Changing Places

Distant ridges, far away clouds
All events come from a distance.
With a high vantage point,
Foretelling the future is elementary.

It is often superstitiously said that one who follows Tao knows
magic. This is nonsense. Superiority is simply a matter of using
one’s abilities and being in the right position. For example, a wise
person who lives high in the mountains and who is not blinded by wine, sensuality, intellectuality, poor health, or greed will be better able to see events in the distance than one who lives in a closed room, eyes on some obscure project.

A storm does not happen abruptly; it takes hours, sometimes days to
develop. Travelers do not arrive suddenly; they can be seen in the
distance. Knowing things in advance is possible with a high vantage
point. For this reason, the followers of Tao appear to know magic.

Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao

So how do you look at things? From your own perspective? A religious perspective? From a higher point, perhaps, a spiritual point?

I think how we view things determines a lot about our perspective in life. If all you ever see is the personal, what affects you directly, then you miss out on so much of life. If all you see is from the religious viewpoint, you are tied into the perspective of a particular philosophy of life. If you view life as a spiritual journey, you can distance yourself from daily life, but not be tied to a particular phlilosophy or way of thinking. That seems to be the freest choice of all, and from that perspective or vantage point, you will see more of life than others do.

It’s so easy to be caught up in the day to day things. It’s hard to find the time to separate yourself from that and take time to look at things more broadly. But, you will know a lot more about what changes are coming that will begin to affect your daily life, and you will become difficult to surprise. This gives you a calmness that others find astonishing. But it’s mostly because you knew what was coming, having seen it already.

Taking the long view from the higher vantage point isn’t always easy. But it’s easier than not knowing what’s coming, I think.

Kites harness the force of the wind.
They express our intent,
But they cannot change the wind.

A person with a kite can make it dip, turn, and flutter at will. An expert can even use a fighting kite and engage until one is cut loose. It’s fun flying a kite, feeling the gigantic tug on the end of your line. Sometimes the wind is so strong that it will nearly lift you off the ground. When you harness the forces of nature, you harness something quite powerful.

This is an example of the proper utilization of Tao. It is taking advantage of natural forces. It means accepting the way they work, and then finding a way to borrow their power. It does not mean trying to change or circumscribe things. If the wind is not blowing our kite the way we want, we cannot change it. We can only borrow its energy. When initiative and natural forces are combined, there is true harmony.

Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao

Chapter 40

The returning is the movement of the Tao
The weak is the utilization of the Tao
The myriad things of the world are born of being
Being is born of non-being

Interpretation

That which reverses course, reflects back, or returns to its point of origin characterizes the cyclical motions of the Tao. Because the Tao process underlies everything in existence, we observe its cycles reflected everywhere in the universe.

That which exhibits weakness, a soft touch, or a yielding nature characterizes the function and utilization of the Tao. This is because the Tao drives life forward endlessly, and the living is always pliant and flexible while death is invariably stiff and unyielding.

The above applies to the mind as well. An awareness that is in tune with the Tao is open to possibilities and adaptable to new ways of thinking. In contrast, a mind that stubbornly clings to preconceptions and automatically rejects anything different is, in a real sense, already dead.

Tao Te Ching, Chapter 40

It’s easy to see in a simple example how to work with the forces of nature and Tao. It is harder in our everyday lives, where those forces may not be so obvious. Yet how often are we fighting against the way we know things have to work, and trying to impose our own will on the world? We know in the end we can’t win, but we keep fighting to have our own way.

The nature of Tao is to be soft and yielding, to be able to change. If we insist on having everything our way, never changing what we believe, we may as well be dead, because in effect, we are already dead to the world. The world and Tao want to influence and change us, not the other way around.

Be open to change and learn to sail in the wind. Then you’ll see how high you can fly.

Prey passes the tiger who
Sometimes merely looks,
Sometimes pounces without hesitation,
But never fails to act.

Life is a constant series of opportunities. If we don’t reach out for things, if we don’t take advantage of what comes our way, then we cannot be in harmony with the essential nature of life.

The tiger is the same way. He conforms to every situation that comes. If he spots prey and is not ready to hunt, he will let it go. But he has not failed to act. He has knowingly let the prey escape, and this is much different from someone who loses a situation through slow reflexes or inability. When the tiger wants his prey, he pounces upon it without any thought or hesitation. There are no morals, no guilt, no psychological problems, no ideologies to interfere with the purity of his action. This undiminished grace in action in called nonaction.

