2005-12-23
Tao Te Ching - 5
Tao Te Ching
by Lao-tzu
J. Legge, Translator
from: Sacred-Texts
5
Heaven and earth do not act from (the impulse of) any wish
to be benevolent; they deal with all things as the dogs of
grass are dealt with.
The sages do not act from (any wish to be) benevolent; they
deal with the people as the dogs of grass are dealt with.
May not the space between heaven and earth be compared to a
bellows?
'Tis emptied, yet it loses not its power;
'Tis moved again, and sends forth air the more.
Much speech to swift exhaustion lead we see;
Your inner being guard, and keep it free.
My Thoughts:
This goes against the Christian concept of a 'benevolent God' (or of a 'stern God') for that matter. As I see it, according to Lao-tzu's words, we are not treated with regard at all. We are just here.
For me, this takes away the notion of a God 'looking down on his creatures' and judging them or answering their prayers, or whatever. To me, Lao tsu's words speak of no God, rather they speak of a universe which is unfathomable and within which we just exist. Whatever we do will not affect our 'afterlife', because no 'celestial being' is watching and judging us.
This seems to put the onus on us to choose our own paths in life and to do so because they are right for us, not for any future 'reward'. And this makes infinite sense to me. It does not mean that we can 'do anything and get away with it' (as, I believe, some see the teachings of Tao), because to do so will not be good for us in that we relate to everyone and everything around us.
As for the 'bellows' analogy, that makes sense to me too, at a simple level, in that all the time we are 'spouting hot air' about what is good, what is bad, what we should and what we shouldn't do, etc, we are getting nowhere. We are just using words, phrases and labels, with no real purpose. Thus we exhaust ourselves and collapse into a mist of confusion, having 'solved' nothing.
meyamind at 2:00 p.m.
