1. On the Absolute Tao

The Tao that can be told of
Is not the Absolute Tao;
The Names that can be given
Are not Absolute Names.

The Nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth.
The Named is the Mother of All Things.

Therefore:
Oftentimes, one strips oneself of passion
In order to see the Secret of Life;
Oftentimes, one regards life with passion,
In order to see its manifest forms.

These two (the Secret and its manifestations)
Are (in their nature) the same;
They are given different names
When they become manifest.

They may both be called the Cosmic Mystery:
Reaching from the Mystery into the Deeper Mystery
Is the Gate to the Secret of All Life. (Chapter 1 Tao Te Ching, Lin Yu Tang trans.)

I recently read a post on Facebook that said, “You never encounter reality, only your story about it. If you contradict this, you use a story to claim you don’t live in stories. Stories from a dream.”

Now, this is an interesting concept. It seems that the writer does not dispute reality, only that we can never know that reality.

Many people over the ages have said basically the same thing. Plato, for example, talked about the cave. He said it is like we are living in a cave and cannot see what’s outside. We can only see shadows of things out there.

All of this is because, as physical beings, we experience the world through our senses, our minds, and our emotions.

However, our true selves interact with reality in the only way possible, that is, through our physical bodies, minds, emotions, and senses. That is all we have.

Lao Tzu, however, makes clear that the Tao has two natures. As in the quote above, from Chapter 1 of the Tao Te Ching. The first is the secret, which we experience without passion, and the second is the manifestation, which we experience with passion (that is, with our emotions, mind, and body).

We are here in the manifestation experiencing it with our emotions, mind, and body because  Lao Tzu says that’s what we are supposed to do.

As a result, we each experience the manifestation in our own way, which is what we are supposed to do.

The idea that we can never know reality (the manifestation) because it is always “filtered through our senses” is wrong. The only way we can experience reality is through our senses. And, it is as real as anything.

Our true selves process these experiences. It is what we are here for. Remembering our true selves is also a fundamental purpose, but it is not the main reason we are here. 

Remember, it may take several lifetimes of reincarnation to reach enlightenment, and we can ultimately break the cycle of reincarnation through meditation and our experiences in the manifestation.

Before we begin the pathway to knowledge, we live in the manifestation with our minds, emotions, bodies, and egos all believing that they are who we are. Our true selves are in the background, experiencing life this way. This is a pure form of experiencing the Tao because even though we do not know the Tao or our true selves, our true selves are experiencing the Tao in the background. We do not overanalyze the experiences; we live them, for better or worse.

Once we are on the pathway to knowledge, however, we become aware of our true selves. In the beginning, we have an intellectual understanding of the true self. We can connect to the true self through meditation. Once the true self awakens, the mind begins to play tricks to prevent us from accepting our true selves and moving the mind from “who we are” to a tool our true selves can use.

Thus begins a long struggle to overcome the mind and ego. It is difficult because the mind is a powerful tool that works very hard to convince us that it is who we are.

During this struggle, we tend to downplay the manifestation and our role in it. We begin to say things as I described at the beginning.

The mind creates a distrust in the manifestation to try to undermine what our true self knows.

So we can drift for years, pretending that the world is just an illusion; that dwelling on it is a waste of time. 

Only after enlightenment, when our true self is fully awake, aware, and in control, can we discover the truth: that the manifestation is the Tao itself. Living in it is what we are supposed to do with passion. Bad or good (both relative terms) come what may.

Before enlightenment, while we are on the path, we can still act within the manifestation with passion if we understand that our true selves guide us. We can ask our true selves to guide us as we move through life.

It becomes a balancing act to live and react to the manifestation with passion.

The key is to remember that the manifestation is real. It is the Tao. Acting within it is what we are supposed to be doing.

This is where Wu Wei enters the picture. We know that Wu Wei means “not doing.” That has been the conundrum of the Tao. How do we act without doing? The answer is that we can act in accordance with Wu Wei by acting through our true selves in the lead with our minds and egos as tools, and by experiencing the manifestation with passion but without clinging.

Our true selves always act in accord with Wu Wei. But when our minds and egos act, thinking that they are who we are, we are not following Wu Wei.

It is confusing because when we act through our true selves, we act with our minds and egos as tools directed by our true selves, rather than the mind and ego acting on their own.

The trick is understanding the difference.

Until you can do that, you may struggle with doubt and uncertainty in everything you do.

In my next post, I will discuss learning how to understand that difference. For now, just know there is a difference and that you will learn how to distinguish it.

Namaste,

Michael Tavella, author of

“Break Through To Your True Self”

Yourtrueself.blog