The Categories Within

Simplify

2009-01-11T13:50:00.003-05:00

In contemporary society, we usually think that doing more and being more is best. The key term for doing more is multitasking. As for being more, it's all about building one's identity like building your profile on a social website. However, to live a more fulfilling life, it's better to do less and be less. Then you can realize that you are a part of a whole and not a busy bee.

Doing more is a distraction from life. Instead of doing one thing well, you are doing many things poorly. Perhaps you can get a lot done, but there is no reward because the next day you have just as much to do. You can only focus achieving these tasks like a mouse in a maze. It's the rat race.

Being more is also a distraction. You can only be your biology and your skill. Your personality is just an illusion to make your ego feel comfortable. If you think about personality in the modern world, it's mostly made up of material preferences as a young adult. Who we are is how we relate to people. It's no use building up this great persona if nobody sees it, and usually nobody cares to see it. Interaction is key; everything else is a false identity.

I spent the last 8 years of my life trying to simplify myself. In that time, I have distanced myself from sports (Green Bay Packers), popular culture icons (Beatles), political diatribes (liberals), and even this (Taoism). I've come to realize that I don't have to pick apart and label the different things that make me. Once I do that, I don't seek these things out. Instead I can distance them from me.

I was going to reference a website with a similar philosophy about simplifying. However I found it ironic that it's steps to simplify your life were not simple at all. For me, I have to realize the material self is an illusion. Once I remove that, I realize I don't need all these materials for identity. All I need is me.

Passage of inspiration, Verse 48 of the Tao Te Ching:
To become learned, gain daily
To obtain the Tao, reduce daily
Reduce and reduce again until all action is reduced to non-action
Then no one is left
Nothing is done, yet nothing is left undone.

After writing this passage, I also find it easier to deal with death. When I die, I can ask, "Was I ever here? And do I care because now I am gone." And then I truly become part of the whole as the part cannot be distinguished from the whole anymore.

The Joys of Skepticism

2009-01-07T11:44:00.002-05:00

You may ask, "Isn't being a skeptic mean that you are critical and doubtful all the time?" I may answer, "No," and I do answer "No." Being a skeptic or practicing skepticism is actually quite fun because I can analyze topics that I have always interested me. But I can look at these topics rationally instead of ignorantly. It's time for the list-maker to make a list, an abridged version from the Skeptic's Dictionary.

Topics That Interest Jeremy
* means I completely lost interest after becoming a skeptic

ancient astronauts
aliens
Area 51
aromatherapy
astral projection
astrology
Atlantis
auras*
Bermuda Triangle*
biorhythms*
chakras
channeling
chi
creationism
crop circles
crystal skull*
doomsday (cults)
dreams
enneagrams
ESP
exorcism
face on Mars*
feng shui
firewalking
Gurdjieff
haunted houses
holistic medicine
hypnosis
invocation
intelligent design
jinni
karma
levitation
lucid dreaming
mediums
mind-control
multiple personality disorder*
near-death experiences
Nostradamus*
Ouija boards*
phrenology
placebo effect
poltergeists
precognition
psi
psychics
psychoanalysis
Qi Gong
reiki*
reincarnation
Roswell*
Satan
Scientology
seance
sorcery
souls
spontaneous human combustion
synchronicity
tarot
telekinesis
telepathy
theosophy
Transcendental Meditation*
UFOs
unconscious mind

"The Inner Light" by the Beatles

2009-01-05T17:13:00.005-05:00

George Harrison quotes from Verse 47 of the Tao Te Ching:

Without going outside, one can know the whole world
Without looking out the window, one can see the ways of Heaven
The farther one goes, the less one knows

It's been a while since I blogged about verses from the Tao Te Ching. The reason (besides laziness and a new baby) I was delaying a posting about the Tao was that I trying to avoid an apparent influence. Did the Beatles subtly brainwash me into become a Taoist when I first listened to "The Inner Light" back in 1992? I just read that the music you listen to as a teenager can have a strong hold on you for the rest of your life. I'll keep you posted when I start reading the book--This Is Your Brain on Music.

Add Skepticism

2009-01-01T10:48:00.004-05:00

Over the past year, I have been developing another perspective on the world around me. This blog has been mostly about Taoism, which has been my dominant philosophy for the last four years. Before Taoism, I believed in the tenets or non-tenets of Dada or Dadaism. Now I have put on a new hat--skepticism. The main influence of this skepticism is the podcast, The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe.

I have found that skepticism has been the healthiest and most logical viewpoint I can have on the known universe. A skeptic is a firm believer in the scientific method. Although I was never liked most of my science courses, I did like science's approach to knowing the world around us. Ever since listening to SGU's podcast, I have been hooked on reading books about skepticism and its attack on pseudoscience. Here are the books I have read so far in order of my preference:

Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World
Terence Hines, Pseudoscience and the Paranormal
James Randi, Flim-Flam!

I still adhere to the philosophy of Taoism for things science cannot fully explain. More importantly, I use Taoism to understand human behavior and human interaction. For me, Taoism helped me reach the conclusion that egotism is the road to ruin. The philosophy of the Tao is the best medicine for stress relief. This philosophy works well with science in that both point out how small we are in the universe. But Taoism shows us how we can change the universe--by changing ourselves.

And Dada is still very important in my life in terms of having fun and expressing myself. For example, this posting is not very Dada. Dada mocks this style. For what is the use of blogging to no one or the blob known as the blogosphere? Dada is like Taoism because they play with language's inability to explain the universe. That's why I can't really get to the point in this paragraph. Dada cannot fit in a paragraph. Dada cannot fit anywhere. Dada fits in empty space. Dada destroys occupied space. Although Dada is an old art movement, it always seems fresh to me when I apply it.

Dada and skepticism can be used for self-defense. If I want to protect myself from scams and hoaxes, I will use skepticism. If I want to protect myself from creeping boredom and dead seriousness, I will use dada. I apply logic and the scientific method in skepticism, whereas I apply the artistic approach in dada. If my self-defense works, I become a stronger skeptic or I become a more creative and fun-loving person.

How has skepticism changed me in the past year?

I no longer sit on the fence about my belief or disbelief in UFOs, ghosts, and psychic powers.
I have an even stronger argument against the fallacies of creationism and The Bible-as-literal-truth.
I wish more people turned towards science rather than religion for answers, especially for questions like "How old is the world?"
I have a stronger belief in Western medicine but not in the current American health care system.
It has given me a new angle to view politics, although I reach the same conclusion of most politicians cannot be trusted.
I have new found love for the sciences.
I am more optimistic about the future.

Thank you skepticism.

Contentment

2008-03-29T16:00:00.003-05:00

How can you stop time? You can stop time by feeling content. The more you strip away your worries and your desires, the slower time seems to move. This could be one of the reasons that time felt as if it moved slowly when we were younger.

Contentment alone is enough
Indeed, the bliss of eternity can be found in your contentment - Tao Te Ching, verse 46

When you get there, the world already seems like a better place. No drugs necessary.

Hidden Greatness

2008-02-27T21:52:00.003-05:00

Greatness usually surprises us. If we expected greatness, then it wouldn't be great. On the contrary, things that are popularly known as great don't usually turn out to be so. A lot of what we perceive as great is just an illusion. That's when belief in greatness outweighs the reality of greatness.

Specifics? The hype of Hollywood and news from the mass media. Is it me or is the mass media 99% hype? "Come and watch our show," they say. "It will be great!" And it is not. It's the technique of a poor magician.

If you are great, then there is no need to advertise. The people behind the products don't trust our judgment, so they make it for us. That's the commercial world we live in. How much greatness is contained in our commercial world? Not much.

Most greatness is contained in our spiritual world. But we don't "see" people attracted to it because it doesn't advertise. The opposite of advertisement is discovery. Greatness is found from within. Our heart or soul recognizes greatness, and when it tells the brain, the brain realizes its been duped the whole time in the commercial/material world.

These three lines from Verse 45 of the Tao Te Ching inspired today's posting:
Great truth seems false
Great skill seems clumsy
Great eloquence seems like babble

When greatness seems far from it, the advertisers stay away. Greatness is not about image.

Great Perfection

2008-02-24T16:52:00.004-05:00

The Great Perfection seems imperfect, yet this world it creates is never impaired
The Great Fullness seems empty, yet this world it creates is never lacking

Something that seems imperfect to us may actually be the Great Perfection. Having the perception of a single human being, it is impossible to grasp unity, the All.

Think about a cycle. The universe is full of cycles. If you focus at the center of the cycle, you will see its hollow--emptiness. But if you focus at the edge of the cycle, you will see the stages of the process--fullness, containing no ending.

Zen

2008-02-23T17:07:00.004-05:00

Taoism + Buddhism = Zen Buddhism.

Evidence of the overlapping philosophy can be found at the end of verse 44 of the Tao Te Ching. What does it say? I'll write right here...

Be content, rest in your own fullness--
You will not suffer from loss
You'll avoid the snare of this world
You'll have long life and endless blessings

Why desire what you don't have? When you realize how much you already have, then your life is fulfilled. I'm not talking about materialist things and stuff. Everything you ever need is always with you. That's why you were born they way you were. But how should I know? You are an anonymous blog reader. Don't freak me out.

Two Good Lines

2008-02-20T18:28:00.002-05:00

In the middle of verse 44 of the Tao Te Ching, it says:

Love is the fruit of sacrifice.
Wealth is the fruit of generosity.

This message reads clear to me.

Ego and Responsibility

2008-02-15T21:38:00.003-05:00

I believe there are two kinds of responsibility. The first is thrust upon us by society--our responsibility in the workplace and our responsibility in the family. The second is the responsibility we create for ourselves--our responsibility to whatever group we seek credit. This second aspect of responsibility is ego-driven. Its only purpose is to impress others, make oneself feel "good," and to pursue power. I believe we do not need this.

Verse 44 of the Tao Te Ching states:
One's own reputation--why the fuss?
One's own wealth--why the concern?
I say, what you gain is more trouble than what you lose

When taking on this second aspect of responsibility, one often neglects relationships and shrugs off some of the first type of responsibility, the kind that keeps humanity together. If one pursues the second type at the expense of the first, one will likely find success, but the price will be isolation.

The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth

2008-02-01T17:47:00.001-05:00

The title comes from the Torah in Psalms 37:11 and in the Gospel of Matthew 5:5. Verse 43 of the Tao Te Ching is very similar. It states:

The most yielding thing in the world will overcome the most rigid
The most empty thing in the world will overcome the most full
From this comes a lesson--Stillness benefits more than action, Silence benefits more than words

Rare indeed are those who are still
Rare indeed are those who are silent
And so I say, "Rare indeed are those obtain the bounty of this world."

I interpreted this verse as saying that patience wins over everything. All aggression burns out, leaving the passive still there. When one has found Unity or God, there is nothing more to gain. The answer or the solution comes to those who are still and silent.

Ego or Non-Ego?

2008-01-21T22:11:00.001-05:00

This is about prophetic coincidence. I've had this happen several times, but I am skeptical of it carrying any meaning. The first time I had observed this was in 1992. A year or so earlier, I was writing about a group of pathetic superheros who became real superheros. One of the momentous occasions in their adventures started when Chicago experienced a flood. Then in 1992, Chicago experienced a real flood.

My ego swelled up with guilty pride. I thought I had predicted this awful event. And for a brief time, I believed that I could control the future with the stroke of my pen. Then I reflected that I only successfully predicted the future when I did not think about predicting the future. So I came to this new conclusion--I can only predict the future when I don't think about predicting the future. Silly?

Other less remarkable predictions occurred during the early 90s, but I cannot recall them. I just remember being baffled by the amount. A lot of them had to do with those superhero stories I was writing. I even stopped writing because I was going to build up to a horrendous showdown between good and evil. That showdown was never written. So did I save the world?

The predictions coming true in high school gave was to wishes coming true in college. I blogged about this in my "Still Thirty" blog. By the end of 1997, I was freaked out that everything I ever wanted happened--I got a girlfriend, the Packers won the Superbowl, the Beatles released new music, I actually won something athletically. It seemed that everything I based my identity on as a child became reality. I was happy but also uneasy that the world seemingly revolved around me that year.

Then I began traveling around the world for the next decade--something I always dreamed about as a child. Why was God being so good to me, I asked myself. During this decade of travel, many of my apocalyptic dreams of my angst-ridden teenage years were coming true. I was dead certain that we would be in a war and the United States would lose its high status in the world. I wasn't surprised about the turn of events. However I wished I wasn't so gloomy and doomsdayish back then.

That's when I came to thinking that I wasn't predicting or manipulating reality, I was actually tapping into the collective unconscious, the universal mind. I have never been able to do this consciously and I don't think I ever will, but when I came to this conclusion I felt at ease like the world and the human race won't meet a drastic ending anytime soon. I felt no need to worry about the future state of things.

This realization was similar to my mystical experiences mentioned in an earlier posting. We'll always be around. As I get older, I feel as if reality is becoming more and more like me. Or vice-versa I'm becoming more and more like reality. Am I conforming or is the world following me? This is the ultimate question of ego versus non-ego.

If I were a narcissist, I would believe that I was actually controlling the world or reality through some pseudo-scientific method like psychic powers. I don't believe this.

Through reading and experiencing life, I feel like the world is becoming more and more familiar. It's somewhat similar to saying that I am beginning to recognize God. This feeling makes me not afraid to die because I feel as if the universe is me and I am the universe, which to an extent is true. What is in the macrocosm (the universe) is in the microcosm (the mind/body). This sounds egotistical, but it is the opposite. Everybody contains the universe as the universe contains everybody.

Now I sound a bit crazy, but this craziness is supported by the Tao Te Ching and other esoteric spiritual texts. The purpose of this blog is to illustrate how my thoughts evolved from perceiving the world or reality when coincidences occur. Now I don't need coincidences to occur to make me feel or believe this. I've had so many coincidences in my life that I am certain in my beliefs.

Does this certainty make me old?

Belief-o-matic

2008-01-16T19:46:00.001-05:00

Today I took the Belief-o-Matic Test from Beliefnet.com. Although the test isn't entirely scientific and I would like to have had more questions, it came fairly close to what I believe. I'd like to share my results with the you and for my future self.

#1 Unitarian Universalism - Anybody would get this as the #1 score because all answers are acceptable.

#2 Liberal Quakers - Yes, I'm very interested in coming to one of the Friend's Meetings.

#3 Mahayana Buddhism

#4 Theravada Buddhism - I'm surprised both #3 and #4 scored this high as I don't like hierarchy in religion.

#5 Neo-Pagan - Not too surprised here, although I don't like the self-righteousness many "neo-pagans" have.

#6 New Age - The only hippie in me.

#7 Taoism - I expected this to be #1, however I disagree with some tenets of Taoist religion as opposed to Taoist philosophy.

#8 Liberal Christian Protestantism - I was raised this way through puberty.

#9 Jainism - I don't know much about this religion.

#10 New Thought - same as above

#11 Hinduism - Although I'm fond of lists, the caste system and the hierarchy of gods annoys me. Besides that, many Hindu things interest me.

#12 Secular Humanism - I don't mind this title.

#13 Orthodox Quaker - How can I tell if a Meeting I attend is Liberal or Orthodox?

#14 Reform Judaism - I don't know much except that it is in vogue.

#15 Scientology - Oh God, please no!

#16 Christian Science - No matter how I hard I tried, I can only see this as religion an oxymoron.

#17 Baha'i - I wouldn't mind experiencing this religion. I like their temple in Skokie.

#18 Nontheist - Yes, I do believe that God is God and Organized Religion is Satan.

#19 Sikhism - Maybe.

#20 Seventh Day Adventist - I don't drink or smoke, but I can't give up meat.

#21 Orthodox Judaism - That would be strange.

#22 Islam - I'm surprised this scored so low. I'm very interested in Islamic philosophy and especially Sufism.

#23 Conservative Christianity - I was raised this way through childhood. I have had enough of that misery. I've died (from them) and gone to heaven already.

#24 Mormons - No vote for Romney from me. Sorry Mitt.

#25 Eastern Orthodox - I saw it in Russia and felt no compulsion to join.

#26 Roman Catholic - They eat their God! Like a doughnut, He is holy.

#27 Jehovah's Witness - Yes, they are a pesky bunch.

If you would like to take this same test, click here for a link.

Addendum: My wife just took the test and we scored the same for #1, #2, #26, and #27. Other close scores, Mahayana Buddhism scored #3 for me and #4 for her, New Age scored #6 for me and #7 for her. The order was roughly the same all the way through. In this sense, she is my soul mate.

Out of One, Many

2008-01-16T17:14:00.001-05:00

Verse 42 starts like this in English:
"Tao gives life to the one
The one gives life to the two
The two give life to the three
The three give life to ten thousand things."

God is all and we are a part of it.
Yet in this world we see ourselves as "ten thousand" people.
The Chinese character/symbol for "ten thousand" also means "many."
Out of all these people, you can divide the human race into two:

us and them
men and women
dominant and passive
givers and takers
etc.

But this dualistic view of the world (liberal/conservative) lacks shape and roundedness. What is lacking is the third element--the element that binds us and unites us. Here are some examples of what binds two apparent opposites:

love - men and women
money - buyer and seller
food - cook and consumer

And when we turn our focus from the opposite to the binding element, we then can find peace.

1 Man + 1 Woman = 1 child (3 total people)
1 Person + 1 Other Person through Love = all things possible (10,000+)

All this I have interpreted from part of a verse in the middle of the Tao Te Ching. What can you get?

I Read the News Today

2007-12-27T15:03:00.001-05:00

From The Economic Times at http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Editorials/
You_are_one_with_God/articleshow/2654057.cms

Here is the full text:

Our minds aren’t individually separated entities of the universe. They’re all one. They’re the same. Our minds are interlinked and directly affect each other. This is collective consciousness.

If we catch a cold from someone, we may suffer physically for a few days and we may eventually get over it. But when we catch thoughts from people, we suffer mentally forever. Not just once, but forever. Similarly, our thoughts affect people around us. Our thoughts affect not only those touched by it, but every living thing on our planet.

This connection doesn’t end at the mental level. A deeper connection exists at the deeper levels of consciousness. We can perceive these as energy layers of our body. There are seven energy layers: physical, pranic, mental, subtle, causal, cosmic, and nirvanic.

We all seem different entities, with many differences, at the physical level. We, God and master are physically removed from each other at this level. There is a great deal of distance at the physical level. When we love someone intimately at physical level, his or her love and suffering affects us. We don’t want to suffer but we cannot escape from it. We suffer again and again, whether it’s a physical pain or mental suffering or spiritual bondage. It comes and goes out of your being.

We suffer because we aren’t aware that we’re a part of the collective consciousness. Until we become aware and realise that we are a part of collective consciousness, we think that we’ve an individual identity, a separate ego. In the deeper levels, we don’t have an individual entity; we are a part of collective consciousness.

Let us dive a little deeper, move from the physical level and enter into the next level, the pranic level. The distance is somewhat reduced. Travel farther down, dive deeper to the subtle level the distance between us and master get further reduced. This in turn reduces the distance between us, God and master. The distance between God, master, and us constantly shrinks as we enter into deeper energy layers.

Our journey ends at the nirvanic level where there is no distance between God, master, and us. We are all one. We reach the centre of the universal energy.

Yes, it is very difficult for the intellect to believe or accept it. Your mind will resist it. But, this is the truth. You are God and you become aware of it as you ascend the energy layers.

My Mystical Experience

2007-12-22T15:44:00.001-05:00

It occurred in October of 2004. I was sitting on the floor of our home in Seoul, Korea and putting together a reflective play list of music. With only four songs into this play list, I was overtaken by a certain thought and a certain a mood. I got a certain glimpse into life after death--I no longer feared it. I understood for that moment that life is infinite.

I have had these thoughts before, but this feeling was exceptionally strong. And this was the first time I ever heard a voice telling me to write it down this time. This brought me closer to understanding Mohammed and his calling to write the Qur'an. But I wasn't thinking about Islam or any other religion, I was enjoying this peaceful ride of thought. It's something I always look back to and cherish that it is within me.

For about 90 minutes, my hand was writing non-stop the thoughts that were pouring out of my head. The writing stopped when my usual everyday awareness and logic overtook the quiet peaceful glimpse into whatever it was. When I had these experiences before, it was my logic that would always silence this mystic experience. I learned to suspend my skeptical logic and let the idea flow. 90 minutes was the longest I was able to do this--and I now I have a written record of it.

With this information, I sought out the religion that most closely resembled that stream of consciousness. I briefly researched world religions and came upon Taoism. For the next couple of years, I read Taoist texts and found that they expressed what I experienced better than my own writing.

It wasn't until recently that I realized that my experience was a mystical one, not just focused on Taoism. But I believe it would be too pompous to declare myself a mystic. For one, I'm not completely leading the life of my experience. I'm enjoying my current life and am afraid to abandon it for mysticism. So I hold on to both mysticism and nihilism to keep me who I am today. Once I let go of one, I will be a changed man.

Not yet ready for a change of that sort.

What ever happened to that play list?
I've made it into a CD, but it never recreated the mystical experience. It helps me reflect on that experience though.

And I'm Back...and who cares?

2007-12-21T20:49:00.001-05:00

Did you ever notice how many "I"s are in nihilism? You probably did.
Did you ever think about that means? If you are a nihilist, you probably did and came to the conclusion that it meant nothing. You would be right.

Then again...you might be wrong. There are 3 letter "I"s in nihilism. And they stand for the ego of the nihilist, which also has 3 "i"s--no coincidence. This analysis alone would annoy the nihilist. There is no meaning in anything, and that includes the words nihilism and nihilist.

Where am I going? I'm diving into the word but not the world of nihilism. It takes a lot of ego to assert that there is no meaning. The nihilist points out how there is no meaning in meaningful events like Christmas. They point out the economic need for this holiday superceding the religious need. Anyway, there is no God, the nihilists point out.

What an ego a nihilist must have to remove the smiles from the believers. Behind the smiles is hope and behind that hope is confidence and the will to live. The educated nihilist has the necessary weapons to remove the soul from the lesser educated believers. Do the nihilists get a kick out of this? I think some of them do. And that gives meaning to their lives--the paradox.

Is it right for the nihilist to find meaning in his or her life? Or am I confusing goals with meaning? A linguistic trap. Do our goals give us meaning? I believe so. So I challenge the nihilists to remove all goals from their lives--and then they can live their nihilistic lives to the fullest.

No, the nihilist must not succumb to the goals of others because that makes their goals to serve someone--like their bosses or their parents or their teachers. Anarchy for no reason with no goal. Is that possible? I say no.

I don't believe in the pure nihilist. As long as there is ego, there is a goal, and there is meaning. Something drives the nihilist, and it can be found in the ego. Maybe it is the ego.

Halftime

2006-08-27T08:29:00.000-05:00

I have written and discussed half of the verses from the Tao Te Ching and will take an extensive break from it as I am about to embark on some drastic life changes. I will resume with the second half of the Tao Te Ching as soon as I am settled and have as much free time as I did before. For the time being, hold on. It will return.

