Pork, Trees and Blessings
Mood:  lyrical
Topic: My Thoughts

I Have Returned Again
Mood:  caffeinated

Well, after eight months I have found my way back onto the web. It hasn't changed much.

 It has been a relatively uneventful eight months. The one big event was thay my youngest daughter got married to a great young man. My congratulations go out to Amber and Brandon.

 My roommate also took a boyfriend and they seem to be making steady progress to a long lasting, healthy relationship. Congrats to Ron and Brandon also (no, no . . . it is a different Brandon).

I've been doing some photography and will be adding some of those pictures to my web page in the near future.

I have also done more computer art which I have posted on my webpage in my ART section. I have even had four of those pieces bought by someone and am likely to be commissioned for at least one more piece. I don't think I'm going to get rich off of it, but every little bit helps.

Since my former roommate took a boyfriend and moved out I now have a new roommate. Donovan is a rather quiet young man and things seem to be working out pretty well.

And, finally, at work, I have been promoted to ISS Program Manager with a nice raise. Again, it's not going to make me rich, but it does help.

Sorry this post hasn't been too philosophical, I just wasn't feeling philosophical this morning. Perhaps I'll get back to the spiritual / philosophical side before too long.

Until then, I hope everyone has a great day, week, month, year or decade (depending on how long it is until my next post. )

Neil

PS: Always remember - "When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." 

Verse 6
Mood:  a-ok

VI

(I pay attention to my inner callings and apply my own uniqueness to everything I undertake.)

 

The spirit that never dies

is called the mysterious feminine.

Although she becomes the whole universe,

her immaculate purity is never lost.

Although she assumes countless forms,

her true identity remains intact.

 

The gateway to the mysterious female

is called the root of creation.

 

Listen to her voice,

hear it echo through creation.

Without fail, she reveals her presence.

Without fail, she brings us to our own perfection.

Although it is invisible, it endures;

it will never end.

 

First Thoughts

   This verse harkens back to many of the same themes we’ve already discussed. The ideas that god is eternal, is hidden, is the creator, is pure, and inexhaustible are all mentioned within the few translations I’ve read. It makes me wonder what insights other translations may give. I have some homework to do. And, as I do, I may come back to revisit this verse. But for now, I want to spend just a few moments talking about a couple topics this verse touches on. These are things I need to learn for myself. They are things I may well be learning for the rest of my life for just as god is eternal and inexhaustible, its mysteries are bottomless. There is always more to learn.
   To have learned all about god is not the goal (certainly not a realistic one). To be in a place and in an attitude where I am able to learn more of god is the goal. It is something at which I am not yet very adept.
   The two topics which I am going to discuss here are summed up in two sentences by Hogan:

Everybody has Tao in them.

                                         They just have to use it.

or another two sentences by Mitchell:

It is always present within you.

You can use it anyway you want.

