Post by Kivawolfspeaker on Jun 11, 2006 20:32:27 GMT -5
Tao Living
The Third Floor
by Derek Lin
One day, a wealthy man went to another village for a visit. There he saw an imposing mansion that stood three stories tall. He found it most impressive and complimented the owner on this great achievement. The owner thanked him and invited him in for a tour. Together they went up to the third floor, where they took in a commanding view of the countryside.
After the wealthy man returned to his own village, he decided he wanted the same thing. He summoned a master mason and described what he had in mind. The mason said: "You're talking to the right person – I'm the one who built that mansion!"
The wealthy man was pleased: "Great! Then you know exactly what I want. Please get started as soon as possible."
The mason assembled a crew and began building. The wealthy man had never seen a construction before, so he visited the site to take a look. What he saw there baffled him, so he asked the mason: "What is the crew doing?"
"Oh, they're working on the foundation."
"Why?"
The mason did not think the wealthy man was serious, but decided to humor him since he was footing the bill: "Because we build the first floor on top of the foundation – of course."
"But why do you need the first floor?"
Now the mason was certain the wealthy man was joking, so he played along: "Well, we want to build the second floor on top of the first floor."
"And you need the second floor for... what exactly?"
The mason was confused, because he could tell the wealthy man was completely serious. Not knowing what else to say, he replied: "Sir, obviously we'll put the third floor on top of the second floor."
"No! Stop!" The wealthy man exclaimed. "This is a big mistake. I'm glad I'm here to clear it up. I only want the third floor. You don't need to build the foundation and the first two floors. That ought to save us a lot of time and money!"
Doesn't this story seem ludicrous? Isn't it easy to understand that we must start at the bottom and work our way up? How can anyone expect to have the third floor without the floors below it?
But if it is really that easy to understand, why are get-rich-quick schemes still so popular? Can it be because we want to be wealthy (the third floor) but we don't want to work industriously (the foundation), save money (the first floor), and invest wisely (the second floor)?
How did diet pills become a $17 billion dollar industry? Can it be because we want to be thinner (the third floor) but we don't want to eat less (the foundation), exercise more (the first floor), and sustain this discipline over a long period of time (the second floor)?
Lao Tzu addresses this in Tao Te Ching, chapter 70:
My words are easy to understand, easy to practice
The world cannot understand, cannot practice
It is easy for us to understand that in order to achieve something, we must build the framework and create the necessary conditions. But something is lost when we go from concept to reality; our intellectual understanding does not translate to the real world. We still want something for nothing, even though we know that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. We still want shortcuts.
This is also something noted by Lao Tzu, in chapter 53 of Tao Te Ching:
The great Tao is broad and plain
But people like the side paths
It is not difficult to traverse the great Tao – it is a wide and flat road, perfect for travelers. We walk this road one step at a time. It is the essence of simplicity. What can possibly be simpler?
But simplicity doesn't seem to be what most people want. Rather than taking the certain path slowly but surely, people are enticed by the bright, colorful, flashing signs by the side of the road. These signs say things like "No Previous Experience Necessary" or "Lose Weight While You Sleep" or "Powerful New Technology! Results Guaranteed!"
This applies not just to life, but also to spiritual cultivation. Most of the time, wisdom comes to practitioners in bits and pieces rather than all at once. Conditioned by the endless promises of instant gratification in the material world, many find this lacking in excitement. Thus, they become dabblers of spirituality. If one particular path doesn't produce immediate results, they flutter to another.
Eventually, they discover that all this impulsive dabbling actually does very little to advance them spiritually. Tempting shortcuts lead them either to dead-end alleys, or right back where they started.
Usually, spiritual dabblers will not realize that they've been spinning their wheels going nowhere. They may even take pride in their "carefree wandering" through all the side paths. Although Lao Tzu's words are easy to understand and easy to practice, they simply cannot understand them, or put them into practical usage.
We all know the saying that the great thousand-mile journey starts with one step. We've all heard it many times, and it is indeed a timeless truth. But there is another part to it that is equally important: that first step is followed by another step, then another, and another, and so on until the great journey is completed.
In fact, it takes about two thousand steps to walk a mile, so a thousand-mile journey would equal to roughly two million steps. In order to have any hope of completing the journey, the traveler must be completely committed to taking every single one of those steps.
This realization may strike the aforementioned Tao dabblers as odd. Aren't we supposed to move through life with the effortless ease of wu wei? When we talk about the great journey as a combination of so many steps, doesn't it seem difficult and tedious?
This is a fairly common misconception in the West. In Asian traditions, the freedom of the Tao has always walked hand-in-hand with long-term, sustained discipline. The two are flip sides of the same coin.
The key realization is that diligent work doesn't have to be tedious. When you make it part of your life pattern, disciplined effort becomes natural. And when you engage in this natural part of your life, you discover in it an effortless ease and carefree joy all its own.
This is really the best way to cultivate. It is a down-to-earth and practical approach that emphasizes consistent action – the simple action of putting one foot in front of the other in the great journey. This is our discipline.