Verse Forty-one

2006-08-26T07:37:00.001-05:00

When the best seeker hears of Tao, he strives with great effort to know it. When an average seeker hears of Tao, he thinks of it now and again. When the poorest seeker hears of Tao, he laughs out loud.

- Unity interests those who are especially seeking universal truth.
- If one is not interested in truth, then the message is silly.

Application: This reminds me of the Sufi saying, "Teach to those according to their understanding." We shouldn't talk about Taoism or Sufism to those who don't want to hear it. I find myself a seeker these days, so I approach both ways of life with an open mind. I have found extraordinary similarities between the two. The same goes for Quakerism which I have recently come across.

Tao is always becoming what we have need for it to become. If it could not do this, it would not be Tao.

- Unity obeys the needs of all
- If unity obeyed only individuals, then it would not function.

Application: Tao has become what I have need for it to become. The flexibility of the philosophy is what appeals to me. Rigidity in religion is either short-lived or doesn't apply to all people, and that's why most popular religions do no appeal to me.

There is an old saying, the clear way seems clouded, the straight way seems crooked, the sure way seems unsteady.

- Things are not always what they appear.
- If fact, they can appear as their opposite.

Application: This could be interpreted as "beware of false prophets," in which the loudest preachers seem right whereas the quiet ones do not. Usually the forceful or hypnotic prophet is only interest in self-promotion rather than global illumination. The right message always come from a person who is passive and flexible like the Tao itself.

The greatest power seems weak. The purest white seems tainted. The abundant seems empty. The stable seems shaky. The certain seems false. The Great Square has no corners. The Great Vessel is never filled.

A beginner may be clumsy, but after practice--what talent! A large drum may sit silently, but when banged--what noise! Tao lies hidden, yet alone it is the glorious light of this world.

- When one grasps the Tao, then its purpose and function is revealed.
- When one cannot grasp it, it lies hidden and dormant.

Application: I believe I have found the Tao in open-minded meditation, where I found myself understanding everyone including my enemies, and that brought upon love for them. That reminded my of Jesus saying, "Love your enemies." It was then when I totally realized what he meant. The thing is I cannot reveal the Tao to others because it is hidden and is only found through personal insight. Know thyself in order to love your enemies.

Verse Forty

2006-08-25T07:57:00.001-05:00

The movement of Tao is to return. The way of Tao is to yield.

- The process of unity is cyclical.
- Even though the cycle is passive, it never stops.

Application: I believe in the cyclical process of nature. I don't believe in the linear concept of life from birth to death. I have seen cycles in everything from good times to hard times. Life is not over when we die, is what I'm getting at. But "heaven" isn't permanent either. There is no permanence except Tao or unity or God or the universe or whatever you'd like to call It.

Heaven, Earth, and all things are born of the existent world. The existent world is born of the nothingness of Tao.

- Individuals are born into the known world
- The known world comes from the unknown and hidden unity

Application: I am beginning to believe that the "stuff" of God is in the emptiness and hidden. God is in silence, the space between objects, the love between relationships, the emptiness of outer space, etc. All that "stuff" is permanent as opposed to the noise, the objects, the relationships, and the physical contents of the universe. This is becoming my worldview.

Is it dada?

2006-08-24T11:05:00.001-05:00

Admission!

This dinosaur of a champion has a time-honored bone eater to replace his can. Every fifth invention receives bigger bonuses due to the inflation we see fit to grow faster and quicker. Roses have grown in your honor and we know why. It’s how the runners stop in time to feed the grass. Right now, someone can hear another one chopping an onion. Chop! Chop! It doesn’t take much to imagine someone’s eyes watering from the seething edges of a freshly cut onion. I myself prefer the leek, that underrated vegetable growing so nearby.

I had asked for your attention prior, but apparently you had lent it to a flea-bitten mutt. Dogs have too much of everyone’s attention anyway. I find them disturbing my peaceful sleep and dirtying my neighbor’s lawn. Your attention had been asked by me for reasons unknown to you and most of the royal court. Now it is time for me to uncover that reason in a poem.

Slither, slither, a snail in a snake
Just how long to the tail will it take?

Yes, misters. I’ve witnessed a snake devour a whole snail, but this was no ordinary situation. You see, I wasn’t in my garden or any garden FOR THAT MATTER. The snake had somehow acquired bipedal locomotion (don’t ask me how) and went into a French Restaurant. That bizarre scene caused me too to become a connoisseur of that very restaurant. The snake orders a plate of snail…one snail…just one snail. And I must add that the gastropod was still living and breathing when the snake gormandized it. The Gormandized Gastropod: oh, how I say what a riot it was. Just then I started worrying about the poor snail and how he would meet his end.

Thank for your persnicketiness! And watch out for the wicked for they shall pick at your bones.

Artlessly,

Margrave Rachel Sedgewick

Verse Thirty-nine

2006-08-23T07:34:00.001-05:00

From ancient times till now, the One has been the source of all attainments. By realizing the One, Heaven becomes clear, Earth becomes still, spirits gain power, and hearts fill up with joy. By realizing the One, kings and lords become instruments of peace and all creatures live joyfully upon this earth. Without the One, Heaven has no clarity and would crack, Earth has no peace and would crumble, spirits have no power and would lose their charm. Without the One, hearts would dry up, empires would fall, all things would go lifelessly upon this Earth.

- Unity is the source of life.
- When one embraces unity, the power of life rushes in and a sense of peace prevails
- When one denies unity, he is at odds with the perceived world

Application: With all this chaos around the world, it is easy to perceive who has not realized the One. If you do not realizing the One, your goals are selfish and only lead to suffering. I can see this in myself when my goals are selfish. We just have to learn to relax.

Long ago kings and lords called themselves "orphaned," "lonely," and "unworthy." What honor can there be without humility? What heights can be reached without being low?

- A humble position delivers an honorable position.
- When down, the goal is up.
- When up, there is no believable progress.

Application: This is why certain people and institutions gain no respect--they are lacking in humility. I notice this in myself when I'm feeling on top of the world, that people don't like it when I tell them all of my good news without humility. Why do you need support when you have everything else you need? When this happens, the support is taken out from under and how quickly the mighty have fallen. This applies to a personal as well as a national level.

The pieces of a chariot are useless unless they work in accordance with the whole. A man's life brings nothing unless he lives in accordance with the whole universe. Playing one's part in accordance with the universe is true humility.

- To find one's purpose in life, one needs a universal perspective
- A self-serving life yields no rewards

Application: When I finally realized the Tao through contemplation, I gave up my old childhood dreams of becoming famous. I don't care to be famous or materially wealthy. If I do what is in accordance with nature, I will inherit the wealth of the universe. It feels great not to strive for such selfish dreams as fame and fortune.

So whether you're a gem in the royal court or a stone on the common path, if you accept your part with humility, the glory of the universe will be yours.

- Once you've found your calling, happiness is yours.
- No matter your path, it serves another person.

Application: This has caused me to step back from politics. My calling is not to agitate or stir up people for socialist reasons. I believe nature will take care of us more than people can. The less interference from human authority the better. Nature and people won't stand for it. If you don't believe this now, you will soon enough.

Verse Thirty-eight

2006-08-22T13:05:00.001-05:00

To give without seeking reward, to help without thinking it is virtuous--therein lies great virtue. To keep account of your actions, to help with the hope of gaining merit--therein lies no virtue.

- Do things for the present, not for the future
- Always give and help when you can without thought of reward or disadvantage

Application: This is tremendously difficult for me at times. Sometimes I can do while others I cannot. It's a mood thing. Somedays I feel more helpful than others. I need to find out how to stay in that helpful mood. Another is helping "takers," people who never or rarely give in return. Nature has a way of always giving in return, I must remind myself. It may not be directly from the "takers." Then there's that argument that I'm being taken advantage of. Where did that argument originate? Is it cultural?

The highest virtue is to act without a sense of self. The highest kindness is to give without condition. The highest justice is to see without preferences.

- Lack of labeling other individuals is virtuous
- Seeing all as on helps to benefit all

Application: Here's the solution to my problem. I'm being selfish when not wanting to help or expecting something in return. I am just part of the whole scheme of things. Helping is always more important than what I am doing unless it's helping another person in greater need. I can do this when I'm employed, but I need to do it more often when I'm working. I have to change my perception of "not working." I'm obligated to help at work under contract. But I'm also obligated to help in life under nature. There are rewards for both.

When Tao is lost, one must learn the rules of virtue. When virtue is lost, the rules of kindness. When kindness is lost, the rules of justice. When justice is lost, the rules of conduct. And when the high-blown rules of conduct are not followed, people are seized by the arm and it is forced on them. The rules of conduct are just an outer show of devotion and loyalty--quite confusing to the heart. And when men rely on these rules for guidance--Oh, what ignorance abounds!

- Rules are for those without Tao, a sense of virtue, kindness, and justice.
- Blindly following rules does not make one virtuous, kind, or just.
- Rules attempt to force individuals as one
- External motivation towards unity is fruitless

Application: Doing the right thing according to nature is something that is found within. The wisest and most virtuous person is internally motivated to do good. Most people can distinguish good laws from bad laws, but we must follow them both. But when are faced with a conflict of breaking the law to do something good or obeying the law to allow something bad, then we must define "good" and "bad." For me, doing something good is doing something selfless and doing something bad is doing something selfish. The more people that benefit from my actions the greater the deed and the more people that lose from my actions the worse the deed. I feel as if I could go on forever, but I prefer to do in person as a debate or argument.

The great master follows his own nature and not the trappings of life. It is said, "He stays with the fruit and not the fluff. He stays with the firm and not the flimsy. He stays with the true and not the false."

- Following nature of unity is superior to following the rules of people
- Harmony is found when they do not conflict

Application: Purposely breaking the rules of people causes more problems than solutions. I'm not one who often breaks rules, but I would if the rules conflicted with my own morality. To give details would require me to give political examples, but I will refrain as this is a more spiritual platform. A book that I'm currently reading that does a good job describing this matter is Leo Tolstoy's The Kingdom of God is Within You. That book falls in line with the Tao in many ways.

Lady's Angelic Men

2006-08-21T07:49:00.001-05:00

Berthold Dalyrimple, a stockholder in several of the world’s leading fish markets.

Gordon Trask, inventor of superpolymer 171 and mountain bicycle race champion of the world in 1991 and 1996.

Ernest Hennington, all around relaxed man who happened to save 7 POWs from Vietnamese and Lebanese prison camps in the early 1980s.

These are the 3 men “Lady” has deemed “Angelic,” but only one of these titled men may share a bed with “Lady.” We now urge you citizens of New England and the North Atlantic region of the United States to assist her in such a matrimonial decision.

Please fill out the following (brief) form:
I, _____________, from _________, __ have decided that Angelic Man, _________, is the right man to lay down with “Lady” because of the following 3 small reasons. 1)__________, 2)___________, 3)_________
And one more lengthy reason with a minimum word count of 250. (attach the pages).
I have made the decisions rightly because my background is a highly reputable one.
For example, I go to church __ times a month.
In my prayers, I included such people in my prayers.
1)____________
2)____________
3)____________
4)____________ and other people close to my heart.
Of all the human virtues, I consider the top two attributes to be the most enduring:
1)_______________ & 2)________________
___% of my income is put towards charity per ___day(s)
Besides God, Jesus Christ, and all the Saints, I find the following historical figures to be the most upright in our world’s history: 1)_____________, 2)_____________
3)_______________, 4)_____________
My most treasured material possession in my house is __________ because _________________________.

Verse Thirty-seven

2006-08-20T08:33:00.001-05:00

Tao does not act yet it is the root of all action. Tao does not move yet it is the source of all creation.

- All individuals emerge from unity
- All perceptions emerge from the hidden

Application: Here Tao sounds like God. Instead of an active God who judges, rewards, and punishes, he is a passive God. I have adopted this viewpoint of God as one who is the source but not necessarily the controller. So I believe in free will.

If princes and kings could hold it, everyone under them would naturally turn within. Should a doubt or old desire rise up, the Nameless Simplicity would push it down. The Nameless Simplicity frees the heart of desire and reveals its inner silence.

- When the powerful grasp the truth, they lose their power
- One goal of unity is to remove desire from the individual

Application: Here I noticed the mutual exclusivity of truth and worldly power. As the Bible states, the truth will set you free. Most individuals prefer a quest of power than a quest of truth, and that is unfortunate. I think there is a time in everyone's life in which he or she sees the two paths--truth or power--and can foresee the results of both. Worldly power brings worldly glory and that seems much more appealing than truth which brings peace. I'd like to be on the path of truth and I hope my line of work is in harmony with it.

When there is silence one finds peace. When there is silence one finds the anchor of the universe within himself.

- The cessation of perceptions brings one to unity
- Without perception, one perceives unity
- When the individual no longer sees the external, he sees the internal

Application: I am currently reading some Quaker literature, and there is a strong likeness between this part of verse 37 and Quaker ideology. This is evidence that one can be both Christian and Taoist. So one does not need to veer away from Christ to grasp Taoism. My discovery of Quakerism was a pleasant one.

Verse Thirty-six

2006-08-14T09:17:00.001-05:00

Contraction pulls at that which extends too far. Weakness pulls at that which strengthens too much. Ruin pulls at that which rises too high. Loss pulls at that which you fill it with too much stuff.

- What goes up must come down.
- Moderation is better than excess.
- Too much of anything is never good.

Application: For some things, I am good at practicing moderation. But for others, I go to extremes like worrying about work or only drinking water. I believe I should avoid addictive things because they only lead you to extreme consumption. With everything else I should practice moderation. This leads me to question if anxiety is addictive.

The lesson here is called "The wisdom of obscurity" -- the gentle outlast the strong, the obscure outlast the obvious. Hence, a fish that ventures from deep water is soon snagged by a net. A country that reveals its strength is soon conquered by an enemy.

- Aggressive individuals burn out faster.
- Those that do not attract attention last longer.
- To live long requires quiet passivity.

Application: I do not have a desire to live long nor do I desire to live short. In many situations, I try to remain passive or obscure. But I am in a career that demands attention from students and peers. I have to find a balance in which I do not seek attention but can remain respected with passive authority. Hmm...

Advertising for RC

2006-08-13T12:52:00.001-05:00

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Question: What is an example of a proper noun?
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Coke and Pepsi will make you drown
Not like the fabulous Royal Crown

The False Rhymes...
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Have a little sip of Royal Crown

When you find yourself thirst-quenching bound
Drink yourself silly with a liter of Royal Crown

If the key to your happiness hasn't been found
That means you've never tried our Royal Crown

What's the cola with the fizziest sound?
It's RC, also known as Royal Crown

Don't drink water like your hound
Be a human and drink Royal Crown

Do you know how your friend unwound?
She enjoyed 8 ounces of Royal Crown.

What's that drink that making rounds?
It's bottle after bottle or Royal Crowns.

When you find yourself on the pitcher's mound
Throw a strike after drinking Royal Crown.

What's that pirate got hidden underground?
It's a treasure chest full of Royal Crown.

Do you know why you friend has frowned?
You finished off her last Royal Crown.

Verse Thirty-five

2006-08-12T08:18:00.001-05:00

Hold fast to the Great Form within and let the world pass as it may. Then the changes of life will not bring pain but contentment, joy, and well-being.

- Awareness of unity keeps an individual confident through change
- When one cannot have what is external, one muse secure what is internal

Application: During this year in my life, I have been the most fearful of changes because it's the first time that I have something to lose. I have to teach myself to stop grasping on to what I have to lose. More changes have brought pain than not, so this is definitely something I need to work on.

Music and sweets are passing pleasures yet they cause people to stop. How bland and insipid are the things of this world when one compares them with Tao! One tastes, but the sweetness turns bitter. One sees, but the colors grow faint. One hears, but the sound fades into silence.

- Unified perception outshines individual perception
- Like the individual himself, what is perceived is temporary.
- We enjoy the pleasures of our senses because they remind us of our fleeting lives.

Application: I am guilty in finding pleasure in both music and sweets, but music is what causes me to stop. Fortunately it's the music that helps bring me to the Tao. So when the sound fades into silence I still have the Tao. Not a bad trade off.

One may look for fulfillment in this world but his longings will never be exhausted. The only thing he ever finds is that he himself is exhausted.

- The chief Buddhist tenet of desire causing suffering.
- The length of life often depends on the strength of desire.
- Enjoyment is not desire but contentment with the present.

Application: At this point in my life, I can wholeheartedly agree with finding myself exhausted after longing for a better life. Life hasn't been too enjoyable because I'm not living in the moment. My head is in the future too much that the present slips away.

Verse Thirty-four

2006-08-11T09:05:00.001-05:00

The great Tao flows everywhere. It fills everything to the left and to the right. All things owe their existence to it and it cannot deny any one of them.

- We are all part of unity.
- There is no escaping it.

Application: I know this.

Tao is eternal. It does not favor one over the other. It brings all things to completion without their even knowing it.

- All are treated equally.
- Things get done whether or not individuals participate.

Application: I know all are treated equally, but sometimes I forget that things will get done whether I do something or not. Sometimes things get done without me even trying. On the other hand, sometimes things never get done when I try my hardest.

Tao nourishes and protects all creatures yet does not claim lordship over them. So we class it with the most humble. Tao is the home to which all things return yet it wants nothing in return. So we call it "The Greatest."

- It is the self-sustaining source
- Everyone is protected because we are all one

Application: I know this yet I worry about the planet. Nature takes care of herself. If something gets out of hand, she deals with it. We don't have to intervene unless we thing we are part of the problem, which nature will deal with.

The Sage is the same way--He does not claim greatness over anything. He's not even aware of his own greatness. Tell me, what could be greater than this?

- Humility is greatness
- One should use his greatness passively

Application: I try to be humble, but am I trying to be humble to be great? I shouldn't. These past few months have been a very humbling experience, so at this moment in my life I can say that I claim greatness over nothing. But I do not think myself as a sage.

New Japanese Planets

2006-08-10T08:37:00.001-05:00

Radio House Kingdom
in connection with…
The National Telescopic Astronomy Administration
funded by NHK and NTT
have jointly discovered 14 new planets outside our Japanese solar system

Planet One is New Tokyo with the highest real estate in the universe
Planet Two is The Planet that Says Ni! Because Ni means Two in Japanese
Planet Three was lost when Okabe-san bumped into the telescope
(it will soon be located under ExxonMobil funding though,
so please visit their homepage at www.killearth.com)
Planet Four is already inhabited by dogs. We’re waiting for a suitable name for that planet.
Planet Five was claimed by Pink Floyd and David Bowie to hold their new recording studio
Planet Six is so close to Planet Seven that we don’t know which is which
Planet Six will be the only planet in which racism will be encouraged
Planet Seven is where Earth will store all its toxic waste
Planet Eight is TOP SECRET c/o US GOVERNMENT
Planet Nine is Hubbell II: The Telesphere
Planet Ten actually is Pluto (we made a mistake)
Planet Eleven is completely made of gold and was found to have the Microsoft logo on it
Planet Twelve is for Japanese tourists only for authenticity’s sake
Planet Thirteen has been deemed Satan’s Lair of Doom by the Roman Catholic Church
Planet Fourteen is the last planet found so we don’t have enough information on it yet

Verse Thirty-three

2006-08-09T15:06:00.001-05:00

One who knows others is intelligent. One who knows himself is enlightened.

- Establishing relationships is healthy but self-awareness is healthier.
- The weakest link in a network of people is the one who doesn't know himself well.

Application: I'm afraid I may know myself better than I know others. Knowing myself and observing others has helped me understand others indirectly.

One who conquers others is strong. One who conquers himself is all-powerful.

- Enemies in person are weaker than enemies of the mind
- Finding mental peace is more difficult than finding international peace

Application: I agree that what makes me weak is what is in my head. I believe all international strife is caused by a few powerful people who do not have mental peace. If only they would...

One who approaches life with full force surely gets something. One who remains content where he is surely gets everything.

- A narrow focus yields small rewards
- A wider focus yields greater rewards
- In order to recieve, one must be passive

Application: This year I've often found myself in situations where my focus is very narrow and I forget the big picture. The results were just like this part of verse 33--small rewards. My problem is forgetting the bigger picture, the wider focus. Only when I'm content do I see the big picture. In times of stress, I cannot keep it well. This is what I must work on.

One who gives himself to his position surely lives long. One who gives himself to Tao surely lives forever.

- An individual goal lasts shorter than a unifying goal
- Serving unity gets one further than serving individuals

Application: During the past few years, I have been giving myself to my position as a teacher. My desire is to give myself to "Tao," but my fear of letting go of my position prevents me from doing so. I'm currently trying to find a synthesis of the two. I've had little or no success.

Verse Thirty-two

2006-08-04T12:22:00.002-05:00

Tao is eternal, one without a second. Simple indeed yet so subtle that no one can master it. If princes and kings could just hold it, all things would flock to their kingdom. Heaven and Earth would rejoice with the dripping of sweet dew. Everyone would live in harmony, not by official decree, but by their own inner goodness.

- The problem with peace is that we are individuals.
- To achieve worldwide peace requires everyone to let go of their selfish individuality
- What binds us to life is the individualistic desire to survive
- Peace cannot be enforced

Application: I realize the sad truth about bring about world peace. As long as someone is looking for power, there will be none. But peace comes to us as we leave our individuality. And peace is within us. Searching for peace outside of us in an individualistic world is pointless. I no longer believe that world peace can be achieved through war or political change. It can only be achieved through personal and spiritual change.

The world is nothing but the glory of Tao expressed through different names and forms. One who sees the things of this world as being real and self-existent has lost sight of the truth. To him, every word becomes a trap, every thing becomes a prison.

- Everything is already unified
- It is the perception of the individual which divides and categorizes
- We live in the world we perceive
- Reality is relative

Application: I have realized that when I think of the world, I usually think of the man-made world instead of the natural world. For example, I think of nations and cultures. I also think of cities and cars. All of that is not the world really. It is the product of our selfishness. When I think of the world I must think of it as humans, animals, plants, oceans, rivers, mountains, etc. The natural world recycles itself. Man-made world does not, but nature always finds a way.

One who know the truth that underlies all things lives in this world without danger. To him, every word reflects the universe, every moment brings enlightenment.

- Fear dissolves as individuality dissolves.

Application: I can make all of my fears, anxieties, and desires go away as soon as stop thinking of myself as an individual and start thinking of myself as unified with the whole.

Rivers and streams are born in the ocean. All creation is born of Tao. Just as all water flows back to become the ocean. All creation flow back to become Tao.

- The water cycle as a metaphor for life.
- Water is life, both have essence.

Application: I believe that the natural world is cyclical and the artificial world is linear. Once we die all our artificial constructs are destroyed including our individuality but our natural constructs are recycled as our bodies return to the earth and our souls return to Unity.

People Who Have Upset the Apple Cart...

