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Chapter of the Week: #73 [Archive]
This was the sadest show Ive ever seen. Mom I got the jucussi for you, dont you like it? I DONT.
Nice way to treat your kid.
You single hanedly made every californiaian despise you. You dont speak for us. You are what we hate.
Your husband has no backbone and needs to go get laid to see what he's missing.
The way you put down that poor family in ever aspect was just plain cruel. And the selfishness you possesed about the 50k was horrible.
You can try to convince yourself the editing was to blame but only Carl belives you. You made a complete fool of yourself and seriously need professional help my dear.
Im so worried about your kids not ZZ...they are going to be on Heroin by there 16th b-day.
Diane treatedyour family with repect and dignity and you spit in her face. I so hopr this comes back to ruin your life you wretched bitch.
But at leat your not a hyprocrite. Smoking. Drinking. Killing spiders. Beating dogs. We all recognize you're a genius whe ZZ can out spell you.
This proves that you dont have to be wealthy to have class. Because you have none, and I pity your soul.
Nice way to treat your kid.
You single hanedly made every californiaian despise you. You dont speak for us. You are what we hate.
Your husband has no backbone and needs to go get laid to see what he's missing.
The way you put down that poor family in ever aspect was just plain cruel. And the selfishness you possesed about the 50k was horrible.
You can try to convince yourself the editing was to blame but only Carl belives you. You made a complete fool of yourself and seriously need professional help my dear.
Im so worried about your kids not ZZ...they are going to be on Heroin by there 16th b-day.
Diane treatedyour family with repect and dignity and you spit in her face. I so hopr this comes back to ruin your life you wretched bitch.
But at leat your not a hyprocrite. Smoking. Drinking. Killing spiders. Beating dogs. We all recognize you're a genius whe ZZ can out spell you.
This proves that you dont have to be wealthy to have class. Because you have none, and I pity your soul.
Comments
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 73
He who is fearless in being bold will meet with his death;
He who is fearless in being timid will stay alive.
Of the two, one leads to good, the other to harm.
Heaven hates what it hates,
Who knows the reason why?
Therefore even the sage treats some things as difficult.
The way of heaven
Excels in overcoming though it does not contend,
In responding though it does not speak,
In attracting though it does not summon,
In laying plans though it appears slack.
The net of heaven is cast wide. Though the mesh is not
fine, yet nothing ever slips through.
The view that Heaven hates what it hates, Who knows the reason why? offers me the perfect alternative to karma (or any other explanation) for the more [chref=5]ruthless[/chref] side of life. Granted, it's not much of an answer; it turns me back to the mystery. That's challenging for I instinctively want to know and be in control, so I can answer the question and fix the problem.
Excels in overcoming though it does not contend is what I'm able to do when I'm following the moment. This allows me to respond to life more spontaneously. It is like Judo, where you guide the inertia of a mass coming at you and deflect it with the least amount of energy - the essence of efficiency. And nature is nothing if not efficient!
Contend, speak, summon all reflect how I approach life when I'm driven with an internal agenda. Certainly, a certain degree of personal agenda is needed to live. Civilized life hypes up the natural agenda, co-opts our natural instincts, and makes 'mountains' out of 'mole' hills. Then we spend our days rushing about trying to manage this chaos. Such are the unintended consequences of civilization.
Being timid instinctively arises from some insecurity (fear). So, being fearless in being timid only occurs when I'm mindful and notice what is called for at this moment. This is similar to overcoming though it does not contend. Being bold instinctively arise when I'm fearless, and invariably has unfortunate consequences. Being bold can be anything from impulse buying, to speeding, to starting a war.
And finally, even the sage treats some things as difficult takes some of the defacto hype out of sage-ness and all things 'spiritual'. Our inclination to hype pretty much everything, is an telling symptom of our civilized nature. It is as though what is, is never sufficient. Of course you know what I am going to 'blame' for this don't you. I suspect that the sense of disconnection caused by civilization, along with our our big brain and language, induces us to create an idealized reality which is better than the real one we experience each moment. Now, this may only account for a small fraction of our awareness, overall, but as with a tiny splinter, it doesn't take much.
The mesh is not fine, yet nothing ever slips through conveys the [chref=34]breadth[/chref] of the way. Nothing is outside of nature in Taoism. This is opposite to some contemporary points of view, where we humans are either destroying nature, or nature is there to serve us. There is actually nothing wrong. When we see things are wrong we are simply seeing a reflection of our agenda. And, ironically, our agenda over the last 10,000 years has resulted in what we see today. If we could only figure out a way to have our cake and eat it too.
Sometimes I feel like a bully who's going around busting balloons, like now when I'm going to question the nature of compassion. Anyway...
Nature is [chref=5]ruthless[/chref] and is without compassion, like you say. It seems to me that nature has no compassion because it has no ego. Ego and compassion are two sides of the same coin. They produce each other. However, they manifest themselves with a wide range of characteristics and so they would not always (or even often?) fit the narrower popular sense of what ego or compassion are. Eliminate one and you eliminate the other. Conversely, you can't have one without the other which is often the ideal, i.e.,... down with ego, up with compassion. I suppose balance would be the way to go ? if only we could wave our magic free will / free choice wand.
Ah, Allandnone asks such fine questions! My brief answer is unlikely to measure up. But, what the heck...