   I guess the way I would sum it up from my own experience is that, since all that exists was not only created by the spirit but from the very substance of the spirit, all of creation depends upon and is constantly utilizing that spirit. Our creator creates. It creates within itself rather than apart from itself. Now, I don’t believe that god has been created (made) nor do I believe it to have any tangible substance. However, everything that has been or will be made is formed from its intangible material. And although the term is inadequate to express the complete nature of our source, ‘energy’ is as close to an adequate term as I can come right now. As the first law of thermodynamics states, “Energy cannot be created or destroyed.” It can only be converted from one from into another.
    Consequently, we all exist because of this creative energy and, we all exist within this creative energy. Not only do we exist within our creator, that creative energy lives within us too. We are in no way separated. “Everybody has Tao in them”. “It is always present within you.” Not only is our creator a part of us (just as we are a part of our creator), but we are always using that energy. From the regular blinking of our eyes to a minutely coordinated gymnastics routine we use the very energy with which we were created. We are constantly finding ways to convert that creative energy from one form to another. From the simplest of hammers to the most sophisticated space flights we find ways to convert the energy within which we exist. It cannot be avoided. Even in death the energy that now holds our bodies together begins to convert to a different type of energy. And the energy that gives us our unique personalities, talents, emotions and intelligence (some call that the soul) slips back into the energy system from which it was formed to be used to create again.
  Now don’t believe for a moment that I am talking about reincarnation. I’m not… at least not in the traditional religious views of reincarnation. Whereas traditional reincarnation believes our soul floats around intact somewhere until that soul is implanted into another thing. Rather, I think of it like this: You go into the ocean with an eyedropper and fill the eyedropper. Over the next number of years you identify each molecule of ocean that is in that eyedropper. Finally you take the eyedropper back into the ocean and empty it again. When you release the rubber stopper the eyedropper will automatically refill. Over time you identify each molecule in the new eyedropper full. Now, if you were very quick to empty and refill the eyedropper, it may well contain some of the same molecules that were in the first eyedropper. But not all of them. Only some. The number of reused molecules will depend upon the speed with which the rubber stopper was squeezed and released. But, if the stopper is held for a few minutes and you swim for a quarter of a mile before releasing it, there is almost no chance of getting the same molecules in the second eyedropper as you had in the first. (Perhaps the memory of past lives that some people have depends upon the speed with which energy is released from one creation and reused in a new creation.)
    All of what I’ve just talked about is nothing more than examples and allegories about the conversion of energy. But what if there is more? What if our use of energy transcends simply the physical transformation of energy we use every day? What if it includes what many would call a spiritual side too? I tend to shy away from the word ‘spiritual’ because of the negative connotations that it brings up for me. But, in reality, there is nothing wrong with the word and there is nothing wrong with the idea that such a side exists. In fact, considering how common it is to convert energy in the tangible world, it is unlikely that such transference wouldn’t exist on the spiritual side also. The problem is that we tend to get a little weird when we discuss the spiritual side of things. Most of us tend to put our personal religious definitions onto that word. I do the same thing. But it is not necessary.
   The spiritual – the intangible – side of things is as natural as the physical, three dimensional world we experience every day. Truthfully, we experience the intangible every day too. Just as we tangibly use our source every moment we are alive both unconsciously and consciously, we use that same source in our intangible lives too. The difference is that, on the spiritual plane, we use the source unconsciously for the most part. Every thought that is formed comes from that source. We don’t think about thinking… we simply think. The challenge is to learn to consciously utilize our creator within its intangible resources. And I am using the word ‘within’ with a dual purpose: Remember, we are always within our creator and our creator is always within each of us. And every single conversion of energy is a form of creation. Perhaps we ought to look at those conversions as sharing with our creator instead of utilizing.

Tao Te Ching Verse 5
Mood:  lazy

(I will work at eliminating all of my judgments of others.)

Heaven and earth are impartial;
they see the 10,000 things as straw dogs.
The sage is not sentimental;
he treats all his people as straw dogs.

The sage is like heaven and earth:
To him none are especially dear,
nor is there anyone he disfavors.
He gives and gives, without condition,
offering his treasures to everyone.

Between heaven and earth is a space like a bellows;
empty and inexhaustible,
the more it is used, the more it produces.

Hold on to the center.
Man was made to sit quietly
and find the truth within.

First Thoughts

Hold on to the center.
Man was made to sit quietly
and find the truth within.

Tao Te Ching 4
Mood:  a-ok

IV

 

(The all providing God is empty yet inexhaustible.) 

 

 

