One of the most seductive deceptions is to look at the world, find it undesirable and decide it's your mission to set things right. The sage has moved through and beyond this fallacy. --Lao Fzu
While the practice a wu wei (inaction) is highly recommended in many situations, does the quote above apply to all? I question this within myself and find conflicting answers.
Humanity is doing a fantastic job destroying the planet in the name of greed. The rate is very alarming. Between what is discharged into our waterways, air, and ground, the poor Earth is taking a beating. So, what if I don’t like this greedy world, what if I’m a bit offended by all of the destruction, what if I decide to get more involved in ecology and work to reverse the damage done to our biosphere? Is this going against Taoist principles? Is attempts to right the wrongs actually wrong?
3 comments:
It's a tough call, and probably anyone on a spiritual journey runs up against it at some point.
Formerly I would have said it would be my duty to do what I could.
But as Lao Tzu claims: the world is perfect.
Now, belatedly, I understand Lao Tzu.
There are many do-gooders out there, and they are generally not doing much good, to the point of doing more harm, than good, especially to other people, in their passionate judgmentalism.
My own view is:
You can not change the world, but you can change yourself.
You are part of the world.
By changing yourself, the world is changed.
Difficult to have the patience for this. But everybody has to come to things by themselves.
I wish you luck with what must be the spiritually-aware person's dilemma of the epoch.
one of my teachers told me that: "recovery is ninety percent awareness and ten percent hard work". Sometimes I think that just awareness and general conversation of such increases and ripples out to the greater parts awareness of the same.
Totally agree with The Crow as well. It is really the only way. And, perhaps as we are influenced with those who've walked ahead of us, others may be in our wake, too.
Like Jesus said, something along the lines of his life being His message.
Much love and light in sometimes hard times - the flux of expansion and contraction - heat / cold / tension / creation etc. Namaste!
And, thanks for sharing this "food for thought", (reflection, contemplation etc..whichever suits.)
What 'is' is as it is meant to be, otherwise it would be different!
Another way of saying it is, 'Life doesn't make mistakes!'
If you're trapped within the polarities of the thinking mind then you are governed by what you imagine is right and wrong, good and bad, and what you like and dislike; all of which is the conditioned personalities modus operandi.
Transcending, or moving beyond, that level of conditioning where the polarities of the thinker is master ... and simply 'be-ing, without judgemental thinking... well, that is the solution.
As within so without, yes? As the Crow implied, all change in the external world begins with internal change ....... but the change required is the death of the judgemental thinker!
Ironically, the part of yourself that is offended by the mess in the world, is that which is responsible for the mess in the first place........ ;-)
Post a Comment