Post by Kivawolfspeaker on May 23, 2006 4:07:45 GMT -5
Tao Living
Creation
and Destruction
by Derek Lin
Chuang Tzu is second only to Lao Tzu as the most significant teacher of Tao insights. We can see his significance in the fact that his writings are named after him. Thus, when we say "Chuang Tzu" we may be referring to the text from ancient times – or the author himself.
One of the most well-known passages from Chuang Tzu begins like this:
When you break something up, you create things.
When you create something, you destroy things.
Material things have no creation or destruction.
Ultimately these concepts connect as one.
This may seem confusing at first. "Create" and "destroy" seem to be completely opposite actions, but Chuang Tzu says they connect as one. How can that be possible? They seem as far apart from one another as any two things can be!
Chuang Tzu explains as follows:
Only the enlightened know that they connect as one,
So instead of debating this with your preconceptions,
Approach it in an ordinary way.
Those with this ordinary approach, simply apply the idea.
Those who apply it, connect with it.
Those who connect with it, attain it.
This easily attained understanding is not far off.
Chuang Tzu is anticipating our question and suggesting the best way to understand this concept. Let us take his advice and think of some examples to help us understand the paradox.
For instance, what must happen in order for us to create furniture? Why, we have to cut down (break apart) trees in order to get timber! What does a sculptor have to do in order to create a beautiful statue? Ah, he or she must apply chisel to rock and hammer away!
In both examples, destruction takes place during the process of creation. You cannot have one without the other. The two seemingly opposite actions are indeed the two sides of the same coin.
When we apply the "ordinary approach" as Chuang Tzu suggests, we find that the paradox vanishes. We can easily connect with the idea and a clear understanding is attained – exactly as Chuang Tzu says.
It all flows naturally.
To attain this state and not even know it,
Is what we would call the Tao.
To exhaust your mind trying to unify them,
And not realize that they are the same,
Is what we would call "three in the morning."
What is this "three in the morning"?
Toward the beginning of the passage, Chuang Tzu tells us that the best way to approach this wisdom is not to engage in an intellectual debate using our preconceptions. Now he is expanding on this point and telling us that doing so will only exhaust the mind. Then he illustrates his meaning with a story:
A man who fed monkeys with chestnuts said to them:
"Three portions in the morning, four in the afternoon."
All the monkeys got angry.
The man then said:
"All right, four in the morning and three in the afternoon."
All the monkeys were pleased.
The food and the quantity had not changed,
And yet resulted in anger and happiness,
All because of the different arrangement.
The monkeys were initially angry because three portions in the morning and four in the afternoon seemed somehow unfair. Their caretaker, knowing how they thought, soothed them simply by switching the two.
To the monkeys, the new arrangement looked different and therefore had to be different. They did not realize that the difference was only superficial. Their daily allotment of seven portions had not changed one bit.
We can think of the monkeys in the story as us; the caretaker can represent reality according to our perceptions. Because most of us are as short-sighted as the monkeys, we often cannot perceive the fundamental oneness of existence. We see division and separateness even when they are illusory.
For instance, we cling to life (creation) and fear death (destruction) because we fail to see that the two are a unified whole. The process of life takes place at the same time that death continues ever onward. You cannot have one without the other.
If something has never been alive, it also cannot die. Death awaits us only because we are, at this very moment, gloriously alive. Without death, it is not possible for us to have this life that we cherish so much. Thus, life and death are but two sides of the same coin. Those who cannot see this are no better than the monkeys of the story, easily misled into thinking two things are fundamentally different merely because they are presented differently.
Those who can see it begin to understand why true Tao cultivators have no fear of death. They do not "conquer" death, for there is nothing to conquer or overcome. They simply accept death as fully as they accept life. Thus, funerals do not make them nervous, nor do they become obsessed about the hereafter.
They see the truth – that life and death are natural processes that occur at the appropriate time for the appropriate reasons. Just like creation and destruction, they connect as one and flow naturally. This is what we would call the Tao!
