Have done with learning,
And you will have no more vexation.
How great is the difference between ‘eh’ and ‘o’?
What is the distinction between ‘good’ and ‘evil’?
Must I fear what others fear?
What abysmal nonsense this is!
All men are joyous and beaming,
As though feasting upon a sacrificial ox,
As though mounting the Spring Terrace;
I alone am placid and give no sign,
Like a babe which has not yet smiled.
I alone am forlorn as one who has no home to return to.
All men have enough and to spare;
I alone appear to possess nothing.
What a fool I am!
What a muddled mind I have!
All men are bright, bright:
I alone am dim, dim.
All men are sharp, sharp:
I alone am mum, mum!
Bland like the ocean,
Aimless like the wafting gale.
All men settle down in their grooves:
I alone am stubborn and remain outside.
But wherein I am most different from other is
In knowing to take sustenance from my Mother!
It is certainly true that once we have ‘seen beyond’ the differences
between ‘yes’ and ‘no’ we are no longer under the kind of delusions that vex
the vast majority of mankind. Nearly everything
that people do, everything they strive for, is based on distinctions they place
on reality. When all is unified under
the spiritual vision of the present moment, it certainly is true that we will
be conspicuously more peaceful than those around us.
This verse is an honest description of exactly what that state feels like: spiritual
realisation involves a drastic departure from the normal mindset, and before we
become comfortable with this, we can feel uncomfortably in limbo.
Must I fear what others fear?
What abysmal nonsense this is!
And yet all those around us, who have not the perception to
see the changes that have been wrought inside us expect us to behave just as
they do, and as we once did.
Fear is the counterpart of desire, and together they are the
major driving forces of human behaviour.
But once we have become acquainted with our immortal spiritual identity,
try as we might, we cannot feel fear as we once did. The emotion is no longer a part of our mental
climate. And not only is fear weak and
cowardly, it is, by being at root an intellectual error, nothing other than ‘abysmal
nonsense’.
All men are joyous and beaming,
As though feasting upon a sacrificial ox,
As though mounting the Spring Terrace;
The same goes for the everyday pleasures of mankind. The freshly realised sage cannot help but
observe the silliness of what the people call fun. It feels like suddenly like we are surrounded
by children, or worse still, clowns. Perhaps
we can try and join in, and for a while succeed. But ultimately taking pleasures in such things
as ‘mounting the spring terrace’ is a pretence – and whatever we must pretend
will surely be a weariness to our spirit.
But in these matters, as with our fears, there is a strong
social expectation that we continue to join in.
To stay home with you noodles when there is an ox to be eaten is
depression…it must not be yielded to!
There is no way back from realisation. You can no longer see the world through the
same eyes as others.
I alone am placid and give no sign,
Like a babe which has not yet smiled.
I alone am forlorn as one who has no home to return to.
A baby’s first smile is so important because it complements
the tears that have been its emotional expression so far. The child knew sadness, and now it knows joy:
it is initiated into the human condition.
The sage however has passed beyond such emotions. Nothing external could rouse him to such
emotion.
With time his human emotions will be blended into that indescribable
inner bliss that is the pleasure of all saints.
But this state does not establish itself immediately. There is a phase, most difficult to pass
through, where the everyday human pleasures have departed, but the spiritual
pleasures not yet started.
The home that we knew and loved is ours no longer, and it shall
not return. We suffer the disapproval of
our loved ones; their fears and pleasures are nonsense to us and we are alienated
by the attitude. But we have nothing to
give back that might justify our change of heart, and we have nothing to enjoy
for ourselves. This is why we are ‘forlorn’
and without a home.
All men have enough and to spare;
I alone appear to possess nothing.
Everyday men have their ideas about what is valuable: that
which enhances pleasure and/or reduces suffering. The work of the world, the kind of labour the
people get money from doing, is intrinsically related to the worldview of the
people.
When the motivations of the people are seen as making no
more sense than the antics of clowns, it becomes painfully difficult to apply
yourself to the kind of labour on offer.
Everyone else throws themselves gladly into activities that
are not only senseless, but seem diametrically opposed to the only activity you
see purpose in: silent prayer. The inspiration
that impels others to unconsciously perform senseless tasks skilfully and well
makes them busy and prosperous. The
absence of the motivation leaves you idle, poor, and even more contemptuous in
the eyes of your peers.
What a fool I am!
What a muddled mind I have!
All men are bright, bright:
I alone am dim, dim.
When the distinction between ‘yes’ and ‘no’ has completely broken
down, you are no longer in a position to hold a defined and coherent intellectual
worldview. Everyone else knows exactly what’s what, and aren’t for a moment
troubled by doubt or scepticism. But you
see everything equivocally, there are reasons for and reasons against.
This really undermines your skills as a talker and a
debater. You seem to say nothing that
people can understand, you seem incapable of being clear and definite about
anything. Those that try and listen to
you won’t for long; the rest will walk away and instead ask the advice of
people who know.
All men are sharp, sharp:
Decisive, pro-active, effective and prosperous: this is how
the other people seem compared to you!
They know what they want, and they know how to get it.
I alone am mum, mum!
Bland like the ocean,
Aimless like the wafting gale.
But you have thrown all of that away…for what? The truth is, that although you have seen
through all the nonsense that motivates the other people, there is still a part
of you that still believes in it all.
This old attitude may be deep and unconscious, and barely flare up at
all, but it is there – and it is stopping you from truly opening up to the
inspiration of the Tao.
You are therefore completely aimless. You can’t run after, or from, all that the
other people run for. You can no longer
participate in the kinds of behaviours that makes sense to those around
you. But you have not yet learn to hear
the subtle call of the Tao, which shall be a faultless guide if you could only learn
to trust it.
It’s no wonder the people despise you! You’re neither here
nor there!
All men settle down in their grooves:
I alone am stubborn and remain outside.
You don’t why you turned out so differently; if you have
learnt not to despise yourself for it then you are doing a good job. It takes strength and courage to be stubborn –
to resist what all the others find irresistible.
But wherein I am most different from other is
In knowing to take sustenance from my Mother!
Yes. However I might appear, the moment the faith returns in
the Tao we are justified. We will trust ‘the
Mother’ and through this trust we will live as an example to others. We will have redeemed ourselves.
No comments:
Post a Comment