Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Inspired by Tao Te Ching - chapter 21

道德經第21章

孔德之容,唯道是從。道之為物,唯恍唯惚。忽兮恍兮,其中有象;恍兮忽兮,其中有物。窈兮冥兮,其中有精;其精甚真,其中有信。自古及今,其名不去,以閱 衆甫。吾何以知衆甫之狀哉?以此。

My rendition of Chapter 21 of Tao Te Ching:

To attain encompassing Morality (Te 德)
It is essential to practice Tao (Tao 道)
Tao as an experiential entity
One can feel its subtle existence
As it appears and disappears
One can feel it as something profound
As it appears and disappears
One feels its objective existence
In its finest subtle existence
There is energy
One can feel this energy in motion
And one therefore believes its existence
From time immemorial
It has always been there dormant
for practitioners to discover and experience
How do I know?
I am one.

Paul’s inspiration: The objective to practice and to experience Tao is to attain encompassing Morality. It is not easy to be a man of virtue. "Love thy neighbor as thyself" is easier said than done. Not just the issue of one's unwillingness to sacrifice, but our human mind will revolt.The act of inner civil war is the logical consequence of our human nature. Carl Jung would tell you that a highly pious man will more likely to have bad dreams, revengeful dreams, dreams that can make him feel ashamed or make him go for confession. In his "Answer to Job", Jung had this analysis on John when commenting his Revelation, the last chapter of the Bible. The practice of Taoist meditation (Tao) is a way to achieve this "superman" route. The ability to be highly pious without bad dreams, taming our Unconscious in addition to our conscious mind.

Needless to say, the experience of Tao can also be useful for modern men seeking for simple mind-body balance. The prerequisite for such practice, as Laozi advised, is morality, without which, it is futile to seek internal peace. Or from another perspective, an immoral man with internal peace is a representation of evil or a devil incarnate. Practitioners beware!






No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...