This is engagement. Whatever comes to you, you must engage it somehow. You receive it, you may alter the circumstance and let it go, you may interject something of your own into it, or you may knowingly let it pass. Whatever you do, there is no need to be apathetic toward life. Instead, full participation in all things is the surest way to happiness, vitality, success, and a deep knowledge of Tao.

Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao

I always look for the people who are fully present in their life. They may not be famous people, they may not be rich, but they are obviously engaged in life and enjoying themselves. On their best days, they smile at you and laugh, their eyes sparkling. On a bad day, they may not shine so brightly, but are still very aware of life around them, not wrapped in their own problems so deeply that they cannot see what is going on around them.

I’ve had a few times in my life when I’ve pounced while it might have been more “moral” not to get involved. But I think if I had stopped to think everything through, I wouldn’t have felt so alive. And I didn’t feel guilty about those choices afterwards, even though everyone seemed to want me to feel that way. To me, it was as if I would have been denying life itself to deny myself those choices. Now, I can be more thoughtful and let things go by. That’s one of the pleasures of being an older, better fed tiger, I suppose. But, yeah, the tiger is still there, watching, waiting…

Demons who enter your circle
Must be pushed out.

No matter what world you walk in — office, school, temple, prison, or the streets — there is an underworld populated with demons. These are people who are avaricious, aggressive, sadistic, and cynical. They not only take advantage of others without compunction, they delight in it. They find pleasure in seeing others suffer.

The why of it cannot be answered. There is only the fact, with no metaphysical meaning or other ramifications. It is not karma, it is not fate. If these people decide to attack you, it is circumstance. You must fight or be mowed down.

Compassion and humility may be among the most treasured of human virtues, but they are not useful in conflict. A beautiful gold statue of your most adored god is a treasure, but you would not use it as a weapon. Virtue is to be value in the proper context; only a sword will do in battle.

Whether an attack is physical — assault, rape, murder — or whether it is mental — business intrigues, emotional abuse — you must be prepared. It is best to prepare for conflict by learning as much self-defense as possible. You will not become a bully or a monster, but instead, you will learn that you an respond to any situation. If you are never attacked, that will be wonderful. Training will still help you work out your fears, inhibitions, and anxieties. In the case of conflict, no one, not even a veteran, is ever sure that they will come out alive from a confrontation. But they resolve to go in there and give themselves a fighting chance. This in itself is a triumph over evil.

Deng Ming-Dao, 365 Tao

I’ve almost never found it necessary to physically defend myself, but have thought many times about taking martial arts classes for the discipline and training. I think my own strategy is more to avoid causing anyone to feel the need or desire to do me phyiscal harm.

I have suffered emotional abuse, and have learned to defend myself against that fairly well. I can certainly hold my own in just about any argument. I n business, I have worked to be financially free of the need to work so I don’t worry much about business conflicts anymore. I think overall, I’ve worked to reduce the amount of conflict in my life, and learned a lot about how not to create conflict. I did enough damage to myself by contributing to conflict with other people in the past, and now, I know myself well enough to see how unecessary those conflicts were and how I could have avoided them.

But yes, of course, sometimes you have to fight and stand up for the things you believe in. I’ve seen many people express their disappointment in the democrats these days for their lack of fight and standing up for their principles. I think there will be a new generation that needs to emerge in this country of fighters willing to stand up for the beliefs that have held this country together. The current divisiveness, the deliberate lying to increase the divisions between people, have got to end.

I have no intention of watching Bush’s pack of lies and half truths today. We don’t need his hateful attack on social security to drive people even further into poverty, all in the name of making things better for them. People are so fooled by Bush’s words, and fail to consider the true effects of his actions. We need fighters willing to stand up for the people again, to have the better interests of this country at heart instead of their own pocketbooks. Defense? Yes, we need defense – defense of those who are unable to defend themselves – the poor, the elderly, the working class who don’t have time to look behind the lies and see how they are being used. The young people who haven’t seen this all happen before, and don’t know that when they are old, the money they need to retire won’t be there for them.