Self-composed
26
The heavy is the root of the light.
The unmoved is the source of all movement.
Thus the Master travels all day
without leaving home.
However splendid the views,
she stays serenely in herself.
Why should the lord of the country
flit about like a fool?
If you let yourself be blown to and fro,
you lose touch with your root.
If you let restlessness move you,
you lose touch with who you are.
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu, trans. by Stephen Mitchell
At this moment – how are you? One word-description of the condition of your self-hood…
There is no relief from the time in which one lives. The challenge of external circumstance, financial, relational, relentless appeal of media advertising, entertainment options, etc. etc.. This is the life that we have, the one that you and I must live.
The angle of view offered by Lao Tsu, a proposal that I embrace, engage “the world” as it is, even if certain aspects are frankly “bat-shit” crazy, even dangerous. Every single thing is what-it-is in relationship to the whole. Yes, even those fallen into petulant, vengeful, and irrational behavior are a dimension of what belongs to us, to me! That’s almost unbelievable, and hard to accept. It’s true nonetheless.
Lao Tsu reminds you and I, it is not inevitable that we be dragged into, or sucked into Crazy-town… Yes much of what we hear about, even see happening causes us concern, or sometimes a bolt of fear for our well-being, or for those we care for. What to do?
Attend to detail, the nuts and bolts of my circle of responsibility. Once I helped operate a company. I recall what that type of detail was like. Now as retired, I feel obligation to refine my thinking, to improve my manner of expression. So I write. In addition there’s the role of grand parent; can I improve with each opportunity? Other roles too: husband, friend, lover…
Focus, only focus addresses the hazard of losing myself in a flood of anxiety. And that’s not all either.
Each of us has a bit part in the composition of an entire future. To play one’s role well imparts a note of excellence to the entire production. Detail, each detail stands contributing to the whole.
And you my friend, consider the role that fate has assigned for you…
You are on! Break a leg.
I like this song. The lyric speaks to wild intensity which life sometimes demands. Something you and I ought never to forget. The Warrior by Scandal 1984.
4 thoughts on “Self-composed”
There’s a double message here, or at least that’s my interpretation. Focus on the immediate, which I understand. But also to play your role that fate has designated. Can it be both? If I feel that my place in life is to embrace a grander view and beat my head against a wall that others erect, is that not my role? If I back off of what I believe to be best for the world at large and focus on growing tomatoes in my backyard, is that what Lao Tsu is suggesting?
My feeling is that there is no specific path laid out in the Tao te Ching. That it relates to each individual on their own terms. That there are no scriptures to follow, no specific rules that lead to life ever after. That the Tao is like the lights on a landing strip to guide one towards a safe approach but without threats or coercion. Just a thought.
Paradoxical and on the face of the matter, I think we are advised to do both. Can one grow tomatoes as an act of resistance, meld a love of the earth, of living things with a scream of Hell No! to the the exponential increase of the rapacity of the capitalists? I agree this seems to be a case by case personal matter. Figure and ground, a particular focus and its field… Cultivating any form of life is to contradict the prevaricating cesspool of cruelty discharged from the White House.
I have resistance to the “motherfuckers” in mind with more and more of the things that I care most about!
This certainly strikes a chord with me presently. Certainly, I feel the tugs at my attention blowing “to and fro” and I reminded of Thoreau, too — How can you kill time without injuring eternity? I am going to continue to sit with these words from Lao Tsu and reflect on my “rootedness” and what terra firm looks like for me. Thank you for being a thoughtful messenger and bringing them to my awareness.
Brandon, good to hear from you. I am not surprised that you resonate with the insights of the Tao Te Ching. We should meet for coffee….