Tao Te Wednesday

1/18/2012

The Tao is like a well:
used but never used up.
It is like the eternal void:
filled with infinite possibilities.

It is hidden but always present.
I don't know who gave birth to it.
It is older than God.

Verse 4, A New English Version

(Okay, speaking of used up, voids, and birth, I thought I might break my Zen and highlight THIS article to get the conversation started. Perhaps we can focus on the psychology of this type of warfare!)

Laura Novak

1/18/2012 01:29:06 am

I'll begin with Sullivan's response here:

http://andrewsullivan.thedailybeast.com/2012/01/the-odd-lies-of-sarah-palin-lv-the-tweet.html

mistah charley, ph.d. link

1/18/2012 01:59:27 am

John Heider's version:

Dig as deep as you will, you will never come to a thing called Tao or God. Tao is not a thing. Tao is a principle or law. Tao means how.

All things behave according to Tao, but Tao does not behave. Tao is never an object or a process.

Tao is the law of all things, of all events. Tao is the common ground of all creation.

Creation consists of things and events. All things and events are vibratory. Vibration consists of opposites or polarities. Polarities may cooperate with one another, or they may conflict to varying degrees.
All things and events, whether they are cooperative or conflicting, harmonious or turbulent, take their form and become resolved in accordance with Tao.

But Tao is not a vibratory event. Tao is not, for example, a sound.

Tao has no opposites or polarities. Tao is one; Tao is unity.

As far as I know, nothing comes before Tao. Nothing made Tao. Nothing created God.

mistah charley, ph.d. link

1/18/2012 02:14:32 am

Hey, HuffPost, whatup?

That is to say, I notice a couple of anomalies about the article you link to, Laura. One thing, it has no author listed. The other thing, it is so confused and false it either has been written by someone who's extremely ignorant and doesn't take the time to read what Sullivan has just written about the issue this week, OR someone intentionally trying to confuse people and hide the truth. Or, most likely, someone extremely ignorant who is relying on information supplied by someone with a commitment to misinformation. Maybe that's WHY there's no byline.

A third thing I notice - over three thousand comments. And it's not even about the Kardashians, or the cruise ship disaster.

I could read the comments - but I don't want to.

V-A link

1/18/2012 02:30:28 am

Tao - I find it extremely comforting to imagine something unimaginable. Something older than God.

Palin - Look who brought up Trig's birth again! It sure weren't us.

Ottoline

1/18/2012 02:37:53 am

Like spitting in the ocean, but I just commented there:

http://tinyurl.com/85g6mp2

Walter

1/18/2012 03:20:13 am

I find it interesting (in a sad way) that now, before we can engage in a debate or conversation, I must call my potential adversary a name, or say they are "dumb". Our conversations in the US have become so full of vitriol in nature that it doesn't surprise me that people of opposite views don't want to take the time to educate themselves.

mistah charley, ph.d. link

1/18/2012 05:37:17 am

The cover line on Newsweek was not written by Sullivan. His tone is more accurately conveyed by the inside title "How Obama's Long Game Will Outsmart His Critics".

Laura Novak

1/18/2012 04:19:25 am

Hey everyone, Walter is new to my blog and so let's all welcome him. And TC from a previous post.

Walter, I hear you. It all serves on to "dumb" down the conversation, which in my opinion this time should not be taking place. Why oh why drag that poor child's name into the public arena again? Despite what anyone has written or said in the past three years, I've always maintained that it is his mother's duty to protect his dignity. Why oh why bring it all up again? Anyone? Anyone?

Mistah Charley, you never disappoint. I love this explanation. The way without turbulence. Harmony, no matter what your belief system. Thank you for always providing!

V-A link

1/18/2012 04:26:42 am

mistah charley, ph.d.

