Origin Story
Permeating heaven and earth, there is virtue.
Operating in all things, there is the Tao.
It is the duty of rulers to govern the people.
Ability was developed into skill,
which led to righteousness;
righteousness rose from virtue, and
virtue emerged from the Tao.
The Tao was aligned with heaven.
The ancients who sustained the world
desired nothing and the world had sufficiency.
They did nothing
and all was transformed.
Their stillness was deep
and the people were tranquil.
The Record states,
“When the Tao prevails, all activities
will be completed.
When the mind becomes unperturbed,
even the spirits will surrender.”
Zhuangzi, trans. by Hyun Hochmann and Yang Guorong, Heaven and Earth
I have progressed as far as chapter 12 in the Zhuangzi. I read that this chapter is a further expansion of the idea of the equality of all things. This is one of the big ideas found in the Taoist estimation of things.
Heaven and earth are terms of reference that span the totality, encompassing everything. The lines featured here impress me as an origin story of sorts. You know, “long, long time ago…” in the mists of an imagined beginning, etc., etc.. Zhuangzi resolves that virtue was, and is suffused into every nook and cranny of all being. Virtue is akin to a logic of reciprocal exchange that allows life itself to be. The Tao, way-making, is a thrust toward fulfillment, a bias for fruitful completion.
Then Zhuangzi describes the organized rank which comes into play in the matter of exercising responsibility for an organization, for a town, or for an entire country. Native leadership ability, skill sharpened by experience is related to the Tao which in turn is “aligned with heaven.” I cannot help but reflect upon theologian Paul Tillich’s word for God. Tillich made sense when he wrote “the ground of all being.” The Tao was and is aligned with Tillich’s ground-of-all-being!
And what about this myth-origin story? What’s the point?
The point made has to do with discipline of appetite, the absence of any yearning, even for a ZO6 Corvette! But, I digress… A CEO, a head of state, a decision-maker whose means are sufficient, a person that exhibits a tranquil attitude, etc., etc.. As I said before this is a mythic, “once upon a time” origin story.
Reference is made to an ancient record of this “beginning time”. A story akin to the recorded creation of the world and of life in Genesis, or the Kojiki, an account of the primordial chaos, and divine pair that created the islands of Japan. This is all about the way-making of reality and the state of our minds, of the quality of life experienced by you and I…
Shall we enjoy a song? We shall! This tune has always appealed to me. The lyric is a parable about the paradox of the human experience. The video is also exceptionally good! Lonesome Loser by The Little River Band
2 thoughts on “Origin Story”
In my own estimation I see today’s story as suggesting that humans are inherently virtuous or at least that is how we started out. I wish I could believe that to be true but my cynical nature suggests otherwise. My sense is that greed and a hunger for power in our species have been around for hundreds of thousands of years. That these character traits were manifest in our ancestors just as was kindness and compassion. These behavioral characteristics have been at odds with each other since the beginning. We might like to believe that what we see as “goodness” will prevail in the end but that may only be wishful thinking. We just don’t know.
I agree with you. Origin stories are what our ancestors told themselves. We’ve always told stories to affirm what we imagine or wish to be the case.
At this juncture I am not willing to bet that goodness will ultimately prevail. That remains an open question. But I am certain that the outcome rests solely with us.