2006-08-03T11:07:00.001-05:00

Eat meat at night
Drink champagne in the daylight
Play mind games with children
Sing to marigolds between their toes
Call late at night just to say “Hello”
Roll the dice sideways
Stand on their heads
Duke it out on Sundays
Call “lunch” + “dinner” = “dunch” or “linner”
Use machines towards their own advantage
Ditch their friends for the day’s last train
Tell too many Polish jokes
Bus their own tables
Smoke Lucky Strike cigarettes
Dance naked alone in front of their neighbor’s rose gardens
Dial direct from overseas
Smell like pine tree sap

Verse Thirty-one

2006-08-02T08:47:00.001-05:00

Even the finest warrior is defeated when he goes against natural law. By his own hand he is doomed and all creatures are likely to despise him.

- Going against nature causes great antagonism
- Fighting nature brings self-defeat

Application: I never consciously put myself against nature, and I hope I never do.

One who knows Tao never turns from life's calling. When at home he honors the side of rest. When at war he honors the side of action. Peace and tranquility are what he holds most dear so he does not obtain weapons. But when their use is unaviodable he employs them with fortitude and zeal.

- Only when needed does one need to be put to work
- One should remain still until called to a task
- When put to work, full concentration can be put into it

Application: This has been a little difficult for me because it's hard to remain still for such a prolonged period of time. I must try to keep my mind still. There's no problem keeping my body still. If there's nothing to worry about, I shouldn't worry.

Do not flaunt your excellence. Do not rejoice over victory. With the loss of others weep with sorrow and grief. After winning a battle do not celebrate, observe the rites of a funeral.

- There is no victory without loss
- A celebration insults others and encourages ill feelings
- Excellence is a result and not an end of focus and skill

Application: I try not to gloat unless it is harmless. Most gloating or celebration of victory looks foolish as time goes by. Celebrating in spite of others is worse than losing because it encourages ill feelings. I haven't done this seriously since I was a child. And it is a childish act.

One who is bound to action, proud of victory, and delights in the misfortune of others will never gain a thing from this world below Heaven.

- A boastful braggart will gain no more than what he had
- When one sticks to the task at hand without expectations, then living brings reward

Application: This part of verse 31 sound like the aspirations of a politician. This is why I have no desire to enter politics--its seems like evil versus evil. No matter who wins we all lose. True democracy is the solution to this. Where is it?

Verse Thirty

2006-08-01T12:10:00.001-05:00

Those who rule in accordance with Tao do not use force against the world. For that which is forced is likely to return-- Where armies settle, Nature offers nothing but briars and thorns. After a great battle has been fought, the land is cursed, the crops fail, the Earth lies stripped of its motherhood.

- For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
- There is no such thing as total victory because there is always a loss.
- In war, one not only fights his enemies but also nature.

Application: I found my beliefs reinforced with this pacifist statement. I am in total agreement about this anti-war sentiment.

A knower of Truth does what is called for then stops. He uses his strength but does not force things. In the same way, complete your task, seek no reward, make no claims. Without faltering, fully choose to do what you must do. This is to live without forcing, to overcome without conquering.

- One should do what is needed without expectations.
- A goal can be reached without dwelling on it.
- Forcing a situation does not improve the outcome.

Application: This part of verse 30 I have found to be difficult to apply as my mind is often future-focused. I feel as if not much is going on in the present so I focus on and anticipate the future. This type of mindset helps only when I am at task. Presently I am not at task, so this type of mindset either does nothing or hinders my goal. I must work harder to appreciate the fact that there is no task at hand.

Things that gain a place by force will flourish for a time but then fade away. They are not in keeping with Tao. Whatever is not in keeping with Tao will come to an early end.

- Individual effort yields temporary results.
- What is right needs not be enforced.

Application: This is kind of an anarchist statement. What is natural and good will take place regardless of our individual effort. As individuals, we should assist this natural process as opposed to enforcing it. Because our life is temporary so are our efforts. If we do things in accordance with the Tao or Unity which is permanent, then our efforts aid permanence.

The International Museum of Garbage and Sages

2006-07-31T12:29:00.001-05:00

The wise man wipes in the garage
No one pays him
Any attention he gets is squandered on refutation
No one pays him
He owes no one
The key to the car unlocks independence
The key to wisdom unclogs the drains
Windshield wipers can solve the problems of obscurity

Verse Twenty-nine

2006-07-30T09:13:00.001-05:00

Those who look down upon this world will surely take hold and try to change things. But this is a plan I've always seen fail. The world is Tao's own vessel. It is perfection manifest. It cannot be changed. It cannot be improved. For those who go on tampering, it's ruined. For those who try to grasp, it's gone.

- This is the problem with politics, usually liberals
- One should embrace change yet not bring about change because change always comes

Application: This is what helped me lose interest in politics. It also helped me away from voting either Democrat or Republican. I find myself closer to the Libertarian Party than even before, but I'm not sure if I'll vote for them. Politicians usually change the world for the worse. Its the people that change the world for the better.

Allow your life to unfold naturally. Know that it is a vessel of perfection. Just as you breathe in and breathe out, sometimes you're ahead and other times behind, sometimes you're strong and other times weak, sometimes you're with people and other times alone.

- For everything there is a season
- Do not fret during times of weakness and loneliness because they pass

Application: I found this passage to be full of hope. When I'm down, I know I can only progress upwards. When I'm up, I cherish the moment because it won't last forever.

To the Sage all of life is a movement toward perfection
So what need has he for the excessive, the extravagant, or the extreme?

- One can find pleasure in the commonalities of the world
- People and things that often catch the senses have problems of their own
- Being excessive, extravagant, and extreme cause isolation from the world

Application: The news media glorifies the abnormal. Sometimes it makes us feel great to be normal. Other times it makes us wish we were abnormal (famous). We should be comfortable with who we are. In the end, we will achieve perfection. All we have to be is patient. Patience was my biggest lesson of 2006.

Verse Twenty-eight

2006-07-29T08:10:00.001-05:00

Hold your male side with your female side. Hold your bright side with your dull side. Hold your high side with your low side. Then you will be able to hold the whole world.

- If you can acknowledge your strengths and weaknesses, then you can acknowledge the world
- If you can bring together the microcosm, then you can do the same for the macrocosm

Application: This calls for self-reflection. I must acknowledge my masculinity and my femininity, my intelligence and my stupidity, and my virtue and my disgraces. Once I embrace both sides then I can feel better in the world I live in. I can accept others as easy as I accept myself.

When the opposing forces unite within there comes a power abundant in its giving and unerring in its effort. Flowing through everything, it returns one to the First Breath. Guiding everything, it returns to No Limits. Embracing everything, it returns to the Uncarved Block.

- More power comes through unity than division
- Acknowledge and embrace your imperfections to grow stronger
- The path to perfection divides oneself and is inhuman

Application: Here is another difference I see between Christianity and Taoism. In Christianity, I have been told to seek perfection. As I was raised, I had to admonish all of my sins. The more I sinned, the more I hated myself. This does nothing but belittle the human spirit and bring about miserable humility. But we should embrace our sins and realize that the whole world struggles in the same way. We should strive for the balance and not for the extreme of goodness and virtue because that is inhuman, only godly.

When the Block is divided, it becomes something useful and leaders rule with a few pieces of it. But the Sage holds the Block complete. Holding all things within himself, he preserves the Great Unity which cannot be ruled or divided.

- Individuals can only use or hold power over other individuals
- When one is with Unity, then he is useless to the greedy individual
- This is why Taoists may feel useless in a materialistic world

Application: Individuals have tried to overpower me by causing an imbalance within myself. They have tried to make me strive for extreme goodness and neglecting anything bad. They have tried to make me strive for extreme masculinity and neglecting anything feminine. I should hold on to everything that I am, and not let others unbalance me, causing them to overpower me. I have witness an imbalance cause vulnerability to the powers of another.

The Robot's Exhibition, part 7

2006-07-28T07:46:00.001-05:00

For every busy shopper in the Mall of America there is a gift certificate the size of a deluxe bite-size Whopper. The shopper with the most coupons can win all the gift certificates if nine and nine never add up to twelve, a yellow twelve with pieces of chocolate surrounding the savory number. Twelves are for sale next to the jugs of ale in the counselor's twisted sense of bail.

The barrister on a banister rejected any illegal reasons to open a discotheque written on a legal pad. He did not know that the place was called THE LEGAL PAD after the barrister's backwards and fiendish scandals involving linen closets and the easy women found inside them. No, they weren't dead. The banister found a way to preserve women's sex appeal, but they had to be stored in linen closets. That's the story written by the journalists from the land of Overhype.

Overhype flashes in the eyes of dullards. Dullards are the people who love living in Overhype. Overhype is the land where it is possible for very small things to create big explosions. The land of Overhype is ruled by the Esquire Enquire and the Sun-Times of the Round Table. Esq. Enquire has the special capability to create any substance from concrete.

The real story behind the barrister on the banister is this: The sexy women volunteered to wait in the linen closets awaiting the butterfly's insectual message. There's nothing true about preserving sex appeal. Those rabble rousers from THE LEGAL PAD will go to the far reaches of the globe, such as the land of Overhype, to find a valid argument for their dancing establishment.

Without hesitation, an anchor detaches itself from the almighty cruise ship and heads for the underworld. This rebellious incident causes the Aluminux to float with the trade winds in the middle of the Atlantic night. Meanwhile the anchor finds the reservoir of other lost anchors joining in a current towards the rupture between the ocean floor and the underworld in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge.

Blue whales and bottle-nosed dolphins stare at the amazement as the procession of lost anchors head into a small fissure in the ridge. The intense heat emanating from the breach keeps the sea creatures distance, but it's not hot enough to keep away the insurgent anchors.

Once the Aluminux anchor marches through, it is amazed to discover a field of ice cream plasma. The surroundings are sweet and blinding because of an unknown source of light remaining a mystery to the renegade anchors. An anchor's realm of perception is very limited. What they cannot perceive is that the source of light is the fugitive eye from Eightron, the largest octopus that ever existed. Eightron could have easily become the King of the Ocean, but it was cursed with the fugitive eye that leads anchors astray. One day a cruise ship will veer so far off course that it will accidentally destroy Eightron, but this octopus has superintelligence. She speeds backward through the seven seas like a frightened lobster. Every living thing clears the way for Eightron, her body easily doubling the size of Bluto, the daddy-o of blue whales.

High above the speeding mass of the blind octopus is Radar Island, a vast desert island containing five thousand satellite dishes, none of them belonging to the superpowers of the globe. The only living being on this island is the hyphenated buffalo. Every morning it melts into a puddle of primordial residue that seeps into the bases of each satellite. The DNA sequence of the hyphenated buffalo is a sequence, which programs the satellites to either receive or transmit information not for the world, but for itself. The hyphenated buffalo's goal is to expand its mental capacity so large that the whole universe will collapse within its cranium.

By the afternoon, the hyphenated buffalo forms back into its hyphenated self to recreate alien viruses that were received as data to Radar Island. The first virus the hyphenated buffalo ever created is in all of us, but it is basically harmless. It makes us blind to the hyphenated buffalo and its island.

The alien races with higher morals than the buffalo and the human race try to stop this scheme, but they are always thwarted to the extent of extinction. The hyphenated buffalo has successfully killed off all aliens with morals greater than its own. It is a wonder that the human race still exists.

The robot's exposition's secret purpose is to eradicate the hyphenated buffalo, but no living thing knows of this scheme. Once the robot has the gentry in high spirits, the buffalo will be in no spirits. As the buffalo's life passes out of its malleable anatomy, then the infinite dimensionality of the universe will also pass away because the robot will unknowingly destroy the continuity of infinity. Things will begin to end and never reappear again. So as all forms of energy try to bail out, the Double-Pope will supply the planet Earth with a very convincingly easy exit.

THE END

Verse Twenty-seven

2006-07-27T10:26:00.001-05:00

A knower of the Truth travels without leaving a trace, speaks without causing harm, gives without keeping an account. The door he shuts, though having no lock, cannot be opened. The knot he ties, though using no cord, cannot be undone.

- Traveling from one life to the next, one cannot bring his individuality
- Once beyond the realm of individuals, one cannot return physically or mentally
- One cannot keep anything beyond this world

Application: I cannot say I have spoken without causing harm or given without keeping an account. Both are difficult to stop. A solution to speaking without causing harm can be found with a famous Sufi quote, "Speak to those according to their understanding." There is no need for shocking statements. Giving without keeping an account contradicts our modern society, but it can be done easily. I've only done it once or twice, but it's hard not to expect something. As for my outlook on life beyond death, I agree with what is stated.

The Sage is always on the side of virtue, so everyone around him prospers. He is always on the side of truth, so everything around him is fulfilled.

- When following the Tao, everything works out

Application: This is a very general statement. For me to claim to be always on the side of virtue and truth would be preposterous. What I can say is that when I am virtuous and truthful, things around me do prosper and become fulfilled. My problem is the "always" condition.

The path of the Sage is called "The Path of Illumination." He who gives himself to this path is like a block of wood that gives itself to the chisel--Cut by cut it is honed to perfection.

- Don't control your destiny, let your destiny control you
- Let life take you where it may; the journey will be more enjoyable
- The wisdom of Unity supercedes the wisdom of one individual

Application: During the past few months, I have seen this to be true. The more I try to control my destiny, the more struggles I encounter. But when I give up the driver's seat to the unified consciousness, then I end up in a good place--sometimes somewhere I would have never expected. It's like riding a wave.

Only a student who gives himself can receive the master's gift. If you think otherwise, despite your knowledge, you have blundered.

- Be in the moment of servitude when in need
- Do not aggressively pursue your goal--serve your goal

Application: I also realized this in the recent past. This is a psychological change when pursuing a need or goal. Instead of chasing it head on, I should think of it as service. Humility may achieve the goal that aggression cannot. I have found this to relieve the mental anxiety from false responsibility. False responsibility is perceiving responsibility for something you do not have.

Giving and receiving are one. This is called, "The great wonder, the essential mystery, the very heart of all that is true."

- This is another cycle like unity and individuality
- One cannot occur without the other

Application: Almost all religions have written about this: when one gives, one will receive. When one receives, when will give either voluntarily or involuntarily. Nature has its way of giving and taking. You can see this everywhere. So when I receive something, I expect to give something in return. And when I give something, I know something will come my way either directly or indirectly. I shouldn't demand something in return because it's not my decision to make.

Verse Twenty-six

2006-07-26T09:30:00.001-05:00

The inner is foundation of the outer. The still is the master of the restless.

- One's definition is found within
- Image only appeals to other individuals but it does not define the self
- One at peace can master anything because he has no worries to distract him
- The restless mind seeks solace in the still and peaceful sage

Application: I definitely believe this and have believed this since I can remember. I, like most others, have put more faith in those who were still and calm than those who were busybodies. This is something I already knew.

The Sage travels all day yet he never leaves his inner treasure. Though the views are captivating and beg attention, he remains calm and uninvolved. Tell me, does the land of a great empire go out begging for rice?

- Everyone carries unity within and should not worry about external matters
- When the outside world seems exciting one should not get caught up in it, that is the way of things
- When one has unity than all individuals should not cause him worry

Application: This part of verse 26 refers to the now common idea of "finding one's center." When I was in Japan, I felt that I accomplished what is in this verse. I remained calm and uninvolved in the captivating views of Japan. Just because I am somewhere new and exciting, that doesn't mean I have to do something. The world is not an amusement park that requires payment for a short ride. If I am "centered," I can enjoy the world through observation.

One who seeks his treasure in the outer world is cut off from his own roots. Without roots, he becomes restless. Being restless, his mind is weak. And with a mind such as this, he loses all command below Heaven.

- When looking outward rather than inward, he loses all command below Heaven
- When one loses touch with himself, he has nothing to fall back on and that wears him down
- Eventually the total loss of control brings him back without his effort

Application: While I was transcribing this part of verse 26, I going through this process. I was seeking my treasure in the outer world, so I became cut off from my own roots, becoming restless with a weak mind. I felt out of control of my destiny. It took a long time for me to recover from this uprooted feeling, and as I was healing the treasure was revealed to me. Because I witnessed it working, my faith in my beliefs was strengthened.

The Robot's Exhibition, part 6

2006-07-25T13:48:00.001-05:00

In order to proceed as directed by personal respect, the assassination will have to be canceled. Human life has just surpassed the domination of souls as moral order. Long live the pope until further notice.

This is when the robot enters with its plans of an exposition magnetically pressed into laser-accessible circuits. Wires and cords are crisscrossing the plaza of the palace as the robot's arrangement. A sphere of electricity is planned to balloon from the fountain like a soap bubble from a plastic ring. Lords, ladies, dukes, and duchesses from around the planet have been invited to witness the robot's exposition.

A stainless steel framework containing plasma injectors and concentrated tritanium ore will create a structured order of synthetic sound to provide the plaza with magnetic resonance. In the amalgamation of every dimension of time will the images of the robot's exposition be projected.

This creation will be drawing condensed infrared rays from the sun as a source of energy. During the process of this exposition the infrared rays will be reversed and returned to the sun in the form of ultraviolet waves. The consolidated ultraviolet effect will be a reverse of the color spectrum cast from the largest source of light. Green grass will become red and the blue sky orange. Blonde hair turning magenta and everybody's eyes will glow a purplish hue as if in a black light.

Since this mighty fair releases intense heat, industrial size fans will blow across the plaza. The power of these fans is so strong that it could move a heavy-set man off his feet. Aerodynamic bodysuits have been constructed by the robot for the invited gentry. In all this splendor, these people will have the ability to fly.

The exposition would be impossible without the robot and the robot would be impossible without Dr. Harvey Ewald, scholar. Born during the Stuben Comet crash into the moon during a solar eclipse, Ewald was born to break barriers. After inventing the frictionless engine and the first fuel which emits ozone-binding molecules as exhaust, therefore repairing the atmosphere, Dr. Ewald invented the robot who's sole purpose is to put progressive scientific ideas into realities that benefit the humans' need for entertainment.

Today Ewald relaxes in his bungalow in the Bikini Atoll that he raised from the ocean and radioactivity-proofed it with his device, which uses that radioactive energy to clean itself off all matter, and into the device. Inside the device, the radioactive molecules are broken down to power the Bikini Atoll's resort: Ewald's Escape from Entropy.

All the money Ewald makes from his totally beneficial inventions is put forth to entertain the population of the planet. All his endorsed amusements are pumped full of subliminal messages to reduce crime and to stop all habits that destroy one's health. None of these companies refuse Ewald because he has rescued the world from the rot of human entropy, and he is by far the richest man on Earth. No money goes to him only because, "He shares as much as everyone else in the world."

Such a man cannot be stopped unless it is the Double-Pope who stops him. The Double-Pope has spiritual influence over all man-made devices. All thinking power coming out of the human force is supplied by the Double-Pope's agent. Therefore he can inspire the machines, computers, and robots to turn against the inventors since the initial energy source of thoughts are spawned from the beast himself.

Verse Twenty-five

2006-07-24T14:28:00.001-05:00

Something formless, complete in itself. There before Heaven and Earth. Tranquil, vast, standing alone, unchanging. It provides for all things yet cannot be exhausted. It is the mother of the universe. I do not know its name so I call it "Tao." Forced to name it further, I call it "The greatness of all things," "The end of all endings." I call it "That which is beyond the beyond," "That to which all things return."

- Unity is described here.
- It is the space that connects all individuals.
- Without it, the universe would collapse.

Application: There's not much to act upon a description. What is described here is close to my own concept of God.

From Tao comes all greatness--It makes Heaven great. It makes Earth great. It makes man great. Mankind depends on the laws of the Earth. Earth depends on the laws of Heaven. Heaven depends on the laws of Tao. But Tao itself depends on itself alone, supremely free, self-so, it rests in its own nature.

- Civil laws only apply to humanity.
- Science laws only apply to individual perception.
- Interconnectivity applies to unity and that why Tao only needs itself.
- Tao is the universal law.

Application: Here I discovered the limits of politics and science, one serving humanity and one serving the physical world. But there is more than that and that's where philosophy, spirituality, or religion come in. Almost all sacred texts describe their own universal law. Here is the Tao Te Ching, which has a freeing and open message. Knowing this leaves me content. I believe there is more to the universe than humanity and the physical realm. I'm afraid many people do not. But if people are left to think things over and meditate, I believe they will find more if they can get over the fear of nothingness.

Verse Twenty-four

2006-07-23T12:55:00.001-05:00

On his tiptoes a man is not steady. Taking long strides he cannot keep pace.

- Trying too hard causes a fall.
- When one overexerts his energy, the goal cannot be attained.

Application: I usually know my limits of physically overexerting myself, but it's more difficult to find my limits of mental overexertion. Usually others will have to tell me that I'm mentally straining myself. It's like a kind of torture. I need to develop an internal mechanism to tell me when my mental limits have been reached.

To the self-serving, nothing shines forth. To the self-promoting, nothing is distinguished. To the self-appointing, nothing bears fruit. To the self-righteous, nothing endures.

- Since the individual serves the self, nothing else will.
- Being self-absorbed, nobody else can come through.

Application: When it comes to selfish acts, I believe I do quite well avoiding most of them. I'm not into material greediness. I don't always demand attention (from most people). Only when I get into politics can I become self-righteous, but that is changing. The contradiction comes when pride sets in. It's impossible to be proud of one's selflessness. That doesn't make any sense.

From this viewpoint of Tao, this self-indulgence is like rotting food and painful growths on the body--Things that all creatures despise. So why hold onto them? When walking the path of Tao, this is the very stuff that must be uprooted, thrown out, and left behind.

- All bragging, all egocentrism should be abandoned
- We are blessed to experience individuality but we should not revel in it
- When self-love overshadows love itself then one becomes despised

Application: I try to keep my braggadocio to a minimum. My weakpoint is when I start comparing myself to others. This is an expression of the yang energy, the competitive, individualistic spirit that we all have. Most of our lives is spent comparing things to make choices. I make choices because of desire, and the teachings of Buddha can explain the rest. So I should enjoy the differences and not feel better or worse about them.

The Robot's Exhibition, part 5

2006-07-21T14:53:00.001-05:00

The people try to stop the money, but the pressure is too great and the dike is broken by the bribe. Rich runs up the nostrils of Mister and delivers a highbrow consciousness to him. He says, "I am very intelligent," as he looks over the killing floor. Money permeates throughout his pants like an octopus in the ocean. Rich and richer, Mister pays the snails to slaughter the pirates and the alligators to chew up the billboards. Anything is in the pockets of Mister in today's stimulated event.

Mister, the nabob, crawls like a baby to the supermarket and the busy traffic stops. Look at the rich man go! They start to laugh and, within a minute, his motorcade takes him to a farm. Like a fox, Mister robs the eggs right from the chicken but tosses the farmer a vintage coin worth $800.

After he swallows the owl-infested eggs, Mister and his many moneys seem unstoppable, but that's when the wurly-glove touches his ticklish sleep neurons. Mister is sleeping for the next couple of days with a new intention, an intention of impossibilities with subtle conformities to make it catchy and fun.