The Chinese would say this is cultivation with "feet stepping on solid ground." The side paths, with their endless promises of a third floor floating in midair, are nothing but illusions. The only real, solid ground we have is the broad and plain path of the Tao. You and I have already taken our first steps on it. Let us continue walking together on this great Tao… one solid step after another!
from www.truetao.org
The Third Floor
by Derek Lin
One day, a wealthy man went to another village for a visit. There he saw an imposing mansion that stood three stories tall. He found it most impressive and complimented the owner on this great achievement. The owner thanked him and invited him in for a tour. Together they went up to the third floor, where they took in a commanding view of the countryside.
After the wealthy man returned to his own village, he decided he wanted the same thing. He summoned a master mason and described what he had in mind. The mason said: "You're talking to the right person – I'm the one who built that mansion!"
The wealthy man was pleased: "Great! Then you know exactly what I want. Please get started as soon as possible."
The mason assembled a crew and began building. The wealthy man had never seen a construction before, so he visited the site to take a look. What he saw there baffled him, so he asked the mason: "What is the crew doing?"
"Oh, they're working on the foundation."
"Why?"
The mason did not think the wealthy man was serious, but decided to humor him since he was footing the bill: "Because we build the first floor on top of the foundation – of course."
"But why do you need the first floor?"
Now the mason was certain the wealthy man was joking, so he played along: "Well, we want to build the second floor on top of the first floor."
"And you need the second floor for... what exactly?"
The mason was confused, because he could tell the wealthy man was completely serious. Not knowing what else to say, he replied: "Sir, obviously we'll put the third floor on top of the second floor."
"No! Stop!" The wealthy man exclaimed. "This is a big mistake. I'm glad I'm here to clear it up. I only want the third floor. You don't need to build the foundation and the first two floors. That ought to save us a lot of time and money!"
Doesn't this story seem ludicrous? Isn't it easy to understand that we must start at the bottom and work our way up? How can anyone expect to have the third floor without the floors below it?
But if it is really that easy to understand, why are get-rich-quick schemes still so popular? Can it be because we want to be wealthy (the third floor) but we don't want to work industriously (the foundation), save money (the first floor), and invest wisely (the second floor)?
How did diet pills become a $17 billion dollar industry? Can it be because we want to be thinner (the third floor) but we don't want to eat less (the foundation), exercise more (the first floor), and sustain this discipline over a long period of time (the second floor)?
Lao Tzu addresses this in Tao Te Ching, chapter 70:
My words are easy to understand, easy to practice
The world cannot understand, cannot practice
It is easy for us to understand that in order to achieve something, we must build the framework and create the necessary conditions. But something is lost when we go from concept to reality; our intellectual understanding does not translate to the real world. We still want something for nothing, even though we know that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. We still want shortcuts.
This is also something noted by Lao Tzu, in chapter 53 of Tao Te Ching:
The great Tao is broad and plain
But people like the side paths
It is not difficult to traverse the great Tao – it is a wide and flat road, perfect for travelers. We walk this road one step at a time. It is the essence of simplicity. What can possibly be simpler?
But simplicity doesn't seem to be what most people want. Rather than taking the certain path slowly but surely, people are enticed by the bright, colorful, flashing signs by the side of the road. These signs say things like "No Previous Experience Necessary" or "Lose Weight While You Sleep" or "Powerful New Technology! Results Guaranteed!"
This applies not just to life, but also to spiritual cultivation. Most of the time, wisdom comes to practitioners in bits and pieces rather than all at once. Conditioned by the endless promises of instant gratification in the material world, many find this lacking in excitement. Thus, they become dabblers of spirituality. If one particular path doesn't produce immediate results, they flutter to another.
Eventually, they discover that all this impulsive dabbling actually does very little to advance them spiritually. Tempting shortcuts lead them either to dead-end alleys, or right back where they started.
Usually, spiritual dabblers will not realize that they've been spinning their wheels going nowhere. They may even take pride in their "carefree wandering" through all the side paths. Although Lao Tzu's words are easy to understand and easy to practice, they simply cannot understand them, or put them into practical usage.
We all know the saying that the great thousand-mile journey starts with one step. We've all heard it many times, and it is indeed a timeless truth. But there is another part to it that is equally important: that first step is followed by another step, then another, and another, and so on until the great journey is completed.
In fact, it takes about two thousand steps to walk a mile, so a thousand-mile journey would equal to roughly two million steps. In order to have any hope of completing the journey, the traveler must be completely committed to taking every single one of those steps.
This realization may strike the aforementioned Tao dabblers as odd. Aren't we supposed to move through life with the effortless ease of wu wei? When we talk about the great journey as a combination of so many steps, doesn't it seem difficult and tedious?
This is a fairly common misconception in the West. In Asian traditions, the freedom of the Tao has always walked hand-in-hand with long-term, sustained discipline. The two are flip sides of the same coin.
The key realization is that diligent work doesn't have to be tedious. When you make it part of your life pattern, disciplined effort becomes natural. And when you engage in this natural part of your life, you discover in it an effortless ease and carefree joy all its own.
This is really the best way to cultivate. It is a down-to-earth and practical approach that emphasizes consistent action – the simple action of putting one foot in front of the other in the great journey. This is our discipline.
The Chinese would say this is cultivation with "feet stepping on solid ground." The side paths, with their endless promises of a third floor floating in midair, are nothing but illusions. The only real, solid ground we have is the broad and plain path of the Tao. You and I have already taken our first steps on it. Let us continue walking together on this great Tao… one solid step after another!
from www.truetao.org