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The Tao is the center of the universe,
the good man’s treasure,
the bad man’s refuge.

Honors can be bought with fine words,
respect can be won with good deeds;
but the Tao is beyond all value,
and no one can achieve it.

Thus, when a new leader is chosen,
don’t offer to help him
with your wealth or your expertise.
Offer instead
to teach him about the Tao.

Why did the ancient Masters esteem the Tao?
Because, being one with the Tao,
when you seek, you find;
and when you make a mistake, you are forgiven.
That is why everybody loves it.

Tao Te Ching by Lao-tsu, trans. by Stephen Mitchell

Was deathly ill over the weekend. I thought about the ER, but was unsure whether I could muster the strength, sustain equilibrium to walk out of the house to a vehicle. Is this how it feels to die, actually came to mind. Whatever it was lasted 24 hours. I am able to write once again. 

Way-making, the Tao, is the flowing-together of all things. That is why Mitchell renders the concept in English as “the center of the universe.” The totality, an all encompassing aspect is indicated here. There’s treasure for those with status, enjoying their niche in society, and there is a refuge for everyone who is attempting to “get a leg up” to find a place in society. (Face it – those at social bottom are stigmatized “bad men”) Top to bottom, bottom to top there is a place for everyone in the flowing-together of all things.

Lao-tsu segues to reflect upon individuals at the highest levels of society. He suggests that what they need most upon inauguration is a reminder of the all enabling effect of Nature/reality, in lieu of the usual gifts of rare and valuable objects. The Tao is all inclusive, excludes no one, even the “illegal” immigrant.

My life as it is, is not my possession, well-being is not up to me. The same can be said of the condition of our society. The state-of-our-Union at present is the cumulative result of seeds sown by past generations. We can hardly be said to have a Union now. I need not go into detail as anyone familiar with current events knows. A visitor who commented upon yesterday’s blog described our condition succinctly:

We have always been reluctant to offer apologies for the vast number of errors committed in the name of so-called democratization of the world. Yet in our current iteration, the United States of America has been dragged down into the sewer of egotism, greed, ignorance, and mass stupidity.

All of that notwithstanding, hope remains.