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Chapter of the Week: #01 [Archive]
Now I found this:
"These straw dogs would be treated with deference and exaggerated respect prior to their ceremonial use. However, once they had served their purpose as an offering, the priests would discard them and ritually trample them into the dust."
So, that changes the meaning for me. The sage treats people with respect, but all the while she knows that people are mortal and will pass away. The sage doesn't become attached to people because each life is temporary, even her own.
Then I looked up "ruth" - compassion for the misery of another, sorrow for one's own faults. And "ruthless" - having no ruth :!: cruel, merciless.
So I was driving up the road and suddenly realized at a gut level that if one can step away and look at the big picture...I mean the cosmic universe-level picture...then the end of one's life doesn't mean much more than a leaf falling off a tree. Maybe that's why the sage is ruthless.
"These straw dogs would be treated with deference and exaggerated respect prior to their ceremonial use. However, once they had served their purpose as an offering, the priests would discard them and ritually trample them into the dust."
So, that changes the meaning for me. The sage treats people with respect, but all the while she knows that people are mortal and will pass away. The sage doesn't become attached to people because each life is temporary, even her own.
Then I looked up "ruth" - compassion for the misery of another, sorrow for one's own faults. And "ruthless" - having no ruth :!: cruel, merciless.
So I was driving up the road and suddenly realized at a gut level that if one can step away and look at the big picture...I mean the cosmic universe-level picture...then the end of one's life doesn't mean much more than a leaf falling off a tree. Maybe that's why the sage is ruthless.
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 1
The way that can be spoken of
Is not the constant way;
The name that can be named
Is not the constant name.
The nameless was the beginning of heaven and earth;
The named was the mother of the myriad creatures.
Hence always rid yourself of desires in order to observes its secrets;
But always allow yourself to have desires in order to observe its manifestations.
These two are the same
But diverge in name as they issue forth.
Being the same they are called mysteries,
Mystery upon mystery;
The gateway of the manifold secrets.
Well, another year and half has passed by and here I am again at the beginning. This time, this chapter really brings home to me the illusionary world of language and the names with which we use to conjure this illusionary world. Knowing that [chref=32]names[/chref] skew knowing really helps me to see [chref=14]the shape that has no shape[/chref] better.
I'm especially struck by the view that rid yourself of desires and allow yourself to have desires are fundamentally the same. So much for logic and rational thought, eh? And no wonder Taoist views haven't caught on with [chref=20]the multitude [/chref]. This view opposes our instinctive sense of reality. But, so does Galileo's view that objects fall at the same rate, regardless of how much they weigh. How can a Bee-Bee and a cannon ball fall at the same rate? Later, Einstein poked holes in our instinctive sense of reality with his theory of relativity. Goodness gracious. But, to top it off, along comes quantum mechanics' view of non-locality to really mess with our instinctive sense of things.
Quantum mechanics actually gives scientific support to the ancient Taoist view that... These two are the same, But diverge in name as they issue forth. The world we see is but a reflection of ourselves, the observers. And, more precisely, a reflection of how we are biologically evolved to see 'reality'. Thus, knowing the 'eye' that sees tells us profoundly more rather than knowing what the 'eye' sees... or as the 'good book' says, [chref=47]without stirring abroad, one can know the whole world.[/chref]
The names we give Nature and our logical way of interpreting Nature allow us to meddle and tinker with Nature. A quick glance around my room proves that. Pinning Nature down in our attempt to control it, has the unintended consequence of blocking the gateway of the manifold secrets. Names allow us to demystify the mystery upon mystery. This disconnects us from Nature's 'other half', to which we then struggle to reunite. This is the price we pay for our 'mastery' over Nature. We win, yet we loose. This calls to mind my favorite observation - as Jesus put it, "Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it." Or maybe more broadly, 'you can only have what you give up'. That, of course, really goes against our instinctive view of life... :shock:
So 'these two are the same' refer to having desires and not having desires? I thought 'these' referred to secrets and manifestations.
What about 'to observe its secrets' and 'to observe its manifestations'? What does 'its' refer to? The way? The nameless? The named?
I wish this guy used less pronouns. :roll:
I talked with my daughter about the naming in terms of thinking we know what the "truth" is in any given situation. It happens so often that we have disagreements because we hold on to our perspective on a situation as being the right one. And if someone differs, then they're wrong. But what ever thoughts I have about the situation, whatever words I use to describe the situation, they are not the actual situation.
I like to think of this chapter in conjunction with the one about hammering something to a point. The sharper and more absolute I think something has to be, the more likely I am to miss the big picture. If I'm tentative about my perspective, if I can experience the "truth" of a situation as murky, then I'm more likely to be flexible in dealing with others.
1) Desire is manifestations: Zero-desire is secrets. They are entwined, only when I am in the state of zero-desire, do expereince the secret. Only when I am feeling desire, do I expereince the manifestations. Of course, looking deeper into this matter, we have the "mystery upon mystery" where "these two are the same"... and you can pick any two of anything. Words only take us so far....
2) What do you want it to refer to? That is the most important question. The process of interpretation reflects you - your nature. Pondering how and what you interpret will lead you into deeper self knowing. I see 'its' = 'way' = 'nameless'. 'This' and 'it' can point 'beyond' words... but what is experienced rests in the eye of the beholder. Thus, [chref=40]turning back is how the way moves,...[/chref] conveys where 'beyond' is, and where we can go to see 'it'.
Is not the constant way; :roll: