Thoughts I've thunk while sippin' at a cup of tea and reading something provoking, often get dropped here for the benefit of humanity and my own hubris.
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The unwanting soul
Sees what's hidden,
The ever-wanting soul
Sees only what it wants.
James Legge translates this as:
Always without desire we must be found,
If its deep mystery we would sound;
But if desire always within us be,
Its outer fringe is all that we shall see.
It is far beyond me to interpret the Tao Te Ching, but here are a couple of notes about this passage that might lead someone to their own understanding.
A fundamental priniciple of Taoism is the concept of not wanting (often rendered as a lack of desire). Perhaps an initial view of this concept could be seen as a lack of striving (and the stress associated with it), an apathy towards competition and aggression (and the pain associated with it), or
I've often looked at this "lack of wanting" as the ability to float with the current of nature, i.e the tao. I would not call this depression or anything like it. It is like reveling with the seasonal changes that is Life.
The text that LeGuin uses as "only what it wants", and that Legge describes as "outer fringe" means, boundaries, limits, or other outcomes.
© 2000-2005, Howard Abrams • Except where otherwise noted, all original content is licensed under a Creative Commons License (see details).
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