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Chapter of the Week: #15 [Archive]
[cite] Carl:[/cite]
So, what really motivates the myriad creatures - all living things including us - into a particular action or inaction?
Certainly some, if not all, of it is physiological. There is an accompanying "drive for" or "discomfort in the lack of" everything a human needs to survive. Hunger if you don't eat, thirst if you don't drink, cold if you lack shelter, etc... So, left solely to these motivators, humans would survive.
But a human can reason out a long term benefit that motivates him/her to act also. That is purely psychological and emmotional but it might be motivated by a perceived future need for something related to survival. Like I go to college to get an education to get a job that I want to earn money to buy food. I am not necessarily hungry right now but I know sooner or later I am going to need some money to buy food.
But it might be tied to something not needed for survival. Like I want that job because I know I will make enough money to buy fancy, exotic, or gourmet foods that I might not otherwise have access to. I would survive just fine on rice and beans but I "create" a need for something else.
I would guess maybe 90% of my life is "created" like in the latter example. But I also think it would be hard to live in a cardboard box now that I know how it could be.
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 15
Of old he who was well versed in the way
Was minutely subtle, mysteriously comprehending,
And too profound to be known.
It is because he could not be known
That he can only be given a makeshift description:
Tentative, as if fording a river in winter,
Hesitant, as if in fear of his neighbours;
Formal like a guest;
Falling apart like thawing ice;
Thick like the uncarved block;
Vacant like a valley;
Murky like muddy water.
Who can be muddy and yet, settling, slowly become limpid?
Who can be a rest and yet, stirring, slowly come to life?
He who holds fast to this way
Desires not to be full.
It is because he is not full
That he can be worn and yet newly made.
Oh boy, let's see how badly I can mangle this chapter. Here goes...
First, the chapter conveys an objective description of someone 'out there'. Naturally so, for that is how we view the world... it is 'out there'. But, [chref=10]knowing[/chref] occurs 'in here'. So essentially, what we think we see 'out there' is simply a reflection of what is 'in here'. Our mind is like a mirror, and simply reflects who we are. So?
When I look around, I see ourselves constantly attempting to make the tentative certain, the hesitant decisive, the murky clear, the vacant full, the falling apart firm. Why? Because, in truth we all are minutely subtle, mysteriously comprehending, and too profound to be known. We all are murky, falling apart, vacant,... and it frightens us deeply! I am finding that being well versed in the way is simply facing things as they are, and accepting that because he (I, you, and they) cannot be known, he (we) can only be given a makeshift description.
Personally, this is chapter offers a very poetic description of what it is like getting older. Life saves the best for last! Though by focusing on the 'more useful' 18 to 60 year olds, our youth oriented industrial culture has done much to bury this 'treasure'. :roll:
The more hesitant and tentative I am, the less likely I am to just jump into activity and run around trying to accomplish something. The more focused and centered I become, the less there is that "needs" to be done. "Desires not to be full" sure sums it up in a nutshell.