Let us not be confused
With kaleidoscopic reality.
Using wisdom and courage to act,
Let us not add to the confusion.
The world is a storm of myriad realities, yet we cannot allow ourselves to be swept into the vortex. To do so is to be lost and to lose the true center where all understanding will come. We must act, but in the right way.
Action must be guided by both intellect and experience. We learn from teachers, elders, and others. But we must also test what we learn in the world. It is not enough to simply meditate, and it is not enough just to have theoretical knowledge. We need both in order to be wise.
Only when wisdom, courage, timing, and perseverance are combined can one have a sound basis for initiative. The action must be complete. It must burn clean; it cannot leave any bad ramifications or lingering traces. An act that leaves destruction, resentment, or untidiness in its wake is a poor one. Then initiative is insufficient, and Tao has not been attained.
Hmmm. Well, I certainly do lots of things that leave untidiness in their wake, although I usually clean them up… certainly have caused a few resentments in the past, although I try not to do that too much now. I try to avoid destroying things, it’s probably better to leave that sort of thing to Shiva, after all. But this untidiness, got to work on that one.
But those are good things to keep in mind before taking a major action. Is it going to hurt anyone, or cause resentment? Is it going to destroy anything? Am I able to clean up the mess this is going to make? Think if we would consider such questions before a country takes an action like going to war… that would make a difference, wouldn’t it? Or maybe before you say something snarky to someone, or start an argument, or just try to prove you’re right about something… is it worth it to lose a friend because you have to be right?
We can’t always wait for the perfect moment to act, or wait to know what is the perfect thing to do, but I think we can keep those questions in mind and consider what results our actions will create before we make a mess of things. I don’t expect everything I do to perfectly “achieve Tao”, whatever that actually means. But I can certainly try to keep Tao in mind and work to create balance and harmony, and not destruction or resentment. Untidiness, well, we gotta work on that…
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