What to do if there is nothing you can do?

[ilikedragon]

Here is something I have found interesting.

 

In order to express the question most clearly, I will exxagerate the example, but feel free to give an answer for a similar, but less extreme situtation.

 

Example: There is a war going on, lots of people are dying. However, you are paralyzed and you cannot move any part of your body, but you can hear and see clearly, and you know what is going on around you, and you are in a safe place. What should you do?

 

Example 2: There is a war going on like above, but you are in a very distant place (like a desert) with food and water etc., but no way of communication with anyone.

 

Now what would be the most suitable course of action a Taoist would follow?

 

Thanks! I look forward to your response.

[Aetherous]

Always do what you think is best, and never do something just because a "Taoist" would do it. Forge your own path.

[Ninpo-me-this-ninjutsu-me-that]

Here is something I have found interesting.

 

In order to express the question most clearly, I will exxagerate the example, but feel free to give an answer for a similar, but less extreme situtation.

 

Example: There is a war going on, lots of people are dying. However, you are paralyzed and you cannot move any part of your body, but you can hear and see clearly, and you know what is going on around you, and you are in a safe place. What should you do?

 

Example 2: There is a war going on like above, but you are in a very distant place (like a desert) with food and water etc., but no way of communication with anyone.

 

Now what would be the most suitable course of action a Taoist would follow?

 

Thanks! I look forward to your response.

 

 

Question: "What to do if there is nothing you can do?"

 

Answer: "Nothing"

 

Not as easy as it sounds.

[Encephalon]

I rely on Deng Ming-Dao for heavy questions like these.

 

Healing

 

Fire cools.

Water seeks its own level.

 

No matter how extreme a situation is, it will change. It cannot continue forever. Thus, a great forest fire is always destined to burn itself out; a turbulent sea will become calmer. Natural events balance themselves out by seeking their opposites, and this process of balance is at the heart of all healing.

 

This process takes time. If an event is not great, the balancing required is slight. If it is momentous, then it may take days, years, even lifetimes for things to return to an even keel. Actually, without these slight imbalances, there could be no movement in life. It is being off balance that keeps life changing. Total centering, total balance would only be stasis. All life is continual destruction and healing, over and over again.

 

That is why, even in the midst of an extreme situation, the wise are patient. Whether the situation is illness, calamity, or their own anger, they know that healing will follow upheaval.

 

365 Tao

Edited December 19, 2009 by Blasto

[Inedible]

I don't know. Pray?

[Ninpo-me-this-ninjutsu-me-that]

 

Example: There is a war going on, lots of people are dying. However, you are paralyzed and you cannot move any part of your body, but you can hear and see clearly, and you know what is going on around you, and you are in a safe place. What should you do?

 

Thanks! I look forward to your response.

 

I've kind of just been thinking a bit more about your question and my answer and I think I should elaborate a bit....

 

At first your question seems like a non-starter, ie. obviously a person who is paralyzed can do nothing, except observe or perhaps close his/her eyes assuming they can that is, or if in fact they indeed want to.... then again internally they can do something, so your question hits at something a bit deeper.

 

Things effect people emotionally, the desire to act in any case is often the direct result of emotion, emotion is connected to ego and its conditioning. If something really does create a strong desire to act, to the point of creating unbalance then it is something within the person that needs to be released I would say.

 

I have only been in two situations in my life where no matter what I did there was no result, and constantly banging my head against a brick wall only resulted in more pain for all concerned, I gave up focusing on the externals and realized the outer situation was only drawing out something internal that needed to be faced/experienced. Not doing is extrememly difficult for me sometimes, and in those two situations even more so.

 

Finally I gave up trying to do in those situations, life often has a checkmate position simply to draw out something that needs to be released. It's easy and comfortable to act, as this kind of offsets an internal pain..... but sometimes internal pain has its own logic and has to be felt in order to be released.... yet the ego will fight it tooth and nail.

 

Perhaps it's simply learning to view how any situation effects you personally and what is the true motivation for acting, and is that simply a knee jerk reaction to some inner pain that hasn't truly been faced. Sometimes an act of compassion can be refused, and you may think that is totally wrong for that person... but it is their choice. 'what to do when there is nothing you can do'....'nothing', is a terribly hard path when someone you care for is destroying themselves, but who knows if they need to destroy themselves in order to learn something... no one can say for sure.... life's checkmate position is never pleasant, sometimes you have to just sit and watch and if it gets too much close your eyes for a bit.

[voidisyinyang]

Tim Ingold -- anthropologist -- documented that stress causes hallucinations as an adaptive strategy:

 

 

Here is something I have found interesting.

 

In order to express the question most clearly, I will exxagerate the example, but feel free to give an answer for a similar, but less extreme situtation.

 

Example: There is a war going on, lots of people are dying. However, you are paralyzed and you cannot move any part of your body, but you can hear and see clearly, and you know what is going on around you, and you are in a safe place. What should you do?

 

Example 2: There is a war going on like above, but you are in a very distant place (like a desert) with food and water etc., but no way of communication with anyone.