1/18/2012 05:48:37 am

why bring it up again? as a narcissist, palin wants attention, this is one way to get it, she thinks her hoax is a big success, she needs to keep attention on her so she can transition into the televangelist type of revenue stream - there's a half or even more than half serious suggestion that she's already been rehearsing the response to the exposure of the hoax - "i did it to PROTECT MY FAMILY" - a response which would endear her even more to the fanatics whose contributions she wishes to harvest, and it would be a shame not to get a chance to use that story

speaking of lying by the palins, over at

http://politicalgates.blogspot.com/2012/01/revealed-bristol-palin-bought-her-new.html

it is revealed that bristol palin's recent assertions in a magazine story about when and why she bought her new house in Alaska, and what kind of house it is, are lies - original reporting using property records, etc - very commendable

Ottoline

1/19/2012 01:06:43 am

I'm dismayed by the settlements re Rupert's phone tapping: I guess this is the precedent for how we will lose our civil liberties in the future. The perp can tap phones until caught, then a little MSM kerfuffle with a few lower-level heads rolling, then pay all victims off, and no jail time for anyone. No convictions re guilt. Considering the money available for this nowadays, it's a good plan -- for the Ruperts of this world.

Hi Walter and TC. Congratulations on 16th, Laura! I wish someday you would tell us how publishing the way you did worked for you. Vs the traditional model. Esp with a view to how some next book about the PalinBabyHoax might best be published. Maybe an interview w Joe McG re his parting thoughts (esp how the MSM blackout affected his marketing). Just a thought on an about-to-be-rainy day.

Sherryn

1/19/2012 03:20:39 pm

Welcome to Walter and TC !

For some odd reason, this Tao reminded me of when I was a child in the back of the car pondering why it seemed the moon never caught up with our car as we careened down the highway. I suppose the opposite is true, the more we seek the wisdom of Tao, it's just beyond our grasp. I wonder if words, alone, can do it justice?

I read Andrew Sullivan's article, and I think he did an excellent job. I wonder if Sarah Palin even bothered reading it before firing up the old twitter machine and bombing away (figuratively).

I can read an article written by someone I don't agree with in some way, and see their take on something as being valid, not disimiss it because of who wrote it.

Why would she bring the whole matter of Trig up after all this time when it's been ages since Andrew asked the same question(s) others did, especially when the article had nothing to do with her OR Trig whatsoever?

V-A

1/19/2012 09:39:09 pm

Sherryn, What a beautiful image. How well I remember the childhood moon running from our car, too. Thank you for the memory.

LEARN TO TRIM YOUR SAIL, NOT CURSE THE WIND link

1/19/2012 10:00:18 pm

Stoicism - Taoism with a dash of olive oil?

Yesterday I was ordering a couple of books from Amazon. One has to do with my recent resolve that missus charley and myself are going to adopt a predominantly plant-based nutrition program. The other is a book by a Protestant minister about "centering prayer".

Once again, I found myself facing one of life's persistent questions: should I let the order stand at these two books, and pay shipping charges because they don't quite total to $25, or buy something else which brings the total above $25 and allows FREE SUPER-SAVER SHIPPING, in such a way that I obtain three books for less than the price of two, when shipping costs are included?

I chose the latter. In looking for inexpensive add-ons in a situation like this, I've started searching on "Dover" - recently, for example, I got "How to Eat a Poem: A Smorgasbord of Tasty and Delicious Poems for Young Readers", which I was very pleased with. This time, what caught my eye was Epictetus's Enchiridion. In his review, Oakshaman of Algona, Wisconsin (one of Amazon's Top 1000 Reviewers) says:

IT IS AMAZING HOW MUCH MORE ONE GETS FROM THE ENCHIRIDION WHEN IT IS REREAD IN LATER LIFE. In youth, it is too easy to rush through without digesting the deeper meaning (and thereby escaping much pain and wasted effort). Here in this slim volume is the core of Epictetus' immortal teachings; his Discourses may expand upon them, but all the essentials are outlined here.

Some people dismiss these teachings as pessimistic. After all, the central message here is to learn to differentiate between what you can change and what you cannot. Most modernists will instead tell you to dream big and never say die. Then again, such critics existed in Epictetus' own day, for we are told that you can either be a philosopher or a procurator, but you cannot truly be both.

