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Chapter of the Week: #67 [Archive]
Will definitley watch it then. 
and yes no doubt you will have us "Kiwi's" back on your board again..
What an experience huh? Would you do it again?
and yes no doubt you will have us "Kiwi's" back on your board again..
What an experience huh? Would you do it again?
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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 67
The whole world says that my way is vast and resembles nothing. It is because
it is vast that it resembles nothing. If it resembled anything, it would, long
before now, have become small.
I have three treasures
Which I hold and cherish.
The first is known as compassion,
The second is known as frugality,
The third is known as not daring to take the lead in the empire;
Being compassionate one could afford to be courageous,
Being frugal one could afford to extend one's territory,
Not daring to take the lead in the empire
one could afford to be lord over the vessels.
Now, to forsake compassion for courage,
to forsake frugality for expansion,
to forsake the rear for the lead,
is sure to end in death.
Through compassion, one will triumph in attack and be impregnable in defence.
What heaven succours it protects with the gift of compassion.
Because the way is vast and resembles nothing, Taoism will be around a million years from now, when the other more explicit religions have faded into a distant memory. In fact, when I 'breath in' the [chref=1]manifold secrets [/chref] hinted at throughout the Tao Te Ching, I feel very temporally connected to the old folks back then who were likewise 'breathing in' the mystery, as well as to those who will do so in the distant future. That's enough immortality for me!
Not daring to take the lead, compassion, and frugality are really the same thing to me. In other words, only when I'm not taking the lead do I experience compassion, and only when I feel compassion can I not take the lead. Moreover, without frugality neither is possible. Frugality is much deeper than its material meaning. It is like holding the reins of life and so as to [chref=15]desire not to be full[/chref] and [chref=64]desire not to desire[/chref].
Now, I must confess that my views here are born out of personal experiences. Countless times have I forsaken frugality for expansion, and so on. Fortunately, so far anyway, not ending in death. Actually, it is not the physical death which is the loss I lament, but the death of a sense of universal connection that compassion brings. This is why these are treasures I hold and cherish. The more I cherish them, the more likely I am to not dare to take the lead.
Why has it taken me a life time to gradually come to (more or less) truly cherish them? Being frugal and not taking the lead are not among life's most instinctive goals - just the opposite, if anything. Alas, we must truly and viscerally feel a goal is worth it before we are willing to invest true effort.
If I?m really paying attention, being mindful instead of blindly pursuing my desires, it?s amazing how little I need to have, or even need to do. My dictionary?s definition of frugality mentions being sparing. Frugality isn?t just about possessions, it?s about too much thought, too much action. Being sparing, being hesitant about pursuing things, keeps more balance in my life. It means being focused on reality, instead of the inherent illusion of desires.
If I?m blindly forging ahead, taking the lead, I usually end up feeling the need to put out even more energy, to make up for the problems created. There are more problems when I?m rushing and leading. When I?m ?following? reality, things stay simpler and consequently with less difficulties.
I like the way Carl put it, about lamenting the loss of a sense of universal connection that compassion brings. I too feel this, that when I?m aware of everyone?s struggles, and not just focusing solely on my own, then I feel compassion and connection with all of humanity, indeed with all of life.