Lao Tzu / Chuang Tzu / Lieh Tzu / Yang Chu
We can't have everything, and we can't pursue everything.
Half of the world is trying to convince us that we need unimportant things—and many of us end up chasing non-essentials that crowd out what we really need.
And when we want or value the wrong things, we lose the Great Way. (My wife, however, still thinks the Great Way leads to Bloomingdales.)
But a person of the Way is content with the Way.
By knowing the relative importance of things and setting the proper value on his life, most of the world’s bullshit seems unimportant.
No one would trade his health for posession of the world. And yet, people are often found risking just about everything - their health, well being, freedom, and their very lives - in hopes of gaining less than 0.00000001% of the world.
And many torture themselves and sacrifice life’s realities to strive after empty gains, when they can just be human beings. How is that any different from being chained in prison? (Aside from the fact that they don’t have to use the toilet in front of others.)
Using a trillion dollar bait to catch a one dollar fish—that is a $999,999,999,999 error made by many.
The Great Way is simple, but side paths are popular. When the palace is splendid, the granaries are empty; when the hall is filled with gold, the fields are weedy; and when the Picassos are real, the toilet flush isn’t working.
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I’d like to show you the Way. Only I can’t. Why? Because if I showed it to you, it wouldn’t be the actual Way. But by telling you that I can’t show you the Way, I am in fact showing you the Way. In a way.
What am I talking about? I have no idea. And that’s exactly why I know exactly what I’m talking about. Why? Because if I knew what I was talking about, I wouldn’t know what I was talking about.
But don’t take my word for it. Find it yourself. How? By doing absolutely nothing. And I mean that literally.
Don’t go out the door. Don’t even look out the window. I don’t care if your neighbor is doing it right now with her blinds open - don’t look out that window!
By not looking, you’ll know everything. And by not doing, you’ll do everything, and nothing will remain undone.
(So the next time your wife sees you sitting on the couch doing nothing, calmly explain to her that you’re getting everything done.)
Abide by non-action in your own life, and stop there. Don’t try to not-do everything. Those who try to not-run the world are actually NOT not-doing.
Genuine non-action simply lets the world be.
If everybody could keep this Way, everything would take care of itself.