    We begin this verse by delving into the nature of God. One thing I’ve learned is that I have a great deal yet to learn. But another thing I’ve learned is that God isn’t some elderly gentleman or some flowing robed matron sitting on a golden throne in the sky. It does not insist upon being worshipped. It does not require sacrifices. It does not make arbitrary rules to which creation must conform in order to be accepted. It puts all the man-made gods of any organized religion to shame in its simplicity.
    The creator creates. And what it creates it sustains in whatever way that creation feels it needs to be sustained. It does nothing more and nothing less. Is God a God of love? I don’t believe so. Nor is it a God of hate or fear or jealousy or karma. My God is not a ruler or a warrior. It is a creator, sustainer and nurturer. It is truly empty. Empty in its demands. Empty in its requirements. Empty in its needs. Empty in its substance.
    And yet, the Tao is truthful when it says God is inexhaustible. We are always using our creator. We don’t really have a choice in the matter. Our continued existence depends on our source. And God will supply us with those things we believe we need. If we believe that we are worthy only of poverty and sickness, our creator will provide us with those things. If we believe that we are worthy of wealth and health, our creator will sustain us with those things. But before anyone gets all up in arms thinking I believe in the ‘healthy wealthy’ philosophy that has reared its ugly head in Christendom in the last 50 years… I don’t. For the most part they believe that health is the absence of disease or injury and that wealth reflected in the luxury we are able to accumulate.
    So how do I believe wealth should be defined? I believe that wealth is having the abundance you desire in order to share with the creation around you. And health? Being in a physical state which provides the capability of sustaining and nurturing others. If I desire to be wealthy in order to provide solely for myself or for my own family, or if I use whatever wealth I have only to gain more wealth… that shows a distrust for others (“they’ll steal me blind”), a distrust of God (“He can stop providing at any time.”) and a distrust of one’s self (“I’m really not good enough to succeed.”). While you may have some success at being wealthy and then may be able to buy some degree of health… the Tao will, in time, supply you with exactly the circumstances which a distrustful attitude predicts.
    Wealth isn’t defined by how much you own but by how much you share. Health isn’t defined by the condition of your physical body but by the nurturing you provide to the creation which surrounds you.
    That is not to say that physical well-being is unimportant. The physical side of us is, in some ways, a truer indication of our creator than is our spiritual side. After all, our spiritual side has never left the energy of the source. It is, as always, a part of the creator. But the physical world is a reflection of what God has created.
    So our physical health is often a reflection of one’s attitude toward life itself, toward others and toward God. As such, a true understanding of our creator, of ourselves and of the creation around us will begin to produce (nurture) behaviors that foster good health. False understandings of those things will produce sickness. Remember, you came from the empty energy of the creator, are sustained by the inexhaustible nature of that creator and your energy will return to it in time. All that exists is in that same boat.
    I like the way another translation phrases the second part of this verse. It comes from an unidentified translator I found on the net.

It cannot be cut, knotted, dimmed or stilled;
Its depths are hidden, ubiquitous and eternal;
I don't know where it comes from;
It comes before nature.

    The creator cannot be damaged, restrained, reduced or stopped. No one can ever get to the bottom of it. It exists within contradiction and it exists forever. Truly, the source of all things (which, remember, is the very fabric from which all of creation is fashioned) is the father and mother of all things.

Verse 3
Mood:  celebratory

Verse III

(I know that there is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.)

 

Putting a value on status

will create contentiousness.

If you overvalue possessions,

people begin to steal.

By not displaying what is desirable, you

cause the people’s hearts to remain undisturbed.

 

The sage governs

by emptying minds and hearts,

by weakening ambitions and strengthening bones.

 

Practice not doing . . .

When action is pure and selfless,

everything settles into its own perfect place.

 

First Thoughts

    I’ve had a real tough time with this one. Understanding it wasn’t difficult; accepting it was. I don’t know that I’ve entirely accepted it yet. It flies in the face of the American way. Actually, it defies the human ego regardless of where one lives. I can accept the principle, but the practice is not so easy.
    Try saying, “I am the most important one here.” to your employer or your employees or your co-workers. How about when you are among your friends? At home? If contentiousness is the only result you can consider yourself quite fortunate. To make such a statement would show how much you devalue those around you.
    If that statement were seriously made it would either be met with derision or belief. If derision was the result you’d better be looking over your shoulder because those in the group would be trying to bring you down a peg or two. They will become contentious with you and with each other because you have begun the process of establishing a ‘pecking order’ among the group. That is simply the nature of group dynamics. Those around you will set a goal of proving you wrong… of proving that they are the most important… or at least more important than you.
    If the statement is met with belief in some members they will begin to seek your favor in order to feel better about themselves and to increase their own status in the group. At the same time they will most certainly resent you.
    Of course you don’t have to make such an outrageous statement to achieve the same results. Simply hold that type of an attitude in your heart. Even in silence, such an attitude will give rise to contention. It may take just a little longer to develop, but it will be there just the same and probably to a far greater consequences.
    However, if I regard everyone as an equally important thread in this tapestry of life, there will be no reason to contend for a better spot, or for more recognition. Nor will I have the need to worry about my spot being taken by someone else. And all that energy spent by the group competing for importance, can be spent working on whatever task has been placed before it.
    The same principle applies when we put too much value on what we own or on what we don’t own. Usually, when we operate from this type of attitude, possessions become the outward symbols of the unspoken ‘I’m the most important one’ belief. We either become proud or ashamed of what our things say about us. We likely will become proud and discouraged (or ashamed) because, regardless of what we own, there are always those who own more than us and we can always find those who own less than us.
    Obviously, when possessions are valued too highly, theft will follow. The news is full of stories about those who steal from others. Sometimes it is those who society regards as the least valuable who steal from those who have greater perceived value. Why? Because possessions are valued too highly and are used to demonstrate that their owner is not the least important. But more and more often it is those at the top of society’s food chain that are stealing. Why? Because possessions are valued too highly and are used to demonstrate that their owner is the most important.
    And theft can be from one’s self just as easily (perhaps more easily) than from someone else.     Even if we manage it well, in some respects credit is simply the theft of resources from an unknown future. And we all know there are many of us who do not handle our credit well. But even without credit we tend to steal from ourselves by using our time and energy making plans as to how we can have some nice thing or another rather than allowing ourselves to be busy doing some nice thing or another.
    Before we move on allow me to say that I do not mean to vilify nice things. There is nothing wrong with having nice things. Only when those things become goals that must be achieved to make us happy; only when things become symbols with which we elevate ourselves over others (or begin to believe we are of less value because they may not be the nicest things) do they become a problem. Even then it isn’t the things that are the problem. They are simply things. It is our attitude which produces the problems. Attitude is almost always where problems begin.
    The next sentence in the first stanza was one the most difficult to understand.

