WISDOM'S CORNER
Looking Far
You don't have to go out the door
to know what goes on in the world.
You don't have to look out the window
to see the way of heaven.
The farther you go,
the less you know.
So the wise soul
doesn't go, but knows,
doesn't look, but sees,
doesn't do, but gets it done. (1)
Mysteries of Power
Who knows
doesn't talk.
Who talks
doesn't know.
Closing the openings,
shutting doors,
blunting edge,
loosing bond,
dimming light,
be one with the dust of the way.
So you come to the deep sameness.
Then you can't be controlled by love
or by rejection.
You can't be controlled by profit
or by loss.
You can't be controlled by praise
or by humiliation.
Then you have honor under heaven. (2)
The nameless Man said, "Let your mind wander in simplicity, blend your spirit with the vastness, follow along with things the way they are, and make no room for personal views - then the world will be governed." (3)
To understand that hardship is a matter of fate, that success is a matter of the times, and to face great difficulty without fear - that is the courage of the sage. (4)
Master Ssu, Master Yu, Master Li, and Master Lai were all four talking together. "Who can look upon inaction as his head, on life as his back, and on death as his rump?" they said. "Who knows that life and death, existence and annihilations, are all a single body? I will be his friend!"
The four men looked at each other and smiled. There was no disagreement in their hearts and so the four of them became friends.
All at once Master Yu fell ill. Master Ssu went to ask how he was. "Amazing!" said Master Yu. "The creator is making me all crookedy like this! My back sticks up like a hunchback and my vital organs are on top of me. My chin is hidden in my navel, my shoulders are up above my head, and my pig tail points to the sky. It must be some dislocation of the yin and yang."
Yet he seemed calm at heart and unconcerned. Dragging himself haltingly to the well, he looked at his reflection and said, "My, my! So the creator is making me all crookedy like this!"
"Do you resent it?" asked Master Ssu.
"Why no, what would I resent? If the process continues, perhaps in time he'll transform my left arm into a rooster. In that cast I'll keep watch on the night. Or perhaps in time he'll transform my right arm into a crossbow pellet and I'll shoot down an owl for roasting. Or perhaps in time he'll transform my buttocks into cartwheels. Then, with my spirit for a horse, I'll climb up and go for a ride. What need will I every have for a carriage again?"
"I received life because the time had come; I will lose it because the order of things passes on. Be content with this time and dwell in this order and then neither sorrow nor joy can touch you. In ancient times this was called the 'freeing of the bound.' There are those who cannot free themselves, because they are bound to things. But nothing can ever win against Heaven - that's the way it's always been. What would I have to resent?"
Suddenly Master Lai grew ill. Gasping and wheezing, he lay at the point of death. His wife and children gathered around in a circle and began to cry. Master Li, who had come to ask how he was, said, "Shoo! Get back! Don't disturb the process of change!"
Then he leaned against the doorway and talked to Master Lai. "How marvelous the Creator is! What is he going to make of you next? Where is he going to send you? Will he make you into a rat's liver? Will he make you into a bug's arm?"
Master Lai said, "A child, obeying his father and mother, goes wherever he is told, east or west, south or north. And the yin and yang - how much more are they to a man than father or mother! Now that they have brought me to the verge of death, if I should refuse to obey them, how perverse I would be! What fault is it of theirs? The Great Clod burdens me with form, labors me with life, eases me in old age, and rests me in death. So if I think well of my life, for this same reason I must think well of my death. When a skilled smith is casting metal, if the metal should leap up and say, 'I insist upon being made into a Mo-yeh!' he would surely regard it as very inauspicious metal indeed. Now, having had the audacity to take on human form once, if I should say, 'I don't want to be anything but a man! Nothing but a man!', the creator would surely regard me as a most inauspicious sort of person. So now I think of heaven and earth as a great furnace, and the Creator as a skilled smith. Where could he send me that would not be all right? I will go off to sleep peacefully, and then with a start I will wake up." (5)
Opposites are Necessary
If you want your children to be generous,
you must allow them to be selfish.
If you want them to be disciplined,
you must first allow them to be spontaneous.
If you want them to be hard-working,
you must allow them to be lazy.
This is a subtle distinction,
and hard to explain to those who criticize you.
A quality cannot be learned
without understanding it's opposite. (6)
Giving Respect
When your children behave,
Give them respect and kindness.
When you children misbehave,
Give them respect and kindness.
When they are hateful,
Love them.
When they betray your trust,
Trust them.
The River of Life nurtures
everything it touches,
without asking for anything.
You will be happy and content
if you do the same. (7)
Hold Tight Only to Compassion
It has been said by experts,
"You must be consistent,
or your children will be confused."
Nonsense.
Who among us is consistent?
Circumstances are always changing.
Children become confused
when parents become rigid,
holding rules above love.
Be consistently flexible.
Hold tight only to compassion. (8)
For God's Sake - Feel Good
As you return
Remember to choose consciously
Power is the heavy stone wrenched
from your garden of tenderness.
Virtue is the heavy stone crushing your innocence
What can be learned
From nature is
Harmony
Therefore -
Shun the social
Cuddle the elemental
Avoid angles, lie with the round
Shun plastic, conspire with seed
Do no good
But
For god's sake
Feel good
And
Nature's order will prevail (9)
Walk Carefully When You are Among
"Holy men" and
"Righteous" deeds
Distract from the internal
"Learned men"
Distract from
Natural wisdom
Professional know-how
Addicts people to the contrived
And the external
Be respectful and compassionate
But walk carefully when you are among -
learned men
holy men
doctors
government officials
reporters
publishers
professors
religious leaders
psychologists
rich men
social scientists
women with beautiful faces
artists and writers
men who charge fees
city men
movie makers
men who want to help you
men who want you to help them
Christians and Jews
For such as these
However well meaning
Place you on their chessboard
Addict you to their externals
Distract you from the TAO within
The lesson of the TAO is more likely to be found among -
gardeners
hermits
mountain men
smiling eccentrics
men who build their own houses
children
parents who learn from their children
loafers
amateur musicians
serene psychotics
animals
men who look at sunsets
men who walk in the woods
woods
beautiful women
cooks
men who sit by the fire
wanderers
men who make bread
couples who have been in love for years
unemployed men
smiling men with bad reputations (10)
1. Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, chapter 47 from Ursula K. Le Guin, Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching, p. 72.
2. Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, chapter 56 from Ursula K. Le Guin, Lao Tzu Tao Te Ching, p. 72.
3. Chuang Tzu, Basic Writings, p. 91.
4. Chuang Tzu, Basic Writings, p. 106.
5. Chuang Tzu, Basic Writings, p. 80-82.
6. William Martin, Parent's Tao Te Ching, from Chapter 36.
7. William Martin, Parent's Tao Te Ching, from Chapter 49.
8. William Martin, Parent's Tao Te Ching, from Chapter 76.
9. Timothy Leary, Psychedelic Prayers, VI-3.
10.Timothy Leary, Psychedelic Prayers, Chapter VI-17.