Personally, I see nothing defeatist in the philosophy expressed here. At its deepest level we are being told that the ultimate goal is to make our will and God's will as one. You see, in spite of the admonition in the Publisher's Note that the God of the Philosophers and the God of Judeo-Christian theology are two unrelated things, the truth is that they both touch upon the pre-existing ultimate reality of the Divine One in their own ways. THE STOIC DESIRE TO CONFORM TO NATURE IS THE PERENNIAL SPIRITUAL IDEAL TO UNITE WITH THE ONE AND THE GOOD. Far from being a defeat, this is the highest possible victory in life for Christian and/or Philosopher.

This excellent, unabridged little Dover volume is probably the one that Epictetus would recommend.

[end of quote from Oakshaman's review of the Enchiridion - emphasis added, punctuation slightly edited - the title for Oakshaman's review is what I have put at the top of this comment]

LEARN TO TRIM YOUR SAIL, NOT CURSE THE WIND link

1/19/2012 10:00:19 pm

mistah charley, ph.d. link

1/19/2012 10:09:55 pm

Oakshaman's review was titled "Learn to trim your sail, not curse the wind." The attempted witticism about Stoicism resembling Taoism with a Greco-Roman flavor is my own - not the general observation of similarity, which is well known, but the addition of the olive oil.

mistah charley, ph.d. link

1/19/2012 10:03:45 pm

Forgot to sign the "trim your sail" comment - sorry.

Ottoline

1/20/2012 12:01:19 am

MC: i am thinking about the low-meat diet too. I'm sure you have read Michael Pollan and his advice boiled down to 7 words: Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. (For anyone not familiar with Pollan, "food" to him means real food vs food-like substances, like Velveeta, pop, twinkies, etc.) If you actually change your diet, I'd love to hear your thoughts upon doing it. Seems like the right thing to do. So far, all I have done is recycle, lightbulbs, on-demand water heater, compost heap. On my list are: solar on the roof, plug-in electric car, cistern(s) for rainwater --> watering garden.

mistah charley, ph.d. link

1/20/2012 01:25:08 am

Ottoline - I have NOT read Michael Pollan, though I've heard his name and his seven word quintessence of advice. I HAVE read Caldwell Esselstyne's Preventing and Reversing Heart Disease, and more than one book by Dean Ornish. Esselstyne's dictum is "Don't eat anything with a face or a mother". Go vegan, in other words, and also avoid added fat and sugar - even olive oil. The NEW four food groups are legumes, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

Ornish says there are two ways to transition - gradually, or all at once. Spouse and self are going to try the all at once way. The advantage is that if you can keep going even for a few weeks, you soon begin to notice desirable health improvements, which strengthens your resolve to continue. Allegedly the cravings for the old way of eating become much weaker after about three months of plant-based nutrition. I hope that's true.

A few years ago I had a "pre-diabetes" fasting blood sugar level, although it's never been that high again. Both spouse and self need to lose weight, and missus charley's physician referred her to http://www.pcrm.org/, the website of Neal Barnard's Physicians' Committee for Responsible Medicine, which has a lot of helpful hints.

Giving up dairy - cheese, ice cream, yogurt, butter and even quasi-butter like Smart Balance buttery spread - is going to be one of the harder aspects, I think. But I've already switched to almond milk instead of cow's milk. It's delicious.

Ottoline

1/20/2012 04:26:01 am

Do chickens have faces and mothers, for diet purposes? Not so much the meat but the eggs. I'll do the reading! Thx for the leads.

1/21/2012 09:13:08 am

Ottoline, vegetarians may opt to eat eggs, but vegans eat no animal-based protein.

Welcome Walter and TC.

Laura Novak

1/20/2012 01:47:41 am

I hope to leave the planet in better shape than I find it now. To that end, I stopped eating "Mammals with mothers" a few years ago. It was just time. Not hard to do. I still eat dairy products, but as long as the animal doesn't suffer. I cannot stand to eat chicken on the bone. When it's boneless, I can at least pretend it's tofu! I'd go all the way vegan if I could, but I am concerned I just won't get enough protein. And I eat a lot of legumes for sure!

Thanks for the further references MC! You're so smart!!!!

Marleycat

1/20/2012 02:12:15 am

OMGoodness - everyone - such great comments. I'm a little late for the Tao Te Wednesday, it being Friday and all, however, today I have the energy to say - I learn so much from the topics and comments here! Welcome Walter and TC, also, and today's Tao for me expands on the premise of acceptance of what is IS, and how our life events are cyclical, never
ending, universal, and yet still unique to to us individually when we only look inwards to our own selves - and not to the outer world and our place in Nature.

As to the type of warfare Palin engages in - she hasn't yet figured out how to quit spittin' in the wind, to stop tilting at windmills, and hasn't the intellect to recognize how she diminishes herself with these totally manufactured rages against a journalist (Sullivan) who didn't even mention her OR Trig in his initial article about President Obama's ability to successfully work towards long term gains in his political agenda, with very little fanfare or detection of such by the Right Wing. Quite simply - she has indeed, in reality, become the sad character we all hope will soon go away! Unfortunately, I admit, sometimes I, too, still tilt at windmills - but great progress has been made to recognize it and discontinue!

As to making changes in your life, simplifying, uncluttering, letting go - despite the difficulties of poverty and illness (or any tough situation, really), in some ways, when you have fewer options available to you, it is much easier to do, and once done, there's little pining for "the old ways you used to live your life".

Because I have less money but more time - I learned to make my own yogurt (cheaper, easier, more nutritious), am practicing making seitan from scratch (haven't perfected washing the starch out of the dough yet - but getting close), and fell in love with kimchee - and I can honestly say - I make some really good kimchee (and sauerkraut to die for)! I am going to get some organic soybeans and make my own soy milk, tofu, and attempt to make tempeh!
'
Good for you Ottoline - you've made a lot of changes! I hope to resume my garden this summer (I broke my elbow last February in a fall and after 2 surgeries, hopefully, the healing will be good enough to garden). I did grieve over not being able to physically do my perennial and vegetable gardening. I have been blessed in that over the last 38 years - I've only had 3 summers I could not garden!
Moving towards a real food diet with less meat or no meat is a good goal - and if you ease into it, actually easier than you might think.

Let's all be of good cheer and take notice - the days are getting longer, February and March are often the worst months as far as Vermont winters - but, oh my - soon comes spring, mud season, and the glorious Sun!

FrostyAK

1/20/2012 04:03:07 am

Marley,

Make your seitan from vital wheat gluten instead of flour. Less expensive in the long run, and saves tons of work. Gluten is available from the bulk natural foods section even in dinky little old Wasilla.

There is a good seitan turkey roast recipe on the net (don't have the url, sorry) that is REALLY good. Can make it beef instead of turkey with a change of the broth used. Cut it up to make stews and soups.

Legumes and brown rice are a complete protein, all that humans really need.

We don't NEED to eat animals. Another case of want versus need. Eventually only the 1% will have the luxury of indulging their wants.

Marleycat

1/20/2012 07:39:31 am

Yes, that is a good suggestion and saw it as an option to save time and water. Sounds like even Wasilla is more well equipped than my town - no bulk natural foods section, no chinese cabbage for my kimchee or daikon radish. Not to worry - I can go to the next town over to the co-op! Sometimes we don't even have brown rice. I no longer drive so it does require me to try to coordinate and combine trips to the doctor and the natural foods store, or ask someone for a ride (something I had to work hard at doing w/o feeling like a burden). Thanks!

Rolando link

1/22/2012 05:28:56 am

America now is suffering from the case of the classical allegory of the debate that generates heat and not light. People are not concerned with learning and finding the truth, they are concerned with winning. The majority feels they already have the truth, a debate is just a way of scoring more points to that end. I think that the equilibrium that comes with accepting Tao is the furthest thing from everyone's mind. Sad...

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