 

    I envisioned my curio cabinet and my bookshelves having to be thrown out. I saw myself trying to find enough closet space for the things (nice or not) that decorate our apartment. As I had been taught to do for so long in my faith heritage, I lifted this sentence completely out of its context and tried to make it say something that was never intended.
    For me, it is not the things in the curio cabinet that was the problem. I can display my status (my nice things) in words just as easily. If not by words, then in an attitude which says things like:

    “I just bought orchestra seats for such and such show.” 

    “Oh no! I dare not sit because my new, expensive, designer suit might wrinkle.” 

    “I couldn’t eat a thing. We just had dinner at some terribly upscale bistro.”

    Of course few of us would use such condescending tones as we verbally display our nice things. But regardless of the words we use, if our egos are in control, our attitudes will produce the same effect in others.
    We also need to be aware of the attitudes of those who are listening. Granted, we cannot control what others think or how they operate. But we can be aware and go out of our way not to produce conflict. I find that it is very often most appropriate simply to be silent so as not to disturb another’s heart – or so as not to stir up someone else’s ego – or so as not to stir up my own ego. And I have to constantly remember than even when I am silent, my attitude is always communicating.
    The second stanza was also quite difficult for me to swallow:

 

The sage governs by emptying minds and hearts, by weakening ambitions and strengthening bones.

 
    This translation of the Tao Te Ching comes from Dr. Wayne Dyer. All I could see in this stanza was that the wise man will create a mindless, defeated people who have no goals or desires so that they can do the sage’s heavy lifting. But that interpretation didn’t sound quite right. Then I ran into an interpretation by Ron Hogan:

           

The Master leads
by clearing the crap
out of people's heads
and opening their hearts.
He lowers their aspirations

    For me, that makes sense. My heart had long been closed to anything other than what I had been taught all my life. And what I had been taught (what I had chosen to believe) filled my head with a bunch of crap. This process of emptying my own mind and heart may well be a lifelong endeavor. That’s OK because I find the more my mind is emptied of all the junk the more it is receptive to the source of all creation. The more my heart is open to that source, the more my attitude becomes less ego-driven and more aligned with my creator.
    Some translations I’ve run across replace ‘opening their hearts’ with ‘filling their bellies’. I don’t know ancient Chinese, so I have to rely on the translations of others. I find that most of those translations can provide insight into the Tao. And since our creator also sustains the creation, ‘filling their bellies’ seems like a reasonable alignment with the source of all things.
    As to goals or ambitions or aspirations, I am finding that my mind and my heart cannot remain truly empty for long. It is like the Bible says when it talks about a demon having been cast out and then returning to find the house swept, in order and unoccupied. It then brings seven more demons even worse than the first and they all live there (Matthew 12:38-44). My house cannot be unoccupied for long. Rather, as I allow my mind and heart to be put in order, I can make the choices that let my source take up residence. If I don’t make that choice… my ego will most assuredly move back in and try to make up for lost ground.
    Another way of looking at it comes from S. Mitchell. Mitchell interprets this stanza a little differently.

    In reality, I cannot actually empty another’s mind or fill another’s core (or belly). I cannot weaken ambition or toughen resolve in anyone else. But, as I grow and learn, I can provide the tools and, by example, the motivation for others to reconnect to their source and so to be emptied and filled; weakened and toughened.
    And that leads us to the final part of this verse… not doing. As I read through the various translations all I could envision is let’s lay around in bed all day and do nothing. But, once more, Hogan’s slightly tongue in cheek translation provides a much clearer picture for me. He says:

 

    Sure enough, as I look at my own life, I am constantly ‘doing stuff.’
    Now we all have obligations and responsibilities that require some type of action. I don’t believe we should ignore those things. I don’t believe that’s what either the Tao Te Ching or our creator has in mind for us. But our obligations and responsibilities are not magical things that manifest into our lives all by themselves. They come out of decisions we have made. Each of us must take responsibility for the obligations to which we have agreed. Most obligations are like the things we own. They are neither good nor bad, and most should be fulfilled. (Obviously if we have decided to buy cigarettes or liquor for someone who is underage we need to make a different decision and let that obligation go unfulfilled.)
    What this part of verse three means to me is that I have the right to be more selective in deciding what obligations and responsibilities I take on in the future.
    But it means more than that. I am so often doing stuff that has no bearing on any of my obligations or responsibilities. For me, I have found the stuff I am doing falls generally into two categories. First, I spend quite a lot of time trying to keep myself entertained. There is nothing wrong with being entertained at times. But most of the people I know (myself chief among them) spend far too much time trying to be entertained. Sometimes that is in order to avoid some other issue and sometimes it is simply a habit of always having to be doing something. Doing stuff. Often stuff that doesn’t need doing.
    I am finding that in those moments when I have nothing to do, and when I decide in those moments to actually do nothing, I give myself the opportunity to reconnect to my source. My intention is to make more of that time in my life where I can reconnect and become centered by simply being still.
    Secondly, at times I spend a lot of energy interfering. Oh, my intentions are usually most admirable. I genuinely want to help. Once in a while when my ego gets involved I want to help in order to have someone else look up to me or so that I can feel good about myself… but usually I just want to help. However, most often I should just keep my nose out of other peoples’ stuff. Most often I should simply be silent and let my attitude rather than my words do the work. In that way I have found two things begin to happen.
    In being quiet I am beginning to recognize where help and what help may truly be needed. That needed help isn’t always evident on the surface. I can also see when someone is quite nicely working through their own things regardless of whether or not it is in exactly the way I would do it. I find that most people can handle their own affairs without me. And even if they cannot do so, they really don’t want the interference from me or anyone else. I also have the ability to creatively help, if needed, without drawing attention to myself – by helping from the shadows.
    The other thing that happens is that those who may truly need some help and who are ready to accept it are not afraid to ask. And those who are working through their own things begin to adjust their own directions and attitudes without me saying a word or lifting a finger. In these situations I find that more is accomplished by doing nothing. Now, if I could only get that principle to work for grocery shopping or paying bills I would have it made.
    As I learn to more cautiously choose the obligations and responsibilities I accept; stop interfering; less often avoid something through entertainment; not allow the habit of doing stuff to fill all of my time, I find there are many opportunities to simply be. To be quiet. To be centered. To be connected. To find direction. To have my core filled and my resolve strengthened. And, in doing nothing, affect the world immediately around me.

Tao Te Ching
Mood:  caffeinated

Under heaven all can see beauty as beauty,
only because there is ugliness.
All can know good as good only because there is evil.

Being and nonbeing produce each other.
The difficult is born in the easy.
Long is defined by short, the high by the low.
Before and after go along with each other.

So the sage lives openly with apparent duality
and paradoxical unity.
The sage can act without effort
and teach without words.
Nurturing things without possessing them,
he works, but not for rewards;
he competes, but not for results.

When the work is done, it is forgotten.
That is why it lasts forever.

