Tao Te Ching Meditation - Chapter 75: Living And Contriving
Reading{
75.1 When people are starving,
it is because their governments take too much,
causing them to starve.
75.2 When people are hard to control,
it is because of the contrivances of their governments,
which make them hard to control.
75.3 When people slight death,
it is because of the earnestness with which they seek life;
that makes them slight death.
Only those who do not contrive to live
are wise in valuing life.
Tao Teh Ching - Cleary Translation
Meditation:
As that time approaches when i render unto Caesar that which is his, i recall Jesus' alleged reply to the question of taxes, and its Delphic aspect. What belongs to the State, and what belongs to God? Some people have an answer that satisfies them: that God has appointed our legitimate rulers, like Saul and George,* We take the state for granted, but tradition says that God warned Samuel (and Samuel warned the Israelites) that they would suffer the state (king) at a very high cost. Correcting that initial mistake has so far proven impossible. Thus we know that the TTC is not wasting words on useless political advice but trying to send me a deeper spiritual message.
I am somehow a macrocosm of the numerous systems and pieces that compose my body, mind and soul. I am also a microcosm of the various larger entities to which i belong including God and the Universe. As such, i have my own inner "palaces" and "peasantries" which i indulge or allow to starve. This imbalance disturbs the unity that should be my integrity and creates imbalances outward and inward as my parts are affected and as the larger entities of which i am a part are set off balance.
It is my habit to deal with these imbalances, insofar as i allow myself to be aware of them, through various "contrivances" and i become proud of my small apparent successes in holding things together. But i am like a wound covered by a cheap bandage -- gravity seems to hold things in place. But if anything moves, the wound is exposed and the deeper healing is delayed or becomes corrupted.
The sage lives a balanced life;though it may not seem so to others, especially in a highly sensate** culture. The inner "palaces" are rendered habitable for the ordinary and the fields are abundant with enough for all purposes. Her soul overflows so that the incoming pain and imbalance is absorbed and nourished and made right.
Prayer:
Holy Loving: Let me end my contrivances and return my life to the source of life from which it was diverted by well-intentioned, but ultimately destructive, forces. Lead me in green pastures by flowing waters and prevent me from doing evil. Amen.
Contemplation"
* Hanover III, Washington, Bush I or II, Soros, etc. take your pick..
** i.e. materialistic, not ideational (not spiritual)
75.1 When people are starving,
it is because their governments take too much,
causing them to starve.
75.2 When people are hard to control,
it is because of the contrivances of their governments,
which make them hard to control.
75.3 When people slight death,
it is because of the earnestness with which they seek life;
that makes them slight death.
Only those who do not contrive to live
are wise in valuing life.
Tao Teh Ching - Cleary Translation
Meditation:
As that time approaches when i render unto Caesar that which is his, i recall Jesus' alleged reply to the question of taxes, and its Delphic aspect. What belongs to the State, and what belongs to God? Some people have an answer that satisfies them: that God has appointed our legitimate rulers, like Saul and George,* We take the state for granted, but tradition says that God warned Samuel (and Samuel warned the Israelites) that they would suffer the state (king) at a very high cost. Correcting that initial mistake has so far proven impossible. Thus we know that the TTC is not wasting words on useless political advice but trying to send me a deeper spiritual message.
I am somehow a macrocosm of the numerous systems and pieces that compose my body, mind and soul. I am also a microcosm of the various larger entities to which i belong including God and the Universe. As such, i have my own inner "palaces" and "peasantries" which i indulge or allow to starve. This imbalance disturbs the unity that should be my integrity and creates imbalances outward and inward as my parts are affected and as the larger entities of which i am a part are set off balance.
It is my habit to deal with these imbalances, insofar as i allow myself to be aware of them, through various "contrivances" and i become proud of my small apparent successes in holding things together. But i am like a wound covered by a cheap bandage -- gravity seems to hold things in place. But if anything moves, the wound is exposed and the deeper healing is delayed or becomes corrupted.
The sage lives a balanced life;though it may not seem so to others, especially in a highly sensate** culture. The inner "palaces" are rendered habitable for the ordinary and the fields are abundant with enough for all purposes. Her soul overflows so that the incoming pain and imbalance is absorbed and nourished and made right.
Prayer:
Holy Loving: Let me end my contrivances and return my life to the source of life from which it was diverted by well-intentioned, but ultimately destructive, forces. Lead me in green pastures by flowing waters and prevent me from doing evil. Amen.
Contemplation"
* Hanover III, Washington, Bush I or II, Soros, etc. take your pick..
** i.e. materialistic, not ideational (not spiritual)