Walking the Path

The Way of the Tao

“The man in whom Tao

acts without impediment

does not bother with his own interests

and does not despise

others who do.

He does not struggle to make money

and does not make a virtue of poverty.

He goes his way

without relying on others

and does not pride himself

on walking alone.

While he does not follow the crowd,

he won't complain of those who do.

Rank and reward

make no appeal to him;

disgrace and shame

do not deter him.

He is not always looking

for right and wrong

always deciding 'yes' or 'no'.”

                               Thomas Merton (The Way of Chuang Tzu)

A Taoist believes that each person is on their own unique path, and has many lifetimes to walk it. Criticizing is simply inappropriate since you cannot know how far another has come or how far they must go before enlightenment. This compares to the idiom, 'don't judge a man until you've walked a mile in his shoes'. In other words, we don't know what causes another human being to be who they are, or act as they do, even when we think we know everything about them. Take my sister, for instance. Even though we grew up together in the same house with the same parents, we were diametrically opposite in our personality, world view and lifestyle. A sister or brother is the closest-other that any of us has—we share almost identical DNA even when we are not twins. Yet we can turn out to be so different that we are almost strangers to one another.

Chuang Tzu was an enlightened human being. He walked the path of enlightenment as a self-actualized person. He knew himself, was secure in himself, and had no need to comment or criticize anyone else. Most of us are somewhere back down the path. When I meet someone like Chuang Tzu, which is rare, they appear this way: they have no ego, no need to one-up anyone; they meet your eye as an equal and are genuinely interested in your ideas and opinions; you feel respected and valued by them; and they are playful in a natural way, their humor is mostly self-deprecating and never barbed. They live simply and in concert with the earth, respectful of the needs of other beings to share the space. There is no violence in them.

Most of us, including me, are not like Chuang Tzu. Our moods swing with the circumstances of life, one day up, next day down. We can be hurt by the slings and arrows of others, and we are capable of malice and hubris. But, we are on the path nonetheless. We are putting one foot in front of the other, facing forward and working our program. And that, my friends, is very, very good.

                                                  In the spirit,

                                                 Jane