   I think I would like to suggest this be taken a step further. And a step back. For me, I agree that beauty and good are subjective phrases just like ugliness and evil. I rather imagine everyone in the world would have slightly different opinions on what they find beautiful and good. However, for me, I am beginning to realize those terms are exclusionary terms rather than inclusive ones. They are judgments rather than truths.
   I don't find the warthog to be in any way beautiful. But the leopard I see as an exquisite animal. The taste of the lima bean is highly offensive to me. But the taste of spinach in delectable. Those are judgments. My judgments. Warthogs, leopards, lima beans and spinach plants were all created from the same source... by the same God... from the same energy. They all possess the qualities of creativity that exist within every part of creation. Each one is marvelous and awesome and perfect.
   We tend to use our judgments with each other also. This person is beautiful while another one is ugly. And more often than not, I find myself tempted to gravitate toward the one I've judged beautiful. And yet the one I've judged ugly (or stupid or different) is just as worthy... just as perfect as I. They have the same creator as I. The same energy flows through them. The same source nourishes them.
I find it easy to look at good and evil the same way. But, as do most people, I find myself assigning my judgments to the person rather than to the deed. People are neither good nor evil. They are people... creations of God. Created perfectly. Granted some behaviors they exhibit can be good or evil. But one's behavior doesn't define one's creation. It simply identifies areas where we have wandered away from or returned to our source. Evil behavior identifies areas where we need to wander back. Just as a slice of apple pie that happens to fall on the floor is still an apple pie despite the mess it makes (it is made up of all the same ingredients as before the fall... and it is still identical to its source), so we are still identical to our creator despite the messes we make of things. The difference is that the slice of pie doesn't have the capacity to make different decisions and so return in attitude and behavior to its source like we do. But even we, with nearly infinite capacity to make changes and change directions, are all too often very slow to do so. At least I am.
   We all know our world by comparison. Long and short, hot and cold, high and low and the list could go on forever. But can we not step back and see creation - especially each other - as equal, as wondrous? Must we forever believe that this attribute or that attribute make something more worthy of our attention? Or less worthy?
   One quick note on being and nonbeing and on difficult and easy. The state of being is nothing more than having certain limitations for a time. This human experience or any other temporal experience we have had or will have is ‘being'. But we were all created by and from the very essence of God. We will all return to that same source. Before we showed up here, we were in a state of nonbeing - all that we are was part of the creator. When we leave here we will be in a state of nonbeing - a small part of what we are will become the energy that and produces new creation and nourishes that creation in this world while the greater part of who we are is again incorporated into the creator.
   And for me, I find that most of my difficult problems, whether physical or spiritual or emotional, have been born from a series of easy problems. The easy ones seemed insignificant at the time and so went unanswered or, due to lack of wisdom, were answered poorly. I'm just learning (slowly at times) to recognize and deal with the little problems. And I'm realizing that the majority of the difficult ones never have to be born at all.
   The Tao Te Ching goes on to say: "So the sage lives openly with apparent duality and paradoxical unity. The sage can act without effort and teach without words." The sage (someone who has gained a little wisdom and has begun to employ that wisdom in their own life) can step back and recognize the comparisons we all make in order to identify and communicate our world, without assigning judgments that separate and exclude.
   While many of us struggle from time to time as we figure out the right way to behave or the correct direction we are to take. The one who has gained and employed wisdom in some area of their life does not have that struggle. They simply live life. They simply know how they need to behave in this situation or that situation. They simply know the direction they are going. Each of us has wisdom. Some in one area, another one is some other area. Some in many areas of their lives. That is why we all need each other. You can teach me and I can teach you and so we both grow.
   And in our wisdom we do not have to speak in order to teach. We simply live in demonstration of what we have learned. I will be attracted by your demonstrated wisdom and you my mine. If and when the time is right, we will teach each other in both word and deed. And so we both grow. That is the way of things. That is the way of God.
   It is when we are both teaching and learning that we come to the place of being able to nurture without possessing. That is especially true in our dealings with other people. And by ‘possessing' I do not believe the Tao means simply ‘taking ownership'. One who gains wisdom and then, for whatever reason, moves away from God, begins to feel superior to those without that wisdom. And they begin to believe that the wisdom they have learned goes far beyond its intent. They will begin to lord it over others. If they have a following of people hoping to learn from them, they feel proud that so many folks look up to them. And, if brought back to reality by realizing there is some wisdom they lack, they plunge into inferiority and anger. The wise man who continues to grow in his creator nourishes those around him as well as those who wish to follow and recognizes within them (and within all of creation) the opportunity to learn from them.
   The wise person works but not in order to increase status or possessions. The sage works in
order to contribute. And what they may gain in status they use to encourage others back to their creator. What may be gained in possessions is used to be comfortable in life... but also, and more importantly, to help others be more comfortable in theirs.
A wise person may compete, but not in order to feel superior or to have their name remembered forever in some dusty book of records. Rather they may compete simply for the joy of the competition. In that they may be finding new goals to achieve or perhaps setting new goals for others. But win or lose the sage is at peace and is fulfilled.
   And at the end of days, when they return to the source which gave them form, the work the wise person does, the lives they live, while perhaps forgotten by history, resonates through the ages to eternity.

