Water

The best of men is like water;
   Water benefits all things
   And does not compete with them.
It dwells in (the lowly) places that all disdain –
   Wherein it comes near to the Tao.

In his dwelling, (the Sage) loves the (lowly) earth;
In his heart, he loves what is profound;
In his relations with others, he loves kindness;
In his words, he loves sincerity;
In government, he loves peace;
In business affairs, he loves ability;
In his actions, he loves choosing the right time.
   It is because he does not contend
   That he is without reproach.

(Tao Te Ching, Chapter 8, Lin Yu Tang trans.)

As I mentioned in my last post, I want to discuss living in the manifestation, focusing on one particular aspect- desire, or rather desirelessness.

It is well known that Buddhist teachings talk of becoming desireless. I recently saw a cartoon with a Buddhist monk carrying a sesame seed bagel. His master tells him that when he becomes enlightened, he will be happy with a nothingless bagel.

However, we cannot be “desireless”. Perhaps it is a problem with language. There really isn’t a word in English that describes what is happening.

As I have written before, our true selves incarnate here to gain experience and energy to move up to higher levels of consciousness. In other words, our true selves either want, or rather, need to come here. When they come, they want to experience certain aspects of life. I say “want” here because they can choose any aspects at all, yet they come with a specific purpose when they come. Again, you could say they need a particular life to gain what they need.

As a true self (what I call the higher consciousness) living in the manifestation, we have physical needs that must be met: food, air, shelter, clothing, etc. We are also subject to the places and times we inhabit.

What I mean by that is that we (our true selves) chose to be in this place here and now. Whether we were born 100 years ago or just yesterday, we live in the 21^st century.

We have access to technology that wasn’t available even 30 years ago. We also have problems, e.g., storms, tornadoes, war, and plagues.

Some may have an easy life. Others must often work hard to get by. That is life as it has existed in the manifestation since the beginning of human existence here.

Many preach that the way to follow Buddha or the Tao is to live following Wu Wei. There is nothing wrong with that.

However, I have already pointed out that the manifestation-all of it-is the Tao. It is the material embodiment of the Tao.

Since that manifestation, in all its forms, is the Tao, can experiencing any aspect of it be considered living outside the Tao? Of course not.

Then what did Lao Tzu mean when discussing people who abandoned the Tao? How can you abandon something that is everything in the universe and beyond?

It is not necessarily experiencing everything and anything, which is abandonment. Instead, it is the abandonment of our true selves and giving in to our minds, bodies, and egos that is the problem. When we give in to our minds, bodies, and egos, we become trapped in a cycle of suffering. In the extreme, we become addicts to sex, drugs, food, pain, pleasure, etc.

Trapped like that, we can spend years, and perhaps a good part of our lives, feeding our addictions.

We can stop that behavior and become stable. However, only after we fully awaken our true selves can we truly become free.

That is enlightenment: being fully awake, aware, and in control (mostly) of our minds and emotions. I say mostly because even the enlightened occasionally get caught up in anger or other emotions. The difference is that an enlightened person never clings to such emotions. They let them in and then let them go.

So, what does this all mean regarding living in the manifestation? It means that we can enjoy the manifestation. We can experience joy, pleasure, love, difficulties, and tragedies in the manifestation. We can do this without clinging to whatever comes our way.

Our true selves will guide us to where we should be and what we are supposed to be doing. We will realize that we are doing what we are supposed to be doing and being where we are supposed to be, and we will let go and experience them.

That is the true meaning of Wu Wei. It is not about “not doing” as much as it is about doing what we are supposed to be doing.

For those on the path to knowledge, you may wonder about it. But remember, you are doing what you are supposed to be doing. You are learning about the Tao and the Buddha. You are meditating to get in touch with your true selves.

Stop fretting about what you should be doing. You are already doing it!

Remember the words from the Tao Te Ching above:

In his dwelling, (the Sage) loves the (lowly) earth;
In his heart, he loves what is profound;
In his relations with others, he loves kindness;
In his words, he loves sincerity;
In government, he loves peace;
In business affairs, he loves ability;
In his actions, he loves choosing the right time.
   It is because he does not contend
   That he is without reproach.

That is how you should approach life.

The more energy you gain, the closer you come to enlightenment. Remember, enlightenment is not the end of your life. Nor is it some magical power that makes you a god or immortal (you, your true self, is already that).

It is an awakening of your true self. Remember that Zen proverb: “before enlightenment, chopping wood, carrying water. After enlightenment, chopping wood, carrying water.”?

Clearly, it does not mean the end. Moreover, it shows that after enlightenment, life goes on with the exact needs we had before enlightenment.

In my next blog post, I will discuss what living as an enlightened being is like.

Namaste,

Michael Tavella, author of

“Break Through To Your True Self”

Yourtrueself.blog