Gold Pavilion. Michael Saso
CENTER
"Be like a mother's womb," give birth and nurture, and then let go. Be like the empty hub of a wheel. If the center of the wheel is not hollow, an axle cannot be inserted, and the thirty spokes of the wheel are useless; they cannot turn. A bowl must be hollowed out to hold water. A room must be uncluttered and have windows and doors to be lived in. Only when we are empty, unselfish, are we good to ourselves and others.
MEDITATING ON WHAT'S INSIDE
Colors blind the eye, sound deafens the ear,
Flavors dull the taste, lust hurts the heart.
Value what is inside [Tao], not what is outside.
When the mind is filled with colors, sounds, tastes, and sensations, it cannot be aware of the presence of the Tao deep down inside. Tao eternally gestates life breath in all of nature. When the mind is emptied of concepts and images and the heart lets go of desire for things, the work of the Tao gestating in nature can be observed by the instinctive powers of the belly. In Taoist philosophy the mind is for knowing, the heart for desiring, and the belly for intuiting or sensing. By meditating from the center of the belly rather than from the mind or heart, one can intuit Tao's presence.3
MEDITATING ON LIFE'S DIFFICULTIES
One of the most important attitudes taught by Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu is that disapproval, scoldings, opposition, and contradiction must be expected and welcomed as long as we are alive and functioning. "Be happy when scolded, fearful when praised," Lao-tzu Jokingly warns us. By the very fact that we are alive and successful at our work, difficulties and contradictions come to us. If we were dead, then difficulties would not occur. So value opposition as you value your life. Run from praise and adulation with distrust. Do not depend for your self-image on what others think of you. Only when we are totally selfless, when we lose the need for praise or approval, can we be entrusted with ruling ourselves, our families, and the state. The Chuang-tzu (see later in this chapter) is filled with stories illustrating this principle.
MEDITATING ON AN UNCARVED BLOCK OF WOOD
The uncarved block of wood is a symbol of simplicity used by Lao-tzu and Chuang-tzu. If the mind and heart are carved into pieces by arguments and worries, the body becomes ill. Chuang-tzu tells of a huge gnarled tree too twisted to be used for lumber. Because of this children come to play in its shadow and birds to nest and sing in its branches. Lao-tzu tells the Taoist healer to go wading in a cold winter creek, to shiver in its purifying coldness. Live in a crowded tenement without bothering the neighbors. Be thoughtful of the host's feelings when invited as a guest; be sensitive as thin ice about to melt in spring, unspoiled as the flowers in a wild meadow, clear like a pool of still water unruffled by wind, fresh like new green grass by the side of a stream. To do these things one must envision oneself as an uncarved block of wood.
MEDITATING ON A GOOD RULER OR EMPLOYER
Lao-tzu warns the Taoist healer that the best ruler, teacher, or healer is scarcely seen or known. The next best is loved, the third best is feared, and the worst is hated. If workers don't trust their employer or political leader, students their teacher, or patients their doctor, nothing lasting will be accomplished. The best ruler or healer says little, and when his or her work is done, the worker or patient says, "I did it." This is because healing must be in the patient, and work must b&done by the worker.
MEDITATING ON STANDING ON TIPTOE
One cannot stand on tiptoe for very long, or walk very far on one's knees. Violent winds last less than a day and a torrential rainfall but a few hours. Heaven and earth make sure that violence does not last. Only when We are at peace within ourselves can we experience permanent health and wholeness. Food that is left over, deeds that require great and continual effort, a person who acts for glory and fame, are like people walking on tiptoe in a violent rain. None can last very long. Our hearts must be freed from all desires that are like a violent rainfall or walking on tiptoe, that bring tension and stress. Our minds must be purified of all violent and negative images in order to remain calm and constant. Good deeds should not be seen, and well-spoken words leave no target for envy. Lao-tzu jests:
Good accounting needs no ledger,
Well-locked needs no key or bolt,
Well-tied needs neither rope nor knot
The Taoist healer helps all,
Turns none away, whether they are likeable or not
MEDITATING ON HEALING
The Taoist healer turns no one away, weak, poor, crippled, or outcast, and never deliberately harms anything.4 The person who is "one with the Tao" brings peace, great happiness, and nourishment for all, never rejecting anyone. When nourishing never try to preach or boss. "Be one with Tao" is the only message.
Because they are one with Tao,
Heaven is bright, earth at peace,
The soul is spiritual, the valley fertile,
Nature gives birth, leaders pure and simple.
MEDITATING ON HARMONY
Tao gives birth to One [qi breath];
One gives birth to Two [yang, heaven, male];
Two give birth to Three [yin, earth, female];
These three gave birth to all other things.
It is because they are in harmony
That they can do this.
(Tao-te Ching, chapter 42)
MEDITATING ON A HEALTHY BODY
The healer and the patient must realize that the body is the most important of our assets. The body's health is more important even than acquiring fame, wealth, and success in business. Profit and loss in business can bring on ailments. To fall madly in love is a great misfortune. The most successful person always leaves a little undone so that others too may succeed. The straightest line bends with the earth. One must move a little so as not to freeze, rest a little so as not to perspire. The person who does not bend becomes ill. Wait patiently for the best pottery, which comes last from the kiln. Listen quietly for the Tao from within the body's center, the belly, where the best music is silence. Those people are whole and endure who listen from within the body's center.
MEDITATING ON GOODNESS
The person who would be a healer of other people's ills must be good to the kind and the unkind, true to the faithful and the unfaithful. Tao gives qi breath to all, plays no favorites, smiles on everyone. A person who is filled with goodness walks through the battlefield unscathed by death. The tiger's claws don't scratch, a sword doesn't cut, a bull doesn't maul goodness.
Goodness is defined by Lao-tzu as an interior-quality that helps all others, whether good or bad, loyal or unloyal, useful or useless. Like the Tao, it sees all things as sacred and looks on all as something in which Tao dwells.
MEDITATING ON WUWEI, TAO'S ACTIONS
The Tao makes little things important. To those with little it gives much. It requites anger with goodness, tackles difficulties at once, while they are still easy. It rewards three precious things: kindness, care, and those who do not put themselves over others. In fact, it rushes to the aid of those who show kindness. It helps each thing find its own way, never telling others what to do. Tao hides behind coarse clothes. It is to be found deep inside the meditator.
MEDITATING ON THE OCEAN
The reason the ocean is the greatest of all creatures is because it is the lowest. Therefore, everything flows into it. (Tao-te Ching, chapter 66)
MEDITATING ON OTHERS
Never be weary of others, and they will not be weary of us. Our influence is greatest when others don't fear us and when we don't meddle in their lives at home. Meditate on all others with the greatest respect. When they come to see us, they will be better because of our respect.
MEDITATING ON NOT KNOWING
The most difficult things to heal are knowledge, concept, and image.