Tao Te Ching - 1
Mood:  lyrical

Verse I

(I choose to enjoy living the great mystery. The God that can be named is not God.)

 

The creator that can be told

is not the eternal creator.

The name that can be named

is not the eternal name.

 

The creator is both named and nameless.

As nameless it is the origin of all things;

as named it is the mother of 10,000 things.

 

Ever desireless, one can see the mystery;

ever desiring, one sees only the manifestations.

And the mystery itself is the doorway

to all understanding.

 

First Thoughts

    We have been limiting our idea of ‘God’ far too much. We have been defining God’s role, ability, motive and attitude to suit our own (or to match our own.) The moment we are able to define God in any respect, we have lost the true God. Or, worse yet, we have replaced the true God.
    Even to name God, whether that name be God or Jehovah or Allah or Creator or Tao or anything else tends to bring to our minds the limits which we have placed upon deity. For the purpose of communication between people, we do have to call it something, but let’s actively begin to change the way we look at God as an entity that is not constrained by the roles, abilities, motives or attitudes we have placed upon it.
    Our creator is truly nameless. Out of its energy it has created all things… both seen and unseen and those things which we have yet to imagine. That’s what the creator does… creates. It always has and always will.
    When we attach a name to this creative energy we begin to see only the smallest of threads in this tapestry (the 10,000 things) rather than expanding our view to see more and more of the incredible beauty, power, love and unity that exists throughout creation. There is nothing wrong with closely examining the thread. Each one is unique and exquisite and perfectly placed. But it is like examining a shrub on the floor of the Grand Canyon. Certainly it is a wonderful shrub. It is completely unique from everything around it. Its beauty is well worth enjoying. But can we not go to the rim and see how it fits so incredibly into the grandeur of the canyon itself? Can we not allow ourselves to see the thread of that shrub and how perfectly it is woven into the panorama of that awesome, holy place?
    Then step back a little further until the Grand Canyon itself is but a thread within the tapestry of the earth. As we learn to change the way we look at things we will find our unlimited ability to continue to step back in awe while still marveling at and nurturing the threads themselves. We can also learn to nurture and appreciate the threads that are the people within the tapestry of our lives.

Tao Te Ching
Mood:  special
Topic: My Thoughts

 

 

Tao Te Ching

 

(When I change the way I look at things,

the things I look at change.) - Dr. Wayne Dyer

 

    This presumes we have the right and ability to change the way we look at things. And, of course, we do. In fact, we change the way we look at things a lot during our lives. From the people we allow into our lives (and those we allow to drift away) to the types of foods we eat and enjoy. Most of those things happen passively. But we also have the ability to actively change the way we look at things. It will take practice – repetition – but it is quite possible.
    The only difference between what we have been doing all our lives and what we seek to do is that in the past we change randomly… without thought… without direction. We are now looking to be an active participant in that change. Rather than passively wondering why someone has drifted out of our life or why we now enjoy that food or this food, we are beginning to desire to actively contribute to those changes. And to the far more important changes that are to come.
    And as we begin to actively make those changes, three things happen. There are things we have been ignoring that we will begin to look at. We will begin to actually see those things. There are things we have been looking at which we will no longer find appealing. Those things will begin to drift away. And, finally, the things we do continue to look at will be revealed in a different light. We will see them differently than we did before.

My Day
Mood:  chillin'
Topic: My Thoughts
Well, it was a rather uneventful day. I went shopping with my roommate to help him get his cleaning business going. I have shopping, but, since I'm investing a little in the business, I guess I needed to do it.

Outside of that it was a quiet, cold, rainy day. Maybe tomorrow I'll go gambling in Blackhawk. Depends on the weather... it's still snowing up there from time to time.

Anyway, that's all for now.

Neil