice in hearing will be confused by the five notes, bewitched by the six tones, by the sounds of metal and stone, strings and woodwinds, the huang-chung and ta-lu pitch pipes - am I wrong? So we have Music Master K'uang. He who is fork-fingered with benevolence will tear out the Virtue given him and stifle his inborn nature in order to seize fame and reputation, leading the world on with pipe and drum in the service of an unattainable ideal - am I wrong?

So we have Tseng and Shih. He who is web-toed in argumentation will pile up bricks, knot the plumb line, apply the curve, letting his mind wander in the realm of "hard" and "white," "likeness" and "difference," huffing and puffing away, lauding his useless words - am I wrong?

So we have Yang and Mo.' All these men walk a way that is overnice, web-toed, wide of the mark, fork-fingered, not that which is the True Rightness of the world.

He who holds to True Rightness does not lose the original form of his inborn nature. So for him joined things are not webbed toes, things forking off are not superfluous fingers, the long is never too much, the short is never too little. The duck's legs are short, but to stretch them out would worry him; the crane's legs are long, but to cut them down would make him sad.

What is long by nature needs no cutting off; what is short by nature needs no stretching. That would be no way to get rid of worry. I wonder, then, if benevolence and righteousness are part of man's true form? Those benevolent men -- how much worrying they do!
~ Burton Watson translation via Terebess Asia Online ~

Go here to read the introductory post to the chapters of the Book of Chuang Tzu.

Brain Drain

One angle I have not seen discussed much regarding the ongoing labor struggles in Wisconsin and other states is the obvious attempt by conservatives to foment a brain drain from state and local government. It has become rather obvious to me that this is one of the prime reasons Tea Party-backed governors are taking aim at public sector unions.

While the end of collective bargaining, as we know it, will have many serious repercussions, one of the most obvious is that it will make public sector employment a lot less attractive. Not only will many long-time public employees head for the exits, but it will make it that much harder to recruit seasoned replacements.

Public sector employment will become the bastion for new college graduates. They will look at these jobs as stepping stones to better paying jobs -- the few that are left -- in the private sector. This means that, at about the time they become fully competent in their public sector job, they will be preparing to jump ship. They will then be replaced by new greenhorns who will repeat the process in a few months or years.

Now why would conservatives want to pull the best and brightest away from public service? That's easy to answer. Their mantra is "limited government". If government grows less efficient because it has lost a good deal of its professional expertise, this will provide conservatives with the needed ammunition to proclaim that the people would be better served if many government services are turned over to the private sector.

This offers yet another reason that we must fight to preserve public sector unions. We want and need the best and brightest working on behalf of the citizenry, not working against us for the OTHER side.

Such a Waste

We are wasting $700 million a day to pay for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, while our teachers, firefighters and police lose their jobs, while we slash basic assistance programs for the poor, children and the elderly, while we turn our backs on the some 3 million people being pushed from their homes by foreclosures and bank repossessions and while we do nothing to help the one in six American workers who cannot find work. These wars have taken hundreds of thousands of lives. They have pushed millions into refugee or displacement camps. They have left young men and women severely crippled and maimed. They have turned our nation into an isolated pariah, fueling the very terrorism we seek to defeat. And they cannot be won. The sooner we leave Iraq and Afghanistan the sooner we will save others and finally save ourselves.
~ from "No Other Way Out" by Chris Hedges ~

His point is hard to argue with!!

Chapter 8, Part 1 - Chuang Tzu

Two Toes Webbed Together, a sixth finger forking off - these come from the inborn nature but are excretions as far as Virtue is concerned. Swelling tumors and protruding wens - these come from the body but are excretions as far as the inborn nature is concerned. Men overnice in the ways of benevolence and righteousness try to put these into practice, even to line them up with the five vital organs!

This is not the right approach to the Way and its Virtue. Therefore he who has two toes webbed together has grown a flap of useless flesh; he who has a sixth finger forking out of his hand has sprouted a useless digit; and he who imposes overnice ways, webs and forked fingers, upon the original form of the five vital organs will become deluded and perverse in the practice of benevolence and righteousness and overnice in the use of his hearing and sight.

