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| Currently Reading: Simple Taoism: A Guide to Living in the Balance
Homecoming
Where was Tao while I was gone?
Wasn't I following it where it went?
Do you think that there are two?
After traveling awhile, we come home to a familiar place, only we often look at it in a new light. Were things different while we weren't here? We experienced so many new and different things while we were gone -- wasn't that Tao too? How can there be so many differences?
You might argue that a mountain is a mountain, but our attitudes toward it are changeable. If we mistake our subjective viewpoints as something that is solid, permanent, and never relative to circumstances, then we can move through life in a much more dynamic way.
There are not two ways. There is only one. It is so vast that we can experience widely diverging aspects of it and imagine that we are in different realities. This is a misconception. We cannot outrun Tao, cannot be outside of it. It is only our viewpoints that change to the degree that we think we are in differing dimensions. In the river of Tao, we are like minnows that can never plumb the length and breadth of the water.
This is a beautiful way of expressing Tao in my opinion. Existence, non-existence, it is ALL Tao. Because Tao is creation, it is everything. Some people view Tao, the creator, as Yahweh, some as Allah, some as Goddess and God, some as Kali, and so on... all are but different aspects of the One. All is connected. They are not the same thing, for they bring about different experiences and different learning for individuals, but they are all connected, and are all contained within the Tao.
On the 19th of February we discussed the analogy of the rock...
For example, if there is a rock that we pass day after day but we do not notice, then that rock has no significance for us. If we decide to make that rock a votive object and pray to it for decades, then that rock becomes quite important. To an outsider who does not subscribe to the rock's assigned meaning, it will continue to be just a rock. In all cases, the rock was just a rock. It was only human interaction that created its meaning.
This is all very relevent to Tao. How we perceive Tao is not going to be how another perceives it. Indeed, it cannot even be explained for it is so beyond us. Lao-Tzu in Tao Te Ching says "The Tao that can be explained, is not the true Tao." When we try to explain the Tao, try to put it into some kind of perspective that we can teach others and have them follow, we are limiting it, and at the same time we are also creating a bigger, wider perspective that we have yet to grasp.
Human understanding is very limited, we don't even use all our of brain, so how can we possibly figure out the workings of the universe? It is so beyond us! We can get but a glimpse into this universe, form a few theories, and go with what works for us. But we must remain open minded enough to at least realise that our path is not going to resonate with everyone else, that is why Tao is so broad and endless, so everyone has a change to experience what does work for them!
In the end it is not enough to paint a picture and say 'this is all there is'. What about the picture on the wall next to it? What happens if it rains and the paint runs? Is not then your perspective changed? We must remain flexible, ever changing to the cycles of Tao for there are times when we are ready to accept new information that we could not have understood years ago, or even months ago. And this information, delivered at the right time, will help you to put the puzzle of your own reality and personal truth together, piece by piece, jigsaw by jigsaw. | | |
| Currently Reading: Simple Taoism: A Guide to Living in the Balance
Farewell
We part at the crossroads,
You leave with your joys and problems,
I with mine. Alone, I look down the road.
Each one must walk one's own path.
People's paths come together all too briefly when sharing friendship, but that makes those times no less valuable. We must take advantage of support and sharing in a mutually beneficial way. Whenever we taken from another, we should try to give back something. This is fundamental. No one should lean on another person, or expect another to carry them a long distance down the road. Friends should walk side by side for as long as their journey carries them, without becoming dependent on one another.
There should be no obligation. If I can help someone do something, then I should do so without any hesitation or expectation of reward or debt. If there is something that I need to learn and my companion can show it to me, then I should accept it in humility. No one "owns" knowledge. It should be freely shared.
Parting is inherent in all meeting. Nothing lasts forever. Transcience is what gives life poignancy. Every person is responsible for himself or herself. There is no road to walk but your own.
I really like this passage. Ming-Dao does has his moments ;). I am currently reading Simple Taoism and there was a passage from that which I read last night that fits in quite well with this subject.
