A quote to ponder on

[Owledge]

That which deviates from the way shows the way.

[Taomeow]

That which deviates from the way shows the way.

 

Excellent! I immediately had an image in my mind's eye of having taught someone how to ride a bicycle. The student, a rather cerebral adult male, kept jamming the bicycle into the only palm tree in the otherwise empty parking lot. "I keep looking at that damn tree so as not to ride into it and still I can't avoid it," he complained. To which I replied, "whenever you focus directly on the obstacle, you are going to run smack into it." The palm tree in this case was exactly what deviated from the way --

and showed the way away from it by its very presence --

the trick of mastering anything, including the bicycle and the Way, is to use one's peripheral vision to remain aware (not oblivious!) of any and all obstacles and deviations, while simultaneously using one's central vision to watch out for where there aren't any.

 

What do you think?

[Iyoiyo]

"Etching the way," I like this idea.

[TheSongsofDistantEarth]

"By the shores of Gitche Gumee,

By the shining Big-Sea-Water,

Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,

Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.

Dark behind it rose the forest,

Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees,

Rose the firs with cones upon them;

Bright before it beat the water,

Beat the clear and sunny water,

Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water."

[Martial Development]

"After we had conducted thousands of experiments on a certain project without solving the problem, one of my associates, after we had conducted the crowning experiment and it had proved a failure, expressed discouragement and disgust over our having failed to find out anything. I cheerily assured him that we had learned something. For we had learned for a certainty that the thing couldn't be done that way, and that we would have to try some other way."

 

(Thomas Edison, American Magazine, January 1921)

[3bob]

your words or a quote?

[Owledge]

your words or a quote?

Actually my words, unless I've heard them before somewhere and don't remember. Should I call it a saying? No word seems appropriate. But it's not relevant.

It is very interesting to read the different views on this; It can be seen from many sides.

Personally, this thought came up in the sense that when one is not sure about what is right, maybe because of inner uncertainty or because of a lack of opportunity for recognizing it, then recognizing what feels wrong can point to it through the contrast created. (True to the purpose of opposites in Taoism - "How do you know good when you don't know bad?")

So while it is often said that we should not move away from things, but move towards things, the former can lead to the latter.

To use a metaphor: A mass of water will just flood the whole land, but it can become a river when there is a riverbed. The surrounding land delineates the borders, crucial for defining the shape of the river. By preventing the water from flowing, the bank slope makes it find its way, flowing swiftly, in a controlled way, getting somewhere, without losing itself on the planes and being absorbed by the ground.

[goldisheavy]

That which deviates from the way shows the way.

 

Words of wisdom with more than one meaning.

[That Guy]

That which deviates from the way shows the way.

Think for yourself is the way to go.

 

Some things "the way" really is the way though.

[unmike]

That which deviates from the way shows the way.

 

Your perspective is what matters, no matter what you ponder on.

 

That which is opposed to something helps to delineate precisely what your something is. It can be an object that is not what you're after, a bad habit you'd like to break, or even a person doing things antithetical to your purposes.

 

However, if you can successfully utilize the "bad" to help you find the "good", doesn't that demonstrate that both are really just two ends of the same spectrum, and they're interchangeable depending on the way you view them?

 

Tao...not Tao...

 

All still Tao, in the end.

[Owledge]

Yes, that's what I meant. It's even more precise than when astronomers determine the existence of a planet merely by observing its effects.

[effilang]

That which deviates from the way shows the way.

 

 

If "my way" is A and the deviation is B, whatever "way" resulting from the contrast of A + B is not necessarily = to "the true way" (which by definition is relative), but just another "way", which could just as credibly be someones else's personal understanding of "the way" or "their way".

 

Although the quote certainly has a deep sense and i can see it's applications and definitely has the potential for aiding problem solving, i remain partial to the texts of the man who said that:

 

 

-

The tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.

The name that can be named is not the eternal Name.

The unnamable is the eternally real.

Naming is the origin of all particular things.

Free from desire, you realize the mystery.

Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.

Yet mystery and manifestations arise from the same source.

This source is called darkness. Darkness within darkness.

The gateway to all understanding.

-

 

Yet even if you achieve the highest goal, how can you be sure it is?

Is the Tao you think of the real Tao, is your way the real way?

 

A question within a question, within a question...

 

"This source is called darkness. Darkness within darkness."

 

I say No questions, within no questions... the gateway to all understanding!

 

If the man on the bicycle rode while concentrating on keeping to an obstacle free road, he would have concentrated on an obstacle free road and thus all obstacles would have been non-existent.. rather he looked at the 1 obstacle in plain view amidst an obstacle free road . And the job was not done efficiently : )

 

I suppose you can either look at the obstacle in order to determine what part of the road is obstacle free, or you may simply directly look at the obstacle free road : )

Edited September 16, 2010 by effilang

[John Zen]

You can usually tell when something is off, when something is wrong, or when something is bad. When it does not follow the Way, you sometimes cannot explain in words why, but you know in your heart when something is deviated from the Way. In understanding when something is not in accordance with natural law, you can therefore, sometimes, discern what that law itself is.

 

Maybe way off, just my random thoughts.

[Birch]

"That which deviates from the way shows the way."

 

I don't think I can say anything about this but I know it when it happens

[thelerner]

That which deviates from the way shows the way.

Here is what I get. There is the stereotypical monk or scholar who's straight laced and observant, but every now and then comes one who exudes joy and breaks the rules. Their spirit and purity is such that they get away with it.

 

It reminds us the way is bigger then we imagine.

 

Michael

[C T]

The Way is without deviation.

 

What deviates is the lethargy of mind.

[Apech]

The Way is without deviation.

 

What deviates is the lethargy of mind.

 

What Devi-ates are the footsteps of the goddess.

 

Devi

[Ramon25]

"truth is usually ignored, so that all of someones intentions can be focused on argueing with lies" especially in chat rooms

[everseeking]

'We spend our lives running from or denying pain'

-A great friend, and mentor

 

 

'When asking a leaver of home,

I simply think

you should not let your mind be detained

by a temporary dwelling'

 

Cant remember source, but it is in 'The Unfettered Mind', Cleary translation.

 

And then there are the simple, yet profound (American) classics, such as-

 

'Birds of a feather flock together'

 

'Sometimes its best to let a sleeping dog lie'

 

etc...

 

-Peace-

Edited September 18, 2010 by everseeking

[buscon]

That which deviates from the way shows the way.

 

very nice!

 

I just add a blake's quote from his "The Marriage of Heaven and Hell":

 

The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom.

 

and

 

You never know what is enough unless you know what is more than enough.

 

 

Enjoy!

[LaoTzu21]

That which deviates from the way shows the way.

 

the first thing i think of is the holey cheese. i dont know why work that out for yourself.