Post by Kivawolfspeaker on May 19, 2006 14:29:32 GMT -5
Tao Living: The Lock
by Derek Lin
Once upon a time, there was a vault containing gold, diamonds and gems. A sturdy lock guarded the door to this vault, to keep its contents secure.
The mighty crowbar came by and saw the lock as a challenge. He had never encountered anything he couldn't demolish before. Did they really think they could keep him out of the vault with one simple lock?
The crowbar was a thick and heavy bar of iron. Countless crates, chests, and cabinets disintegrated before his attack. He took considerable pride in his strength and destructive power. Looking at the lock, he decided he should smash it, just to make a point.
The crowbar struck the lock, expecting it to break apart, but it was unaffected. This surprised him. He struck again, putting more force into it. He got the same result – the lock didn't even show a dent! Now he was becoming annoyed.
Using his full strength, the crowbar struck again and again. Sparks flew and the noise was deafening. When finally he stopped due to exhaustion, he was amazed to see that the lock was still in one piece. This was the toughest obstacle he had ever faced.
He was still trying to figure out what to do next when the key came along. He looked at the key and saw that she was very small compared to him. The difference between them was dramatic. He was massive and muscular; she seemed insignificant and weak.
She asked him: "Were you the one making all that racket?"
"Oh, you ain't heard nothing yet. Just let me catch my breath and I'll show this lock who's boss."
"No need," said the key. She slipped into the lock and turned slightly. The crowbar heard a click, and then the lock fell open.
He couldn't believe it. "Wait a minute. This makes no sense. I am a lot more powerful than you are. How can you open it so easily when I couldn't do it after all that effort?"
The key told him: "Because I am the one who understands the heart of the lock."
We all encounter obstacles in life. They keep us from the things we want and frustrate us. When we come up against such obstacles, it can be very easy for us to be like the crowbar, wanting to use the brute force approach to break apart or smash through the things that stand in the way. Our language reflects this tendency: when we make significant progress with a problem, we call it a breakthrough.
All too often, we find that the crowbar approach doesn't work. For instance, a salesman who encounters resistance to his pitch may resort to high-pressure sales tactics, only to meet with even more resistance. Just as it was for the crowbar, the increased effort leads to a lot of noise, but little or no success.
Or consider what happens when you have a disagreement with others and you know you're right. You become ever more forceful. You hammer away at their arguments and crush their points one by one. But much to your frustration, they cling to their views even more stubbornly than before, refusing to see your logic. The interactions become strained. Eventually, like the crowbar, you have to stop because you are exhausted.
Tao sages approach such life obstacles in a very different way. From their observation of nature, they realize that the truly strong does not have the appearance of strength, and in the long run, it is always "soft" that triumphs over "hard." Thus, in chapter 43 of Tao Te Ching we see the following lines:
The softest things in the world
Overcome the hardest things in the world
For instance, water is infinitely flexible and conforms to any shape, while rocks are solid and unyielding. And yet, given time, water will invariably penetrate into, cut through, wear down and wash away rocks.
There are numerous other examples. When the hurricane comes, it is the lowly and pliable grass that bend with the winds and survive, while the mighty but inflexible trees are uprooted and toppled. Or consider what happens when people advance into their senior years. They lose their teeth (the "hard") but their tongues (the "soft") remain the same.
When we apply this principle to human affairs, we begin to see that it isn't such a great idea to force your views on others. In an argument, the most important thing isn't being "right." You can assert your righteousness until you're blue in the face and still have no success in winning over others. In fact, you may even achieve the opposite and push people away.
In general, when we try to force an issue or force agreement, what little gains we achieve are never proportional to the work we put into it. The effort and struggles do not translate into progress. Instead, they go into increasing tension, destroying harmony, and damaging relationships.
The far better way – the way of the Tao – is to be like the key. The lock is not an obstacle to the key because the key knows its inner workings. Similarly, when faced with a problem, what we need to do is not to attack it from the outside, but to understand it from within. Once you thoroughly understand the heart of the matter, it can no longer exist as an obstacle. There will be nothing for you to smash into pieces, and nothing for you to break through.
Armed with complete understanding, it will require very little effort for you to achieve your objective. Like the slight turn of the key, your actions don't seem like much, and yet you are able to achieve agreement while reducing tension, promoting harmony, and building relationships. This is the secret of wu wei. By seemingly doing almost nothing, there is nothing that the Tao sage cannot accomplish. The sage's insight – literally the inside view – is the key to this secret.
The same principle applies not just when we encounter problems, but also when we interact with others day in and day out. Everyone's heart is like a vault, locked and kept secure by a sturdy lock. The treasures in the vault represent the heart's great potential for love, friendship, and support.
If you wish to gain access to this treasure, put away your crowbar. It doesn't matter how thick it is, it will never be able to pry open the door. Use instead the key of kindness and caring. When you insert this key, you'll find that it fits the lock perfectly. And with a slight turn of the key, all the treasures of the vault shall be yours.
from www.truetao.org
by Derek Lin
Once upon a time, there was a vault containing gold, diamonds and gems. A sturdy lock guarded the door to this vault, to keep its contents secure.
