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Having the courage to challenge results in killing. Having the courage to not challenge results in living. These two methods may perhaps be beneficial or perhaps be detrimental. The heavens' position on evil - who can know what that is? Therefore, the heavens' Dao: Doesn't attack, yet it is good at conquering; Doesn't use words, yet it is good at responding; Won't summon, yet of itself arrives; Casts wide, yet has a good strategy. The heavens' web is all-encompassing; It may seem very far away, but is never lost.  Commentary: 73 ~ Harmful Or Helpful Actions -Having the courage to challenge results in killing. -Having the courage to not challenge results in living. -These two methods may perhaps be beneficial or perhaps be detrimental. It might take courage to start a fight, but someone eventually has to be the loser. It might take courage to walk away from a fight, but no one would be the loser. Do you think one of those approaches is better than the other? Doesn't it depend on the situation, or can there be one rule that will work in every situation? You might feel like you’ve won something by getting rid of someone who’s causing trouble in the world, but that might cause everyone more trouble in the long run. You might feel good about yourself for not getting caught up wanting to do battle with anyone, but that might cause everyone more trouble in the long run too. How can you know if what you’re doing will end up being the best for all involved? How can you preserve the good and do away with the evil? -The heavens' position on evil - who can know what that is? You might look for signs in Nature to help you figure out what’s good and what’s evil. But then you can find things Nature does that might seem to be evil to you as well. A flood can destroy both those we think are good and those we think are evil. A terminal disease can kill both those we think are good and those we think are evil. Rain can nourish both those we think are good and those we think are evil. How can we then decide that if we observe Nature we can figure out what’s good and what’s evil? We can’t. -Therefore, the heavens' Dao: -Doesn't attack, yet it is good at conquering; -Doesn't use words, yet it is good at responding; -Won't summon, yet of itself arrives; -Casts wide, yet has a good strategy. Looking at the process of Dao in Nature (the heavens)..... There's no preconceived notion that any manifestation of Nature (drought, flood, disease) is meant as an attack. Even though we may not understand how or why devastation might occur, Nature can wreak what appears to be havoc, but it’s actually merely a process for its own survival. Throughout the centuries, Nature has conquered its foes. Nature's Dao doesn't send down verbal mandates to tell the rest of us what we should do, but nonetheless we get the message by paying attention to its manifestations. It doesn't call us to heed its presence, but it sure lets you know its there and not to be messed with. Even though it affects everything in the universe - from the smallest crawling insect to the largest planet in the sky - it seems to have a strategy that provides for continued existence in one form or another. -The heavens' web is all-encompassing; -It may seem very far away, but is never lost. Nature doesn’t act based on what it perceives to be good or evil. It casts a very large web that includes all and neglects none. It may be hard for us to understand how something so vast yet delicate can continue to survive, especially with the ecological problems we're faced with. Extinction of some species; global warming; pollution; wars; etc. We might think everything in Nature as we know it could vanish. What might vanish is merely our own perception of what should survive and what we think we can do without. We could all do without war-mongers, greedy multi-corporations and fleas, right? But can we really determine what should survive and what shouldn't? There’s a balance in Nature that’s hard for us to understand. There’s a balance going on around us all the time that’s hard for us to understand. That’s why the best we can do when trying to figure out what’s good and what’s evil is to realize we really can’t figure that out. Even when we do what comes from our hearts, we can’t know if we might be thought of as being evil by someone else. Alternate translation: Something you do might harm another person. Something you do might make another person feel better. You never know if what you do is actually harmful or helpful in the long run. How could anyone come up with a solution for that? Look at Nature...... It isn’t mean, but it sure can cause devastation. It doesn’t respond in words to make us feel better, but it gives us the ability to keep going on despite what’s happened. It doesn’t demand we do anything, but it doesn’t abandon us. It can cause bad things to happen or good things to happen, but that’s just the way Nature works. Nothing can escape whatever Nature sends. We might think it’s not being kind to us at times, but you never know what good might come from what happens. | BY: Nina | Guodian Laozi | DDJ Concordance | Comparisons | Who was Laozi | | Return Home | Laozi's Dao De Jing | Your Dao De Jing | Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu) | Links | Meditation | Dao (Tao) is Open Forum | Book List | Other Stuff | |
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