"Tao is the source, older than nature. Nature is rooted in Tao. Everything that we know in the world comes from Tao, expressed as yin and yang. Thus, anything we do will invariably create its own opposite. To succeed in life according to Lao-Tzu, we should step back and permit this balancing to take place." page 15.
...anything we do will invariably create its own opposite.
Thus, by meeting someone new and making their acquaintance, we invariably create the beginning of the end. The end being when we will one day separate, either by disagreement, choice, moving, by death. We will all one day have to say farewell to those that we know. And by saying good-bye to them in one form, we also invariably create the opportunity for them to return in another form. It is all about cycles.
Sometimes, many times in fact, we refuse to let go when a cycle has come to its end. We hold on to "the old times" and the ideals that something can last forever and always be the same. But what fun is that? Would you stagnate the rest of your life simply to make one moment last forever?
Many people at the moment are being faced with decisions and challenges. Especially those pertaining to cycles we have not let go of, past events, past people, past lives. We carry them around like they are a badge of honour, and all they do is weigh us down, and cloud our experience of new things coming into our lives.
The hurt many are experiencing now is often due to their inability to let go of the old and let in the new. Illness manifests in the body when we hold on to stress, anger, guilt, judgment, hurt... if we could only learn to recognise that these things were but lessons we chose, they are cycles now past, we could release them and welcome the fresh new cycle into our lives where we are healthy, happy individuals. We could truly be free. | | |
| Currently Reading: The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom
Practice
Spiritual success is gained by daily cultivation.
If you practiced for the day, then you have won.
If you were lazy for the day, then you have lost.
Self-cultivation is the heart of spiritual attainment. Gaining insight and ability is not a matter of grand statements, dramatic initiations, or sporadic moments of enlightenment. Those things are only highlights in a life of consistent activity.
Whatever system of spirituality you practice, do it every day. If it is prayer, then pray every day. If it is meditation, then meditate every day. If it is exercise, then exercise every day. Only then will you be able to say that you are truly practicing spirituality.
This methodical approach is reassuring in several ways. First, it provides you with a process and a means to maintain progress even if that particular day is not inspiring or significant. Just to practice is already good. Secondly, it gives you a certain faith. If you practice every day, it is inevitable that you will gain from it. Thirdly, constant practice gives you a certain satisfaction. How can you say to yourself that you have truly entered a spiritual path unless you can look back on years of daily practice and take comfort in the momentum that is has given you?
I'm not so sure that I can appreciate Ming-Dao's approach to this. It really seems that his approach is more Zen than Taoist to me. There is no deviating from the Tao, for the Tao is everything. And whether you practice daily, weekly, monthly or yearly, everything you DO is Taoist, for you are Tao, and all around you is Tao. You do not "practice" Tao, you live it. And this is something I do not understand, why judge yourself?
In my spirituality, I am doing my hardest not to constantly judge myself or others. We do what we have to do, nothing more, no less. If I am going to rail against myself for not meditating one day, then I will be undoing all the work I have done to release judgment. I do not believe that someone who meditates daily, prays daily etc. is any more spiritual than myself or anyone else. We all live our spirituality differently.
My spirituality is very spontaneous. I am constantly aware of the energies around me, and I tune in to the astrological influences among many other things that can effect my life. For me, it helps to be aware. For others, perhaps they'd rather NOT know! I do not meditate daily, though I do give thanks every day for the little and big things in my life. I may not make a big song and dance about it by bowing down to an altar every day, or whatever, but I do live my spirituality every day, because everything I do is spiritual to me, you cannot deviate from what you are.
As such, I find Ming-Dao's 365 Tao to be rather disconcerting at times, he has a very rigid, uniform approach to Taoism, which is not, from what I have learned, Tao, at all. The Tao is forever flowing, it is like water, it goes wherever it runs, and you can TRY to dam it, but it just ends up flowing somewhere else. There are some, like how I see Ming-Dao's approach, who do dam it. Who keep it stagnate, and once in a while open up the dam doors to let it out in small amounts. This to me is more of a control issue than a "proper practice" of Taoism.
