Tao Now -- Contemporary Interpretations in a Personal Context

[stan herman]

31. When conflict is required do not stir emotions against the opponent or glorify your superior technology. When these are done followers, like stampeding cattle, will run amok and bitterness and turmoil will be the yield.

 

Quiet concentration on limited objectives, free from the confusions of passion, will more likely bring success and durable reconciliation. Graciousness in victory is better than the domination of antagonists. The leader who turns swiftly as he can from the needs of conflict to the opportunities of reconciliation is useful for the longer term.

 

The vital person can exercise superior energy without making or damaging opponents. The one with a drive to obliterate enemies is dangerous and unloved even by her allies. They will cast her out as soon as they are able.

Edited August 17, 2011 by stan herman

[stan herman]

31. When conflict is required do not stir emotions against the opponent or glorify your superior technology. When these are done followers, like stampeding cattle, will run amok and bitterness and turmoil will be the yield.

 

Quiet concentration on limited objectives, free from the confusions of passion, will more likely bring success and durable reconciliation. Graciousness in victory is better than the domination of antagonists. The leader who turns swiftly as he can from the needs of conflict to the opportunities of reconciliation is useful for the longer term.

 

The vital person can exercise superior energy without making or damaging opponents. The one with a drive to obliterate enemies is dangerous and unloved even by her allies. They will cast her out as soon as they are able.

[stan herman]

TN Probably the most important things I've 'received' from reading->writing->reading the Tao's verses and the discussions of them on this site is first, an appreciation of patience and second an appreciation of others' views that are very different from my own. Views I would have dismissed as plain wrong earlier, on further consideration, I explored my own mind to find ways for them to make sense.

 

Following are my versions of a few selected verses that were significant for me. Let me add, that I started from an impatient and not very tolerant position. Those who are already conditioned to patience and tolerance of others' views may benefit from some quite different lessons. To me leaning is a process of filling in one's holes until we become whole, and each of us has different holes.

 

 

9. Ever climbing, ever reaching. Ever striving, ever surpassing. Ever gaining, ever accumulating. Ever the same. For some these alone are the ways to attain. And so for fifty years or more they repeat the pattern until stopped by circumstances, disillusion, or by death.

 

There are alternatives--a less locked and linear point of view. The reconsideration of ever onward and upward, and the re-valuing of pauses and side paths. The recollection that attainment can also be the filling of holes, and that each of us has a different whole to fill.

[stan herman]

10. If you are a skilled planner, can you trust yourself without a plan? Can you trust your spontaneous self to carry you through? If you are able to control important events can you allow smaller ones to go their own way?

 

If you can lead courageously, can you follow humbly? If you can roar and charge forward like a tiger, can you wait patiently and nourish like a cow? Has your thirst for praise and recognition been sufficiently quenched for you to achieve significant deeds and allow the credit to flow to others? And all of these without exertion?

 

If you have these skills, generate them but do not cling to them, develop them but do not depend on them, lead them but do not compel them.

 

This is the way.

[stan herman]

14. For some, intellect is the means to bring all things under control. To comprehend cause and effect they collect data and sort them, measure them and interpret them, classify them and predict them.

 

When considering the future remember the remote past. One who is aware of the stream of causes back to the primeval cause and forward to the ultimate cause is less concerned about causes. She knows that causes can be traced, but ultimately the cause of the causes can not be.

 

Yet there are no accidents. Each thing happens, according to the laws of nature, because it must, for reasons that make it inevitable. And this is the way the system has always been, causes that are traceable but ultimately unknowable. Know this and become master of all moments.

Edited August 26, 2011 by stan herman

[stan herman]

[stan herman]

[stan herman]

Thus, the ego is not to be eliminated, but to be managed.

 

71. Behold the important person.

She displays her scholarship and pretends to know.

Behold the one beside her

She speaks little, but when she does, all listen.

That one knows how little she knows.

 

Recognize the symptoms of self-importance promptly,

For quick relief: two aspirin of humor (a laugh at yourself is preferable) and continue. For long-lasting correction: bust your own games, burn your own covers. Clear seeing is the cure.

 

[stan herman]

Thus, the ego is not to be eliminated, but to be managed.

 

71. Behold the important person.

She displays her scholarship and pretends to know.

Behold the one beside her

She speaks little, but when she does, all listen.

That one knows how little she knows.

 

Recognize the symptoms of self-importance promptly,

For quick relief: two aspirin of humor (a laugh at yourself is preferable) and continue. For long-lasting correction: bust your own games, burn your own covers. Clear seeing is the cure.

 

[stan herman]

test

[stan herman]

[stan herman]

52. Words are the beginning of the world. Words form thoughts and thoughts make things. But, what is there before words?

 

The womb, the bowl, the emptiness, containing all.

 

When one is on fire with words, smothered by thoughts, entangled in things, reality becomes obscured by smoke. For a moment set aside your words and thoughts and things. Cherish emptiness for it quenches the fire of words and clears the view. Then you will know the whole, emptiness and fullness.

 

The one who knows the whole may use it all, the visible and concealed, present and future, action and non-action. With such advantage you will never lose.

[stan herman]

56. Those who hold wisdom do not scatter words. Those who scatter words do not hold wisdom.

 

Being,

quietly, without explanation,

releasing one's hold,

untangling ones ties,

clearing ones head,

accustoming one's vision,

grounding one's self,

These are the means of Tao

 

The one unswayed by passion, profit or praise is champion.

Following the way, he has become the way.

 

 

81. Words that express truth are simple and few. Subtle expressions may render art but not truth.

 

The person who is confident need not argue to convince others or herself. The person bent on making convincing arguments, delivered in an elaborate manner, is unlikely to be confident.

 

The one who knows the fact, need not expound the theory. She does not sow or harvest words. She gives kindness to others and herself feels grateful. She shares her gifts with others and is not diminished. She lives a life in which her achievements are many, and she claims no credit.

[stan herman]

2. Many people are reflexive partisans. They instantly compare, contrast, and have opinions for or against everything that comes over their horizon. They join causes, take positions and wave their arms about politics, social issues, economics, ethics and other people. Once a reflexive partisan takes a position or chooses a side, it becomes the flag of his ego, so that his own personal sense of victory or defeat, worthiness or worthlessness, becomes dependent on his cause.

 

It is better not to set your stance too soon or champion it too adamantly. As time winds forward there will be more to see than can be seen at present, but only if your eyes remain open.

 

For a wiser course, before you choose a position take a moment to recognize the foundation for other opinions along the continuum. If you are able, consider the continuum itself. Comprehending all opinions will enable you to better govern the arena of debate.

 

 

4. No matter the conditions, an outstanding leader realizes that his interconnections with those he leads, those who lead him, and the situation with which he deals, are perfect.

 

A sound leader knows too that he ought not call those he leads from too far ahead, nor demand of them abruptly what they find too unfamiliar or uncomfortable to give. Ego and compulsion to control are enemies of sound leadership. Asserting your position by maligning opposition is of limited use. A loud assertion of your position and importance may be exhilarating, but it can freeze maneuverability.

 

Be cautious of the leader who shines too brilliantly. He may dazzle for a while but when his glitter fades those who have not illuminated their own paths will be left in the dark. A driving wind pushes what is before it only when it blows ceaselessly. It imparts none of its energy, but only exhausts both itself and the objects of its force. When it stops blowing what is before it stops moving. So it is with a driving leader.

[stan herman]

EGO MANAGEMENT

 

In its own words the Tao speaks of ego a number of times. Mostly the Tao cautions against ego's faults and excesses. Many spiritual seekers have made their own ego (as well as others') a mortal enemy. Their mission, they believe, is to annihilate it. Surely, an ego can be a distorter, a seducer, an unhealthy and unreasonable master. But it is also a piece of necessary equipment for operating as a human being in the everyday world, and if you gain mastery over it's bad habits (by recognizing and non-judgmentally 'witnessing' them), the remainder of the ego can be a joy-- a kind of king's-fool to play with. As I've mentioned before, for those who would live the lives of hermit monks it may be possible to kill the ego, but not for anyone here.

 

Even the Buddha was much into his ego. (Read about his first encounter after his enlightenment with his four earlier fellow students.) The root of desire is ego. It is extremely difficult for a person living and engaged in worldly affairs to eliminate desire. A more practical course of action is learning to cope with desires by managing one's ego.

 

Learning to manage one's ego involves as a first step, becoming well acquainted with it. This involves learning to witness it in action, without judging it. When an ego is under management it can, on occasion, be temporarily stilled (as in meditation) and eventually the meditator may receive the grace of enlightenment. It is interesting to note that it is the ego that provides the motivation to achieve enlightenment and the personal determination to overcome the obstacles to its achievement.

 

For dealing with one's own 'undesirable' emotional reactions, try 'witnessing' the ego rather than murdering it :-) ,

 

A Basic Ego-Management Method

 

Here's a simple version of techniques provided by a number of spiritual instructors for managing unwanted habits and emotions. It's often called "witnessing". If you have an habitual way of reacting to a situation or person that you want to change, try this:

 

1 Catch yourself in the act. Do NOT try to stop yourself or change what you typically do! Only observe the actions in which you are participating, and your feelings as they arise. Notice yourself physically--muscle tension, breath, heart, etc. Also notice your thoughts and feelings. Do not judge, analyze or try to change them or even remember them, just notice as they happen. With practice you will get better and better at this. Gradually, you will be able to notice the pattern of actions at an earlier and earlier time in the cycle.

