Heaven and Earth are impartial
They regard myriad things as straw dogs
The sages are impartial
They regard people as straw dogs
The space between Heaven and Earth
Is it not like a bellows?
Empty, and yet never exhausted
It moves, and produces more
Too many words hasten failure
Cannot compare to keeping to the void
What does this mean?
A straw dog in ancient China was a ceremonial object that was discarded after they used it, like christmas trees we have today. They are important during Christmas because you need them to put presents under, and then we destroy them afterwards. Nature does the same thing with reality.
Before humans, species were still going extinct every day. We have natural disasters every year that decimate entire towns and cities. Earth has had five different world-wide extinction events that killed almost all life on earth. Supernovas have destroyed entire solar systems. Reality is not sacred to the Tao. It's obvious that nature does not care one way or another.
Since the Tao does not care, neither should we.
I am not saying you shouldn't love and respect people around you. You should. I'm not saying to be selfish or treat people badly. Don't do that. I'm not saying to ignore other people's needs. You can still feel love and respect without caring. They are seperate.
The care I speak of is the attachment we have to people's happiness.
It is the way opposites work. If you do not care, people will care for themselves.
Think about a terminal patient who wants to not suffer anymore. Imagine how much more suffering they endure simply because their family cares. The family makes the ill person live with machines and expensive medical treatments. If the family stopped caring, they would not inflict suffering on sick loved one.
Think about those who stay with an abusive partner because they care what it will do to their family. If the victim would stop caring about their partner, he could leave and get help for themselves and their family.
Think about your child who cannot build a tower out of blocks and you build it for him. Because you care, you deny them the opprotunity to figure it out for themselves. It's not like they are suffering because they haven't eaten in three days. They are just frusterated out of their own desire.
You can put all sorts of words out there to justify why you care. You have social obligations. You do not want to restrict your feelings. It will drive you nuts to not care about someone. You are worried about how you will be thought of. You might confuse caring with needing. The more wiggle room you give yourself, the more likely you will fail when it's important to keep your desire out of actions. Keep it simple.
The old saying rings true about a bird in a cage, "If you truly care, let it go. If it was meant to be, it will come back."
They regard myriad things as straw dogs
The sages are impartial
They regard people as straw dogs
The space between Heaven and Earth
Is it not like a bellows?
Empty, and yet never exhausted
It moves, and produces more
Too many words hasten failure
Cannot compare to keeping to the void
What does this mean?
A straw dog in ancient China was a ceremonial object that was discarded after they used it, like christmas trees we have today. They are important during Christmas because you need them to put presents under, and then we destroy them afterwards. Nature does the same thing with reality.
Before humans, species were still going extinct every day. We have natural disasters every year that decimate entire towns and cities. Earth has had five different world-wide extinction events that killed almost all life on earth. Supernovas have destroyed entire solar systems. Reality is not sacred to the Tao. It's obvious that nature does not care one way or another.
Since the Tao does not care, neither should we.
I am not saying you shouldn't love and respect people around you. You should. I'm not saying to be selfish or treat people badly. Don't do that. I'm not saying to ignore other people's needs. You can still feel love and respect without caring. They are seperate.
The care I speak of is the attachment we have to people's happiness.
It is the way opposites work. If you do not care, people will care for themselves.
Think about a terminal patient who wants to not suffer anymore. Imagine how much more suffering they endure simply because their family cares. The family makes the ill person live with machines and expensive medical treatments. If the family stopped caring, they would not inflict suffering on sick loved one.
Think about those who stay with an abusive partner because they care what it will do to their family. If the victim would stop caring about their partner, he could leave and get help for themselves and their family.
Think about your child who cannot build a tower out of blocks and you build it for him. Because you care, you deny them the opprotunity to figure it out for themselves. It's not like they are suffering because they haven't eaten in three days. They are just frusterated out of their own desire.
You can put all sorts of words out there to justify why you care. You have social obligations. You do not want to restrict your feelings. It will drive you nuts to not care about someone. You are worried about how you will be thought of. You might confuse caring with needing. The more wiggle room you give yourself, the more likely you will fail when it's important to keep your desire out of actions. Keep it simple.
The old saying rings true about a bird in a cage, "If you truly care, let it go. If it was meant to be, it will come back."
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