Birds and thoughts fly through the sky of mind. When they are gone we’re left with the sky of wisdom and compassion.
Showing posts with label Tao Te Ching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tao Te Ching. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
The action of non-action.
“To act” presumes an actor. It would be absurd to speak of action otherwise. Action must therefore consider the source—this actor doing the acting to understand action. In a normal sense, action entails the will (volition) the capability of conscious choice to do one thing and deny another. And that volition is a reflection; the vote of the actor. To say “I desire” is an expression of such a will—the desire preceding action. But we must take a serious look at how we understand this one who acts to explore the motive.
In Buddhism (as well as Taoism) this matter is taken seriously. We all have a sense-of-self (the actor) which is constantly agitated, wounded and hungry. There is never enough to fill the belly of this actor, nor fences tall enough to guard what the self desires and possesses. The ego is never satisfied.
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