I see nature as the interplay that occurs among and between both organic and inorganic 'life'. In this 'cosmic' system each thing plays its part, first coming into being and then in time going out of being. For an insect, that can be just a matter of days. For a galaxy... who knows? New 'things' enter being as old 'things' leave. :yy:
One of those 'things', us, has a big enough brain to create an illusion of self. Our species' innate social ability to empathize, allows us to project our personal illusion-self onto other 'things' (you name it, but usually cuddly furry 'thing') that have some emotional appeal to us personally. To these 'things' we feel compassion towards. Any compassion we feel is only possible because this 'illusion of self' feels real. This illusion of self is just another word for ego. The idea that we can get rid of it is wishful thinking, no different that the notion that by taking Jesus as our savior we'll spend eternity in Heaven, or any of the other 'solutions' to the problems caused by our big brain. Well, except for a lobotomy I suppose, and drugs. But, these bring on other problems which usually leave us worse off. Each solution [chref=2]produces [/chref] its own problem. :yy:
Thus, "brutal" is in the eye of the beholder's self illusion. Most people would not feel killing bacteria as brutal. Most people would find killing human babies was brutal. What's the difference? Do you think a bacterium, if it could think, would find killing its fellow bacteria brutal? Would it care if human babies were dying because it was replicating, as in typhoid fever? The illusion of self, the ego, allows people to [chref=7]give themselves life[/chref]. Guess which species people regard as the most unique, special, and superior form of life? Oh, I know. It is the one that can be enlightened,... or is it the one that was created in God's image. Mmmm? (Excuse my sarcastic fling.
The smaller, or the less functional, the brain which creates the illusion of self, the less ego there will be. For example, Downs Syndrome folks seem to have less of a problem with ego. Alas, the big brain ape is stuck with his/her ego. But, no, we want it all, don't we? As that old adage puts it, 'we want our cake and eat it too'. :roll:
It is testimony to the balance of nature (justice) that the great survival benefits we derive from our big brain come with a price. Every 'thing' pays its way in nature. We keep trying to 'get in free'. I know our myths and wishful thinking help us cope. But, I suspect that as long as we mislead ourselves with such beliefs, we are not going to find the optimum path to coping with our circumstance. I believe that was Buddha's thought as well, i.e., you have to know what's going on before you can fix it. :shock:
Personally, I've noticed that with time, and the wisdom that ensues, I'm more deeply aware of my illusion of self, and the tricks it plays on me. Notably, those 'self-centered' rationalizations which support my current emotional agenda. Seeing this illusion of self for what it is weakens its hold on me. It is really simple: a trick can't fool you when you see how the trick works, right? 8)
Well, do I hear any balloons popping?
PS, A brutally efficient business model, the likes of which we already have in the capitalist system, is not efficient in the long term, from nature's point of view (a few hundred or thousand years in nature is short term). As a species we are still trying to adjust for the disruption which the agricultural revolution of 10,000 years ago has wreaked upon us. Then came the iron age which really messed thing up enough to bring about the major world religions we have to today to help us cope with the increased chaos that causes. And now, a few moments ago, we entered the electric age, and seconds ago the computer age. Nature seeks balance. We are far out of balance, due to endless innovation, i.e, [chref=16]woe to him who wilfully innovates, while ignorant of the constant[/chref]. Thus, I see any degree of true natural efficiency for our species lies way into the future, at least if history is any indication.
Did I say brief answer?
With regard to innovation it is very scary. It is out of control because innovation is growing at a positive exponential rate and our cultural wisdom is growing at a linearly rate and sometimes I think that is even negative. Oh well it is getting late, I think my math tutoring background is taking over. Cheers:yy:
Carl mentioned nothing being outside of nature in Taoism. I agree totally on an intellectual level, but often it?s a hard one to accept emotionally. But when I?m able to truly letting go, accepting reality, then this tends to fall away. But being an imperfect human, it?s often easy to fall into judging & blaming. This particularly comes up these days (pushes my buttons) when I see litter, particularly in a ?natural? setting like the woods.
Also, it was interesting for Allandnone to bring up business systems and the way of nature. Having done accounting, business management, etc. I?ve had plenty of times of trying to help the head honchos figure out how to run their businesses more effectively. One of the human failings that always jumps out at me, that I?ve seen in anyone involved in the business, from the ?boss? to the ?peons?, is how we want to have our cake and eat it too. We don?t want to deal with the consequences that come with any business choice.
Some may be within a particular business (I want to move up the corporate ladder, but I don?t want to have high-pressure responsibilities.). And some may be between different business situations. (I want to make top dollar as an American at XYZ Company, and I want to buy the cheapest possible goods at Walmart, or wherever, which may mean jobs being moved to other countries where labor is cheaper.) I?m feeling more and more like most of our systems in modern civilization won?t stand the test of the long-term (i.e. millennia) because we can?t avoid a balancing of consequences forever.
Now excuse me, while I have cake and ice cream, and then try to exercise the excess calories away!
Is that too glib?
A side note, I read some place that if we could sum-up the observations and senses of all organic creatures, and I think inorganic subatances too, we might get a slight look at Nature.
Yes. There's a feeling of peace inside of me that's not related to anything on the outside. It has nothing to do with language or the intellect or even ethics. If I keep my focus there then I am mindful and present and not stressing out. That feels natural.
Maybe that's because my brain is not so big! : D My brother is way way more intelligent than I am and I am way way more happy. Hooray for middlin' intelligence!