A Leaf on a Stream: Difference between revisions
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If this story were to go on and on indefinitely it would be a good parable for our lives. We are always looking to assign blame or credit, to say something that happens to us is either good or bad. And by extension, trying to make the “good” and avoiding the “bad” choice. We tend to take ourselves so seriously and become so entrenched inside our own stories, that it is hard to see how small our “choices” really are, and how much bigger than us, is the mysterious flow of events. | If this story were to go on and on indefinitely it would be a good parable for our lives. We are always looking to assign blame or credit, to say something that happens to us is either good or bad. And by extension, trying to make the “good” and avoiding the “bad” choice. We tend to take ourselves so seriously and become so entrenched inside our own stories, that it is hard to see how small our “choices” really are, and how much bigger than us, is the mysterious flow of events. | ||
From | From the Tao Te Ching (Word for Word Translation by Carl Abbott: "The way normally does nothing, yet there is nothing not done." | ||
The way normally does nothing, yet there is nothing not done. | |||
That is why I find it comforting to imagine myself as a leaf on a stream. The English translation for the Chinese “wu-wei” is “non-action”, one of the most fundamental concepts of Taoism. To our ears this sounds very passive, but from what I understand, a better translation would be “letting events flow naturally”. But the only way we can let events flow naturally is to not place good and bad judgments on the things which happen to us. If we try to approach this idea with our minds we are met with one of those repeating paradoxes, “how can we choose to let go of choice?” | That is why I find it comforting to imagine myself as a leaf on a stream. The English translation for the Chinese “wu-wei” is “non-action”, one of the most fundamental concepts of Taoism. To our ears this sounds very passive, but from what I understand, a better translation would be “letting events flow naturally”. But the only way we can let events flow naturally is to not place good and bad judgments on the things which happen to us. If we try to approach this idea with our minds we are met with one of those repeating paradoxes, “how can we choose to let go of choice?” | ||