Thus he who is web-toed in eyesight will be confused by the five colors, bewitched by patterns and designs, by the dazzling hues of blue and yellow, of embroidery and brocade - am I wrong? So we have Li Chu.
~ Burton Watson translation via Terebess Asia Online ~

Go here to read the introductory post to the chapters of the Book of Chuang Tzu.

Like We Already Didn't Know

Regardless of whether or not one places much stock in the official rate of unemployment -- I certainly don't -- there is little question that most of the jobs being created these days are of the low wage-no benefits variety.

While the unemployment rate dropped to 9 percent in January, from a two-decade peak of 10.1 percent in October 2009, many of the jobs people are now taking don't match the pay, the hours, or the benefits of the 8.75 million positions that vanished in the recession, according to Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist at Capital Economics in Toronto.

This is another way of stating that people who were making living wages and above are now tickled pink if they can find a job making $8 - $12 per hour with little, if any, benefits. Maybe you used to work as an economist, social worker, city planner or factory worker. Now you're almost pleased as punch to flip burgers or greet shoppers at the local Walmart!

"In the last recovery we were adding management jobs at this point, and this time it's disappointing," says Ashworth, who published a report on Jan. 27 about pre- and post-slump employment based on U.S. Labor Dept. data. "The very best jobs, we're still losing those."

Projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics reinforce his pessimism. While the number of openings for food preparation and serving workers will grow by 394,000 in the decade ending in 2018, the average wage is only $16,430 including tips, based on 2008 data. Meanwhile, the number of posts for financial examiners, who work at financial-services firms to ensure regulatory compliance, will expand by just 11,100. The average pay for examiners is $70,930...

So, here's my question: If most new jobs are in the low paying services sector, who do the experts think is going to have the necessary disposable income to buy this stuff? If the vast majority of the middle class is wiped out, there goes the very people who flock to the malls.

The rich don't frequent McDonald's and KMart. The rich don't place their elderly relatives in community-based nursing homes. The rich don't send their kids to neighborhood pre-schools. They live, work, play and breath in other worlds.

If the rest of us are thrown into modern serfdom, how can we even maintain a service-based economy?

Line by Line - Verse 23, Lines 17-18

and those with whom he agrees in their failure have also the happiness of attaining (to the Tao).
~ James Legge translation, from The Sacred Books of the East, 1891 ~

When you are at one with loss,
The loss is experienced willingly.
~ Gia-fu Feng and Jane English translation, published by Vintage Books, 1989 ~

Those who are with loss, loss is also please to have them
~ Derek Lin translation, from Tao Te Ching: Annotated & Explained, published by SkyLight Paths, 2006 ~

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

I'll be quite candid. I was a bit unsure what these two lines meant until I referred to the wonderful book by Derek Lin. So, I'll step out of the way to let him explain it.

These lines are a way to describe the law of cause and effect. The function of the Tao is indifferent and will let us reap what we sow. Whether it is the Tao, virtue, or loss, we become what we think about.

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

Cookies

A lot has been written and said in the last year or so about the economic state of this country. Too often, these explanations are so complicated that our eyes glaze over by the third or fourth paragraph. We KNOW things are bad, but we have trouble explaining it those who only get their information from sources like Rush Limbaugh or Faux News.

Yesterday, on Eat the State! (a publication produced here in Washington), Lansing Scott provided one of the better explanations I've read in a while. He utilized an illustration based on something most of us can readily identify with: cookies.

There’s a joke I’ve seen going around among friends on Facebook that goes like this: “A unionized public employee, a teabagger, and a CEO are sitting at a table. In the middle of the table is a plate with a dozen cookies on it. The CEO reaches across and takes 11 cookies, looks at the teabagger and says, ‘Watch out for that union guy. He wants a piece of your cookie.’”

This is such a clear illustration of what’s going on in our country right now, I hope the joke goes viral. I’ve seen it start a few good conversations, the kind of conversations we need more of right now.