The mighty crowbar came by and saw the lock as a challenge. He had never encountered anything he couldn't demolish before. Did they really think they could keep him out of the vault with one simple lock?
The crowbar was a thick and heavy bar of iron. Countless crates, chests, and cabinets disintegrated before his attack. He took considerable pride in his strength and destructive power. Looking at the lock, he decided he should smash it, just to make a point.
The crowbar struck the lock, expecting it to break apart, but it was unaffected. This surprised him. He struck again, putting more force into it. He got the same result – the lock didn't even show a dent! Now he was becoming annoyed.
Using his full strength, the crowbar struck again and again. Sparks flew and the noise was deafening. When finally he stopped due to exhaustion, he was amazed to see that the lock was still in one piece. This was the toughest obstacle he had ever faced.
He was still trying to figure out what to do next when the key came along. He looked at the key and saw that she was very small compared to him. The difference between them was dramatic. He was massive and muscular; she seemed insignificant and weak.
She asked him: "Were you the one making all that racket?"
"Oh, you ain't heard nothing yet. Just let me catch my breath and I'll show this lock who's boss."
"No need," said the key. She slipped into the lock and turned slightly. The crowbar heard a click, and then the lock fell open.
He couldn't believe it. "Wait a minute. This makes no sense. I am a lot more powerful than you are. How can you open it so easily when I couldn't do it after all that effort?"
The key told him: "Because I am the one who understands the heart of the lock."
We all encounter obstacles in life. They keep us from the things we want and frustrate us. When we come up against such obstacles, it can be very easy for us to be like the crowbar, wanting to use the brute force approach to break apart or smash through the things that stand in the way. Our language reflects this tendency: when we make significant progress with a problem, we call it a breakthrough.
All too often, we find that the crowbar approach doesn't work. For instance, a salesman who encounters resistance to his pitch may resort to high-pressure sales tactics, only to meet with even more resistance. Just as it was for the crowbar, the increased effort leads to a lot of noise, but little or no success.
Or consider what happens when you have a disagreement with others and you know you're right. You become ever more forceful. You hammer away at their arguments and crush their points one by one. But much to your frustration, they cling to their views even more stubbornly than before, refusing to see your logic. The interactions become strained. Eventually, like the crowbar, you have to stop because you are exhausted.
Tao sages approach such life obstacles in a very different way. From their observation of nature, they realize that the truly strong does not have the appearance of strength, and in the long run, it is always "soft" that triumphs over "hard." Thus, in chapter 43 of Tao Te Ching we see the following lines:
The softest things in the world
Overcome the hardest things in the world
For instance, water is infinitely flexible and conforms to any shape, while rocks are solid and unyielding. And yet, given time, water will invariably penetrate into, cut through, wear down and wash away rocks.
There are numerous other examples. When the hurricane comes, it is the lowly and pliable grass that bend with the winds and survive, while the mighty but inflexible trees are uprooted and toppled. Or consider what happens when people advance into their senior years. They lose their teeth (the "hard") but their tongues (the "soft") remain the same.
When we apply this principle to human affairs, we begin to see that it isn't such a great idea to force your views on others. In an argument, the most important thing isn't being "right." You can assert your righteousness until you're blue in the face and still have no success in winning over others. In fact, you may even achieve the opposite and push people away.
In general, when we try to force an issue or force agreement, what little gains we achieve are never proportional to the work we put into it. The effort and struggles do not translate into progress. Instead, they go into increasing tension, destroying harmony, and damaging relationships.
The far better way – the way of the Tao – is to be like the key. The lock is not an obstacle to the key because the key knows its inner workings. Similarly, when faced with a problem, what we need to do is not to attack it from the outside, but to understand it from within. Once you thoroughly understand the heart of the matter, it can no longer exist as an obstacle. There will be nothing for you to smash into pieces, and nothing for you to break through.
Armed with complete understanding, it will require very little effort for you to achieve your objective. Like the slight turn of the key, your actions don't seem like much, and yet you are able to achieve agreement while reducing tension, promoting harmony, and building relationships. This is the secret of wu wei. By seemingly doing almost nothing, there is nothing that the Tao sage cannot accomplish. The sage's insight – literally the inside view – is the key to this secret.
The same principle applies not just when we encounter problems, but also when we interact with others day in and day out. Everyone's heart is like a vault, locked and kept secure by a sturdy lock. The treasures in the vault represent the heart's great potential for love, friendship, and support.
If you wish to gain access to this treasure, put away your crowbar. It doesn't matter how thick it is, it will never be able to pry open the door. Use instead the key of kindness and caring. When you insert this key, you'll find that it fits the lock perfectly. And with a slight turn of the key, all the treasures of the vault shall be yours.
from www.truetao.org