He who holds the Great Symbol will attract all things
to him.
They flock to him and receive no harm, for in him they
find peace, security and happiness.
Music and dainty dishes can only make a passing guest
pause.
But the words of Tao possess lasting effects,
Though they are mild and flavourless,
Though they appeal neither to the eye nor to the ear.
With the Great Symbol we see an ancient idea that can be found in
spiritual thought all around the world.
Just as Jesus Christ was the Son of the Father, God, so is the holder of
the Great Symbol the physical representation of that Tao itself. Whatever this person’s political standing is,
the holder of the Great Symbol will be a leader of the people. By virtue of
their great docility they have been able to embody the principles of the Tao in
their own person. His will is not
separate from the flow of events that we see in nature. He will provide comfort and nourishment to
the people, just as the Earth provides comfort and nourishment to all the
animals on the planet.
To flock to the holder of the Great Symbol is not a guarantee of physical
safety. Clearly, all living beings will fall ill and die eventually. The security is spiritual in nature. It is the discovery that the deepest, most
essential aspect of who we are cannot come to any harm. We are literally untouchable. This is what the great sage teaches us, and
can demonstrate very clearly with his own being. And when we see that this is true, we understand
that all our physical notions of safety and security – the cosiness of being in
bed while the storm rages outside – are nothing more than metaphorical
preparations for the true security taught by the sage. To discover that we are entirely safe and
secure exactly as we are is the greatest good fortune that can befall us, and
it is for this reason that the people ‘flock’ to their beloved ruler.
Music and dainty dishes can only make a passing guest
pause.
But the words of Tao possess lasting effects,
This passage clarifies that same point.
The world is full of appealing things – ‘music and dainty dishes’ – but these
are all just transient hints of the true joy of the Tao. Te wise person in all of us is able to
recognise the beauty and the goodness in the dainty dish. We know how to recognise pleasure. But the foolish person in us does not
understand that there is a limitless source of pleasure and it exists inside
the very being of each and every one of us.
Though they are mild and flavourless,
Though they appeal neither to the eye nor to the ear.
This deeper source of pleasure is very hard to discern. Not only is it mild and flavourless, it is as
nothing as far as we are concerned. It
is so subtle that it seems we need a whole new set of faculties in order to
discern it.
The learning process begins in darkness also. For some reason, a part of us starts to
wonder if there is more to life that just ‘music and dainty dishes’. A part of us starts to feel rather
dissatisfied that all the good things in life seem to be very brief and
transitory, and bring suffering once they have passed. A part of us starts to feel very tired and
weary of the effort required to secure these transitory things and starts to
wonder how this life could be so empty and meaningless.
These questions are the start of the Quest. If we asking these questions then it shows
that our deepest self already knows that somewhere out there is the Holder of
the Great Symbol.
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