Red carpets are rolled out in every town because the pope's assassination is scheduled today. Senator Gilbright had the chance to interview the pope last night over a bottle of cream soda and kielbasa. "Let loonies be loonies," was the most important sentence from the Holy See's lips that night. Once the pope is rubbed out, the Antichrist will take the seat of the Vatican. This Antichrist will be disguised as the most powerful Roman Catholic man ever to live; he is called the Double-Pope. This will fool all. Bill Cosby and the Republic of China are the conspirators behind this assassination. It is not execution because the Holy Catholic Church and the United Nations did not officially approve it. Cosby and China have hired the Vice President of the United States of America to carry out the assassination. Here is his speech on this predicament:

"Beware! Citizens of the United States, a predator of each of your souls lurk around the world without restraint. It is time to give this predator the title and power of pope to successfully drain each and every one of you of spiritual power. I, your Vice President, have been chosen to carry out the deed of destroying the present pope. If I am killed afterwards, I will not be able to install the Double-Pope as the usurper. I hereby request that the American Senate fulfill this duty if I do not survive. To hell with Monster Giaour! Precision shall never wither from my mind as I go into the Mediterranean climate and fire the iron-cased olive into the heart of the pope. We, the people of the United States of America shall witness our most favored death and the crumbling of desolate land. I shall now persist as of the Official Assassin of the Pope. Thank you!"

The Double-Pope has come back from witnessing the re-enactment of the crucifixion. He was most deeply honored to be in the presence of a digitally re-mastered savior. Today he stands protected by a powerful Italian family in Milan awaiting the death of the pope. That's all we have for the news. Stay tuned because we will have full coverage of the assassination--live.

Verse Twenty-three

2006-07-20T16:02:00.001-05:00

Speak little. Hold to your own nature. A strong wind does not blow all morning. A cloudburst does not last all day. The wind and rain are from Heaven and Earth and even those do not last long. How much less so the efforts of man?

- Patience brings reward
- There is no permanence for individuals
- An individual shouldn't expect anything to last forever

Application: I don't expect anything to last forever, but there are a few things I hope will last for the rest of my lifetime like my marriage and my health. I know friends and family will pass away. And I am very aware that my lifestyle will not last forever.

One who lives in accordance with the Truth becomes the embodiment of Tao. His actions become those of Nature, his ways those of Heaven. It is through such a one that Heaven rejoices, that Earth rejoices, that all of life rejoices.

- When one accepts unity one becomes a part of it
- When one accepts the present moment than all becomes harmonious
- All individual effort gives way to the Tao

Application: I must accept the way of things. I shouldn't let the shortcomings of others, my community, and my country get to me. That is how things are. I should do what I can do, but no more. Nature has a way of letting things work out in the end. So when I hear some bad news, I should only act in a way that I can. I should not grumble and complain.

Verse Twenty-two

2006-07-19T15:31:00.001-05:00

"Surrender brings perfection." The crooked become straight. The empty become full. The worn become new. Have little and gain much, have much and be confused.

- When at a low point, progress is on your side
- Without expectations, your life will be fulfilled
- Too many choices confuse the mind

Application: This is difficult to do in times of anxiety. I had this really tested for about four months. The more that time drags on, the more anxiety builds. What I need to learn is to not worry even if it takes years. Everything works out anyway. What caused me anxiety is an unknown picture of the future. Once I know where I am headed, my anxiety decreases. How can I stop being worried about the future at a point when all routine has stopped?

So the Sage embraces the One and becomes a model for the world. Without showing himself, he shines forth. Without promoting himself, he is distinguished. Without claiming reward, he gains endless merit. Without seeking glory, his glory endures.

- When with unity, one doesn't need to reward the individual
- One was already blessed when with Unity
- Individual desires just pulls one away from Unity

Application: If you do what you're supposed to do, then that alone is the reward. This is hard to conceive in a society where all work is paid with money. The whole world expects to be paid. I have to ask myself, "What work would I do for free?" It would have to be work that benefits my community. I imagine most people would answer the same. Politics cannot interfere with this goal, and that's the trouble with the world we live in.

The Sage knows how to follow so he comes to command. He does not compete so no one under Heaven can compete with him.

- Having the humble point of view gives a leader trust
- Transcending competitions leaves competitors baffled
- Only individuals can compete because in unity you compete with yourself

Application: I don't like most competitions. What I like about sports is getting together, but once competition becomes serious I want out. It's not because I "can't handle the pressure." It's because it's stupid. I don't understand the urge to demonstrate defeating someone in order to show off one's superiority. When I am in a competitive situation, I try to take the seriousness out of it. Nobody's #1 forever. Competition just shows how fleeting one's individuality is.

The ancient saying, "Surrender brings perfection" is not just empty words. Truly, surrender brings perfection and perfection brings the whole universe.

- Surrender your individuality and then all you have is unity
- Unity is perfection and the universe

Application: This is the answer to competition--don't compete. Oh, how I disappoint so many when I give up in a competition. I think the only competition I actively engage in is the race for a good job. If only I could give up the rat race and laugh at the money grubbers. That type of competition really strains my life. It strains at everyone's life. It keeps the world the way it is. Are you happy with it?

The Robot's Exhibition, part 4

2006-07-16T09:12:00.001-05:00

Greg Chantorian became a tourist of New York City instantly when he bought a Hawaiian shirt, a camera, and piece of Chew Brother's formaldehyde/Naugahyde-flavored gum. Chew Brothers are not afraid of naming their flavors after the real ingredients. Wrigley denies that any of their gum is made from a combination of formaldehyde and Naugahyde, but all big Chicago companies are famous for denial.

Once Greg had this special gum coagulating in his mouth, it over took his perception of New York. It became a stimulating city, the Empire State Building got pointier and the World Trade Center* budded a third tower slightly taller than the second. The Statue of Liberty switched hands with the torch and document. Chew Brother's formaldehyde/Naugahyde gum in not a hallucinogenic food product. It is a special agent that interacts with physical reality instead of the perceptual reality. Chew Brothers know how to make a very convincing gum.

Greg found this out as New York entertained him more than any other tourist. Other tourists became jealous and hid behind huge billboards only to find waiters of five-star restaurants gathered together in their nudity. "Preservatives?" asked Ewan VanHuewy, a waiter with a nasty birthmark. His question could be interpreted in so many ways. What it really meant was, "It's time to take the elevator to waiter class."

A grain elevator coming down the train tracks nearby delivered an entire course with such precision that it became dangerous. An explosion instantly occurred and then canceled the final result of the explosion, which is a mass number of casualties. Nobody died and that's what fascinated Greg. His jealous tourists remained in life.

"Bravo!" said Greg before he swallowed the gum. DO NOT SWALLOW GUM! It may entertaining to chew but, once swallowed, gum has unexpected results. Mr. Chantorian developed a delusion, a rare delusion, a delusion that is contagious, a delusion involving weightlessness. Greg thought he was floating. As the Big Apple watched Greg pretending to float (although he thought he really was), other New Yorkers got the feeling of floating. They mentally became bubbles helpless in the wind and traffic.

Everyone saw the city of New York get smaller and smaller as they floated towards the stratosphere. This never actually happened, but in the minds of New Yorkers that day it did. Delusions of weightlessness unified the seeds of the Big Apple and a real perception of togetherness fought off the delusion. When hugs began, they noticed that their feet never left the ground. That feeling led to the feeling of being lied to. By the time everyone needed someone to blame, Greg Chantorian was on the expressway to Philadelphia.

Birds hummed escalator tunes, a new kind of muzak. Most birds can whistle elevator tunes, but escalator tunes need to be hummed. For instance, "Majorie's Halfway Shuffle" is hummed with a velvet banana. The bird sits on the banana and hums, not because the fruit is made of a synthetic fiber, but because an escalator tune is reverberating around the auditory realms of the aviary. Yes, the bird hums.

The best compact disc to get, as great escalator music is concerned, is BLAIR'S ELECTRIC STAIRS. "Majorie's Halfway Shuffle" is among the tracks on the disc. The best humming bird to get not a hummingbird but the fissilingual lingbird, the meadow pipit with the forked tongue. The combination of BLAIR'S and the lingbird will create the keenest fete champetre this side of the Bosporus Strait.

Six months later, on the crayon of the cask, lay down Mister. His mustache made from the finest paper bags and his eyes polished like ivory bubbles. A sleeping face like that can beam anyone to the groves. In the many awaken states he experiences, Mister's favorite is the event of the grassation. His wandering intimidates people, and it should. Mister's grassation only carries discontentment and glass satchels though today Mister lies on the crayon of the cask like an impenetrable balloon. Flags of nylon and pylons of rag try to out-shadow the shadow of the resting Mister, but it's of no use. When Mister awakes, he intends to join the nabobs in their hobnobbing.

*This was originally written in 1996 by Dirk Babbage. A 10-year anniversary if you will.

Verse Twenty-one

2006-07-15T16:41:00.001-05:00

Perfect action. True action. Supreme power. That is how the Tao is revealed through those who follow it completely.

- These 3 things must come naturally.
- They come from unity and not the individual.
- Individual action, virtue, and power do not reveal the Tao.

Application: These lines could be taken out of context to contradict the message of the Tao Te Ching. I realize that it is the Tao that is revealing the action and power and not the individual.

Though formless and intangible, it gives rise to form. Though vague and elusive, it gives rise to shapes. Though dark and obscure, it is the spirit, the essence, the life-breath of all things. "But is it real?" you ask--I say its evidence is all of creation.

- Many individuals arise from the invisible unity
- Something seems to be created out of nothing
- Emptiness is a source and an end of the individual and should not be feared

Application: This part of verse 21 is comforting in that it helps me view nothingness/emptiness/without as something beneficial. In modern American society, it seems that that's what everyone is afraid of. This is also the core of the fear of death. Why should we be afraid of what we came from? Nothing is how it is perceived as individuals, but through meditation that nothing is revealed as God or unity.

From the first moment to the present, the Name has been sounding. It is the gate through which the universe enters. The witness by which the universe sees.

- Unity is limitless and without form or borders
- It cannot end or be perceived physically
- It is the energy that makes us feel alive

Application: What we don't perceive is what gives us consciousness. We are more than an amalgamation of chemicals in a humanoid form. This realization helps me to understand the overused tag of someone being "special." That something special is the energy of life.

How have I come to know all this? That very Name has told me. That Name which is sounding right here, right now.

- I perceive therefore I am.
- Tao or the unity can be discovered through meditation, perceiving all as one
- It interprets the outside inside

Application: Through the context of unity, I am the universe and the universe is me. When I look into the vast depths of space, I am looking at a part of me. Time and space come together as one unit, the universe, me. This thought is both liberating and frightening. On one hand, I control my destiny. On the other, my destiny controls me. It is both. What makes life worth living is balancing the two.

Verse Twenty

2006-07-14T08:40:00.001-05:00

The difference between a formal "yes" and a casual "yeah"--how slight! The difference between knowing the Truth and not knowing it--how great! Must I fear what others fear? Should I fear desolation when there is abundance? Should I fear darkness when that light is shining everywhere? Nonsense! The people of this world are steeped in their merrymaking as if gorging at a great feast or watching the sights of springtime. Yet I sit here, without a sign, staring blank-eyed like a child.

- There is a correlation between fear and frenzied consumption.
- When free of fear, one's desires decrease to a minimum
- Happiness is something that cannot be grasped. It is something to live.
- Grasping for happiness is a desire that brings suffering.

Application: This verse hits to the spiritual core of consumerism. If I desire something to buy that means I am lacking it. The lack of that consumer good causes my unhappiness. This philosophy keeps me from going on a shopping spree. When I do go on a shopping spree, I horde books and CDs. That means my lack of specific information and interesting music cause my unhappiness. Usually that makes me feel shallow inside, especially when it comes to purchasing music. Books can help bring about change. Look at what the Tao Te Ching has done for me.

I am but a guest in this world. While others rush about to get things done, I accept what is offered. Oh, my mind is like that of a fool, aloof to the clamor of life around me. Everyone seems so bright and alive with the sharp distinctions of day. I appear dark and dull with the blending of differences by night.

- The light that burns brightest dies quickest.
- The desire to appear bright and alive is an individual goal, seperate from unity.
- Letting go of appearing unique aids in becoming closer to others, bonding relationships.
- The paradox of conformity of the West

Application: This part of verse 20 sparked a chain reaction of ideas in my mind. It reminds me of the difference between my desire to become independent between the ages of 16 and 20, and my spiritual quest at the present moment. Most teenagers strive for a unique identity. Not only are they gaining independence from their parents, but they are trying to make their (immature) mark in the world. I think this striving for uniqueness in me faded sometime between Beloit College and Japan. Perhaps it was the bonding of new friendships that caused it--acceptance. Now I think I'm unique enough and I get tired of standing out in a crowd, especially with my lifestyle. Although this "standing out" maintains my youth. But how long should I maintain it? What's the purpose of holding onto one's youth? I'm beginning to think that is foolish. I don't care if I act or look young. I hope I regret nothing when I reach the age of mid-life crisis.

I am drifting like an ocean, floating like the high winds. Everyone is so rooted in this world, yet I have no place to rest my head. Indeed I am different...I have no treasure but the Eternal Mother. I have found no food but what comes from her breast.

- Clinging to identity and "home" is the desire of the individual
- One must free the self from all that ties one to this physical world
- God provides

Application: This part of verse 20 is a lot like the teachings of Jesus. All that is really important in the world is love (relationships) and trust in God (no worries). Everything we own serves no spiritual purpose. Our possessions bind us to the physical world of desire. Every place we call home should have no special meaning. Our hometown binds us to tribal thinking of us versus them, when us and them are in fact one.

The Robot's Exhibition, part 3

2006-07-13T14:03:00.001-05:00

Stopping a stop sign is ironic, but a very dumb thing to actually do. Picture someone like your grandma walking up to the red octagon and saying, "Stop!" Surreal but more half-witted than a piece of avant-garde performance art. The last leg collapsing under a dog is avant-garde, especially if it was a cat playing the role of a dog. All the cat fanciers would dig it.

Illustrations by the Madman interested Mr. Frederix, but when he opened the book he was surprised to see no illustrations at all. Instead he saw infinity and couldn't take his eyes away from it. No one take his or her eyes off infinity. Mr. Frederix lived the rest of his life with the book with the Madman's illustrations dangling just beyond his nose.

The Madman adopted Mr. Frederix as his coat hanger and tipped him a dime every time he hung up a new coat. The Madman always had one coat and it was an old one. Mr. Frederix died a very pitiful death from a pitiful existence. The Madman's books still sell like hotcakes, so he won't have to worry about losing a coat hanger for long.

Mr. and Mrs. Bickens were trapped and now have to support the Madman while he sleeps. They're adopted as beds. Miss Ketchum was adopted as his showerhead, and Mr. Childers as his spoon. The Madman's house is made of adopted people with books dangling off their faces.

In that land, a conveyor belt serves as the highway. It goes down, so far down that you have to shrink to pass through the pores of the earth's crust. Most of the passengers are droplets of rain that will have the privilege of not quenching the earth but visiting the world-renowned Magma Flow of Arachnes. Arachnes is the stingy turtle with the head and neck of a giraffe. She oversees the magma flow and makes sure that the minerals it spews contain something that will screw up humanity's industry.

Cough syrup is the only daily supplement that Arachnes demands. And so the rain droplets make sure to contain some evaporated cough syrup as they enter the spectacular Magma Flow. The steam rises to create a demi-god of new rain droplets. Arachnes' one super power is to give the gift of invincibility to the droplets that bestow evaporated cough syrup. This is why the water cycle never ends.

As the steam pushes the demi-god out of the Magma Flow of Arachnes it finds that the world is hilarious and whispers the secret of the Earth's jocularity to the clouds that then have such a laughing fit that they cry new cough syrup messengers down.

The bit about the clouds is hypothetical. What is known about the clouds is that within their condensed vapor are pieces of sports. A fraction of football was detected in a cumulus about an hour ago. This is why bad weather does not ruin the reception of sports events. Bad weather can only interfere on the game itself and that's if it's played outdoors.

The sports industry is building too many domes. This is because the municipal industries rejected the dome corporation's contract as bad weather protection. One dome company, Good Weather Domes, was near a contract with New York City to provide a unique ventilation system that would rid the town of all air pollution. Top secret government documents intercepted by certain individuals revealed that the reason for rejection was that it would hurt New York's tourism.

Verse Nineteen

2006-07-12T08:59:00.001-05:00

Abandon holiness. Discard cleverness and the people will benefit a hundredfold. Abandon the rules of "kindness." Discard "righteous" actions and the people will return to their own natural affections. Abandon book learning. Discard the rules of behavior and the people will have no worries. Abandon plots and schemes. Discard profit-seeking and the people will not become theives.

- All these things that we must abandon and discard are human inventions
- They seperate us from the natural world
- They distort ourselves as we become removed from nature
- They turn us into posers, a fake impression for all other posers
- They distract us from what really matters in the world

Application: This verse helps me view what is good according to humanity (individuals) and what is good according to nature (unity). To me, it seems that what is good according to humanity are a bunch of rules to control people and a bunch of titles for people to aspire to--all of them are really unnecessary. As an American, I live more in a world removed from nature so it is hard to avoid following social and legal rules and it is hard to aspire to a certain social status. At this point in my life, it seems like the alternative is to become a hermit or join some clergy.

These lessons learned are mere elaborations. The essence of my teachings is this: see with original purity, embrace with original simplicity, reduce what you have, decrease what you want.

- The things that seperate us from nature make like unnecessarily complex
- Remaining true to nature makes life simpler
- There are no distractions in nature, just a straight focus
- This is what distinguishes Taoism from Christianity, which tells us to be removed from nature
- Christianity calls for a permanant schism between "god" and nature when there is none.

Application: This is one element that pulled me away from Christianity--many natural behaviors are seen as ungodly. We were taught shame with many of our animal instincts, which Freud later pointed out causes certain neuroses. I believe God's laws are simpler, meaning the laws can be found through nature and self-reflection. For forgetful people, perhaps a book can help to remind them. But I don't believe a book should be analyzed to death when its purpose is to remind us that God's laws are found within us and around us. When there is a conflict between what is natural and what is written, then all sorts of unwinnable debates arise. I take the side of what is natural.

Verse Eighteen

2006-07-11T10:38:00.002-05:00

When the greatness of Tao is present, action arises from one's own heart. When the greatness of Tao is absent, action comes from the rules of "kindness" and "justice." If you need rules to be kind and just, if you act virtuous, there is a sure sign that virtue is absent. Thus we see the great hypocrisy.

- Rules are meant for those who are too impatient to find the Tao
- Blindly following the rules keeps one in line but off the path
- Kindness and justice come naturally and need not be enforced
- Kindness and justice are not an act
- Do no act virtuous, be virtuous through the Tao

Application: A lot of self-reflection and meditation upon morality and ethics have revealed the inner laws. Laws are made to control people who can't control themselves. When there is no critical thinking involved, then rules are necessary. All just laws make sense. Unfortunately we live in a world where people don't think critically or even for themselves. We can either let them be, causing harm to themselves and others, or we can control them through the law. I believe we could reduce problems caused through stupidity by educating people about spirituality and interpersonal relationships. A lot of education is spent on dealing with things rather than people, so we grow up treating people like things. I would like this to change.

Only when the family loses its harmony do we hear of "dutiful sons." Only when the state is in chaos do we hear of "loyal ministers."

- This is the difference between Confucius and Lao Tzu
- Rules cannot bring peace, only you can
- One can only control oneself
- Leave the order of the universe to the Tao
- When one tries to control more, he runs into conflict with the Tao

Application: This shows the problem with the first part of verse 18. I said I would like to change the focus of education from dealing with things to emphasizing relationships and spirituality. This is control--the more one tries to control the education system, the more one runs into conflict with the goal itself. If I managed to change the education system, it could not be strict and rigid. But many educators will not buy into a system without clear-cut boundaries and limits. I hope this demonstrates how spirituality can only successfully change one person instead of a family or a community. Nobody likes the guy/gal in charge telling them what to do and how to think.

The Robot's Exhibition, part 2

2006-07-10T08:46:00.001-05:00

The sun made the other stars jealous. This jealousy started a fad in the stellar galaxy. Stars used their light to beam aboard certain anatomical features for their luminescence. Alpha Centauri, the closest star to the Earth, took my best friend's nose. Now we got a bunch of human body parts as large as the world a hundred times over sneezing, winking, and farting at us. I liked the light and I liked the heat, but that's all the stars should have. This new consciousness of stellar life and their jealousy to be human makes the universe a bit unrealistic.

Who's to say what's real? asks a fictional philosopher. A cardboard scientist made by semi-real scientists was programmed to define real. And so it did: "Real is the perception of all unimagined things." Only a thing that can't image can say that. Way to go semi-real scientists!

"Let's paint the moon blood red," said the Revelationaries, a cult that encourages the second coming of Christ and the threat of the Antichrist. They program wars and stir natural disasters as if they were a government agency. The United States, encourager of competition, hated this competition with their war and natural disaster agencies, so they tried to dissolve the Revelationaries by exposing untrue but very treacherous things about them. That's how the Revelationary War started and God intervened and how we've got Armageddon.

A piece of cloth without a tag ripped the juice of an instinctual delegate. Just as vitreous minstrel pinchers vouch their way to righteous positions, so will umbrella fiends find you in their self-perpetuated rain. A handout was specifically made for the enjoyment of gasoline electricians. To my dismay and your delight, the frock-wearing Ecclesiaste poured an empty glass of milk onto his own contents.

Back to the story, the castle captured a dragon princess. Luckily the prince of planets knew of this predicament. Hurriedly he did something. Weirdly he always does something where an adverb sets off his sentences. Actually they're the author's adverbs and not the prince of planets'.

Let's see where were we...Ah! Hurriedly he rushed off to the castle, the castle with no name, the castle that is not capitalized because there should be emphasis placed on the castle that captured the dragon princess. Easily the dragon princess was saved from the clutches of the stupid castle. Stupid castles were all made by the hillbillies of the Ural Mountains. Were they European or Asian? Nobody knew, not even them. That's why castles they built were so stupid.

A restaurant in northern California was called the Stupid Castle and a lot of bewildered Russians ate there, but it was nothing like home, so the place closed down and the entire town starved to death.
The United States should blow up the Ural Mountains because it makes sense to do so. Todoso should be someone's name. You should change your name to Todoso because it ended the first sentence of this paragraph. If your last name were Fulton, you would be Todoso Fulton. Doesn't that sound like the best name you could possibly have? Even if your last name isn't Fulton, just indulge in the thought of having the name Todoso. Doesn't it make your viscera curdle?

A badger with nail polish on its claws died of curdled viscera. I saw this because it's a popular joke among Wisconsinites. Wisconsin being the Badger State and America's Dairyland and all. Some people confuse our animal with our food. Wisconsin does have carnivorous citizens you know. There's nothing more irritating than an antagonizing non-Wisconsinite. Stop it!