From www.truetao.org
Creation
and Destruction
by Derek Lin
Chuang Tzu is second only to Lao Tzu as the most significant teacher of Tao insights. We can see his significance in the fact that his writings are named after him. Thus, when we say "Chuang Tzu" we may be referring to the text from ancient times – or the author himself.
One of the most well-known passages from Chuang Tzu begins like this:
When you break something up, you create things.
When you create something, you destroy things.
Material things have no creation or destruction.
Ultimately these concepts connect as one.
This may seem confusing at first. "Create" and "destroy" seem to be completely opposite actions, but Chuang Tzu says they connect as one. How can that be possible? They seem as far apart from one another as any two things can be!
Chuang Tzu explains as follows:
Only the enlightened know that they connect as one,
So instead of debating this with your preconceptions,
Approach it in an ordinary way.
Those with this ordinary approach, simply apply the idea.
Those who apply it, connect with it.
Those who connect with it, attain it.
This easily attained understanding is not far off.
Chuang Tzu is anticipating our question and suggesting the best way to understand this concept. Let us take his advice and think of some examples to help us understand the paradox.
For instance, what must happen in order for us to create furniture? Why, we have to cut down (break apart) trees in order to get timber! What does a sculptor have to do in order to create a beautiful statue? Ah, he or she must apply chisel to rock and hammer away!
In both examples, destruction takes place during the process of creation. You cannot have one without the other. The two seemingly opposite actions are indeed the two sides of the same coin.
When we apply the "ordinary approach" as Chuang Tzu suggests, we find that the paradox vanishes. We can easily connect with the idea and a clear understanding is attained – exactly as Chuang Tzu says.
It all flows naturally.
To attain this state and not even know it,
Is what we would call the Tao.
To exhaust your mind trying to unify them,
And not realize that they are the same,
Is what we would call "three in the morning."
What is this "three in the morning"?
Toward the beginning of the passage, Chuang Tzu tells us that the best way to approach this wisdom is not to engage in an intellectual debate using our preconceptions. Now he is expanding on this point and telling us that doing so will only exhaust the mind. Then he illustrates his meaning with a story:
A man who fed monkeys with chestnuts said to them:
"Three portions in the morning, four in the afternoon."
All the monkeys got angry.
The man then said:
"All right, four in the morning and three in the afternoon."
All the monkeys were pleased.
The food and the quantity had not changed,
And yet resulted in anger and happiness,
All because of the different arrangement.
The monkeys were initially angry because three portions in the morning and four in the afternoon seemed somehow unfair. Their caretaker, knowing how they thought, soothed them simply by switching the two.
To the monkeys, the new arrangement looked different and therefore had to be different. They did not realize that the difference was only superficial. Their daily allotment of seven portions had not changed one bit.
We can think of the monkeys in the story as us; the caretaker can represent reality according to our perceptions. Because most of us are as short-sighted as the monkeys, we often cannot perceive the fundamental oneness of existence. We see division and separateness even when they are illusory.
For instance, we cling to life (creation) and fear death (destruction) because we fail to see that the two are a unified whole. The process of life takes place at the same time that death continues ever onward. You cannot have one without the other.
If something has never been alive, it also cannot die. Death awaits us only because we are, at this very moment, gloriously alive. Without death, it is not possible for us to have this life that we cherish so much. Thus, life and death are but two sides of the same coin. Those who cannot see this are no better than the monkeys of the story, easily misled into thinking two things are fundamentally different merely because they are presented differently.
Those who can see it begin to understand why true Tao cultivators have no fear of death. They do not "conquer" death, for there is nothing to conquer or overcome. They simply accept death as fully as they accept life. Thus, funerals do not make them nervous, nor do they become obsessed about the hereafter.
They see the truth – that life and death are natural processes that occur at the appropriate time for the appropriate reasons. Just like creation and destruction, they connect as one and flow naturally. This is what we would call the Tao!
From www.truetao.org