MEDITATIONS: TAO TE CHING CHAPTER SEVEN
look up
look down
look around
it has always been here
look up
look down
look around
it will always be here
infinite duration outlasting ordinary space and time
the universe that you perceive has always been here
and will be here after you are no longer present
to perceive it
because it gave birth to you and not the contrary to which you cling
rather than being one step ahead
and asleep towards up and coming possibilities
the sound traveler stays two steps back
and remains awake to all that is possible
if you look upon yourself as an accident in space and time
then you will always be present in space and time
it is as simple as finding yourself by not looking
this is a thought form for thinking into
—Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching; An authentic Taoist translation. translated by John Bright-Fey
It is a strange thing which needs to be said, but strangeness does not relieve necessity: the world which we perceive—despite our experience of it being little more than sensory shadows and illusions—is real, objective, and transcendent. It does not conform to our will. It does not obey our rules. On the contrary, our wills, desires, laws, and perceptions conform to the shape of the universe as it is . . . or else they break, fracture, and dissolve. Duration is a human construction, as is time, distance, volume, and space—constructions made to define human limitation. Do not mistake arrogance for wisdom, nor temporary power as mastery over fate.
If we are to prevent living out a Greek tragedy, we must relinquish our illusion of perfect knowledge, comprehension, and control. They are a dream, and when we believe in them, we are asleep. Our eyes close to what could be—within and without ourselves—and we see only what is can be found in the scope of our imagination. But the world is more than we imagine. It is more than we perceive. Better that we awaken, abandon false advantages, cultivate patience, and open ourselves to reality as it reveals itself sliver by sliver, glimpse by glimpse, piece by piece.
To do this is to think of ourselves as an occurrence—unintentional perhaps, but nonetheless happening at each and every moment. We are a finite array of incidents confined within an infinite universe. We are a multitude of iterations, of which, our true selves are always those who find themselves in the present—not by searching, but by noticing who we are in a given moment.
Lao-tzu. “Chapter Seven”. Tao Te Ching; An Authentic Taoist Translation, translated by John Bright-Fey, Sweetwater Press, 2014. p.15