Verse Seventeen

2006-07-08T09:06:00.001-05:00

To know Tao alone, without trace of your own existence, is the highest. Next comes loving and praising it. Then fearing it. Then despising it.

- The relationship between the individual and the unity
- One one extreme, you may lose your individuality without fear or control
- On the other, you may lose touch with unity and perceive life as a war with all who oppose you

Application: Because I'm writing this blog, I am currently in the second tier of "loving and praising it." I am burdened with the conflict between the yin and yang energies constantly. Although the Tao has brought me closer to the yin, my individuality keeps the yang energy going. I can't help but want things for myself. And it's also hard to love people who usually annoy me and it's hard to help people who rarely reciprocate. According to the unity, I should love and help regardless of the outcome. And that's the conflict I face nearly every day.

If one doesn't trust himself, how can he trust anyone else?

- Trust bonds individuals, brings them closer together
- Trust will only work to achieve unity
- Trust never works for individual gain

Application: A common complaint about modern society is that there is less trust. I believe the central component in "modernization" is individual gain. When people realize that this creates a loss of faith and trust, they turn to religion. Those with lots of fear turn to fundamentalism. Those are two extremes which pit person against person or community against community. I am finding this out now through a lot of books and documentaries I have encountered. Modernization is isolation.

The great ruler speaks little and his words are priceless. He works without self-interest and leaves no trace. When all is finished, the people say, "It happened by itself."

- When individual gain is not considered, the goals of a community/nation can be accomplished
- A greedy leader leaves his people behind
- Everything works out well when greed are power are not involved

Application: I can't help but think of today's rulers who do the opposite of what is written in verse 17. Although I believe it is in their self-interest and therefore an essentail guideline in modern politics to watch out for #1 meaning themselves. This immediately stops the function of a representative democracy. All that is representated is greed and power--nothing else. This is how I perceive politics these days--they control the power but they inspire no leadership at all. Politicians are not people we should look up to. And a union between politics and certain religions take the spirit right out of the religion and replace it with the same greed and power. I see this tainting the fabric of my country today. But I comforted by the fact that nothing lasts forever.

Verse Sixteen

2006-07-07T08:51:00.001-05:00

Become totally empty. Quiet the restlessness of the mind. Only then will you witness everything unfolding from emptiness. See all things flourish and dance in endless variation. And once again merge back into perfect emptiness--their true repose, their true nature. Emerging, flourishing, dissolving back again--This is the eternal process of return.

- When the mind is full of worry and tension, the path grows obscure
- One can only clearly observe one's place when one's mind is at peace

Application: Verse 16 is a call for meditation. There are all sorts of meditation from Hinduism to Buddhism to the contemplative prayer in Christianity. Another reason Taoism appeals to me is its take on meditation. Like almost everybody else, I don't do it enough. I can blame distractions, but that's only half true because I can get away from them half the time.

To know this process brings enlightenment. To miss this process brings disaster.

- A mind unquieted may throw one off his/her path.

Application: This happened to me a few months ago where I let worries and anxiety get to me that I could not focus on anything else and it may have cost me a few opportunities I could have had if I had a clearer, more peaceful mind. I have to learn to let go of my worries even though I feel like it is my responsibility to worry. I should feel carefree even though many things depend on what is to come soon.

Be still. Stillness reveals the secrets of eternity. Eternity embraces the all-possible. The all-possible leads to vision of oneness. A vision of oneness brings about universal love. Universal love supports the great truth of Nature. The great truth of Nature is Tao.

- This is the message found through meditation.
- The answer is always available when you let things go.

Application: This part of verse 16 probably summarizes "the truth" revealed to me through the Tao Te Ching and meditation. When I read this part, I nodded my head in whole-hearted agreement. This is it! If only others would get into this, then perhaps we could reach a unified goal of peace. But we all know that selfish individualism gets in the way.

Whoever knows this truth lives forever. The body may perish, deeds may be forgotten. But he who has Tao has all eternity.

- Time ceases but one continues beyond time
- The individual existence is necessary for the perception of time
- When the body dies, time is no longer perceived or needed
- This is how meditation can breach the infinite

Application: What originally brought me into the meditation that revealed Taoism to me was contemplating my own mortality. That's when I realized what is written in verse 16. I was comforted to discover that an entire philosophy/religion had also come to the same conclusion I did. And this origin of thought wasn't too far from where I was living at the time. This really removed all worries from me. I think the hardest thing for all people to do is let go of their individuality--confronting death. When you realize what is written in verse 16, then the fear of death or God's judgment subsides.

The Robot's Exhibition, part 1

2006-07-06T08:03:00.001-05:00

THE BEGINNING (evidence of its linearity)

And now it's time for the re-enactment of the crucifixion. Let me bring the grill this time for the disciples. I heard that Simon Peter got hungry on that Good Friday. I'll cook some Oscar Mayer wieners and burgers made from 100% beef. And then a re-run of The Mary Tyler Moore Show will come on after he dies.

Insects did exist in the dawning of anno domini, so I assume the caterpillar will be there. I saw a caterpillar carry a sink on its back once. The thing was as big as an oil tanker. As a matter of fact, I do remember it inching across the sea. Or could it be boiling tea? It did smell like the Imperial Blend. They make tacos in the shape of swastikas now. Somebody's got to keep the Klan happy.

His name is Devron and he owns a foghorn in a lighthouse. Here's a list of his Monday routine: 1) socks, 2) the tick-tock of his cuckoo clock, 3) Bach, 4) pince nez, 5) chafe, 6) a roller derby, 7) and finally the end. Devron likes to make tacos without cooking the shells. Only the meat's hot.
Casey walked to work in his sweatsuit. A flock of flamingos followed him to the subway. Inside the train is Her Majesty's Royal Gardens filled with eyes. When the eyes bloom, the Spanish Armada sails through in their galleons. A flag constructed of feathery toothpicks shall flutter and cover the ships and reveal Christ on the cross again.

Like Star Wars, the digitally re-mastered Jesus Christ enacted the entire New Testament again to get people hyped up about the second coming a few years later. Him and guy named Paul (previously Saul) did most of the work. The best thing about our time is media coverage. That got Christ more disciples than he could handle. I recall the Last Supper had to be booked in a football stadium outside of Jerusalem.

He was clean-, Jesus was. The Bic company offered him $5 million to shave his beard, but the Son of Man did it for free. Everyone was trying to make money off this guy. Well he died and everything, and when this guy named John finished his reading of Revelations the whole world stood up in applause. It brought back the memories of sitting in Sunday School. What if it were all true? I used to ask myself. The special edition crucifixion convinced me.

Enough about religion. I went to the Spyrox Cafe to watch my dentist play the trumpet in a jazz band called the Luncheon & the Bunch. His horn blinded me a few times because the glare from the sunshine hit me directly in the eyes. It wasn't the first time my dentist tried to damage me. Besides my teeth, he almost hurt my ears when pealed a high note in his improvisational solo in "A Taste of Honey." The solo was in bad taste, mind the pun, since it clashed with the classic theme.

I found out how to make bananas from honey: just pour some on raw eggs and voila! Every time I see the word "voila," I read "viola." My chiropractor plays the viola, but I didn't go to watch his ensemble because my previous chiropractor plays as well. I never told him why I switched doctors, but the reason had to do about a bad back he never cared about.

Meanwhile a sunray caught my eye and beamed it about the sun. The sun liked it so much, it took the form of my eye and now I look up at the sky and see my other eye winking back at me. "Thank you, sir," says the sun. At least that's what I think it says since suns can't talk.

Verse Fifteen

2006-07-05T17:09:00.001-05:00

The masters of this ancient path are mysterious and profound. Their inner state baffles our inquiry. Their depths go beyond all knowing. Thus, despite every effort, we can only tell of their outer signs--Deliberate, as if treading over the stones of a winter broke. Watchful, as if meeting danger on all sides. Reverent, as if receiving an honored guest. Selfless, like a melting block of ice. Pure, like an uncarved block of wood. Accepting, like an open valley.

- Sages can only be identified through their individual appearances
- There is a lot more to a sage than meets the eye
- The appearance is calm and unmoving as if a tree, at peace in its place

Application: If I find someone at peace in their place, then I know I have spotted someone who knows a bit of universal truth. I like this part of 15 because it makes me view all trees as sages. Perhaps we become like trees when we reach enlightenment, if you believe in enlightenment. Perhaps trees are step ahead of us. Maybe the food chain is the reverse of the spirit chain--just a thought. I don't see this verse as a prescription of becoming a sage because that is not my goal. One should always seek to perfect oneself and not worry about transforming into a sage.

Through the course of Nature muddy water becomes clear. Through the unfolding of life man reaches perfection. Through sustained activity that supreme rest is naturally found.

- Undisturbed time heals all wounds
- Nothing needs to be forced to reach its solution
- One just needs to complete the task at hand and not worry about the future

Application: This part of verse 15 promotes the development of a skill, an important Taoist concept. Perfecting a task through repetition, patience, and lack of anxiety is a common Taoist goal. While the body is busy with the task, the mind can enter the trance-like state of higher consciousness/unity. I enjoy completing a task well without thinking about it. When it is finished, I snap out of the trance feeling good because the task was effortless finished and my mind was not strained by the stress of fears and desires.

Those who have the Tao want nothing else. Though seemingly empty, they are ever full. Though seemingly old, they are beyond the reach of birth and death.

- Being content with nothing is all that one needs
- No desire means no suffering
- One has everything only when one has nothing

Application: I agree that I am the happiest when I want nothing. When I want nothing, my complete focus is on the present. The present is my present. This is a struggle when I do want something, and the more desperate I want it, the worse I feel, and my complete focus is on the unpredictable outcomes of the future. The mind races and races and doesn't stop because the desire doesn't end. Once that desire is gone and not replaced with another desire, then I can again feel at peace.

Verse Fourteen

2006-07-03T13:51:00.001-05:00

Eyes look but cannot see it. Ears listen but cannot hear it. Hands grasp but cannot touch it. Beyond the senses lies the great Unity--invisible, inaudible, intangible.

- Unity is beyond individual perception
- When all, it can be perceived, but it cannot be relayed person to person
- It is futile to get because the goal of the individual contrasts the goal of unity--take and give.

Application: The individual's desire repels unity. If one seeks unity to see God, take wisdom, and boast about it, that search will never end. It is strange to write about this because in a way it seems like I'm showing off wisdom and boasting my "enlightenment." But any boasting I do shows that I have not been enlightened. Instead of desiring spiritual awakening, one should desire inner peace and universal love. But here I go again, an individual telling people how to do things.

What rises up appears bright. What settles down appears dark. Yet there is neither darkness nor light, just an unbroken dance of shadows. From nothingness is fullness and back again to nothingness. This formless form. This imageless image cannot be grasped by mind or might. Try to face it--In what place will you stand? Try to follow it--To what place will you go?

- An individual cannot enter a place with no entrance or exit
- An individual cannot follow what has no time
- What is perceived/experienced as unity can be expressed by an individual

Application: When I first transcribed this verse, it addressed what I was reading in The Tao of Physics at the time, about particle physics. This part of verse 14 says to me that Unity or God is something an individual cannot possess. Possessing anything is selfish and therefore not in the realm of Unity/God. I like this verse because it erases the spiritual or moral righteousness--something I dislike in all fundamentalist faiths.

Know That which is beyond all beginnings and you will know everything here and now. Know everything in the moment and you will know the Eternal Tao.

- The Tao does not follow time, no beginning and no end.
- The present lasts forever.
- Experiencing now is experiencing Unity
- All that was and will be can be found now through Unity.

Application: I love this part of 14 because it's such a freeing concept in terms of time. If we see the past and future as part of the present, we can feel more empowered. The past is not etched in stone and the future is not eminent. I like to see the present as infinite instead of limited to a fraction of a second. We can learn from the past but we don't have to hold on to the past. We should make the present greater than the past. When we see all as one, we find that we ourselves are also infinite and not limited to the short time we have on Earth. Instead of grasping every second of one's life in a panic, we should enjoy the present as long as possible.

Fusion (take one)

2006-07-02T10:22:00.001-05:00

Endlessly creating
Is poetry necessary?
Endlessly pulsating
With comfortable perfection; hygienic future

Whatever we see or don’t see
They contemplate the annihilation (always imminent) of art.
Whatever exists or doesn’t exist
At this point they desire more artistic art.

Tao is limitless, unborn, eternal—
Hygiene becomes purity o God o God
She is the very face of the Absolute
The gate to the source of all things eternal
Listen to Her voice
Hear it echo through creation
Must we cease to believe in words?
Since when have they expressed the opposite of what the organ emitting them thinks and wants?

Without fail, She reveals her presence
Without fail, She brings us to our own perfection
Here is the greatest secret:
The thought is made in the mouth.
I still consider myself very charming.

Verse Thirteen

2006-07-01T09:09:00.001-05:00

What does it mean, "Be wary of both honor and disgrace?" Honor is founded on disgrace and disgrace is rooted in honor. Both should be avoided. Both bind a man to this world. That's why it says, "Be wary of honor and disgrace."

- Honor and disgrace are two sides of the same manmade coin
- They should serve as a means rather than an end
- They are abstract labels that are not applied to nature
- Do things in the way of nature rather than in the way of man

Application: This is a contradiction to the beliefs of Confucianism and many religions--being wary of honor. Honor is a label invented by humanity to control people, binding them to their word. If an authority figure doesn't like what a subordinate did, he can say that it was not honorable. When there is no real relationship between people, the seal of honor can keep them tolerant of one another. Personally, I can apply this but I should be silent about it. Announcing that you have no honor or you honor no one can quickly make you an outcast from society. But most Taoist sages and spiritual leaders were social outcasts, so the choice is mine.

What does it mean, "Endess affliction is bound to the body?" Man's true self is eternal, yet he thinks, "I am this body. I will soon die." This false sense of self is the cause of all sorrow. When a person does not identify himself with the body, tell me, what troubles could touch him?

- Only the individual endures suffering because it desires
- We are both individual and unity. And there is no suffering in unity.
- When you see yourself as a part of the universal process then you know your resources are unlimited.
- Find yourself in others and live forever

Application: This another one of my favorite parts of the Tao Te Ching--realizing that you are more than just your body, your physical image. If you want to look at it through the Western mind/body dichotomy, then we can say that the body is limited and the mind unlimited. The body is ours alone and the mind is shared with all. Love is the expression of feeling and sharing the mental connection. This gets easily confused with sex which is the expression of feeling and sharing the physical connection. Marriage is the union of both mind and body with a partner. When in deep meditation, I have come to the sensation of being connected to the whole world. That feeling generated an incredible feeling of love and peace. It goes away at the moment the connection is severed--like when you begin to worry about something. This message of universal love is found in every single religion. Check it and see.

One who sees himself as everything is fit to the be the guardian of the world. One who loves himself as everyone is fit to be the teacher of the world.

- Avoid focus on the self along with selfish matters and the world is you
- The guard and the teacher do not discriminate when all are one as one

Application: If I am able to keep the aforementioned mental/spiritual connection with the world, then I could be the guardian of the world because I feel what everyone feels. As for being a universal teacher, I can be entrusted because I am invested in universal love. I don't think I am able to do this at this time in my life. I still believe I have to work out things as an individual with my own fears and desires.

Verse Twelve

2006-06-30T08:15:00.001-05:00

The five colors blind the eye. The five tones deafen the ear. The five flavors dull the palate. Racing, hunting, and galloping about only disturb the mind. Wasting energy to obtain rare objects only impedes one's growth.

- Buddhist idea of desire causing suffering.
- When one gets all that he wants, all it does is dull the mind and spirit
- The universe belongs to everyone and that should be enough
- Complete possession achieves nothing but a wasting away

Application: This was one of my first realizations in adult life. While at college, I acquired nearly everything on my wish list and it left my feeling good temporarily but then unfulfilled. I asked myself, "Now what?" My purchasing goals in life had been achieved. At that point, I was probably at a low point spiritually. But it started me on the path away from obtaining things (albums that used to be rare). I would consider that to be turning point in my life. That's when I started observing what I bought and what compelled me to buy them. At first it started into a simple consumer market survey on myself but then ended up in this spiritual exploration of self. It's a shame that one has to buy nearly everything one wants before coming to this realization. I wonder how others come to the conclusion without achieving their capitalistic goals.

So the Sage is led by his inner truth and not his outer eye. He holds to what is deep and not what lies on the surface.

- The truth lies within whereas the mirage of truth can be seen
- The inside will reveal the outside
- Find life's direction from within and follow intuition

Application: Throughout most of my life, I usually valued substance over image. This is easy to do where I grew up and went to college. But when I moved to other cultures, I found myself thrusted into situations where image was more important than substance...at first. It's more like image first, then substance. But more people were impressed by image than substance when it really came down to it. When I was overseas, I found that I could bond the best with those who appreciated the substance.
I also find this part of verse 12 to be a great media filter. This runs parallel to my political beliefs of my distrust of the mass media. My main source of this belief is from Noam Chomsky and the Madison-published journal, The Progressive. If I find myself really interested in a news item, I will research it myself to find if the news was accurate. I believe the mass-media news is good at raising topics but not delivering them. If you want to know more, always look deeper into the issue and always look deeper within yourself about your true feelings on the matter.

A True Nihilist World

2006-06-29T10:03:00.003-05:00

its corrosive effects
associated with Friedrich Nietzsche
gave way to an attitude of indifference
around us
we can learn
of the "collective unconscious"
being perceptive and aware of our surroundings
they are psychological and spiritual symbols
animal totems are archetypes
Carl Jung termed "archetypes"
the spirit nature of
a worship of the animals
along our personal path
there are hidden qualities
that work with the subconscious mind
around us
totems and all of nature
our electromagnetic energy field

Verse Eleven

2006-06-28T08:27:00.001-05:00

Wu is nothingness, emptyness, non-existence. Thirty spokes of a wheel all join at a common hub yet only the hole at the center allows the wheel to spin. Clay is molded to form a cup yet only the space within allows the cup to hold water. Walls are joined to make a room yet only by cutting out a door and a window can one enter and live there.

- The functions of objects are found in what is not there.
- The form serves the emptiness.
- Filling in the spaces would cause the form to cease functioning.
- We must keep our minds free in order for them to function.
- A clear mind is a functional mind.

Application: When a problem arises, my mind is quick to find a solution. This is healthy until I encounter an obstacle which causes anxiety. Anxiety is what prevents my clarity of thought and I cannot function well mentally. One of the biggest lessons I've learned in the past few months was to view anxiety itself as an obstacle. Worrying about anxiety is even worse because it is double-layered and the mind becomes sluggishly operational. I am still in training when it comes to approaching obstacles without worry, without tensing up.

Thus, when a thing has existence alone it is mere dead-weight. Only when it has wu, does it have life.

- If we keep ourselves full of food and drink alone, we are not living
- If we keep ourselves full of constant emotions alone, we are not living
- We must let go of our desires to feel alive
- We must let go of our thoughts to feel alive

Application: Fun is often associated with a carefree environment. This is close to the truth that we really find enjoyment in our lives when our personal desires and thoughts are forgotten as we live in the moment. Try riding a roller coaster while thinking about your job and wishing you had a better home or car. It will most likely take the fun right out of it. Roller coasters can be frightening but if we take away the fear and all other selfish feelings it is quite enjoyable. I often like to view life as a roller coaster ride, and that I should view the ups and down as exhilirating and not painful. In the end, I believe I'll feel that life was an accomplishment.

Verse Ten

2006-06-27T12:33:00.001-05:00

Hold fast to the Power of the One. It will unify the body and merge it with the spirit. It will cleanse the vision and reveal the world as flawless. It will focus the life-force (chi) and make one supple as a newborn.

- This is perceiving Unity, the origin
- When all is seen as one, there is no flaw
- Only when we look at individuals, we see flaws
- Flaws are the products of selfish action
- The energy of the newborn is from the origin
- Youth is not scarred by choice. We wear the marks of our selfish actions.

Application: Being raised Christian, this viewpoint was quite comforting to me. No matter how hard we try we cannot be perfect like God as long as we are individuals with selfish thoughts, words, and deeds. Seeking perfection is, in a way, a selfish goal. But the irony is that no individual can ever be perfect. Once we lose our individuality, our identity, then we can become perfect as a part of Unity, a part of God. In essence, we are not seperate from God. I found this to be a great revelation. Nobody can use this "essence of God" for individual gain because the essence is gone the second one returns to his individual world. I reached this same insight through deep contemplation in October 2004 and had it confirmed here in verse 10.

As you love the people and rule the state can you be free of self-interest? As the gates of Heaven open and close can you remain steadfast as a mother bird who sits in her nest? As your wisdom reaches the four corners of the world can you keep the innocence of a beginner?

- Are the worries of the people those of the kings?
- Are the worries of the children those of their parents?
- As worldly knowledge increases, use it for internal development instead of boasting
- Experienced innocence, appearing wise through appearing childlike

Application: This illustrates the conflict of responsibility and worry. How can one embrace Taoism if an authority figure? It's hard for me to imagine parents or other authority figures without fear or desire. A mother is not alone in protecting her children. I believe this section is about how responsibility and authority seem like permissible qualities to become individualistic. But one shows wisdom through the humility of ruling and protecting without fear or desire. That is a challenge, and the people who actually pull this off are usually revered as spiritual leaders. But all of us have this capability.

Know this Primal Power that guides without forcing, that serves without seeking, that brings forth and sustains life yet does not own or possess it.

