Chapter 9
Thoughts and Applications on the Tao Te Jing through the lens of Master Zhu's Teachings.
To hold on to something until it overflows
This is not worthwhile
To make use of something and still keep it sharp
This cannot be maintained
A palace full of gold and diamonds
No one can protect
To be rich and arrogant with pride
This in itself attracts misfortune
When the work is done, withdraw
This is the Tao of heaven.
Maybe 10 years ago I was thinking about a theory of change and how I understand the world, the idea came about was a theory of stagnation. Within the I-Ching there are 64 states of change that are used to understand states of the world and our views from any individual instantaneous point. I generally use the ideas of the I-Ching from a philosophical perspective, as a map to understanding the flow of change. In the process of change stillness and accumulation are natural states of change. If we look at the idea of frozen water, ice. It is the slowing of water molecules and a forming of a crystal. Ice is a natural phenomenon, and also the stagnation of water.
The model I start with is a view of the world as a constant flow of change, energy and matter transforming, shifting, and evolving. The world is always in a state of flux and constant change. Every thought that runs through our minds has the ability to change our entire perspective. Every breath and every breeze changes the makeup of the world. Within this natural flow, everything that has matter, every thought, everything physical is in a state of accumulation and stagnation. This lends itself to ideas in modern physics, where matter and energy are fundamentally connected. Every moment of every minute is a shift from one state to another.
In our lives this stagnation is seen as ideals or beliefs that we hold on to that no longer serve us; they have outgrown the architecture of our belief structures. This is fundamentally how systems fail, by holding on to outdated ideas or systems that no longer serve their purpose. I see this stagnation as the root of many modern illnesses and societal dilemmas.
There is a film by Kids in the Hall called Brain Candy; its a dark comedy about the pharmaceutical industry and the modern world. The premise is about the creation of a new anti-depressant that turns into a perceived miracle drug. The drug shifts you into a state where you experience and relive your happiest memory, the side effect is that it locks you into that happy memory and the patients end up in corporate comatoriums. I saw this film in the early 2000’s and loved it, more for its dark take on the world. As I get older and think about this idea, I see this behavior in my friends and associates. Rather than living in the present and what we’re going to do, they become lost in memories of things we did years ago. I see this as a type of stagnation that creeps into our lives. We become attached to who we think we are, or things that we did that defined who we became. I see this as the constricting factor of the mind as it plays out in our lives. Maybe it’s the youthful enthusiasm of engaging in the world and an opening of potential that guides us through those times. Maybe it’s the creative aspect of youth that keeps us fresh and out of these stagnations.
To hold on to something until it overflows
This is not worthwhile
Everything changes, its the flow between different Yin/Yang pairs that frame our cycles, bringing balance. In the essay Unraveling into Harmony, I talk about the process of unraveling stagnation to improve energetic flow as a key to understanding and maintaining health. This concept can be understood as an understanding of the health of any system. This theory is about removing stagnations (muscle tension) from our body to improve circulation to reduce pain, some pain is understood as an energetic stagnation from this perspective.
We see these systematic imbalances everywhere in the modern world. We can examine it in our economic system. Economics can be seen as a flow of currency or capital through our society (systems). From here a healthy economy is understood as a free-flowing dynamic system, free from stagnation. Where are we in our modern economic environment? I see the wealthy billionaires sitting at the top as a stagnation of currency. A crystallization of possibilities locked in bank accounts. Applying this theory, we can remove the economic stagnation from our system to improve the circulation to reduce economic pain.
To make use of something and still keep it sharp
This cannot be maintained
Our systems in the modern world love tools and processes. Every tool has its time and place. Within the ideas of change our systems and the environment have also changed. Within the structure of the Tao (binary tree) every tool, idea, or concept has an essence, a root from where it flows. As it flows our understanding becomes dependent on the larger branches as the root grows into a trunk and the tree (Figure 1).
Figure 1
It’s these supporting decisions that support the idea that become unstable as our world changes and expands that leads to systematic failures. Resulting in our systems become dull and unmaintained. For example: Our healthcare system. The idea started with “Lets create a system where everyone can have access to healthcare”. How do we proceed from here? There are the branches (decisions) made to execute our idea, each of these branches separates us from the execution of the idea (healthcare):
We need to charge fees to cover costs
We need laws to protect patients
We need to have organizations that manage these costs (insurance companies)
We need policies to manage care and costs
We need investor interaction to reduce risk and create profit
If any of these decisions that lead to the execution of our idea faulter or become outdated or corrupted, the idea (system) will fail. The simpler your approach the less risk of systematic failure, from this understanding of complexity in systems.
A palace full of gold and diamonds
No one can protect
To be rich and arrogant with pride
This in itself attracts misfortune
Money is like blood, It gives life if it flows
Money is like Christ, It blesses you if you share it
Money is like Buddha, If you don’t work you don’t get it
Money enlightens those who use it to open the flower of the world
And damns those who glorify it confounding riches with the soul
- Jodorowsky
When the work is done, withdraw
This is the Tao of heaven.
We are surrounded by cycles; every cycle has a beginning and an end. Every morning the sun rises and every evening the sun sets. I think here a Sage understands the balance of Yin/Yang and its relation to the natural cycles. When he lives his life with this understanding of balance, he aligns himself with the Tao of heaven