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Posted by Butcho
on 4/20/2009, 7:55 am, in reply to ""Faith in the Heart"."
216.96.15.X
--Previous Message--
: Or if you prefer, "Trust in the
: Heart".
:
: "The perfect Way is like boundless
: space
:
: Nothing lacking, nothing extra
:
: It is because of choice
:
: That its absolute truth is lost.
:
: Don't pursue externals;
:
: Don't dally in the interior void.
:
: When the spirit remains serene
:
: In the unity of things
:
: Dualism vanishes by itself;
:
: When that unity is not clear
:
: There is loss in both directions."
:
: Seng-ts'an
:
:
Friends,
At the risk of appearing solipsistic I will add to my post.
Some say that all is One. Numerically. Thus everything is perfect just as it is and there is no need or reason to cultivate awareness. I disagree.
The Tao has two sides. Yin/yang. It also has an underlying unity that subsumess its two sides. Subsumes, not eliminates. Hence it is yin/yang and not yin and yang. Opposite non-opposites. A unity, not a monity.
And so I come to a distinction between one's position and one's condition. One's position is that from the first totality is a unitive one. Nothing, no one, is separate from the whole. And as such some argue that since this is the case that there is nothing that needs to be done for everything is perfect as it is for nothing is separate. Yes and no.
Because one's position is clear, does not mean one's condition is likewise. Though my brother will always be my brother we are currently estranged one from the other. And so it can be between one and the whole. Between a part and other parts or even a part and the whole. Position is set, condition is not.
Position is an absolute quality. Condition is a relative quality. Condition changes. One can be in and out of the flow of the watercourse way of the Tao. It is through one's conditioned or reactive thought processes that one can be separate from the Tao. It is our limited rational processes that if solely identified with create the illusion of separation from the whole. I think, therefore I am separate.
And yet it is not thinking that is the problem. It is the application of dualistic thinking to the existential wherein lies the rub. For everything there is a time and a season. Even disunity. Moderation in all things, including moderation. But not to excess. Chaos for chaos' sake is to chaotic for me.
We learn from our mistakes. At least I like to think I do. lol. But, and this is where I have sometimes been in the wrong here, no one can tell another what is what or when is when. Some things we simply have to figure out for ourselves. In our own time.
So the most we can do for each other is point at the Moon. It is up to each of us to look for ourselves. And yet that does not mean such things cannot be discussed. As long as such discussions remain relatively friendly. As long as unity trumps chaos. As long as we can disagree agreeably.
And so in the interest of unity I will go and clean my golf clubs. I feel a hole in one coming on.
Butcho
122
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"The Tao is basically utterly open. Utter openeness has no substance. It ends in endlessness, begins in beginninglessnes".
-Li Daoqun
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