Let's Buy Some Poultry

2006-06-26T13:06:00.001-05:00

Phynn: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the poultry store!
?: There’s only me, sir.
Phynn: Excuse me, but I’m a bit shortsighted.
?: So this is a poultry store?
Phynn: Yes, it is the poultry store—the only one this side of the Ohio River. And how can I help you today?
?: I’ve never been to a poultry store before.
Phynn: Well, welcome then.
?: You already welcomed me, but thanks anyway.
Phynn: Today’s special is a couple of live chickens.
?: What do I do with them?
Phynn: That’s the joy of being a customer at my poultry store. You have an unlimited choice of what to do with the merchandise once it is purchased. This is not a gun shop or a car wash where you are limited in choice. We call it the Customer’s Freedom of Choice.
?: What do most people do with a couple of live chickens?
Phynn: I don’t know yet, but I’m putting together a questionnaire for all poultry shoppers to help abecedarians like you.
?: Excuse me, what’s like me?
Phynn: Abecedarians, you know, tenderfoots or tyros.
?: Don’t you mean tenderfeet?
Phynn: Let’s not argue about semantics, I’m only a humble poultry man. (pause) We’ve gone far in conversation without any movement towards a purchase. It would help if we introduced each other—
?: If you really think so. My name is ?.
Phynn: Come again? How do you pronounce that?
?: It’s like the zoo in spring.
Phynn: That’s pretty noisy.
?: You bet your bottom dollar. Now what’s your name?
Phynn: Please call me Phynn. That’s my name and that’s what all my friends call me too.
?: Fin as in fish fin?
Phynn: No, Phynn with a “ph” as in phosphorescence. Then it’s “ynn” like Lynn.
?: Is it short for something like Phineas?
Phynn: I’m afraid not. Phynn is my name in its entirety.
?: Don’t you have a family name?
Phynn: No, my family didn’t think I deserved it.
?: I’m sorry to hear that.
Phynn: Are you really sorry to hear that or are you just being polite? How would you like to live without a family name?
?: Actually I do.
Phynn: Oh really? You’re the one with an even stranger name. Now, how about some poultry?
?: You said a couple of live chickens were on sale today.
Phynn: That is correct, sir. You really have a great memory.
?: It was only a few minutes ago.
Phynn: Come on, don’t be so modest.
?: Shut up, don’t be so polite.
Phynn: I’m just being courteous like all good shopkeepers should.
?: What else do you have besides live chickens?
Phynn: We have some frozen ducks imported from Cincinnati.
?: Cincinnati?
Phynn: Oh, heavens to Betsy. I meant Singapore.
?: I didn’t know Singapore was famous for ducks.
Phynn: Either did I, but they offer the finest selection of frozen ducks.
?: How are they frozen?
Phynn: What do you mean?
?: I mean are they put in a deep-freeze or are they covered in ice or are they cryogenically frozen?
Phynn: I haven’t really gone into that much research.
?: If you knew, perhaps you could enhance the quality of the ducks.
Phynn: Perchance.
?: What else do you got?
Phynn: I’ve got turkeys with their heads chopped off.
?: Living?
Phynn: Of course not! Don’t be inane.
?: How many people buy turkeys in the off-season?
Phynn: When is the on-season?
?: Thanksgiving and Christmas. Didn’t you know that?
Phynn: That would explain the rise in prices. I guess I should stock more turkeys when the time comes. When is Thanksgiblets?
?: Thanksgiving is the last Thursday in November.
Phynn: That’s an odd place to put a holiday. Why a Thursday?
?: Probably for phonetic reasons: Thanksgiving Thursday.
Phynn: Brilliant! But why November?
?: Don’t you know the history of Thanksgiving?
Phynn: I didn’t know it was necessary for a poultry man.
?: If you handle turkeys, you should definitely know.
Phynn: You may think me a hopeless poultry man, but I’m not. I know how much the average game hen should weigh. I know what a partridge looks like when stripped of its plumage. I know the difference between a pheasant and a grouse.
?: I don’t doubt you, kind Phynn. Do you have any quail?
Phynn: Quail? Yes, er…we have many kinds of quail. What kind of quail would you like?
?: I didn’t know there were different kinds of quail.
Phynn: Yes, there’s the bobwhite quail of North America.
?: The bobwhite?
Phynn: Have you ever savored the bobwhite quail?
?: I don’t think I have. I’ll have one.
Phynn: Are you sure you just want one? We have a sale on a covey of quail.
?: How many quails are in a covey?
Phynn: Oh, anywhere from five to fifteen.
?: And the price is the same no matter the size of the covey?
Phynn: You have my word, honest to goodness.
?: I’ll have your largest covey of quail then.
Phynn: Very well. (goes to the back room) (another customer enters)
Debit: Good afternoon.
?: You really think so? I don’t like the fog.
Debit: It’s not foggy today.
?: Well, it was just a while ago. What’s the weather now, good sir?
Debit: Warmish.
?: Thanks, but how does the sky look? Is it filled with serene clarity?
Debit: Are you a poet?
?: No, just a curious man with an interest in the visibility of the day’s atmosphere.
Debit: It’s quite pleasant.
?: Quite? I don’t know if I can trust you.
Debit: Why not?
?: You’re a man of little words. I’ve made it a policy of mine not to trust men of little words. You know, little words please gullible minds.
Debit: I’m insulted.
?: And you should be, my devious fellow. (Phynn comes back out with a crate)
Phynn: Our largest covey contains sixteen quails. I seem to have underestimated the number of quail. Please do not think less of me.
?: Your reputation is safe with me, fit Phynn.
(Phynn turns attention to Debit)
Phynn: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the poultry store.
Debit: There’s only me and this stranger, sir.
?: I beg your pardon! I, a stranger? Have we not exchanged kind words?
Debit: Words, yes. Kind, I think not.
Phynn: I’m sorry. Have you been insulted in my shop?
Debit: I’m afraid so.
Phynn: I sincerely apologize for my patron’s harshness.
?: I was not harsh, wholesome Phynn. This man who stands here beside me has plans of deviation.
Debit: Untrue.
Phynn: Please settle this matter outside of my store. How can I help you, good fiend—friend?
Debit: What is today’s special?
?: A couple of—
Phynn: Please ?, let me. A couple of live chickens are on sale today for the low, low price of $5.99.
Debit: That is a bargain. I’ll take them.
Phynn: Good. Please allow me to finish the transaction with ?.
Debit: ?? That’s his name? Ha-ha!
?: Do not mock me. Phynn, please hasten the transaction. My comfort is at a critical level with this ignoble creature.
Phynn: Your covey of quails comes to the cost of $14.59.
Debit: What did you—
?: Shh! Are you telling me that I’m paying about ninety-three cents for each quail?
Phynn: A wizard of a mathematician you are. Yes, good patron. Is that too much?
?: The contrary. Can you ensure me that the quality of these sixteen quails is high?
Phynn: Again you have my word.
?: You truly are a man of good value.
Phynn: Your eyes have now opened. You have seen the true poultry man that I am.
?: Yes, indeed I have.
Debit: Stop it with this sugar coated politeness. Is this a tennis match of compliments?
?: Incredible! You have said quite a mouthful, sir. I take back what I said about you earlier. Please forgive my hasty convictions.
Debit: You forgive quickly.
?: It is due to my keen perception.
Debit: Your perception erred at first.
?: Wrong. You had only displayed short utterances.
Debit: I see your point.
?: And what a good point it is!
Phynn: Sorry to interrupt, but we are in the middle of a major transaction.
Debit: Fifteen dollars is a major transaction?
Phynn: When my largest covey of quails is being sold, I consider it a major transaction.
Debit: So be it.
?: “So be it.” What a pointless phrase…Mister…I’m sorry. I don’t think we’ve introduced each other, but you already know my name as you have mocked it when I had the supposition of you.
Debit: My name is Debit.
Phynn: It seems we all have curious names here this afternoon.
?: Yes, indeed. (He pulls out his wallet and fishes out a $20 bill) Can you break a twenty?
Phynn: Without let or hindrance by the flick of a switch.
Debit: Listen to those idioms.
?: I know!
Phynn: Here is your exact change, ?. Please look it over in case I have miscounted.
?: It’s OK. I trust your mathematical ability.
Phynn: Counting is not a matter of mathematics. Counting is just counting.
Debit: I think he’s right.
?: That’s because he is right. Nonetheless your esteemed reputation is secure with me.
Debit: And with me.
Phynn: Ah! But you haven’t dealt with me directly. You have only watched a transaction from the place where you are standing now.
Debit: True, true.
?: I believe that is all I needed for today, I will now depart and see where my feet lead me next. I’m sure these quails will be splendid.
Phynn: Thank you again, considerate consumer. I look forward to your next patronage.
?: And nice meeting you too, Debt.
Debit: That’s Debit as in a recorded debt or expense.
?: Yes. Farewell, gentlemen. (? Leaves)
Phynn: There goes a fine lad. Now were you interested in today’s special.
Debit: Actually I wasn’t. What peaks my interest was your selection of game hens.
Phynn: It’s quite a selection, isn’t it? I think it is the widest in town. Which game hens particularly interest you at this time?
Debit: I’m not really sure now that you mention it.
Phynn: We have Cornish game hens, Flemish game hens, and Danish game hens.
Debit: Danish game hens? Are they pastries?
Phynn: Ah! A sublime wit!
Debit: What’s the difference between Cornish and Flemish game hens? I’ve never been educated about that.
Phynn: Really? Every day’s a new learning experience, isn’t it? Let me teach you, good Debit.
Debit: I would be ever so grateful.
Phynn: Cornish game hens come from Cornwall of southwestern England.
Debit: Cornwall? Do you mean to tell me these game hens are imported?
Phynn: I think these game hens were prepared in the fashion of Cornwall. I doubt they were imported from England. Anyway, Flemish game hens hail from Flanders in Belgium.
Debit: Flanders, Belgium! That sounds classy. I’ll take a few of your Flemish game hens.
Phynn: Unfortunately they are the highest priced game hens.
Debit: Ach quatch!
Phynn: Watch your language.
Debit: I did and it was German.
Phynn: We only accept English at this establishment.
Debit: We? There is only one of you.
Phynn: Quite right. Your observation is most accurate. Would you like a reward?
Debit: Don’t be facetious.
Phynn: I don’t like that word. Now how about those game hens?
Debit: Yeah. How much are those Flemish hens?
Phynn: They go for about $5 per gram.
Debit: Per gram? Why are you weighing hens with grams?
Phynn: It’s required by Flemish law.
Debit: But this is America. You don’t have to follow Flemish law.
Phynn: This is America where I can follow any law I choose.
Debit: As long as it is in accordance with the Constitution.
Phynn: My, my. You are quite educated in civics. I’m forever grateful for receiving such intelligent customers such as yourself.
Debit: How many grams does your average Flemish game hen weigh?
Phynn: I don’t know. I’ll have to call in for that.
Debit: Call in? Call in to whom?
Phynn: Whom? I shall call in to poultry headquarters down in Washington.
Debit: Do you mean to tell me there are poultry headquarters in Washington, DC?
Phynn: I didn’t say that. They’re in Washington, Georgia.
Debit: Oh, well then, make the call.
Phynn: I was about to. (Dials) Hello. This is Phynn from The Poultry Store. No, it’s the one on the other side of Ohio River. Yes, that’s me. I was calling to get some information concerning game hens. Flemish ones. Yes, they are quite expensive. (He looks at Debit with “I told you so.”) A highly intelligent customer of mine would like to know the average weight of Flemish hens in grams please. Oh, he’s well educated in the field of civics. Yes, he’s an excellent American citizen. Debit’s his name. Quite peculiar, isn’t it?
Debit: Hey now! Don’t go chatting on about me. That’s not very professional business.
Phynn: Shh! I’m on the phone. Please be patient and urbane. (Back to the phone) I’m sorry that was Debit. He doesn’t want me talking about him, that’s all. He’s a bit average-looking if you ask me.
Debit: What’s going on?
Phynn: Are you single?
Debit: That is none of your business. Just tell me about the game hens or I walk out of here.
Phynn: Well, it’s just that the lady from headquarters is interested in you.
Debit: Really? But she doesn’t even know me.
Phynn: She knows you are highly intelligent and average-looking.
Debit: Is average-looking good enough for her?
Phynn: Well, she is a bit on the heavy side.
Debit: How much is a bit?
Phynn: I don’t know. Say about 170 to 180 pounds, not that heavy.
Debit: Is she a tall woman?
Phynn: She’s a few inches shorter than you, Mr. Debit.
Debit: Tell her I’m not interested in her, but I am interested in the average weight of a Flemish game hen.
Phynn: I don’t think she’ll take kindly to that, sir.
Debit: Go on.
Phynn: (back on the phone) Yes, hello? Hello? (hangs up) She must have heard us talking.
Debit: Call her back.
Phynn: I can’t do that. (a caped customer walks in) Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the poultry store.
Rotness: You need not welcome me to your poulty store, and may I point out that—
Debit: There’s only you and me in the store. He knows.
Rotness: One thing I do not tolerate is an interruption, especially when it is I who is being interrupted.
Phynn: I apologize for past and future hindrances to your reputation, my patron.
Rotness: Don’t call me your patron when I haven’t purchased anything yet. And I don’t plan to do so either.
Phynn: May I inquire the nature of your visit then?
Rotness: You reserve the right to mind your own business.
Debit (whispers to Phynn): He’s a bit hoity-toity, isn’t he?
Rotness: Fellow visitor, please make no snap judgments about me for I haven’t done so for you. Thank God in heaven for that for I would have damned you so.
Debit: You do not have the ability to damn anyone.
Rotness: Would you like to try me?
Phynn: Humble Debit, please back down from the man’s threats. I wish neither of you harm.
Debit: Could we continue with return call to headquarters before I purchase your Flemish game hens?
Rotness: Did I hear you say Flemish game hens? Are you intending to eat them?
Debit: You reserve the right to mind your own business.
Rotness: That’s plagerism. I have a copyright on my words wherever I go.
Phynn: It is possible that I could make an educated guess about the average weight of a Flemish game hen.
Debit: Please do it, sir.
Phynn: It will take an estimate of 24 hours to successfully guess the weight. Could you come back tomorrow?
Debit: The thought of Flemish game hen on my palate has been palpitating in my head since I heard about their succulence.
Phynn: I understand completely. How about you pay $20 dollars now for them, and you can pay the difference tomorrow? And if the total cost is under $20, I will refund you the difference.
Debit (pulling out a $20 bill): Consider it a deal.
Rotness: Man and woman must not dine on poultry!
Debit: Practice your tragedies elsewhere, Shakespeare.
Phynn: Shh! He’s a potential customer. (Hands over the game hens)
Rotness: I refuse to be tagged as a customer, consumer, patron, or what have you.
Debit: I will now bow out of this performance. Thank you for the wonderful game hens.
Phynn: Thank you too, wise Debit. I look forward to your presence tomorrow.
Debit: Adieu.
Rotness: Was that fool speaking French?
Phynn: Only to bid farewell. (pause) How do you acquire goods and services, sir, without exchanging them for monetary units?
Rotness: I would like to hear your theory on how I acquire goods and services.
Phynn: Please do not hate me for what I am about to say.
Rotness: I cannot make such a promise, I’m sorry. Go on and tell me.
Phynn: I presume you are a shoplifter.
Rotness: Ha! I am no petty thief!
Phynn: Can you excuse my false assumption?
Rotness: Ah…no! Do you not know who I am?
Phynn: A whimsical man of half-nature, one of diabolical background I suppose.
Rotness: Would my name be Satan to you?
Phynn: I refuse to answer that question.
Rotness: You already have, and you are wrong for I am not Satan or Wormwood or Lucifer, the Morning Star.
Phynn: Then you are some cunning apparition of deceit.
Rotness: I am no ghost! My name is Rotness.
Phynn: Oh, I should have guessed.
Rotness: You did guess and the guess was quite off.
Phynn: And how shall I entertain your presence, Mr. Rotness?
Rotness: Do not address me as Mister. Do I look like a mister to you?
Phynn: I didn’t know misters had a look about them.
Rotness: Oh, they do indeed, and my look is the furthest from theirs.
Phynn: You don’t say.
Rotness: I just did, but I will say nothing more of the fact.
Phynn: May I inquire again how I shall entertain your presence?
Rotness: I require no entertainment from you at all. I would just like to take one last look at this store before…(sighs)
Phynn: Before what?
(Rotness looks into the air passionately and reaches out his hand to thin air.)
Phynn: Your presence has instilled fear into my heart ever since you and your cape entered.
Rotness: I have a tendency to do things of that nature, but I have no apologies to give. I admire the air I exude.
Phynn: Don’t you mean “exhale?”
Rotness: Quiet! Let my last glimpses of this store be in peace.
(Phynn looks awfully concerned. Rotness now outstretches both of his hands.)
THE END

Verse Nine

2006-06-23T08:59:00.001-05:00

Grabbing and stuffing--there is no end to it.

- Consuming is a fact of life.
- One cannot stop the consuming of individuals.
- There is no permanent satisfaction.

Application: As a human being, I have to eat and drink. I believe this line criticizes the abuse of these primal needs. Taoism appeals to me because it does not list forbidden food such as pork, beef, or meat in general. Instead it stresses moderation. No matter how tempting food is, as it is in the United States, don't pig out. This verse can also be applied to shopping as it has become an epidemic in modern civilization. People are grabbing and stuffing all the time and they get so caught up in it that they forget why they are buying all that junk. Practicing moderation helps people remain aware of what and why they are grabbing and stuffing. Compared to the average American, I believe I do quite well here. But I will still gorge on my favorite foods and I endlessly grab music.

Sharpen a blade too much and its edge will soon be lost. Fill a house with gold and jade and no one can protect it. Puff yourself with honor and pride and no one can save you from a fall.

- Too much action causes its reverse effect.
- The excess of the yang energy is harmful.
- What goes up must come down.

Application: These lines describe the problems of excess. I see this as a direct criticism toward super-capitalism. The first sentence can be applied to military practices. The second sentence can be applied to the hoarding of luxurious things. The third sentence can be applied to vanity. As an American, I feel that this is a warning for my society. And because I just watched Superman, I can foresee our society ignoring its signs of weakness because it is lost in the glow of its own vanity. The rest of the world, even ourselves, like to see the mighty fall. We just don't want to see ourselves fall. Hopefully we can be rescued by acquiring humility and moderation. How? This blog is my own personal attempt, and I hope others try similar methods. Christianity preaches both humility and moderation, so one does not have to abandon his or her faith.

Complete the task at hand. Be selfless in your actions--This is the way of Heaven. This is the way to Heaven.

- Selflessness is in the yin energy.
- Doing things for all comes back to you.
- Being selfless is reducing one's individuality.

Application: I like verse 9 of the Tao Te Ching because it provides a simple observation followed by closer observation and ends with a solution to the observed problems. Vanity is self-absorption, loving oneself at the expense of others. This quickly erodes relationships. I can see this taken to the national level. This is the ultimate expression of the yang energy--the male, individualistic, aggressive side--and will create an imbalance in oneself or in the world. Nature has a tendency to return things to balance, and we can help nature by using more yin energy--the female, holistic, passive side. If I realize that I am a part of this universe, then anything helpful I do for others is obviously helpful for me. Selflessly helping is the remedy, but most individuals have a knee-jerk reaction because of fear (of someone taking advantage) and desire (to get something in return). At this point, I can see how fear and desire are the driving forces behind the yang energy. I myself have these problems, and it is very difficult to overcome. I think meditation helps in the breakthrough because constantly living in a materialistic yang-driven world does not help.

Verse Eight

2006-06-22T11:41:00.001-05:00

The best way to live is to be like water. For water benefits all things and goes against none of them. It provides for all people and even cleanses those places a man is loath to go. In this way it is good just like Tao.

- Water is the passive connector of an individual
- Water has an observable cycle
- Water is an essential element of life--one cannot live without it.
- Water can be seen as a unified whole and as individual drops, shaped by its container
- The body is a container for water, but we often value the container more

Application: Before reading the Tao Te Ching, I already placed a high personal value on water. After reading, I value it even more. It provides a great analogy to life. Perhaps water is life, since nothing on Earth can live without it. As for the metaphor, I try my best to live like water but the passivity is difficult.

Live in accordance with the nature of things: Build your house on solid ground. Keep your mind still. When giving, be kind. When speaking, be truthful. When ruling, be just. When working, be one-pointed. When acting, remember--timing is everything.

- Confucius restated

Application: This seems to be an easy checklist. #1) I would never consider building a home on unstable ground. Does this include living in an earthquake zone? #2) How long should I keep my mind still? Should I keep it still as long as nothing is asked of me? If so, I have failed. I've been busy keeping it occupied. #3) I'm usually kind when I give unless I know I'm giving it to a thankless person, so I guess I need more discipline there. I should not be giving for reward. #4) Except when joking around, I am as honest as possible. But one who brags about his honesty cannot be trusted. #5) I couldn't think of another way to rule than justly. #6) Even though it is a valuable skill these days, multi-tasking kills brain cells. #7) I don't know about acting but I can deliver a good joke if I wanted to.

One who lives in accordance with nature does not go against the way of things. He moves in harmony with the present moment always knowing the truth of just what to do.

- Persistence is futile, destiny overrides individual plans
- Accepting the present resolves all worry
- Quietude delivers action
- One can feel the passing of energy towards, away, and through oneself
- Worry, anxiety, and force only prevent or elongate what is coming

Application: Earlier in my life, I have seen this occur so often. When I leave the path of the future to God, everything worked out. Only when I feel that I have to control my future path do things turn out wrong. My job is to focus only on the present. The past is over and the future does not exist as far as I'm concerned. The feeling of anxiety is the feeling of interfering with the way of things. God/unity/nature does not like to be interfered with by an individual, so the path changes direction. That feeling of worry is a warning sign that I should not do anything except be calm and live in the present moment.

The Poem That Wanted Three Parts

2006-06-21T12:08:00.001-05:00

Part One
The glorious husher bus
Escorts marbles of blossom huts
On roads and promenades to
Blistering shadows overcast by masks
Leather bound figurines prance
To the effortless window
Making gyroscopic visions turn opaque
And another sunlight falls
Missing its target and illuminating
A darkness that should have never been bright
So the glass is reversed and the ball unrolls
A door hinges itself from the frame
Walking up the steps that once before lead down
To the new heaven that drowned in the flood

Part Two
A dipped toe sends a circular vibration
To the outer limits of the oceans
Sending glaciers to crash into the salty liquid
Guilt rushes to the toe as blood rushes to the brain
And the shoeless matron is sent to the ward
Her sins are forgiven but she threw away the keys
To the paper prison she has folded on her lap

Part Three
A smattering of daffodils
Can’t be force-fed to a fence
That meant to keep all the dancers out
A flower never plucked can’t be compared to anyone
So the man in the horn-rimmed glasses
Smears paint all over the place
But he missed a spot in the contemporary kitchen
Where the silver microwave shines
The spot between the magnets of Stanley Turrentine
And a jazz drummer whose name I forgot
Is left with his records in the garbage to rot
Unless that speckled girl grows up very fast
She’ll never know about his music from the past
Instead she will hum to the beat of a dance
That tells her she’ll make money if she takes off her pants
But lucky for her the record was saved
And now her hairy legs will never be shaved
She will start a movement of great equality
At the moment she is served some chamomile tea

Verse Seven

2006-06-20T14:05:00.001-05:00

Heaven is ancient. Earth is long-lasting. Why is this so?--Because they have no claims to life. By having no claims to life they cannot be claimed by death.

- Time has little or no effect on the lifeless
- When without life, time stands still or slows down
- Time moves fast as one pursues individuality
- Time is something to possess as an individual--a desire and a cause of suffering.

Application: I have been able to transcend time a few times in life. In those instances, time has both sped up and slowed down. I cannot explain why it speeds up one time and slows down another. Ten years ago when I meditated a lot with music, I remember the speed of the songs going faster and faster. That perception freaked me and snapped me out of my meditation. I wonder what would have happened if I didn't freak out. And no, it's not because the batteries were running low. I checked that option to make sure I wasn't going crazy. It is because of personal events like these that I believe we can manipulate time, or at least our perception of time. Unfortunately, society likes us to be constantly aware of the passage of time which makes it more difficult for us to retire from or reduce our yang (individualistic) energy.

The Sage puts his own views behind so ends up ahead. He stays a witness to life so he endures. What could he grab for that he does not already have? What could he do for himself that the universe has not already done?

