Gazing in the Mirror

January 8 - The Way Less Traveled

No one competes to be a Taoist.
It's practically secret knowledge,
not because adherents want to hide it
but only because Taoism is fundamentally
anti-conformist, individualistic, and
oriented toward the patterns of nature
over the patterns of society.
~ Deng Ming-Dao, The Lunar Tao

The avenues of revelation can never be
closed. But no man can receive
the revelation for another. I cannot buy
your revelation and you cannot buy mine.
~ Ernest Holmes

I felt a resonance with Taoism from my first exposure to it. My original self-chosen way was Science of Mind which is the philosophy described by Ernest Holmes. I flirted around with Paganism because it is a rural, nature-based perspective. However, Taoism suits me better. I like its simplicity and its ancient roots. I like that my two foundational philosophies marry East and West to some degree within me. In know that seeking an understanding of Tao is not appealing to many. Yet I have found that my way has led to satisfying my ability to navigate the world that I inhabit well enough. Simpler is better, less is more, I find happiness and freedom among such concepts.

Sometimes when I try to share my understandings which seem easy to comprehend to me or some of what my basis for living simply is, I don't always feel understood by others. Though words have dictionaries to explain them, their meanings are often unique within me. Sometimes the way I travel seems so narrow as to be specifically defined and at the same time it is as vast as existence and the universe in potentials. The way I travel has never been crowded and it has taken me more than a few years to understand why. The quote from Ernest Holmes above helps to explain it in words that feel accurate to me. I am upon a solitary path with others walking alongside but not as me.

Though I feel often quite alone in my perspectives, I yet remain some part of the world. Denial of everyday life is not more holy. Serenity is so essential to the happiness of my soul that I cultivate it intentionally. Meditation nourishes it. It is interesting to note that the word "tao" also means "road" in Chinese. Yet Tao is also the movement of the universe and the natural principles upon which logically all human law should be based. Tao is full of paradoxes the same way Life is – it is profound yet ordinary, the movement of the universe, the invisible made manifest and a guide for everyday life – it is all of that and none of that and it may also be a road that one is standing on in China.

I am not the kind of person to follow others. My revelation as Ernest Holmes calls it does truly seem to be my own. There is no way for me to package and sell it to others. I hear a song of the Universe and it is my own song. I don't need the approval of others. This song that I understand is powerful but cunningly subtle. I like that. There is nothing to confess and no one to seduce. I embrace diversity because within it I find the freedom to be my own self. The silence of being solitary is important to my ability to hear this song of ancient ages. That song is the song of Tao.

There was a 12th century Neo-Confucian sage named Chu Hsi who was remarkably similar to Ernest Holmes in ideas, conclusions, interests and personalities. Chu Hsi synthesized and incorporated his perspective by melding the writings of Confucius, the metaphysics of the I Ching, the cosmology and spirituality found in Taoist texts and to a lesser degree the tenets of Buddhism. They were both well-versed in the philosophy and spirituality of their time. They each saw beyond the material world of effect into the principle of Spirit as it unfolds through everyday life. They both explored and synthesized ideas from many traditions.

Ernest Holmes studied the three great philosophical and spiritual traditions of China – Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism. In his co-authored book with Raymond Charles Barker titled 365 Days of Richer Living, he often quotes from Taoism and a diversity of spiritual insights from the ages including those from the Hindu philosophies. Ernest Holmes did not inspire my own eclectic and diverse way of coming into my own spiritualized understandings but Ernest Holmes and Chu Hsi and Lao-tzu and I all seem to agree – the way less traveled, the solitary way that an individual chooses for their own self, experiments with and discovers the truths within for their own self is the only way that anyone can ever entirely trust what it is that they have come to understand. Or so I have discovered for my own self along my own way – beliefs that I can have a deep trust and faith in.

~ perspective

I have always selected my beliefs from
bits and pieces, here and there along my way,
that my heart has told me were the right ones.
I do not resist the natural and spontaneous
changes of Life but allow all things to flow
naturally forward in the most efficient and
effective ways.
The confidence that I have achieved
regarding my personal beliefs is one of
my best friends in Life.
Kindness seems useful for many aspects of
living – in words it creates confidence; in
thinking profound insights; in the giving of
an increased love.
I am contented with what is in my life
and the way things are that gives me a
quiet assurance regarding my expectations.

#Buddhism #Chinese #freedom #happiness #Hindu #nature #Paganism #simplicity #Taoism #way