The Seemingly “Stupid and Non-discriminative”

The sage has the sun and the moon by his side. He grasps the universe under his arm. He blends everything into a harmonious whole, casts aside whatever is confused or obscured, and regards the humble as honorable. While the multitude toil, he seems to be stupid and non-discriminative. He blends the disparities of ten thousand years into one complete purity. All things are blended like this and mutually involve each other. (Chuang Tzu)

The sage always seems to know but I no longer think that is the point of Taoist texts. However, I am not a scholar nor do I aspire to such. Like the sage, I’m a human being experiencing existence.

And I, too, live in a time of “Warring States,” like 4^th century BC China. I remind myself to look through the eyes of Chuang Tzu as best I am able. Not all warring states are equal but they involve humans so there are similarities.

Of course, I want to “grasp the universe under my arm” for how else harmony? Rather than separating one warring state from another, I want to blend the “disparities of 10,000 years into one complete purity.”

It means having the “sun and moon by my side,” the day and night that would seemingly tear each other apart if one did not give way to the other–but they always do. They know they do not exist except with each other.

And as I read the Chuang Tzu text, my world seems so similar. Yet, our capacity for warring is so great, we are able to destroy the planet many times over.

Yesterday, the United States put the planet on notice by rolling back climate change regulations. Today, it is the UK leaving the European Union.

It is a clinging to what separates rather than a blending of disparities.

If there are generations to follow, how will they view this century of warring states?

Aim for Even posts offer equanimity a dose at a time. No day or dose is ever the same, even if the aim is. You may read about the origins of Aim for Even here or on this site’s About page.