[ Post a Response | Tao Speaks ]
Posted by Steve on 5/14/2008, 9:57 am, in reply to "Re: Ignore the distractions--keep your head in the game."
69.140.59.X
: Nothing is ever off-topic here. Your
: observations are appreciated.
:
: I put it this way: If you sense an
: 'otherness' that coexists with, or is
: superimposed on, this world of ours, then
: the game is over. You've won. You're home.
: You've realized as much as any human being
: on the planet will ever realize.
:
: If after that, you feel the need to seek
: some esoteric and rarefied spiritual
: 'truth,' that's fine and dandy. You're
: still home, playing 'hide and seek' with
: yourself.
:
: We all play the game to one extent or the
: other. The game is fun and apparently
: useful--otherwise why would we play it.
:
: Steve
------------------
: Thanks, Steve. I have lurked here for years
: but I rarely post. My life keeps me very
: busy and I do not enjoy contending.
:
: Nina described me once as a provocateur.
: Perhaps she was right. I commented this time
: because Butch, in my opinion, works better
: as a catalyst than as a font of wisdom.
:
: I infer from your reference to an
: “otherness” which “coexists with, or
: is superimposed on, this world of ours”
: that you see natural forces as somehow
: separated, or perhaps layered--an existence
: stratum. That is not my understanding of the
: wholeness in which we dwell. When I sense an
: “otherness,” I switch to soft drinks.
:
: Have I misunderstood your comment?
:
: I am a pragmatist. I eschew esotericism
: because it is inherently exclusionary.
: Further, I have no notion of what a
: “spiritual truth” might be.
:
: Yes, we play the game. For some it is an
: exchange of ideas. For many the game is an
: assertion of patently subjective, egocentric
: concepts promulgated as truth.
:
: However, as they say, I could be wrong.
:
: j
--------------------
'Otherness' is one of those loaded words that will always mean something different to user and hearer. For me it points to 'mystery,' as I understand that concept in Laozi Chapter One.
The wholeness in which I dwell is comprised of what I see and experience outright (manifestation) and what I sense in my bones (mystery). These have the same source but appear to me as two things.
So, there is happiness in life and the placing of happiness in perspective. Misery, and the placing of misery in perspective. Two ways of seeing the same thing, at the same time.
Thanks for the exchange, jemimy.
| 110 |
"The Tao is basically utterly open. Utter openeness has no substance. It ends in endlessness, begins in beginninglessnes".
-Li Daoqun
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Webmaster: zentao00@yahoo.com Donations help to support, upgrade and expand the Tao Speaks! community..
