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Chapter of the Week: #47 [Archive]

CarlCarl
edited June 2006 in Taoism and the Tao Te Ching
[cite] Carl:[/cite]The challenge for humanity lies in seeing the world as it is, not as we think it is.

I say the world is however I say it is for me. Meaning that whatever I tell myself about the world is how it occurs for me no matter what.

It can be like self-fulfilling prophecy. For instance, I walk past someone and he makes a grimace. I might think he is troubled or I might think that he disapproves of me. How I think the world is will determine my conclusion and my reaction to it. Maybe he really does disapprove of me but I think he is troubled and I show some concern or compassion for his suffering and suddenly I am not such a bad guy in his eyes.

I don't think this is the only force acting on me and the world but it is interesting to consider.

Comments

  • CarlCarl
    edited January 2008
    Each week we address one chapter of the Tao Te Ching. 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 47
    Without stirring abroad
    One can know the whole world;
    Without looking out of the window
    One can see the way of heaven.
    The further one goes
    The less one knows.

    Therefore the sage knows without having to stir,
    Identifies without having to see,
    Accomplishes without having to act.

    Read commentary previously posted for this chapter.
  • CarlCarl
    edited December 1969
    [Note: I italicize phrases I borrow from the chapter, and link to phrases I borrow from other chapters to help tie chapters together. While making it more tedious to read, :? the Tao Te Ching is best pondered in the context of the whole.

    This chapter points to the fundamental role 'interpretation' plays in what we [chref=71]think that [we] know[/chref]. At what point does what we see out of the window cease being merely an 'interpretation' - a reflection of our own desires and preconceptions? Only by 'truly' looking inward can [we] know the whole world without stirring abroad. Truly? 'Truly' happens when we can shed the [chref=32]names[/chref] (thoughts) we cling to that justify [chref=79]favoritism[/chref]. We begin to see things as they are, rather than as we [chref=57]desire[/chref] they were. Complexity and difference fade into simplicity and [chref=56]sameness[/chref].

    Knowing has two aspect which chapter 33 speaks to, e.g. [chref=33]he who knows others [people and things] is clever; he who knows himself has discernment[/chref]. The former is what I call paradigm based knowing - the object of education. For this we need to go, act, see, and stir. Naturally, the most clever among us excel here. The later, on the other hand, is looking inward to know. I'm not sure, but I suspect that [chref=18]cleverness[/chref] is a disadvantage here. This is natural justice; the 'blade' cuts both ways. Perhaps this what Christ was hinting at with "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth."

    Initially, of course, all we see when looking inward is the paradigm that was instilled in us as children. What is the tipping point. Where is the fork in the road of knowing? I suppose we just keep looking out of the window until we begin to see there is actually [chref=40]Nothing[/chref] different out there. [chref=10]When our discernment penetrates the four quarters, [and we] are capable of not knowing anything[/chref], the only place left to look is within. And, there 'it' is, where 'it' has always been. We were just to busy stirring abroad to identify 'it'.

    How do we know we are seeing the way of heaven? Inner knowing [chref=16]will lead to impartiality[/chref]. Thus, judging things [chref=2]'good' [or] 'beautiful'[/chref], tells us we are still looking out the window. This is not to say we must shed our basic animal likes and dislikes. Rotten food tastes rotten and we naturally avoid eating it. That doesn't make it 'bad' or 'ugly'..., after all, worms find rotten food 'good' and 'beautiful'. It is possible to simply live sans [chref=23]words[/chref], and the self righteous judgements which follow. Sure, words are lodged in our brain's mind. And they are handy tools of survival, but that doesn't' mean we need to naively believe them!

    Finally, my 'everything is a symptom' point of view prompts me to reverse the order a bit, e.g., The less one knows, The further one goes. It is a lack of knowing that drives us to look out the window, stir abroad and go. We seek what we don't have. Thus, the less accomplishment ('self worth') we feel, the more we rely on action to find a sense of accomplishment; the less [chref=46]content[/chref] we feel, the more we stir abroad to find it.

    By the way: I never mean to imply that this or that is a 'bad' thing, or that we should do, or not do, something. I'm simply attempting to see how Nature works its wonders. So, for example, [chref=36]If you would have a thing laid aside, You must first set it up[/chref]. Thus, we must be young before old, be selfish before selfless, be clever before [chref=20]muddled[/chref],... and of course, be alive before dead. Or, is it all the other way around? MMmmmm :wink:
    .
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