The most submissive thing in the world can ride roughshod over the hardest in
the world-that which is without substance entering that which has no crevices.
The most submissive thing in the world is loss and death. These come to all things eventually. So of course they ride roughshod over the hardest in the world.
Emptiness—simply nothing—is the only ‘thing’ that is without substance. Knowing that 99.99% of the atom is space, i.e., that which is without substance, this verse becomes easier to comprehend. Of course it’s easy to take that which is without substance for granted, until we lose it.
Silence is without substance. Whenever I want to debate an issue I feel I have an argument which has no crevices. Now, if my intended opponent remains silent, that silence rides roughshod over my hard logic.
Our attempts to keep weakness at bay through a hard and ‘cool’ outer self which has no crevices must arise out of our social instinct. It’s an attempt to cover up the inner most submissive part of ourselves—that which is without substance. This hard, no crevice exterior rests upon that which is without substance. The submissive side governs and enters that which has no crevices.
That is why I know the benefit of resorting to no action. The teaching that
uses no words, the benefit of resorting to no action, these are beyond the
understanding of all but a very few in the world.
Real learning occurs within. It’s like the saying, `you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink’. That comes from an inner thirst. The teaching that uses no words accepts this reality. However, I’ve always clung to the notion that I had the power to educate others and so often resorted to action and words. Even now that I know better, the urge still comes. It’s such a powerful human need—no wonder these are beyond the understanding of all but a very few in the world.
It’s not so much knowing the benefit of resorting to no action, as accepting it. Turning over the survival instinct to the submissive comes slowly.
A few words said and then allowing time and nature to take its course is like a teaching that uses no words. It’s the same for action. I find that so many things take care of themselves if allowed to. The benefit of resorting to no action can lie in not wasting energy forcing an outcome before it’s ready. I’m reminded of `don’t fix it if it ain’t broke’.
The urge to have everything just perfect drive me to action. Of course this perfection is just my ideal, nothing set in nature. The benefit of resorting to no action lies in following nature instead of fighting it.