 

2 Continue to do this and two things will happen; the behavior cycle will decrease in intensity and power, and you will become adept at interrupting (or even avoiding) the cycle when you want to.

 

3 If and when you find you do not want to interrupt the cycle, consider that it may be a necessary behavior for you at this time in your life--karma, and, as Ram Das said, those karmic seeds must be burned through use before you get shed of them. So be easy with your bad habits, but do acknowledge them.

[stan herman]

 

 

36. Power is most secure when not displayed

Large egos are vulnerable to slight

Aggression is vulnerable to counter-attack

High status is vulnerable to failure.

 

 

Still, power is the flour of change

Egos provide its yeast

Aggression gives the heat for baking and

Status turns the oven on.

 

And so the Tao makes bread.

Edited October 16, 2011 by stan herman

[stan herman]

After a lengthy absence, partially spent preparing my new book for publication, I'm back. Tell you about the new book later.

 

 

20. The case is often made that contemporary issues are highly complex and one must not oversimplify them. But often too issues are made to seem more complex than they are. By sleight of hand and mind many in our society acquire prestige and grow wealthy perpetuating complexity.

 

I, however, am the son of a truck-driver, and were I not otherwise engaged I might now be driving too. When I hear complex explanations I am not convinced, unless I am convinced, and I am convinced only by the simple.

 

People say, 'how naive, how illogical'. But I continue, out of tune with this popular chorus, direct in words and deeds, not an insider or an old-boy, still only an apprentice learning the truck driver's trade.

 

The apprentice's lessons I am learning: To forsake my high dramas and the inner-head soliloquies that animate them, to reduce immense, broad issues to smaller, narrower ones. To make choices rather than decisions and watch the pattern of these choices point my new directions.

 

I have allowed my cleared vision to reveal new possibilities that have changed my old questions or dissolved them. And I have found the part of me that knows full well that all will be well whichever choice I make.

[stan herman]

[stan herman]

[As one reader said, "This is a novel novel." If you like fun-flavored wisdom literature, give this a try.

 

[stan herman]

HERE'S NEWS! Stanley Herman's novel, 'Then I Invented the World' will be available FREE in Amazon's Kindle edition on JUNE 13 and 14, at: http://www.amazon.com/Invented-World-CosmicComedyebook/dp/B007QOW00G/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333902755&sr=8-1

 

Below is a bit about the book, there's a sample available too on Amazon. I've also written a previous book titled 'The Tao at Work--on Leading and Following', and a number of excerpts from that have appeared on this site. I think those who appreciate the kind of broad and non-traditional perspectives of Taoism will find this novel both wise and enjoyable. Thanks for giving it a try.

 

Reviews

 

“Then I Created the World is an imaginative and iconoclastic novel that unfolds like a play.”

 

“…this was a fast and wonderful read and the plot and characters made it impossible not to devour each page as fast as I could!”

 

“…exciting...a page-turner, and funny as hell (sorry). And a refreshingly original look at the whole Good and Evil thing.”

 

“God is very much alive in this lively discourse in which the author pulls off the difficult trick of walking a tightrope between comedy and cosmology, using each to balance the other. A terrific reading experience.”

 

“The author has a knack for 'divine comedy' which explores some of the big questions of Life. Reading the book reminded me of the ancient Greek dialogs put in modern and easy to read form.”

 

Product Description

 

While fanatical extremists plot a masterstroke of terror, God is preoccupied with the members of an online Faith and Filosophies forum—giving vent to his long simmering issues with humanity. The world at peril, its best hope for survival is Legion, a cloned product of illegal Germline engineering, and perhaps God’s next prophet, unless he becomes Lucifer’s King of the World.

 

Heaven is near rebellion—divided by internal dissension as its greatest general, the archangel Michael, and his colleague the archangel Uriel, secretly plan a preemptive strike against Lucifer’s and his demons.

 

Author Stanley Herman has assembled a rich, diverse cast of characters from the three realms—earth, heaven, and hell. Lucifer is the slick yet sensitive leader of a bunch of misfit demons, in a hell that is crumbling from neglect. His divine foes are the vengeful archangels, Michael and Uriel. Legion is the reclusive weapons manufacturer, who is reluctantly forced to choose between God and the devil, and is tempted by the irresistible Lilith—men go to bed early just so they can have bad dreams of her. And there is God, if that is who he really is, who is going to decide whether or not to just ditch this whole humanity thing and spend his time elsewhere.

