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- CommentAuthorLuke Abbott
- CommentTimeMar 12th 2006 edited
Each week we address one chapter of the Tao Te Ching. The Tao Te Ching can be obscure, especially if you think you're supposed to understand what it's saying! We find it easier and more instructive to simply contemplate how the chapter resonates with your personal experience. Becoming more aware at this fundamental level simplifies life. This approach conforms to the view that true knowing lies within ourselves. Thus, when a passage in the scripture resonates, you've found your inner truth. The same applies for when it evokes a question; questions are the grist for self realization.
Chapter 32
The way is for ever nameless.
Though the uncarved block is small
No one in the world dare claim its allegiance.
Should lords and princes be able to hold fast to it
The myriad creatures will submit of their own accord,
Heaven and earth will unite and sweet dew will fall,
And the people will be equitable, though no one so decrees.
Only when it is cut are there names.
As soon as there are names
One ought to know that it is time to stop.
Knowing when to stop one can be free from danger.The way is to the world as the River and the Sea are to rivulets and streams.
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[Note: I italicize phrases I borrow from the chapter, and link to phrases I borrow from other chapters to help tie chapters together. While making it more tedious to read,
the Tao Te Ching is best pondered in the context of the whole.Knowing when to stop is the essence of art. And the art of living is knowing when to stop. A life time is the great canvas onto which we 'paint' our life as we live out each day. We finish our unique work of art when we take our last breath.
I spent many youthful years cutting up and naming this uncarved block - life. I still do; being the big brained animal that I am. All the more reason why practicing the teaching that uses no words is the only 'teaching' that works. By and large, it all boils down to this: If you would have a thing laid aside, you must first set it up, and so on. Alas, one of the most tempting by-paths in life is the desire to find a short cut around the suffering side of life. We want it the 'easy' way. Likewise, we are seduced by the illusion of perfection. It is as though we believe that the good can exist without the bad, or the beautiful without the ugly. Thus we hack away at the uncarved block driven by the desire to have it our way. All we get in return are endless difficulties.
This is one reason why my words are very easy to understand and very easy to put into practice, yet no one in the world can understand them or put them into practice. We want it both ways - easy and perfect. Only when great perfection seems chipped (in our stream of consciousness) are we able to know contentment a little deeper. Indeed, the great way is easy when we can be content with chipped perfection.
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- CommentAuthorAllandnone
- CommentTimeMar 15th 2006 edited
Chapter 32 helps me realize the importance of "Right Speech", one of the 8 fold paths. As soon as we use a word or name we start leaving the "center" and going to the fringe of the circle. I seem to be understanding "right speech" more when interacting with teenagers or adults. I am realizing that I must be very careful with words and names that I use in conversation. I try to make sure that "kindness" and "respect" are reflected in the names and words.
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