This joke prompted me to do some cookie math of my own, based on my own inquiries into wealth distribution in America (seen here), as well as some excellent infographics just published by Mother Jones (seen here).

Let’s say you have 100 people lined up for 100 cookies. The very first guy (definitely a guy) takes 35 of the cookies for himself. By the time the first 10 people have passed by the cookie plate, 73 of the cookies are gone, leaving 27 cookies to divide among the remaining 90 people. By the time the next 10 people pass the cookie plate, there are only 15 cookies to divide among the remaining 80 people. And so on, until you have about 50 people forced to divide up the very last cookie.

That’s right: Half of all the people compete for just one out of 100 cookies, while just one guy makes off with over a third of all the cookies himself. Now you might ask: Who can even eat 35 cookies? Is that healthy? The answer is no. It’s sick. But that’s our country right now.

Of course it works out very nicely for those first few cookie hoarders if the majority of people focus their attention on fighting over remaining cookies rather than asking why so few cookies are left. And now those cookie hoarders are shamelessly demanding more cookies for themselves, and are using their cookie wealth to focus attention on the possibility that someone somewhere near the end of the line might get a crumb more than deserved, and other crumb-chasers should worry about that.

If we don’t pay close attention, the cookie monsters could succeed. They could get even more cookies for themselves and leave even fewer crumbs for the rest of us to fight over. But if we do pay close attention, and act accordingly, their shameless schemes could backfire. We could see a full-scale cookie rebellion.

Pass the chocolate chips, please.

Chapter 7, Part 7 - Chuang Tzu

The emperor of the South Sea was called Shu [Brief], the emperor of the North Sea was called Hu [Sudden], and the emperor of the central region was called Hun-tun [Chaos]. Shu and Hu from time to time came together for a meeting in the territory of Hun-tun, and Hun-tun treated them very generously. Shu and Hu discussed how they could repay his kindness. "All men," they said, "have seven openings so they can see, hear, eat, and breathe. But Hun-tun alone doesn't have any. Let's trying boring him some!"

Every day they bored another hole, and on the seventh day Hun-tun died.
~ Burton Watson translation via Terebess Asia Online ~

Go here to read the introductory post to the chapters of the Book of Chuang Tzu.

Spiritual Warfare, Part 1

Spiritual Warfare
by Scott Bradley

There is a perennial school of thought which sees the Universe as a vast battleground in which the forces of Good and Evil contend. This spiritual warfare is being fought in the trenches of the human heart and its outcome will determine the fate of each and every individual, whether he or she will be ‘lost’ or ‘saved’.

Perhaps your mind immediately thinks of Christianity and the other Revealed Religions, Judaism and Islam. But I suggest that this thinking likewise pervades the Eastern, non-theistic religions, and their more ‘modern’ New Age expressions, as well. Indeed, it seems to be a central motivating factor among most of us who seek a greater spiritual maturity. We are at war against devils within and without.

I have taken the title of this article from the title of the last book of ‘The Enlightenment Trilogy’ written by Jed McKenna (most certainly a pseudonym). The other titles are Spiritual Enlightenment: The Damnedest Thing and Spiritually Incorrect Enlightenment. And although I will here try to make a case for an alternative, non-confrontational approach to spiritual growth, I do recommend this ‘trilogy’ to anyone at work on this great adventure of human realization.

Mr. McKenna is a refreshing iconoclast who would have as his standard (were he a Zen Master) the head of the Buddha, bloody fresh, impaled on a stake. For poetry he offers: Fuck Basho’s Frog. It’s not to confronting our ignorance and idols that this article takes exception, but rather to the more fundamental belief that the self is a devil.

In the end, this article is about ‘me’, for it is I who write and it is out of my experience that I expostulate. I have long been at war with my self and it was the inevitable battlefield reversals that finally set my feet upon this path. I have twice been told by female intimates that (translated from the French) I am ‘not good in my skin’. My self is at war with its self.

You can check out Scott's other miscellaneous writings here.