- Let the experience of all satisfy your own experience
- Let your fleeting desires dissovle as your perceive the possessions of all
- Everything has been done, is taking place, and will be done
- Everything is possible because it has been done
- The imagination is the window to what is not here now
- What is imagined has either been done or will be done or both

Application: The part of Verse 7 is exactly in line with my beliefs since I started philosophizing decades ago. I believe we have two views of the universe. Our waking/individual view is of the present, as a mind and body seperate from the rest of the world. Our still/unity view spans all dimensions of time, as a part of the whole. For example, when your dream, you sometimes see the world through your own eyes and sometimes you see the world through the eyes of other's or from an outside observer. We are not always perceiving the world as ourselves in dreams. Dreams do not represent the actual individual world, but I believe the do represent a reality outside our individual world. Again, language does not do justice to describe this. If you understand, then you probably have a similar philosophy as mine. If you do not understand, I either am I terrible writer or your philosophy is different. If it is different and you want to understand, I recommend meditation with metaphysical contemplation. Think about getting to the bottom of one of your deeply rooted fears or desires permanently. That's how I got to this philosophy. The more you learn about yourself, the more you learn about the universe. Science is doing the same thing in reverse.

Verse Six

2006-06-19T09:41:00.001-05:00

Endlessly creating. Endlessly pulsating. The Spirit of the Valley never dies. She is called the Hidden Creator.

- The origin, the starting point, the first, existence itself, awareness
- All as one, the Unity, the Tao

Application: This is quite similar to my concept of God, which doesn't seem to different than most other creation deities. Because of this I can claim that I believe in God. We can argue over the characteristics of God later.

Although She becomes the whole universe, Her immaculate purity is never lost. Although She assumes countless forms, Her true identity remains intact. Whatever we see or don't see, whatever exists or doesn't exist is nothing but the creation of this Supreme Power.

- All is one restated, femininity reaffirmed
- Everything real and unreal spanning past, present, and future

Application: This is similar to my belief that if God exists, then nothing is impossible. Everything real or imagined has existed, does exist, or will exist. The "rules" of time and space do not apply to God, the universe. Only our perceptions apply to these "rules."

Tao is limitless, unborn, and eternal--it can only be reached through the Mysterious Female. She is the very face of the Absolute. The gate to the source of all things eternal.

- Acknowledging the power of the yin, the female as the bringer of life
- Yin energy is transitional energy from one being of existence to another
- One is born weak and dies weak
- Weakness is a sign of metamorphosis

Application: This is one of my favorite conclusions that weakness or passivity is an indication that one is about to change. Birth and death are obvious examples, but admitting one's faults is a brave admission of weakness that brings about change. Being strong all the time is not good for one's life. This can also be applied to communities and nations as well as individuals. It is a good reason why so many people are put off by machismo and stubborness. I don't have much machismo, but I can be quite stubborn at times. Verse 6 of the Tao Te Ching helps me rethink my reasons for that trait.

Listen to Her voice, hear it echo through creation. Without fail, She reveals her presence. Without fail, She brings us to our own perfection.

- Passivity is illuminating, strength is empowering
- Peace is accomplished when the power of war is depleated

Application: The best way to listen to Her voice is through meditation. To those unfamiliar with Eastern philosophy, meditation may seem weak, passive, and vulnerable. But one must let go of all that tension created by fear and desire to actually grow strong through meditation. That's how opposites are found together. To become strong, one must become weak. Meditation is not prayer for strength, it is letting go of one's fear of being weak and one's desire to or defeat overcome "the enemy." Now I'm getting too abstract and the holes in this logic can really rip it apart, but that's why Taoism does not believe language is a good device to "explain" the Tao.

Blue Balloon/Dry Spittoon

2006-06-18T17:43:00.001-05:00

The man’s cartoon
Came on a cart
And dished out
On a pan of film
Spun out on a reel
Shown on a silver screen
The laughter fainted
The crowd calmed
Throats cleared
Eyes teared
Mangy beard
Thought it weird

Verse Five

2006-06-17T17:48:00.001-05:00

Heaven and Earth have no preference.

- They exist without desire or choice.

Application: As an individual, I am not heaven or earth because I have preferences. To understand their points of view, I would have to purge my desires.

A man may choose one over another but to Heaven and Earth all are the same. The high, the low, the great, the small--all are given light, all get a place to rest.

- In a world of individuals, there is choice, but there is no choice when all is one.
- All are created equal and they return equal
- Choice is the gift of individuality--free will

Application: I should celebrate my individuality by making good choices for myself. My choices define myself apart from others. But I must not forget that my choices do not matter to unity or God. When I join unity or God, all my choices disappear.

The Sage is like Heaven and Earth. To him none are especially dear nor is there anyone he disfavors. He gives and gives without condition offering his treasure to everyone.

- There is no love but the love for all
- Agape and no individual love, which requires a choice and preference
- When one loves all, one can give all
- Since he is a part of everyone, his treasure is "shared" rather than "given."
- When one has no possessions, one has no material treasure to give.

Application: This is difficult for me or any married or engaged person because a choice and preference has been made in love. I cannot always love all without loving her a little bit more. In times of meditation, this is possible. But in my waking everyday life, my love becomes selective and scaled. This makes me an individual and defines who I am. If I really wanted to obtain the status of a Sage, I would have to shed all preferences which means treating all friends and family the same as total strangers--in a good way. I'm not prepared for this, and I don't think I want to be at this moment.

The universe is like a bellows--It stays empty yet is never exhausted. It gives out yet always brings forth more.

- Another analogy of the importance of empty space, the invisible connection
- The connecting space gives out and brings forth new relationships
- Emptiness shifts and fluently changes

Application: Before I discovered Taoism, I have been aware of the nature of change and the shifting of relationships. These two matters should not cause anxiety because that is the way of things. For most things, change does not worry me. As an optimist, I believe something good will come out of the worst changes (like 9/11). As a pessimist, I believe something bad will come out of the best changes (new job). Nature tends to balance things out, so I never expect any good or bad thing to last forever.

Man is not like this. When he blows out air like a bellows, he becomes exhausted. Man was not made to blow out air. He was made to sit quietly and find the truth within.

- Space flows within and without us.
- The more passive we are, the more nature can influence us and reveal its path.
- We are not meant to act, but allow actions to act upon us.

Application: I see this as the struggle between our individuality and unity. It's a power struggle. If I foresee something about to happen, and I try my best to control the outcome--that is my individuality struggling against unity or nature. And it's a losing struggle. It's better for me not to act aggressively. This doesn't mean do nothing. It means try but without anxiety. Anxiety will only effect the outcome negatively. The feeling of anxiety is the feeling of the individual in a losing struggle against nature. Once I recognize this, it is easier to calm down.

Verse Four

2006-06-16T13:36:00.001-05:00

Tao is empty yet it fills every vessel with endless supply.
Tao is hidden yet it shines in every corner of the universe

Energy in the void
Space holds everything together
The importance of water to the ocean dwellers
The importance of air to the land dwellers
Water and air are both visible and invisible
When you fear it, you see it
When you don’t, you don’t see it, and it helps you to live

Application: When I’ve been full of anxiety, what usually helps me does not. What is usually beneficial around me fails because I am full of the negative energy of fear and anxiety. I become too conscious of what I am anxious about and it overtakes me that all I can exude is negativity, which will inevitably disappear when I stop worrying. Those closest to me have been the measuring devices for this effect, unfortunately.

With it, the sharp edges become smooth, the twisted knots loosen, the sun is softened by a cloud, the dust settles into place.

· Time is also like water and air
· It’s only perceived when in fear, fully conscious of one’s individuality
· The erosion is beneficial
· Time serves unity and not the individual

Application: Time is only a problem when meeting your selfish needs from survival to working at a job. I should think of time like water. The more we struggle against time, the faster we drown. It’s only when we are calm that we can float and go with the current. The four dimensions (space & time) help us along our path, and I am aware of struggling against it when I start struggling against them.

So deep, so pure, so still—It has been this way forever
You may ask, “Whose child is it?”—but I cannot say
The child was here before the Great Ancestor

· Time is timeless
· Everything in the individual world can be measured
· Everything in unity cannot be measured
· We are always here, but I will pass away
· The Great Ancestor is the big bang, Adam and Eve, the birth of the individual

Application: When contemplating the known or perceivable universe, I must keep in mind that it is a universe of individuals. I am an individual in a universe where everything appears separate and is labeled so. But beyond our perceptions is the universe of unity, that is constant and timeless. The rules of the individual universe do not apply to the unified universe. All I know is that Unity is the source of all individuals and the perception of individuals. The closest we can grasp Unity is when we view all as one. For me, this happens during meditation. And the great feeling dissipates once I regain my individuality.

Transcribing Over

2006-06-12T09:45:00.002-05:00

I haven’t been posting too much on this blog because I’ve been transcribing the Tao Te Ching since March. I have finally completed it today, so I will be able to post on this blog more regularly. I thought I would be able to both transcribe and personalize the transcription on this blog at the same time, but that ended up becoming too time-consuming—up to three hours a day!

Now I can replace the transcription time with blogging time. I will also try to interweave some dada-type writings to cut through the seriousness, as my life philosophy is to balance life as spiritually serious and humorously meaningless.

Also, the goal of this blog has been compromised because I have recently read a book called Counter Culture Through the Ages which addressed similar themes. The author successfully connected Taoism to dadaism along with other countercultures such as the popular movement in the late Sixties and the Transcendentalists of the mid 19th Century. Even though I've been inspired by his book, I will try to keep this blog focused on the two counter cultures, both of which have been reactions to great wars of their time.

Taoism pointed out the flaws of Confucian philosophy that brought on countless wars in Asia. Dadaism pointed out the flaws of modern European civiliazation that brought on the first World War. What are the flaws of today's society that brought on today's wars? There are many, but I believe the main ones to be global capitalism and fundamentalist monotheism.

God is money.

The Softer Side of Sunny-Side-Up Eggs

2006-06-02T16:49:00.001-05:00

Are the Taoist verses too serious for you? Then have at this bit o'fun:

Orange Drink with 1% Fruit Juice
Lemon-Lime Pop

These are the taboo drinks of Generation ZZ Top (2005-2020)
ZZ Top paid $1.5 million dollars to the Mormon Church of Latter Day Saints to have the next generation named after them. The following generations have been named:
2020-2035: The NutraSweet Generation
2076-2081: Generation YKK (zipper company)
2090-2100: Monty Python’s Flying Generation
2145-2160: Generation Imperial Margarine
2160-2175: People Generation
2195-2210: McGeneration (all humans born in this time period are entitled to free fries for every order of 2 burgers, but by that time 1 burger will cost about $41.89, so McDonald’s won’t really be losing any money)
2285-2299: Paramount Pictures & Star Trek: Generation
2323-2332: Generation AT & T
2490-2505: Roger F. Alfredson’s Generation (who is this man?)
2986-3001: MacGeneration (not to get confused with McGeneration of the turn of the 23rd Century, Mac beat out Microsoft for this spot whereas Bill Gates turned and said he had better things to do with his free time)
All remain generation slots are currently available, but we’re really seeking names that do not endorse 20th and early 21st Century products because hopeful during those future years of cerebral enlightenment, these companies will be long forgotten. Thank you, Roger F. Alfredson, although you could have picked some catchy name. A reward will be given to the most creative generation name. So far we’re at a tie with McGeneration & MacGeneration. Way to go, Scotland!

Verse Three

2006-05-11T11:20:00.001-05:00

Putting a value on status will cause people to compete. Hoarding treasure will turn them into thieves. Showing off possessions will disturb their daily lives.

All these are examples of selfishness, an expression of individuality.
These are examples of a world of individuals, all yang and no yin.
These are done when one loses sight of unity
Power and greed

Application: I see this expressed the most on television commercials, people showing off their status symbols and stocking up with "savings." I try my best not to get caught in this faux value. When it comes to possessions, I take the most pride in my music collection. I believe it does not disturb people's daily lives except when I listen to it loudly. I probably put the most value on the status of my career, and I can really feel the heat of the competition right now. I wish I could avoid competing with my peers for a better status of employment.

Thus the Sage rules by stilling minds and opening hearts, by filling bellies and strengthening bones. He shows people how to be simple and live without desires, to be content and not look for other ways. With people so pure, who could trick them? What clever ideas could lead them astray?

The meditative state of "wu wei:" actionless action.
This occurs when one perceives the unity instead of the individual.
"Clever ideas" of the individual world cannot apply to the unified world

Application: This is very close to Buddhism with the belief that desire leads to suffering. At this point in my life, I am living simply with no home and no job but that creates a huge desire for those things. My mind will not be still nor my heart open if I desire them so much. I'm easily tricked and easily lead astray to whatever can get me a job. I've failed miserably here.

When action is pure and selfless everything settles into its own perfect place.

Nature takes its course in human events.
The individual serves unity, an expression of all.
Why does this individuality come to us so naturally?
We are meant to experience both without ignoring each of them.

Application: The only action I am involved in is job hunting. It is pure but not selfless. I have to perceive that the right job will come to me rather than the other way around. Once I have confidence in the way of things, then I can ease back and I will settle into my own perfect place. Worrying is pointless. I should just do what I have to do and do no more.

Verse Two

2006-05-01T10:33:00.001-05:00

Everyone recognizes beauty only because of ugliness.
Everyone recognizes virtue only because of sin.

Personal truth is shallow in that qualities are only recognized in contrast.
If everyone is beautiful, the no one is, and the label of beauty is useless
Labels of quality need comparisons
All individual colors come from the same light
If everyone is virtuous, the no one is, there is no virtue
Perfection is not attainable as an individual

Application: It's very difficult to live through life without describing its qualities. What I have to remember is that all description is not permanent. Out of respect, I dislike to label people. But respect itself is a quality that wouldn't exist without disrespect. Labeling helps us distinguish ourselves and helps us form judgments. We cannot live without judging people to some extent. Think of survival, who would you turn to if you needed to be pulled out from under a fiery blaze--a strong fit man most likely.

Life and death are born together. Difficult and easy, long and short, high and low--all these things exist together. Sound and silence blend as one. Before and after arrive as one.

Permanence of one quality is not obtainable.
Change is universal. This is a contradictory statement.
Qualities exist through personal perception, but do not as "seen" by all.

Application: I've always believed this because, before Taoism, I believed that everything is possible. And I had the fascination of the infinite and infinitesimal being one in the same. The microcosm is the macrocosm. This idea has been pushed in a lot of science fiction these days, but I don't know if a lot of SF fans grasp it philosophically or spiritually. If we all believed this, then there would be no fear of death, or fear at all.

The Sage acts without action and teaches without talking. All things flourish around him and he does not refuse any one of them. He gives but not to receive. He works but not for reward. He completes but not for results. He does nothing for himself in this passing world, so nothing he does ever passes.

This is the love for unity. The Sage prefers to love all than himself, as he is a part of all.
Giving to all includes oneself, so by giving one loses nothing.
Actions are reciprocal.
This is very hard to achieve in a world full of individuality.
Individualism is the narrowest perception of the world. Seek all within yourself. Don't do all for yourself.

Application: All great religious founders have done this selfless giving and loving. They realized that the giving and loving flows through and cannot be stopped and gathered up. I find it very difficult to do this because it means completely trusting the world. I am too afraid of being taken advantage of. If I give and give, there is going to be someone out there who will thanklessly take and take. But that's my problem--the need for thanks. As an individual, I would feel like the world's doormat. If I perceived the world as the religious founders have, I would not have that feeling. It's a great risk. And the fear of taking that risk prevents me from advancing any further spiritually.

Verse One

2006-04-05T11:50:00.001-05:00

Today I will start sharing my philosophy through my personal interpretation of the Tao Te Ching. I believe that I can express my views best through this lucid work of ancient philosophy.

I have omitted the first few lines of verse one because those lines have been interpreted the most, almost exhaustively. The major theme of the beginning of verse one is how the Tao cannot be expressed through human language, so it is futile to entirely grasp the Tao through reading someone else's words. The Tao must be grasped without listening to or reading the words of any individual. It is found through the still mind.

The purpose of this blog and future blogs is to express my outlook on life if you care to know. It's so close to Taoism anyway. My goal is not to enlighten you, but to explain me. Me, me, me, me. Let's me begin. Words in italics are from an English translation of the Tao Te Ching. It is referenced in my first posting.

A mind free of thought, merged within itself, beholds the essence of Tao.
A mind filled with thought, indentified with its own perceptions, beholds the mere forms of the world.

Our mind and our thoughts are part of our individuality.
Even our perceptions are our own and not shared.
Universal truth cannot be sought by thinking or perceiving as an individual.
Universal truth arrives when one ceases to do anything as an individual.

Application: When I'm feeling deeply philosophical, I have to meditate until I lose my individuality, my identity. This is hard to do if you've never done it before--almost impossible. If you can't do it, try to perceive all as one. There are no objects or people, just the one. That's the point in which you can attempt to grasp the universal truth. The problem is you can't take it with you once you're back in your identity. It does apply to us as individuals because we are all one.

Tao and this world seem different but in truth they are one and the same. The only difference is in what we call them.

Objective vs. subjective perspectives
Classifying objects as seperate from everything is futile
Labeling things, actions, and qualities is a human invention
Labels seperate and cause division when there is none
Labels help the individual but not the unified whole
What helps one, hurts all, in the game of survival

Application: This is difficult to avoid in the material world. Everything is labeled. What is worse is that almost everything has a price. Thanks to capitalism, we are near to commodifying anything that can be labeled. This is the extreme of individuality (or the yang). What can I do about it? Nothing but wait. As with nature, when one reaches an extreme it fails its mission. This hyper-capitalism will not last.

How deep and mysterious is this unity. How profound, how great! It is truth beyond the truth, the hidden within the hidden. It is the path to all wonder, the gate to the essence of everything.

Universal truth is beyond personal truth
What is hidden in both microcosm and macrocosm is the essence of everything
Space between particles, waves, and systems is more meaningful than the objects because it brings everything together
Relationships are the key to existence

Application: This is the traditional perspective of East Asian cultures, where relationships hold more value than rules. For me to apply this perspective means for me to change my culture. Quite difficult. I've been in Asia for a while to see that "modern" Asians are switching to Western perspectives. One can no longer immerse oneself in an Asian culture and expect this perspective to "rub off" on oneself.

Confucius and his followers has written everything you need to know about human relationships, but I find that too extreme. He loses focus of the natural universe to give as many details as possible about maintaining harmony in human relations. Lao Tzu puts humanity in their place in nature. This is why I follow Taoism because I don't believe humans are "above" nature. We are nature. And the further we remove ourselves from nature, the faster we destroy our humanity. I see it happening now.

What do I do? I try to pay more attention to spaces than objects. I can do this very well at times as I find myself engaged in a lot of emptiness between jobs. It's always the gaps between jobs that are more exciting than the jobs themselves. I must learn to see is at exhilirating rather than worrying. It's hard to maintain that perspective as the waiting period expands.

List Poem

2006-03-30T18:30:00.001-05:00

The Clatter
Clung
Clip-on Ties
The Chlorine
Cupboards of
Cupcakes
Tin Snakes
Bell Bottoms
Mop Tops
Tip Toes
Pantyhose
Drip Dry
Sinkhole
Upscale
Downscale
Rags
Towels
Muffin Racks
Spider Bites
Sea Urchins
The List
The Lisp
Opossums
Blossoms
Cardboard
Cabinet
Snacks
Salty
Crusty
Chimney
Trees
Elbows and
Elevators
Torches
Vultures
Backstabbers
Claxon
Ringers
Buzz
Tone
Foul
Spurts
Talc
Gym
Pox
Lax
Flack
Stump
Porch
Chip
Pinch
Skimp
Till
Vial
Zone
Quill
Jar
Sand
Damp
Conch
Fork
Tooth

Philosophy Update

2006-03-14T14:02:00.001-05:00

After reading through the excerpts of my philosophy, I can clearly see the dualism that unite and divide humans and myself. Since this is my blog, I'll just go on about myself.

I like dadaism for self-expression and I like Taoism for self-reflection. I see that a balance of self-expression and self-reflection keep one "healthy." If I express myself too much (like on blogs), I may grow to become egocentric--expressing myself only to admire the sound of my own voice or the style of my own writing. On the other hand, if I become too withdrawn due to my excessive self-reflection, I may lose touch with friends and family. Perhaps I would gain enlightenment but it would be at the expense of living in the modern world. I'm beginning to sound as if I'm advocating the middle ground or the "middle way," which is Taoist.

For me to clearly understand Taoism, I look at the pair of opposites, specifically unity and individuality. Unity could be interpreted as the yin (feminine) and individuality could be interpreted as the yang (masculine). Later on, I will try to express my philosophy through my intepretation of the Tao Te Ching.

My Philosophy

2006-03-14T13:47:00.001-05:00

Before I "discovered" Taoism, I finally wrote down my perceptions on metaphysical issues. I compared what I wrote down to the summaries of all major world religions and found that Taoism was the closest to my personal philosophy. Here are the some of things I wrote back in October of 2004.

Truths
1. All things imaginable have existed, exist, or will exist.
2. All events have happened, are happening, or will happen.
3. Everything imaginable exists.
4. Everything imaginable is possible.

Myths (or I lack faith in...)
"Heaven" in the traditional sense.
Determinism (by an all-controlling God)
"Evil" in the traditional sense.

Beliefs
I believe in God as the source of energy.
I believe in the unity of all humanity through goodness.
I believe that the destruction of life should be avoided at all costs.
I believe that humans are instinctively good because we are born with the same ambition to bring everlasting peace and harmony in the world.
I believe evil is expressed because of people’s frustrations with their limitations.
I believe the ambition of power is the biggest obstacle in obtaining peace and harmony.
I believe in life after death.

