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Chapter of the Week: #70 [Archive]
Ah yes, Carl, Free Will. I have a feeling that you and I are unlikely ever to agree entirely on this topic. My feeling, and please do correct me if I'm wrong, is that you don't accept that we have free will. I have to say that I believe that all human beings have free will - unfortunately we are, for the most part, far too lazy to exercise it. It's not that we don't have it merely that, through our addiction to comfort and all the other dubious pleasures of modern civilized (?!) society, we choose to ignore it or pretend that we don't have it.
It is so much easier to bemoan our fate and say that we have no choice! You could perhaps extend this argument further and say that even through refusing to choose we have in fact chosen and therefore exercised our free will.
Thanks for the welcome back :P
It is so much easier to bemoan our fate and say that we have no choice! You could perhaps extend this argument further and say that even through refusing to choose we have in fact chosen and therefore exercised our free will.
Thanks for the welcome back :P
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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 70
My words are very easy to understand and very easy to
put into practice, yet no one in the world can
understand them or put them into practice.
Words have an ancestor and affairs have a sovereign.
It is because people are ignorant that they fail to understand me.
Those who understand me are few;
Those who imitate me are honoured.
Therefore the sage, while clad in homespun, conceals on his
person a priceless piece of jade.
...words are very easy to understand...yet no one in the world can understand them...calls to my mind is a curious thing I notice about learning. As far as I can tell, the only thing we can truly understand is that which we already know within, in some [chref=15]murky [/chref] kind of way. This explains why wisdom is not teachable. We gain wisdom through personal experience solely, which is why we never really learn from history; alas, every generation has to 'reinvent its wisdom wheel'.
It is because people are ignorant that they fail to understand... What is ignorant? I'd say that it is our biology that [chref=65]hoodwinks[/chref] us into seeing reality (life) in the way we do, which is not necessarily the way it actually is. Thus, we begin life ignorant of everything beyond what is 'dictated' by our biology. I suppose you might call this 'original sin'. However, that may not be as cut and dry as it sounds.
I see biology as a kind of 'prison' with very high walls,... but walls with edges. When we peer over the edge we experience [chref=1] mystery[/chref]. We are a bit frightened of the feelings this evokes and so we usually obfuscate it with [chref=25]names.[/chref] For me, the main point of this scripture is to warn me of this and hint at what lies on the other side of my 'prison'. To paraphrase Chist's "seek and ye shall find"... "look and ye shall see". Of course, we can only see what we are ready to see. The pleasure, and pain, of the senses (biology) is very distracting.
I sense that much of what we 'know' lies beyond our ability to articulate (put into words). Some folks have a knack for articulating, to some extent, more of this mystery. Again, the Tao Te Ching does this. It says what I 'know', or at least what my current level of emotional [chref=51]maturity [/chref] allows me to 'know'. As the years pass, I am more willing to see things as they are, rather than as I wish them to be. Of course, this 'are' is a continuously unfolding mystery. It is awesome :!: - full of awe
Words have an ancestor, ultimately the constant, the way. But more immediately, in my day-to-day life, the ancestor seems to be the circumstances that lead to the particular words that come up. There are all the associated experiences, thoughts, feelings that lead us to speak or write particular words, in a particular way.
I love the last line. The value of the ?jade? is the integrity, compassion, wisdom, and contentment that lie within. Which associates with my finding it easier to understand and accept others more. Everyone seems to have ?good? qualities, that show at one time or another, even if on 1st meeting the person may seem reserved or unfriendly.
Carl?s comments about biology and ignorance really made me stop and think. Of course, how often does my biology push me to follow some desire, which in our civilized world usually goes to far and becomes a problem. My biological urge for sweet food, a signal in the wild for food having energy, leads to problems when it?s present in donuts, ice cream, whatever. My ?instincts? push for satiation for survival needs, but they don?t have the wisdom to pursue this in a balanced fashion.
How true! Letting go of attachment to desire allows me to see and appreciate so much of what is awesome in the world. But life does have suffering, I can?t escape that, and it feels awful when I?m stuck on desire and can?t let go.