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How to Make the Way Easy

CarlCarl
edited July 2006 in Taoism and the Tao Te Ching
[cite] Carl:[/cite]Among animals, we are like the opera divas in being deluded by our own sense of importance. But, that said it is not our fault.

Cute. :roll:

Too bad we really don't know.

Comments

  • CarlCarl
    edited December 1969
    Well, it's not so much a 'how to' but an 'if when'. The deeper I feel the past and the future are the same, the easier it is to [chref=21]follow the way and the way only[/chref]. It is always our visceral [chref=70]ignorance[/chref] (not intellectual ignorance) of this [chref=56]mysterious sameness[/chref] that leads us to [chref=53]prefer by-paths[/chref]. No amount of [chref=81]wide learning[/chref] can help us one wit in this. We can only find this, [chref=2]the teaching that uses no words[/chref], from within. At best, [chref=23]words[/chref] can only hint at what we are looking for. The future and the past are simply an illusion... the same illusion. But, saying that is trite, to say the least - sorry :oops:. Feeling the similarity, the 'sameness', means letting go of the 'promises' which both the future and past offer. But, we can't let go until we feel the 'promises' are empty. Then, quite [chref=25]naturally[/chref], the only path left is now.

    The 'promises' which the future and the past make arise from thought. As long as we believe our thoughts are true, we have faith in the 'promises' they make. If really just boils down to being more [chref=15]tentative and hesitant[/chref] in regards to our thoughts. You would think that distrusting the certainty of our own thoughts would be easy; we've all experienced idealistic certainty crumbing in the face of reality. I suppose 'hope springs eternal' is just another one of Nature's survival [chref=65]hoodwinks[/chref] at work. Besides, holding on to the veracity of our thoughts plays such a major role in maintaining the illusion of self ('I am'), that to discount that veracity would be a little like committing ego suicide. But, in the end, the way only becomes easier when we do just that.

    It follows, I suppose, that one might think it would be difficult living in a world where, for most people, thought, future and past are real. Just the opposite. It becomes easier. It is similar to how we deal with dreams ? no matter the content of the dream, knowing it is only a dream takes the edge off. The actual practical business of living also flows smoother ? most of life's mishaps happen when, lost in thought, we are absent from now and make illusionary mountains out of reality's molehills.
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