Oneness-separation reflection

Before meditating today I read this:

[From The Lao Tzu (Tao-Te Ching) as found in Wing-Tsit Chan (translator and compiler), A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, (1963), pages 148-149, slightly adapted by Jonathan Freirich]

18.
When the great Tao declined,
The doctrines of humanity and righteousness arose.
When knowledge and wisdom appeared,
There emerged great hypocrisy.
When the six family relationships are not in harmony,
There will be the advocacy of filial piety and deep love to children.
When a country is in disorder,
There will be praise of loyal ministers.

My thoughts:

Originally, I found this a tough text to connect to.

Then I thought of it in terms of the tendency to think we have arrived at answers when we find a part that works well.

Differentiation from oneness makes creation possible - like in Jewish Mysticism, where the infinite must become smaller and separated in order to make the universe, so in Taoism, separation into ideas is necessary.

And yet, that separation itself creates opportunities for difficulties.

Arriving at a good solution means we need to return to the wholeness out of which the good idea arose and connect back to fundamentals.

Attempting to solve situations with tried and true practices leads into problematic habits.

And this is all difficult to do.

The appearance if separate ideas in this reading connects very clearly to the Jewish Mystical s’firot - the Infinite must create by approaching the finite in steps and each of those steps holds assistances and difficulties.

More on this later I am sure!

Meanwhile, easier to sit for twenty minutes today than it was yesterday. Had some back pain as I worked to maintain my good posture.

I use the “Breathe” app on Apple Watch to help keep breaths and the Insight Timer App on iPhone for the timing of twenty minutes. If anyone has a better alternative that goes past five minutes on the Apple Watch I would love some suggestions.

Wishing everyone a good weekend and Shabbat Shalom.

Aiming for better self-rule

Before meditating today I read this:

[From The Lao Tzu (Tao-Te Ching) as found in Wing-Tsit Chan (translator and compiler), A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy, (1963), page 148, slightly adapted by Jonathan Freirich]

17.
The best (rulers) are those whose existence is (merely) known by the people.
The next best are those who are loved and praised.
The next are those who are feared.
And the next are those who are despised.
It is only when one does not have enough faith in others
that others will have no faith in them.
[The great rulers] value their words highly
They accomplish their task; they complete their work.
Nevertheless their people say that they simply follow Nature.

My thoughts:

Chinese philosophy focuses a lot on the nature of good leaders and I find myself often thinking that that translates well into Jewish ideas of being a  mensch, a person of integrity, or a righteous person, a tzadik - that is a person worth striving to be like.

In this reading the power of doing well without recognition seems quite explicit. In doing what we are responsible for, and doing it well, we contribute to a more smoothly running world and in so doing, get less attention not more. Thinking of the Jewish version of this idea we can connect to Pirkei Avot’s idea that we do good because it is good, not for any reward.

Both versions seem pretty countercultural right now.

I am grateful to Keith Kristich and his prayer centering group for the space to meditate with them today.

Also wanted to share that twenty minutes of meditation isn’t always easy. Today I was not comfortable, shifting around to find my better posture, legs fell asleep and ended up stretching for a while. This is not an easy practice for me and I work to be forgiving to myself for not being a “pro”.