Chapter of the Week: #53 [Archive]

Luke Abbott

Paying my car off this month (and got new tires today)-one reason i'm in a good mood and willing to give these boards one more try...ready for a road trip come first nice weather-there's a nice little Taoist church in Santa Cruz I might visit...

Luke Abbott

Each week we address one chapter of the Tao Te Ching. Chapter 53 was originally featured on the 3rd week in January.

Note: The Tao Te Ching can be obscure, especially if you think you're supposed to understand what it's saying! We find it easier and more instructive to simply contemplate how the chapter resonates with your personal experience. Becoming more aware at this fundamental level simplifies life. This approach conforms to the view that true knowing lies within ourselves. Thus, when a passage in the scripture resonates, you've found your inner truth. The same applies for when it evokes a question; questions are the grist for self realization.

Chapter 53
Were I possessed of the least knowledge, I would, when walking on the great way, fear only paths that lead astray. The great way is easy, yet people prefer by-paths.

The court is corrupt,
The fields are overgrown with weeds,
The graneries are empty;
Yet there are those dressed in fineries,
With swords at their sides,
Filled with food and drink,
And possessed of too much wealth.
This known as taking the lead in robbery.

Far indeed is this from the way.

Carl

[chref=71]To know yet to think that one does not know is best[/chref] fits right in with were I possessed of the least knowledge. My times of greatest by-pathing coincide with the times I was sure I knew what I was doing. Those 'good old days' when the certainty of my beliefs allowed me to skip along obliviously. This would have been just fine if it were not for the unintended consequences that always followed.

How do I know I'm on the great way and not on paths that lead astray? First, I feel all creation is on the great way. No step is lost for [chref=34]the way is broad, reaching left as well as right.[/chref] It really comes down to my subjective conscious experience. When I FEEL [chref=46]content[/chref] with my moment, I FEEL I'm on the great way and not lost on some by-path. When I FEEL very discontent, I don't feel I'm on the great way. Never-the-less, I know rationally that I am (as is all creation). It just doesn't feel like it.

At first glance the later half of this chapter appears to be a shot at those possessed of too much wealth. However, I see this as a 'shot' at civilization as a whole. After all, such lumping of resources is a consequence of civilization. Moreover, everyone naturally seeks to accumulate more for themselves. It is an innate drive which works well in the wild. Civilized circumstances, in conjunction with this instinct, bring about the imbalance mentioned here.

It is not only wealth which becomes unbalanced. The specialization that civilization fosters robs everyone of something. Experts take over religion, politics, law, family, food production, entertainment, and so on. Not that there is any 'solution' to this robbery. It is just one of those unintended consequences we trade for the benefits of civilization upon which we depend. I suppose the Taoist view would be... beware of too much of a 'good' thing, or to quote: [chref=16]Woe to him who wilfully innovates, While ignorant of the constant,[/chref]

Joe

I think of by-paths as how I go astray when I?m not holding to balance, to centeredness. It reminds me of desires, and Buddha?s middle path. By-paths happen for me all the time, when I?m going off into the illusions of my desires, as opposed to staying focused on, and accepting, reality.

For example, the other night my daughter and I had an argument around her bedtime routine. I got pretty frustrated and yelled quite a bit, which of course is difficult for a 9 year old to deal with. Anyway, I came away feeling pretty miserable. Of course my first thoughts were of martial arts movies, or cake & ice cream ? something to take me away from my pain. Instead I stayed focused on accepting this suffering I was feeling, and doing a bit of yoga and meditation to move back towards some semblance of balance.

We all have our by-paths we take, that in the long-run don?t bring us happiness or contentment. And often we?re aware of them ? we wish we could quit smoking, drinking, overeating, whatever is a problem for us. Yet, over and over we go back to that same activity. Thus, even though the great way is easy, yet people (me) prefer by-paths. I?m finally old enough to where pursuing these empty solutions has failed so many times, I?m tired of pursuing them, and finding it easier to turn my back on them.

When I used to read the part of the chapter about granaries empty, and those dressed in fineries, I used to get judgmental about people with lots of money, especially who played around a lot, and wasted money a lot. (I heard of one actress who saw a $60,000 diamond bracelet, and just had to purchase it on the spot.) But now I can see how each of us has our own examples of ?taking the lead in robbery?, of pursuing by-paths when there are more ?basic?, more ?grounded? things we could pursue. For me, that often can be watching the Disney channel with my daughter, when I?m tired after working all day. As opposed to when we don?t turn on the TV, and we have conversations about how our day went, some of the ideas we may be thinking about and processing. Sometimes I?ll look back on a day, and realize I?ve been more focused on my thoughts about how people should be, instead of being fully present in my interactions with people, and appreciating them all as fellow human beings struggling with by-paths.

Lynn Cornish

I'm looking at my labrador retriever while thinking about the easiness of the great way. Alex has such a simple mind (most of his head to dedicated to his nose!). So, when Alex sees space, he runs; when he sees food, he eats; when he sees me, he wags his tail;when he sees another dog, he plays; when he's sick, he lies down and stays quiet. You've heard the expression "Be the person your dog thinks you are"? I say, "Be your dog!" He is certainly on the wide and easy great way.

I guess it's our big minds and big egos that urge us to the bypaths. Once again, I'm reminded of water and how water takes the path of least resistance and that makes me want to relax and join the flow. It's more of a feeling deep down than a thought.