Those who follow Tao do so
From their own predilection.
There are no promises,
Yet the rewards are immeasurable.
Of all the spiritual traditions, following Tao is among the least popular. Its adherents are poor and veiled with humility. In comparison, many traditions offer heaven, forgiveness, comfort, ecstasy, belonging, power, and wealth. Tao offers only three things: sound health, a way through the bewilderment of life, and liberation from the fear of death.
That is why there are so few followers of Tao. There is no glamour, there is no congregation, there is no ranking. You are either in the state of Tao, or you are temporarily out of it. When you die, you die.
You have to be tough to follow Tao. If you can avoid being discouraged by poverty, isolation, and obscurity, you will find an unshakable devotion that will last your entire life, and rewards will come in slow and subtle ways. You may not be suddenly rich and influential, but you will discover, to your great delight, that there is a secret source of sustenance. Once you taste that, all your doubts will fade, and both poverty and loneliness will be easier to bear.
Main Entry: pre·di·lec·tion
Pronunciation: pre-d&l-‘ek-sh&n
Function: noun
Etymology: French prédilection, from Medieval Latin praediligere to love more, prefer, from Latin prae- + diligere to love — more at DILIGENT
: an established preference for something;
an attitude of mind that predisposes one to favor something. PREDILECTION implies a strong liking deriving from one’s temperament or experience
Predilection is a good word to apply to Tao, a diligent love. You have to be a bit diligent to get into a state where you feel Tao, but once you are there, it’s a wonderful feeling. It does make so many things in life easier to bear, and you feel much calmer and more able to cope with things.
When we were in Hawaii, one of the things we wanted to do was see the lava flow on the big island. We had to drive a long ways, then walk several miles over the lava to where it was flowing. There were places we could see the hot lava in cracks beneath our feet. But when we finally got out there to see the lava flowing into the sea, it was amazing. We sat for a long time just watching the glowing lava, watching new earth being created, seeing the water trying to extinguish the fire and rising off as steam. It was the coming together of earth, fire, water and air that made it so intriguing.
Tao is a lot like that. After a while, you begin to see the connections between things, the way that things change over time, new things being created as old things seem to die off. You know the cycles of plants and how they grow from a seed and return to many seeds. You wach your own kids grow up, yourself grow old, and all the changes of life, and are no longer afraid of changes, but come to embrace them.
Tao is spiritual, but it is not religious. There’s no dogma to learn, no promises of life after death or talk about gods and how we “know” they exist or any of that. There is only the observance of life and death and how it all works together, how the world around you changes. Science fits in beautifully with the Tao, with no contradictions. Tao fits with whatever you observe in life, and you can go back and find it in the Tao. Things you never understood seem to become clearer. You find yourself not striving for wealth anymore, because there’s little you can buy that you want or need. You don’t care about fame, because there isn’t anything you want from it. Loneliness isn’t a problem – you are always with Tao, unless you fall out of it for a bit. Usually that happens when someone or something interrupts you or distracts you. So it is a pretty happy state of mind, really.
One Response
I check in almost every day and I just wanted to thank you for your words by way of Tao…