Always Under Construction
15
The ancient Masters were profound and subtle.
Their wisdom was unfathomable.
There is no way to describe it;
all we can describe is their appearance.
a. They were careful
as someone crossing an iced-over stream.
b. Alert as a warrior in enemy territory.
c. Courteous as a guest.
d. Fluid as melting ice.
e. Shapable as a block of wood.
f. Receptive as a valley.
g. Clear as a glass of water.
Do you have the patience to wait
till your mud settles and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving
till the right action arises by itself?
The Master doesn’t seek fulfillment.
Not seeking, not expecting,
she is present, and can welcome all things.
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu, trans. by Stephen Mitchell
This is one of my favorite passages. Roger Ames and David Hall, scholars of Chinese literature describe this as an “epistemology of feeling.” A knowing that is situated in the present, the senses attuned to “what comes next.” I like the concrete, stacked metaphors which offer indirect, and vivid portraits of the “style” of the inimitable person who “gets it.”
As “hokey” as this might strike a reader, one of my ideal personas is the character played by Patrick Swayze in the 1989 film Roadhouse. Swayze plays James Dalton, the Phd holding bouncer for the Double Deuce. Yes, there’s a woman and a confrontation with “money” & evil. The demeanor, the style of the main character throughout the arc of the story compels my interest. The story is messy by any standard, but so is life.