What are they afraid of if they just go with the flow, run with the wind, float with the river? I find that when I try to control the events in my life that is when things start to get more difficult for me. When I let things just flow and move with them, there are moments of pure beauty and joy that open up for me, and the way is not difficult at all. | | |
| Currently Reading: Mary Summer Rains Guide to Dream Symbols
Creativity
Storm breaks into pieces,
Clouds charge the horizon.
Revolving of the heavens,
Generates all movement.
Without movement, there could be nothing created in this universe. The revolving of the heavens can generate wind, rain, thunder, lightning. The revolving of the earth enables us to have day and night, the very cycle of the weather, the seasons, and the growth of the plants. Movement is responsible for creativity.
Followers of the Tao value initiative, but mere aggression is not enough. One needs creativity. This can mean the ability to solve problems, to think of unusual strategies, or to compose poetry, music, and painting. In all these cases, one moves in concert with Tao not by blind aping, but by giving intelligent counterpoint and harmony. Creativity does not mean the arbitrary making of something out of our cultural minds. Rather it is spontaneous movement in tandem with Tao, a movement that will generate life and not misery for others.
My understanding of the universe is of the three creators - Nothingness, Chaos and Order. Together Chaos and Order overcame Nothingness to create the universe we know. On one end of the spectrum Order created the world he wanted, that of no movement, of the perfect non-shift that complete and utter order would bring were we to remove all chaos from it. On the other end was Chaos, and she created with reckless abandon, all things moving and changing, with absolutely no understanding or order to it. Somewhere in the middle, these two powerful energies met up and became the universe we live in - one that is a balance of order and chaos - the only place we can exist which has any meaning or understanding for us, for we would never truly comprehend either spectrum of complete order or complete chaos.
Our world is in constant change, there is a lot of chaos here, which brings new things into play, it makes it all move and continue moving, without it everything would be the same, everything would be explained, and nothing would be spontaneous or different.
There is order to temper the chaos though, for without it we would never be able to exist. Somehow a balance has been created that gives us the opportunity to create in a world that for the most part stays the same on a day to day basis. Yes, chaos comes in and tries to pull things out from under us, she is the challenger to our order, she is the change, and nothing goes unchanged when she touches you.
Together, they are balance, together they are creative, together they are our universe. | | |
| Currently Reading: Tao: The Watercourse Way
Ascent
Chill morning, stone steps,
The path to the temple is steep,
We may stumble at times,
But we must always get up again.
Spiritual cultivation is a daily activity. No matter how much we achieve one day, we must continue the next. Progress is often so subtle that we may feel the effort futile, and it is hard to get up each morning and try again with the same enthusiasm. Yet this is precisely what we must do.
If we have the benefit of guidance, talent, and the proper circumstances, then the bulk of our attention has to be paid to such a simple day-to-day effort. No person ever leapt to heaven in one bound. Spirituality is achieved by steady climbing, like a difficult journey to a mountain temple. The number of steps is in the thousands; the way is steep. It takes a long time to get there, and we must content ourselves with the panoramas along the way and think that the view at the summit will be best of all. If we fall, we must pick ourselves up and get back on the trail again.
Success in spiritual life is measured not by spectacular events but by daily devotion. This iron will, this deep sincerity maintains our ascent.
One of my mentors in Australia once used the following analogy (?) that has always stuck with me. He said, spiritual progress is like a continuing spiral upwards. You draw one circle in the air, and then slowly spiral it upwards, like so...
You start low, and you go through ups and downs, like in a spiral, but you never quite sink as low as you were before during the low moments. So even though you might regress or fall along the way (on the down spiral) you are always higher than you were during your last down moment...
It's hard to explain in text, that's the best I can do, but I always kept it with me as an assurance that even though I might go through low moments where I fall by the wayside of my spiritual path, I am still much higher, much further along, than I was in my last low moment, especially when looking back over the years. We go on, and we always go higher.
Daily devotions help me further my ascent along my path, but I also realise that sometimes I am going to want to just sit a while and experience the scenery from where I'm at, and that is ok too, because it is all a part of the Tao. :) | | |
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