UNITY & INDIVIDUALITY
At this moment in time, I see life as the experience of individuality and “the other life” as the experience of unity. When we are born as human beings, we are taken away from the union of mother and child and given our own individuality. It takes years for a child to gain the experience of individuality. It takes even longer for people to gain the experience of total individuality, which can be synonymous with freedom. I believe that as long as we are living, our goal is to become all that we can become as individuals; we should celebrate our own individuality. In addition, we should equally celebrate the individuality of others. This is very difficult for people and societies to do.
I believe the main cause for the struggle for people to celebrate total individuality and freedom is rooted in power. Using a Christian term, I believe that power is the ultimate “sin.” Power corrupts people. The pursuit of power causes mistrust and fear. And the prolonging of mistrust and fear causes hate and destructive conflict.
How does this relate to individuality? Power is the negative expression of individuality. Instead of celebrating one’s individuality, one is enforcing one’s own individuality. For example, if I take my own beliefs and share them with others, I am celebrating my individuality by saying, “This is my idea. Let me share it with you.” If I take my beliefs and force them upon others, I enforce my individuality by saying, “This is my idea. Follow it because it is good.” That quote sounds a lot like many popular deities.
Even if my idea is good, I cannot force it upon others because then I am corrupted. I can share the idea, and celebrate others’ individuality by letting them decide. If I force anything upon others, such as ideas (mentally) and work (physically), I take away people’s individuality. They lose their own freedoms. In a sense, I become greater than them. I am better, and I deserve more. People start to fear me. Others with the same goal start to mistrust me. A competitive cycle has begun. I want people to unite under me. And that type of unity, submissiveness is never permanent. The only permanent unity is the one experienced after life.
During one’s life, we see many individuals (disguised behind a group of individuals) who want to unite the world. Uniting the world is an inherent goal every individual has, but it can never be obtained by force. Everyone wants to bring harmony and peace to the world, and this can only be achieved by letting other’s be, by celebrating everyone’s individuality. People in power refuse to do this because they will lose their power. World unity can only be achieved if people stop seeking power.
The human species is so removed from nature nowadays that we do not need the desire for power to survive. The greatest threat people have in this world is themselves. We are not going to be dominated by any other species or beings (unless extraterrestrial life exists, but that’s a separate concept). In one outlook, it is depressing to know that the world will never unite peacefully as long as there is a struggle for power. In another outlook, it is uplifting to know that the world will be united without struggle. A war will never bring unity unless the war has convinced every person to give up the struggle.
It is also comforting to know that unity will be experienced upon death, the end of our individuality. We no longer experience the world as an individual, but as a being united with the world. After life, we cannot express ourselves because we do not have ourselves. We are “one with God,” pure energy, merged with the Creator, fused to the universe. This is a peaceful time where we feel the whole universe and understand its existence. Perceptions and conceptions are infinite and shared. It is also constant, without measure of time and space. It is death, and it should not be feared. The fear of death is the chief cause for every individual to submit under people of power.
In conclusion, there are two known experiences: life and death or individuality and unity. All who read this currently experience life or individuality, and fear death. If the reader is forced to read this, I have gained power over them. If the reader is interested in reading this, the reader and I have celebrated our individuality—the reader has decided what to do with the information and I have shared my thoughts. If the reader demands to read this, he has gained power over me.

Waldo & Carmen Santiago Are Here

2006-03-06T12:59:00.001-05:00

Accident, Maryland
Ache, Pennsylvania
Acidalia, New York
Africa, Ohio
Arctic Springs, Indiana
Asia, Tennessee
Bacon, Delaware
Bacon, Texas
Bad Axe, Michigan
Beefhide, Kentucky
Beersville, Pennsylvania
Ben Hur, Arkansas
Bias, West Virginia
Big Indian, New York
Big Patch, Wisconsin
Black Betsy, West Virginia
Blackland, Mississippi
Bone Lick, West Virginia
Boring, Maryland
Boring, Oregon
Boy, Texas
Bread Loaf, Vermont
Brewer, Maine
Bush Patch, Pennsylvania
Buttonwillow, California
Buttzville, New Jersey
Buttzville, North Dakota
Cheat Neck, West Virginia
Cheesequake, New Jersey
Chicken, Alaska
Chicken, Kentucky
Christian Center, Missouri
Christmas, Arizona
Christmas, Florida
Christmas, Michigan
Christmas, Mississippi
Chocolate Bayou, Texas
City, Minnesota
City Limits, Utah
Climax Springs, Missouri
Clitherall, Minnesota
Cow Town, Arizona
Cow Town, Kansas
Crapo, Maryland
Crapo Farm, Michigan
Cream, Wisconsin
Deadhorse, Alaska
Devils Garden, Florida
Dinosaur City, Arizona
Dogwalk, Kentucky
Dollar, Tennessee
Dooms, Virginia
Dull, Ohio
Dull, Tennessee
Dull Center, Wyoming
Dwarf, Kentucky
Elysian Fields, Texas
Experiment, Arkansas
Experiment, Pennsylvania
Fagg, Virginia
Faker, Texas
Ferry Landing, Virginia
Finger, North Carolina
Finger, Tennessee
Fish, Georgia
Flippin, Kentucky
Flippin, Tennessee
Fruit, Illinois
Funk, Ohio
Funkhouser, Illinois
Funkstown, Maryland
Gospel Grove, Indiana
Grainola, Oklahoma
Gravity, Iowa
Gravity, Pennsylvania
Greasy Creek, Kentucky
Gun Barrel City, Texas
Gunbarrel, Colorado
Handshoe, Kentucky
Handsom, Virginia
Happyland, Connecticut
Hard Cash, Georgia
Hard Cash, Mississippi
Head of Grassy, Kentucky
Heads, Mississippi
Hell, Michigan
Hell Gate, New York
Hempfield, Pennsylvania
Hippo, Kentucky
Homosassa, Florida
Horseheads, New York
Hot Coffee, Mississippi
Hot Spot, Kentucky
Hothouse, North Carolina
Humansville, Missouri
Intelligence, North Carolina
Intercourse, Alabama
Intercourse, Pennsylvania
Japan, Pennsylvania
Japan, Missouri
Jelly Roll, Minnesota
Jeremiah, Kentucky
John Allen, Texas
John Day, Oregon
John Sevier, Tennessee
Joker, West Virginia
Joinerville, Texas
Justin, Texas
Kill Buck, New York
Kneeland, California
Lace, Illinois
Latex, Texas
Lesbas, Kentucky
Lesbia, New Mexico
Magic, Idaho
Magic City, Texas
Matthew, Kentucky
Matthew, Washington
Meat Camp, North Carolina
Money, Mississippi
Monkeys Eyebrow, Kentucky
Mouthcard, Kentucky
Mouth of Wilson, Virginia
Mud Lick, Kentucky
Neck City, Missouri
New Addition, Maryland
New Design, Virginia
New Empire, Nevada
New Jerusalem, Pennsylvania
New Russia, New Jersey
Nova, Ohio
Peoples, Kentucky
Pickleville, Utah
Pickpocket Woods, NH
Plastic, Colorado
Porkey, Pennsylvania
Red Buttes, Wyoming
Rosenberg, Texas
Rudeville, New Jersey
Scarface, California
Short Pump, Virginia
Skinem, Tennessee
Slim Butte, South Dakota
Smeltz, Oregon
Snapfinger, Georgia
Sober, Pennsylvania
Spiceland, Indiana
Strange Creek, West Virginia
Stop, Georgia
Sweet Grass, Montana
Telephone, Texas
Telescope, Pennsylvania
Test, New Jersey
The Colony, Texas
Timothy, Tennessee
Tina, Kentucky
Tina, Missouri
Trippville, Wisconsin
Tuba City, Arizona
Whiteland, Indiana
Witch Lake, Michigan
Wizard Wells, Texas
Worms, Nebraska
Worstville, Ohio
Zero, Mississippi

The Cup Runneth Over

2006-03-02T20:17:00.001-05:00

Shall I compare thee to a pint of ice cream?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Chocolate chips do not shake the darling buds of May,
And ice cream’s eaten too quick a date:
Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his cream complexion melted;
And every fair from fair sometimes declines,
By Ben and Jerry’s changing course untrimmed;
But thy eternal pint shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;
Nor shall death brag thou eat’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou hungers;
So long as men can eat, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Here comes a charming tale about two separate souls that find each other in a bowl of pea soup. Not only was the toaster turned to burn, but the microwave oven door was left all the way open. In a matter of minutes, the kitchen will perform a 360-degree somersault in the living room. The other rooms should back away because some water might spill out of the sink. And we don’t want water spilling into a special kind of room, do we?

Are you thirsty? Well, let’s have a drink then!
The water sparkles in the light like a diamond hanging from a chandelier. There is nothing that replenishes the body faster then 100% pure cool refreshing water. Water is for the body. Light is for the soul. With water and light, everything grows.
Do you doubt me?

South American Rebel Soldiers

2006-02-23T12:56:00.001-05:00

I thought SARS was a disease, but I was wrong. It turns out to be this group of Anti-USAmerican guerrilas living in the Amazon.

SARS is also a rating for restaurants--Satisfactory to Average Restaurant Service.

Nobody talks about SARS any more.

"Now the Avian Flu Virus is making people panic,
and the media conglomerates rich.
I don't think it's making me sleepy or queasy,
it's just making my eyelids itch." - a spontaneous poem for you

Don’t laminate my lemonade, baby. Oh, no. don’t you dare try to steal my refreshing drink in airtight plastic wrap. I’ll be tempted to come at you with a new bar of soap if you laminate my lemonade. So you’d better think even more differently than your last thoughts like a hunter in the rain made for another month.

You are experiencing technical difficultness.

The Year was 2170, and a man from 1997 decided to work then. He called up the future through his mysterious wireless telephone. The conversation went like this.

“The year 2170. May I help you?”
“Yes, I’m calling from 1997, and I would like to work in 2170.”
“Do you have any experience working in the future?”
“Well, I work now and I was born in 1973.”
“Your sort of humor won’t crack any smiles in 2170.”
“Are you saying that the future is humorless?”
“Infer nothing. One of the greatest crimes of the 22nd Century is inferring statements from future employers.”
“What’s the penalty?”
“being replaced by an automaton.”
“Do you mean a robot?”
“What else would an automaton be?”
“Can we get back to the interview?”
“Sure. What experience do you have working in the future?”
“In 1993, I had an internship in 2576.”
“How did you get an internship that far in the future?”
“Nepotism.”
“Who’s your connection?”
“Dr. Sears.”
“Isn’t there a retail corporation by that name in your time?”
“Yes, that’s right. You know your history.”
“We don’t know anyone by the name of Dr. Sears in 2170.”
“I don’t expect you to. His connections are all beyond the 23rd century.”
“So what interests you in 2071?”
“I’ve heard that babysitting is the biggest industry that year. Isn’t it bringing in quadrillions of Euros every month?”
“That’s right. Are you qualified to be a babysitter?”
“I’ve had 5 years experience babysitting my neighbor’s children.”
“Are you registered?”
“We don’t register babysitters in 1997.”
“In some areas in your time, some babysitters do have to be registered.”
“Then my answer is no. Can I get registered in 1997 or do I have to get registered in 2170?”

Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion of CALL TO THE FUTURE.
Now it's time for ridiculing the ridiculous Europeans.

As an American, I love to mock those “old world” Europeans. Putting them in pigeonholes is so amusing.
Britons are snobby.
Frenchies are froggy.
Spaniards are snappy.
Germans are strappy.
Russians are hoity-toity
Dutch are diggety-dog.
Romanians are slickety-slack.
Irish are neernorn-ploft.
Greeks are plain glubbity.

This is not a blog. It is a pinata without the tilda.
Pinata o pinata
You are the tarantula in my bowl of accessories
Finding the time is so meaningless to you
Pinata o pinata
People drum their noses to your harmonies
Finally grasping the tune of your strings
Pinata o pinata
God has posted lovers along his boulevards
But they only came to life when they set their eyes on you
Pinata o pinata
Has the world really spun around so quickly?
It's time to sew hats and make haste

This has been a pinata.

Identity Crisis

2006-02-14T16:14:00.001-05:00

This Taoist/Dada fascination is part of the building of an identity I have for myself. As I put up some Taoist bricks, I am taking down some Christianity bricks. I don't get rid of all my Christianity bricks because Jesus and all those Jews in the Old Testament said and did some things I agree with. My Christian family members worry when they see me take down some Christian bricks. I don't want to get too much into religion, so I'll stop here.

I was talking about identity. It seems that once we get the physical world figured out enough, we spend the rest of our lives dealing with our own identity. I thought I had myself pegged ten years ago, but I didn't. I keep changing, but it is a predictable and comfortable change.

What I'm discovering these days is that identity is a coping mechanism. Once I declare that I am Taoist, then it's easier for me to make decisions concerning philosophy and spirituality. Once I declare that I am a liberal, then it's easier for me to make decisions concerning politics. Some people don't go that far. They just stick to the religion they were born into to maintain their lasting relationships. As for politics, people change that all the time. Usually middle-of-the-road is safest because it helps with maintaining relationships.

I am thinking of a very risky experiment. It is doing something that goes against your identity. When you do that, you've threatened your relationships and your way of coping with the world. Friends will say, "Why did you do that? I thought I knew you." And you'll reflect and say, "I don't know what I am."

I also think of idenity in terms of preferences. During adolescent years, we experiment with many consumer products (I'm speaking for the privileged folks in "first-world" nations) and base our identity on what we like and dislike. Teenagers are very impressionable, so commercials play a big role in our preferences. For example, when I was a teenager I was a Pepsi boy and not a Coca-Cola boy. You can tell which decade I grew up in based on that example. I see many teenagers basing their identity on products they like. It is sickening, but many people grow out of it. Hey, it helps the economy.

Once I got beyond basing my identity on what was on television, I went to music and its message. Suddenly I became Beatle boy. And I fused my ideals with John Lennon's until it got uncomfortable like posing naked on an album cover. I couldn't do that. My Beatles identity was too limited and obsessive, so I broadened to the ideals of the late Sixties. But the Sixties were in the past, and some ideas back then didn't translate well into the current day. That's when I simplified it to just liberal ideals. It was convenient anyway because I was attending a liberal liberal arts college.

Do see the neverending process of identity? Who am I? I'm not even Dirk Babbage, am I. I think the early adult years are full of collecting things and ideas to match your taste and style. After a few years, one begins to feel bogged down by all these things. That's how I got into Taoism. It's the KISS approach to identity--Keep It Simple Stupid.

This is what happens when you look inward. You find the whole world inside yourself, and you start taking out the trash. I got rid of Pepsi about ten years ago. I now have nothing to do with Pepsi and Pepsi never had anything to do with me. What I keep is people I really know and ideas I really believe. As a younger person, you can't really hold on to ideas until you have them tested. I don't know if my Taoist beliefs have been ultimately tested.

And what about dada? Dada believes in nothing, so that makes it very easy. It's disposable art. Never trust a dadaist.

Everything is Meaningless

2006-02-07T17:25:00.001-05:00

Yin - Everything is Meaningless
Yang - Nothing is Meaningless
Yin - Nothing is Meaningful
Yang - Everything is Meaningful
Let's call the whole thing off.

A few days ago at a bohemian bookstore, I thought I overheard someone say, "I'd like a meaningless cup of coffee." I wish that was what they said because I thought it was bohemian. I realized they said bottomless and was disappointed by the obvious.

Disappointed by the obvious?
Nature is obvious to humanity, so we replace it with things like street lights and Wal-Mart.

Why can't we be thrilled by the obvious?
Wouldn't that be so spontaneous?
Oh my! I'm wearing blue jeans today.
The time is correct now.
People may think I've had too much bottomless coffee if I continue to jabber on like this.

Dadaists often say that everything is meaningless until they contradict themselves.
The truth is there is no truth.
"The lie is there is no lie," said the devil to the god. And god was admitted s/he was tricked, and the devil won the world.
The devil is there is no devil.
The lived is there is no lived. For example, the Matrix.
Life is a but a dream of a butterfly that Zhuang-zhi had.
What did Zhuang-zhi have? The butterfly or the dream?

It doesn't matter because everything is meaningless.
Actually, I agree to the extent that everything man-made is meaningless from poetry to Citibank.
I enjoy man-made things when they are meaningless, like nonsense poems.
Jabberwocky and Ogden Nash.
I don't enjoy man-made things when they are meaningful, like meetings.

Food can be man-made but food isn't always meaningful.
Think about a salty snack food. Where's the meaning in that.
Now an apple is not man-made unless it's a GMO apple, but still Mother Nature conceived of the apple first.

My philosophy about liking meaningless things is meaningless.
Illogically, my philosophy about disliking meaningful things is meaningful.

You have experienced the synthesis of Taoism and Dada.
I consider myself very charming.

Gimme That Old Time Chinese Religion

2006-02-07T17:07:00.001-05:00

Which one--Taoism, Buddhism, or Confucianism?

I've met many people who ask me, "What is Taoism?" or "What's the difference between Taoism and Buddhism?" The first question cannot be answered simply and the answer to the second question can partially answer the first question. Reading Benjamin Hoff's The Tao of Pooh is the best way to approach these answers. Here is a link to those who want AnswerExpress: http://www.taoism.net/sanctuary/books/vintaste.htm.

When it comes to Buddhism, I agree to and accept its major tenets. The hierarchy and structure of Buddhism is what I do not have patience for. Of course, the school of Buddhism I am drawn to the most is Zen. Tao+Buddha=Zen. I like to follow the path set by nature and not some human no matter how wise he or she be.

When it comes to Confucianism, all those rules based on relationships cramp my style. Although I must say Confucius was a genius. We must thank him for inventing Chinese cuisine among many other things. I equate the rules of Confucius with the Ten Commandments in the way that they have affected multiple cultures for thousands of years.

Yes, I am content with the philosophy of Taoism. And I have made up my stubborn mind. Can this stubborn mind act like water? What a contradiction! Wu wei.

Sorry no dada.

Wisdom and Foolishness

2006-01-27T18:28:00.001-05:00

Dada is the anecdote to the stoicism of seriousness. The previous sentence, however, does not prove that. Here is some dada I made for you...

Dada Dao Daodao Dow Jones Dada Tao Te Ching Da-da-da-da (Beethoven’s 5th) Dot Tata Dada Papa Dot-dot Dada Daddy Dolly Dada Daoism Data Datum Teeter-tauter Dada Seesaw Heehaw Dada Adad A dad A mom Atom Datum Data Dada Adam Madam Madam I’m Adam Tao is not Tao Dada Fada Father Papa Dada Dao Mao Miao Meow Dada Infinitada Infinity Forever Dada Dumdum Dummy Mummy Mama Papa Dada Gotta Get It Got It Good God Dao Dada Down-down Downtown Daodao Dao Tao Tada! Surprise Hurrah! Dada Maya Mariah Pariah Paris Python Dada Nada Nothing NASA Nassau Bahamas Dadas Doodoo Poopoo Doody Howdy Doody Tooty Fruity Dada Itty Bitty Nitty Gritty Dada Did Did Did It Done That Been There Dada Ada Adelle Estel Dadelle Dadette Dada Dads Root Beer Dada Saddam Adam Had ‘em Radon Dada Salam Shalom Aloha Dada Saudi Gaudy Gucci Dada Gnocchi Dada Water Wader Wafer Vader Darth Dada Yadda Yadda Dada Tao Te Ching Wu Wei Bombay Mumbai Dada Today Dada Tomorrow Gomorrah Sodom Saddam Dada Bladder Blather Data Dada Coddle Whitefish Dada Doctor Doctor Dada Hotter Hotter Hottest Hatter Dada Matter Mother Mama Dada Caca Poopoo Titicaca Itchy Scratchy Dada Itchi Ichi Ni San Nissan NASA Dada Dal Nan Bread Dada Pan Pan Pizza Pizza Dada Stop It

Pretentious!

2006-01-14T11:13:00.000-05:00

For my generation and preceding generations, it has seemed to me that the personal goal for many high school students is to achieve "cool." That is the high school rat-race.

Those who did not want to run the "cool" race, were on the personal goal of "anti-cool." ALTERNATIVE. What the hell? My generation synthesized cool and alternative. After a second of thought, I doubt my generation was first. We've discovered nothing.

After the "cool" race in high school comes the "pretentious" race in college. And this blog is kind of an example. Explaining how you were or were not cool is a little pretentious. The key notion of pretentiousness, or pretention, is an unwarranted claim to importance. Thank you, Wiktionary.

Actually this race to "cool" or "pretentious" is a search of identity. And the more philosophical you get, like this blog, the more pretentious you sound because you believe that you will uncover something important about yourself. When I was in college, many classmates seemed to be on the verge of an epiphany. Many college discussions involved the comparisons and analyzing of epiphanies. It's fun to feel important because you have a great sense of confidence--the confidence that annoys many people.

Do you know all this already? What am I getting at?

I have a friend you loathes people who are pretentious. Who doesn't? But to go out of your way to prove your loathing and to prove you're not pretentious seems a bit pretentious.

The process of labelling what is pretentious starts a spiral into pretentiousness. For example, I am pretentious when I call my pretentious-avoiding friend pretentious. Someone could step in and point at me yelling, "Pretentious!" And I would have to concede.

Oversimplification

2006-01-14T10:53:00.001-05:00

Before I begin, let me quip. Shouldn't the word "oversimplification" be simpler to pronounce and spell? It doesn't make sense for it to be such a long word. Will someone please create more suiting word for the concept of oversimplification?

If you read the subtitle of Daodao, it infers that Taoism is animism. That is a misrepresentation or oversimplification. Animism is simply the belief that everything has a spirit or soul. If you're familiar with the Japanese belief of Shinto, it's kind of like that. If you're not but you've seen Spirited Away, it's kind of like the otherworldly bath house full of the spiritual representations of the real animals, vegetables, and minerals of the real world. That is animism, not exactly Taoism.

Taoism is tricky and cannot be explained adequately. Some may say that is pretentious, so I'll try to explain anyway. Animism is the belief that all things have souls. That's partially true for Taoism. But why not we're all part of the same soul. For monotheists, God is in everything! That statement should satisfy most Jews, Christians, and Muslims. But what about the statement, We all are a part of God. That's probably OK as well.
How about the following?

I am God (and so is everyone else).
I have God and God has me.
God is the universe...the universe is what I perceive...I know God.

OVERSIMPLIFICATION!

But I think that's what Taoism is to me. It's so complex that it is simple.
Scientists are now discovering what one person can discover through meditation.
All you Taoists know this already.
Buddhists and New Age people may too.
If you're not Taoist, Buddhist, New Age, or any philosopher, then thank you for reading this far.
I apologize for sounding pretentious, but that's the other side of the coin--DADA!

Indoctrination

2006-01-04T16:05:00.001-05:00

Verse One of the Tao Te Ching (Laozi)
A way that can be walked
is not The Way
A name that can be named
is not The Name

Tao is both Named and Nameless
As Nameless, it is the origin of all things
As Named, it is the mother of all things

A mind free of thought,
Merged within itself
Beholds the essence of Tao
A mind filled with thought,
Identified with its own perceptions,
Beholds the mere forms of this world

Tao and this world seem different
But in truth they are one and the same
The only difference is in what we call them

How deep and mysterious is this unity
How profound, how great!
It is the truth beyond the truth,
The hidden within the hidden
It is the path to all wonder,
The gate to the essence of everything!

translated by Jonathon Star (2001). Tao Te Ching: The Definitive Edition. New York: Tarcher/Penguin.

Compare this to a statement on Dada
Dada is a state of mind. That is why it transforms itself according to races and events. Dada applies itself to everything, and yet it is nothing, it is the point where the yes and the no and all the opposites meet, not solemnly in the castles of human philosophies, but very simply at street corners, like dogs and grasshoppers.
Like everything in life, Dada is useless.
Dada is without pretension, as life should be.

By Tristan Tzara
From "Dada Manifesto" [1918] and "Lecture on Dada" [1922], translated from the French by Robert Motherwell, *Dada Painters and Poets*, by Robert Motherwell, New York, pp. 78- 9, 81, 246-51; http://www.english.upenn.edu/~jenglish/English104/tzara.html