 

A startlingly credible “what-if” story that is as funny as it is thrilling.

“This is a fun, meaningful and wise book. The conversations are funny and complex. There are moments for deep reflection along with hilarious interactions that leave one satisfied and deepened.” Father Willy Crespo

 

For illustrations, and to learn more about the novel and the characters of the three realms, visit the Facebook page for Then I Invented the World, (A Cosmic Comedy) at https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/Then-I-Invented-the-World-Images/316384941769226

Edited May 29, 2012 by stan herman

[Stosh]

Take a deep breath Stan. repeat

[stan herman]

Take a deep breath Stan. repeat

 

While I'm not at all clear about the purpose of your comment, let me reassure you that I invariably balance each in-breath with an exhalation. And I recognize as well that balance is required between conventional interpretation and openness to creative imagination. How about you, Stosh?

Edited May 29, 2012 by stan herman

[Stosh]

While I'm not at all clear about the purpose of your comment, let me reassure you that I invariably balance each in-breath with an exhalation. And I recognize as well that balance is required between conventional interpretation and openness to creative imagination. How about you, Stosh?

 

Purpose of my comment..Hmmm maybe the string of post after unanswered post

indicates that you have outstripped your audience in a flush of manic enthusiasm.

I started at the beginning which was interactive and interesting.

You have some great stuff to say.

But I am not going to be reading all that there is,

I may miss good points but I am ok if I miss them.

I have my own Dao somewhat similar in some respects too.

 

It is too long for me, others may have more patience though.

Posted in one of these interactive threads on this board,

at some point your efforts will drift down beyond the zone where folks are actively looking.

It would benefit you to post this stuff to a personal thread less likely to wander away like that.

Your choice

 

PS I suggested a deep breath , I didnt specify inhaling , ommitting exhaling.

If you are going to quip at me,

at least see if I have left an opening you can use to good effect.

 

breath (brth)

n.

1. The air inhaled and exhaled in respiration.

2. The act or process of breathing; respiration.

3. The capacity to breathe, especially in a natural and unlabored manner: shortness of breath.

4. Spirit or vitality; life.

5. A single respiration: a deep breath.

6. Exhaled air, as evidenced by vapor, odor, or heat.

7. A momentary pause or rest.

 

 

PPS I just love reasonable and creative stuff

Recognize a 'simpatico' when you see one bro

Edited May 30, 2012 by Stosh

[stan herman]

Purpose of my comment..Hmmm maybe the string of post after unanswered post

indicates that you have outstripped your audience in a flush of manic enthusiasm.

I started at the beginning which was interactive and interesting.

You have some great stuff to say.

But I am not going to be reading all that there is,

I may miss good points but I am ok if I miss them.

I have my own Dao somewhat similar in some respects too.

 

It is too long for me, others may have more patience though.

Posted in one of these interactive threads on this board,

at some point your efforts will drift down beyond the zone where folks are actively looking.

It would benefit you to post this stuff to a personal thread less likely to wander away like that.

Your choice

 

PS I suggested a deep breath , I didnt specify inhaling , ommitting exhaling.

If you are going to quip at me,

at least see if I have left an opening you can use to good effect.

 

breath (brth)

n.

1. The air inhaled and exhaled in respiration.

2. The act or process of breathing; respiration.

3. The capacity to breathe, especially in a natural and unlabored manner: shortness of breath.

4. Spirit or vitality; life.

5. A single respiration: a deep breath.

6. Exhaled air, as evidenced by vapor, odor, or heat.

7. A momentary pause or rest.

 

 

PPS I just love reasonable and creative stuff

Recognize a 'simpatico' when you see one bro

 

 

BIG SMILE. I recognize you now. But just look back at your cryptic comment and see if you could have recognized it. I appreciate your assessment too. I didn't start out with the idea of a monologue, it just turned out that way. My interpretations of the Tao are not exactly conventional or traditional, but they do seem to get readers. Based on past experiences, the print book sold well, but I got a sense that a number of people who agreed with the sentiment were reluctant to make the agreement public, and some who disagreed were also hesitant??. Don't know if that's the case here or not. Maybe your comments will start a trend. I'd like to see that. In my view, the conventional ideas of wu-wei are overbalanced in favor of blah. Would be pleased to have you join in with your agreements, disagreements and elaborations, Stosh.

[Stosh]

BIG SMILE. I recognize you now. Would be pleased to have you join in with your agreements, disagreements and elaborations, Stosh.

Great ,

one of those rare events like comets

Successful resolution.

I want to take a close look at the way you address Wu wei by the way.

If I can locate it.

Stosh