Jue. To perceive, to feel. Tao has to be known with the entire self, not through words.
What does one do in the face of the most fundamental flux in existence that is Tao? Well, you could either stand in one place and let it go all through you, or you could take advantage of your volition and try to act within the flux.
Some spiritual systems hold that a deity comes first. Therefore, they encourage obedience over perception – you have to know what the laws are, but you don’t have to know why. The ancients taught a different perception of reality. They felt that the cosmos was great, but impersonal. There was no chance to influence the workings of time and nature according to the wishful thinking of humans. Thus, the methods of Tao are not ones in which one tries to conform with what a Big Mother or a Big Father tells people to do. Instead, it studies ways to act wisely within a constantly shifting dynamic.
This makes perception paramount. One needs to become sensitive and experienced in operating within an always developing set of surroundings. What counts then is neither dogma nor obedience to some divine ruler. What counts is perceptive action within the all-encompassing flux of Tao.
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Perception is what causes so many problems between people in their lives. We all have our own perception of the world. I think what I gain most from studying Tao is an understanding that my perception of the world, of Tao, is limited. I can never know everything. I can do my best to understand, to see the world from as many viewpoints as I can, to try and study nature and learn how things work, and perhaps how I might work within them better, but my perception will always be limited. When I hear people trying to argue that they know best, that they have all the answers, who try to discredit the other side as “Unamerican” or “misguided” or whatever the buzzword of the day is, I smile a little.
But then I realize that others are being taken in by their words, and I wonder how we can reach out to those who are believing what they are told based on a party belief or a religious belief or whatever. Tao gives us tools, it gives us ways to reach out to others.
The shifting sands of time will move and change and this time of turmoil and strife will pass with it. But for now, we have to deal with where we are. Tao lets us stay calm and centered without letting the chaos of these times enter and affect our perception.
Find that quiet place within, and look for it in others. For those who lack it, try to gently guide them to it. Then, you can have a conversation. Without the anger, without the buzzwords, just talk gently about those things you find in common. That is where you can reach out to people.
Who do you need to talk with today? How can you reach out to them? Are you really trying to talk, or merely trying to force your viewpoint on them? And don’t forget to really listen.
6 Responses
[…] when the egg is no more and the chick is not yet, is nothingness. This is the primal state which no one can grasp because it is a force which precedes creation. It is called chaos — Martin Buber Chaos […]
I seek to integrate perspectives rather than argue for any such thing as an absolute frame of reference, something that modern physics proves impossible anyhow. Taoism seems very interesting to me, but like you (I think) do not seek to drift passively downstream, rather to observe the flow and the possible destinations, and steer as little as necessary to get us there.
Yup, Michael, that’s pretty much it. I don’t think of Tao as an “ism” but as exactly what it is called “The Way of Change”. It is a way to think about how things change and how we can best orient ourselves to make the best use of those changes. The only moment you can truly affect is the present moment, and by being aware of the influences on that moment, and on your own thought process, you can make the best use of the moment and your current surroundings to influence change in the direction you wish to go, or, change your direction if things are not working out as you hoped.
It is not a religion, it is a philosophy of living that has greatly helped me in dealing with my life, in recovering from and living with bipolar disorder, and in handling the everyday things that really used to bother me so much. By knowing that my reaction to what happens is as important or more important at times than what is happening, I can make choices aout how I choose to respond that are better infromed and more productive.
And, even choose not to be productive and not have it bother me. In our society, that is a true blessing!
Speaking of bipolar disorder, lithium carbonicum or lithium bromatum may help even in homeopathic dosing — without toxicity. Depending on the totality of your symptoms one of these might be of benefit.
I could argue by the way that I cannot affect the present moment, it having been established and unalterable by the history that precedes it, but I can affect the very next moment to follow. That might be splitting hairs, but it might also be an important point. And in that next moment, what will be the history? I can also affect that, by acting in the present moment. So I can change everything but the present from that perspective.
No chance of affecting the universe’s large, medium, or small motions, no way to affect the ripples in time or gravity.
I find comfort, not despair, in my human insignificance, our human insignificance, maybe it is the feeling that there are some things we just cannot mess up.