 

Now what would be the most suitable course of action a Taoist would follow?

 

Thanks! I look forward to your response.

[doc benway]

Here is something I have found interesting.

 

In order to express the question most clearly, I will exxagerate the example, but feel free to give an answer for a similar, but less extreme situtation.

 

Example: There is a war going on, lots of people are dying. However, you are paralyzed and you cannot move any part of your body, but you can hear and see clearly, and you know what is going on around you, and you are in a safe place. What should you do?

 

Example 2: There is a war going on like above, but you are in a very distant place (like a desert) with food and water etc., but no way of communication with anyone.

 

Now what would be the most suitable course of action a Taoist would follow?

 

Thanks! I look forward to your response.

I don't know about a Daoist but here's what I would recommend.

 

Breathe

[seththewhite]

Tim Ingold -- anthropologist -- documented that stress causes hallucinations as an adaptive strategy:

 

 

Holy hallucinogen. Thank you for that link!

 

Could it be that Harmony is the unseen infrastructure of every path ever taken

(major example is Mathematics, visually expressed in fractals)

And to live in harmony, does 1 realize this pre-existence of paths

and perfect whichever example he happens to be on?

 

...As for the paraplegia...

do the only thing you can do

and try to get some sleep.

Edited December 19, 2009 by seththewhite

[Lucky7Strikes]

The enlightenment of one in the mountains helps the whole of humanity. Or something like that. I think the Maharshi said something in that manner.

 

But, I think a Buddhist will say: Creating unconditioned compassion is the way to go! .

[goldisheavy]

Here is something I have found interesting.

 

In order to express the question most clearly, I will exxagerate the example, but feel free to give an answer for a similar, but less extreme situtation.

 

Example: There is a war going on, lots of people are dying. However, you are paralyzed and you cannot move any part of your body, but you can hear and see clearly, and you know what is going on around you, and you are in a safe place. What should you do?

 

Example 2: There is a war going on like above, but you are in a very distant place (like a desert) with food and water etc., but no way of communication with anyone.

 

Now what would be the most suitable course of action a Taoist would follow?

 

Thanks! I look forward to your response.

 

Every situation is workable. What you do depends on your situation and not just on some overriding fact. So for example, if there is a war going on, that will be your overriding fact. But you're asleep. What do you do? You sleep. Sleeping is your current situation.

 

If you have loosened up your belief system to free up your intent a bit, you have an option of dumping your body as well. This is another way to work with the situation, that's not necessarily open to everyone. Harder than ditching your body is to heal it from severe injuries like you describe. But that's an option at some level too.

 

But no matter what level you're on, you always have options. For example, you can meditate, or work out some difficult maths problem in your mind, or compose music, or just go to sleep.

 

I don't mean to imply there are literally "levels" of development though. There are really no levels. I use that word for convenience and not because it's precise or correct.

[Marblehead]

Nice responses.

 

My only comment at the moment is that if there is nothing one can do to directly effect a situation then one should not concern themself with the situation.

 

Yeah. Do nothing and breathe.

 

Peace & Love!

 

(Or you could just nuke them all.)

[ilikedragon]

Thanks everyone for the interesting and enlightening responses!

[Tao99]

Hi and welcome, great question we all must ultimately face. And one that always reminds me of the serenity prayer:

God please grant me

 

the serenity to accept the things I can't change,

 

the courage to change the things I can change,

 

and the wisdom to know the difference.

 

Even if you don't believe, me thinks the principle is right on the money.

 

Also,

 

take compassionate refuge in quietude.

 

take care of yourself

 

help out your family

 

feed your cat

[Marblehead]

Hi and welcome, great question we all must ultimately face. And one that always reminds me of the serenity prayer:

God please grant me

 

the serenity to accept the things I can't change,

 

the courage to change the things I can change,

 

and the wisdom to know the difference.

 

Even if you don't believe, me thinks the principle is right on the money.

 

Also,

 

take compassionate refuge in quietude.

 

take care of yourself

 

help out your family

 

feed your cat

 

I do try to live by that. Thanks for the reminder.

 

Peace & Love!

[rex]

Pray and supplicate - even a drop raises the ocean.

[Non]

I've always wondered about this.

 

People talk of mastering the mind, cultivating emptiness, and then they talk about how it's so easy.. and I'm just like "oh yea what if you're testicles are on fire and you are being tortured how easy is it for you to remain peaceful and 'happy?'"

 

Perhaps there's no real way to be absolutely 100% happy in every single case.. sometimes you just have to deal with what you have.

Edited January 3, 2010 by Non

[Marblehead]

Hi Non,

 

I can speak only for myself but even though I consider myself pretty well centered there still are events in 'real life' that send me up the wall. I even get teed off at myself sometimes when I make stupid mistakes.

 

I think one key is how quickly we can regain our center after it has been lost. I love feeling my emotions so this makes it even harder for me at times.

 

Yeah, I am sure there are some who can hold to the center under all conditions but I also think that this people are very rare indeed.

 

Peace & Love!