Returning to Infancy

Carl

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 78
In the world there is nothing more submissive and weak than water. Yet for
attacking that which is hard and strong nothing can surpass it. This is because
there is nothing that can take its place.

That the weak overcomes the strong,
And the submissive overcomes the hard,
Everyone in the world knows yet no one can put this knowledge into practice.

Therefore the sage says,
One who takes on himself the humiliation of the state,
Is called a ruler worthy of offering sacrifices to the gods of earth and millet;
One who takes on himself the calamity of the state,
Is called a king worthy of dominion over the entire empire.

Straightforward words
Seem paradoxical.

Read commentary previously posted for this chapter.
Read notes on translations
Now, do it too at Wengu!

Carl

There are a number of positive references in the Tao Te Ching to infancy.
For example:

"Can you be loaded down with 'life', without leaving the moment?
Can you be focused on 'life', yet be yielding like a infant?"
(载营魄抱，能无离乎？专气致柔，能如婴儿乎？... from ch.10)

"I alone am anchored in the present, like an infant, not a child;
Oh, this is like actually having no place to return to."
(我独泊兮其未兆，如婴儿之未孩；呵兮若无所彑... from ch. 20)

"Being a small stream for all under heaven, constant virtue will never leave you,
And you will again return to infancy. "
(为天下溪，常德不离，复彑于婴儿... from ch. 28 )

"Deeply cherished integrity is comparable to an infant's sincerity."
(含德之厚比于赤子... from ch. 55)

I can’t personally recall what infancy was like. Indeed, how could I ever hope to recall the infant non-thought based ‘wonder of it all’ through thought based memory. So, I experience infancy and the early childhood years vicariously through my own or other people’s children, and I am often tickled by what I see. Not only am I tickled, I hold dear the promise and the innocence of childhood. If only I could return there whenever I wanted to tap into that [chref=72]sense of awe[/chref]!

The good news is that I can. The bad news is that I have to let go of some of my cherished baggage. My possessions, both things and thoughts, bolster my self identity. These ‘prove’ to me and others who I am. As Buddha put it, “the illusion of self originates and manifests itself in a clinging to things”.

At birth I was a blank slate of genetic potential ready to plunge into life. Then, like having a new house with bare shelves and no furniture, I set out to stock up on what I needed. One of the first things I put on the shelf was language and physical coordination like crawling. Over the years I added more and more until the house was furnished and shelves were full; I was an adult. Alas, the bloom left the rose. The happiness I ‘knew’ would come once the house was furnished never materialized. Simply put, the illusion never fulfilled its promise.

So what then? Perhaps a little remodeling is in order. Branch out and try something new to rekindle some of that sense of wonder, spontaneity and curiosity that once sparked my infant spirit. I tried moving to another house, and I tried rearranging the furniture and stuff on the shelves. But the rekindled spirit soon flickers and dims. Again, I try something new, but no matter how far I go, here stays here.

Again, to reconsider infancy. All that [chref=4]empty[/chref] space, un-stylized, un-learned, open and ready to receive what ever the moment brings. That is what I am looking for isn’t it? What is wrong? It appears that I have filled my life space with [chref=43]words[/chref], [chref=32]names[/chref], [chref=81]wide learning[/chref], [chref=12]goods[/chref], friends, [chref=3]knowledge[/chref], etc. What else should I expect? The spirit I seek arises from [chref=16]emptiness[/chref], and I am [chref=15]full[/chref]. Naturally, I want to have my cake and eat it too… have it both ways. But wanting that, I end up with neither.

The view that [chref=40]Nothing[/chref], emptiness, death, loss, void, failure, [chref=1]mystery[/chref] and query are the source spring of spiritual energy seems less well known than I’d expect. It is almost a secret… albeit, an open one. Sure, this principle is addressed in all religions, but not always that forthrightly. Taoism being something of an exception. The solution to my ‘problem’ could not be easier or simpler: [chref=36]I must first give[/chref] in order [chref=7]to accomplish my private ends[/chref]. The difficulty lies in my [chref=37]desire[/chref] to take, hold, control, keep, own, manage, do, succeed, live. It is ironic how the [chref=2]easy[/chref] and the [chref=63]difficult[/chref] are all rolled up into one. :yy:

riverwolf

Giving is great. Its easy to make myself happy but difficult to make others happy. Sometimes it gets tricky because to some people its not the gift or the act of giving that matters:it is about who is giving them the gift. I tend to be quite impatient with such people!