Thursday, September 1, 2016

A Minute Meditation

August 30

Nothing is wrong.  Everything is right.

-- Lao Tzu --
from  Taoist Wisdom


Why are those who go around denying the validity of universal statements so prone to making universal statements?

In the above statement, the Taoist insists there is no need to make judgements since all things are right.  Are rape, murder, child abuse good?

Here's an interesting and informative little task.  Those who have a copy or access to a copy of  Lao Tzu's definitive work,  the Tao Te Ching, should count the number of chapters in which the Taoist makes a judgement about what is right and what is not right, the number of chapters in which the Taoist insists that all things are right, and the number of chapters in which the Taoist makes no judgement about anything.

Any guesses on the results?

4 comments:

  1. i know how you feel about this, Fred, and don't feel comfortable commenting, so i won't...

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  2. I don't have access to the source, but I do have a question in the form of a statement. I thought Taoists insisted upon mirror-image dichotomies (e.g., good and bad; yes and no; wellness and illness) all in balance. Am I wrong? Right? Both? It suddenly occurs to me that William Blake must have been a Taoist. Now that's worth pondering.

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    Replies
    1. R.T.,

      That's the yin/yang concept wherein opposites are present: light/dark; hot/cold; wet/dry; male/female, and so on. I don't know about good/bad though. I've never heard that mentioned.

      And yes, all those opposites should be in balance.

      I know so little about Blake that I can't comment.

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  3. Mudpuddle,

    I'm sorry you made that decision. I just find it impossible to accept that such a statement relates to the real world. Lao Tzu and Chuang Tzu seem to contradict themselves with their very judgemental comments--as judgemental as some would accuse me of being.

    And yes, I'm judgemental because I accept this world as real, and I don't try to justify it by insisting it's an illusion.

    And as far as I can see, the Taoists, aside from occasional comments like the one above, also accept this as a real world.

    RANT MODE (off)

    ReplyDelete