Understanding Wu-Wei or Non-doing

I understand that this concept of non(t)-trying can be confusing. We are so used to trying to do or to control everything. We have strayed far from our True Nature and most have lost their way back. The whole point is simply that we are already in total control before we start trying to "control". This drive to "control" is your Ego fighting against your True Nature. In the calm center of the moment, the Present, when there is no thought or interference from the Ego, we are truly in control. The ancient Taoist principle of "wu wei" is exactly what I am talking about here. Please read this definition from Wikipedia:

"Wu Wei" means natural action - as planets revolve around the sun, they "do" this revolving, but without "doing" it; or as trees grow, they "do", but without "doing". Thus knowing when (and how) to act is not knowledge in the sense that one would think "now" is the right time to do "this", but rather just doing it, doing the natural thing.
"Wu" may be translated as not have or without; "Wei" may be translated as do, act, serve as, govern or effort. The literal meaning of "Wu Wei" is "without action" and is often included in the paradox wei wu wei: "action without action" or "effortless doing". The practice of wu wei and the efficacy of wei wu wei are fundamental tenets in Chinese thought and have been mostly emphasized by the Taoist school. The aim of wu wei is to achieve a state of perfect equilibrium, or alignment with the Tao, and, as a result, obtain an irresistible form of "soft and invisible" power." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wu_wei

All of the true disciplines such as Yoga, Tai Chi, the myriad of meditation practices, and everyday disciplines such as boxing, dance, and archery, teach this concept too. It is only in the Present, where no thought occurs that we are at our best. This is when we are all powerful and fully human. This is the only way to achieve oneness with our True Nature, Self, God, Tao, or whatever you choose to call "that which can not be named". It is our Source and is the Source of everything in the universe. It is who we are even though the Ego "says" we are something separate. The Ego is nothing more than interference - no different from static on a radio is as it drowns out a station you want to listen to. Tune out this noise and the signal comes in strong. Silence the mind and act without thought. "Doing" is acting with thought so your energy is scattered, not focused, and far less gets done. "Non-doing" is acting without thought so your total being is completely focused on the act and therefore all is done. "Doing" is hard work. "Non-doing" is relaxed and effortless. Simply put, doing and thinking oppose each other and diminish the act. Non-doing, in contrast, is acting without internal opposition so one's total ability is focused on the act. Chapters 48 and 38 of the Tao Te Ching by Lao-tse show the importance of non-doing:

The student learns by daily increment.
The Way is gained by daily loss,
Loss upon loss until
At last comes rest.

By letting go, it all gets done;
The world is won by those who let it go!
But when you try and try,
The world is then beyond the winning.
~ Translated by Raymond B. Blakney


Chapter 38(partial)

A truly good man is not aware of his goodness,
And is therefore good.
A foolish man tries to be good,
And is therefore not good.
A truly good man does nothing,
Yet leaves nothing undone.
A foolish man is always doing,
Yet much remains to be done.
~ Gia-Fu Feng & Jane English, 1972



The principle of wu-wei contains certain implications. Foremost among these is the need to consciously experience ourselves as part of the unity of life that is the Tao. Lao Tzu writes that we must be quiet and watchful, learning to listen to both our own inner voices and to the voices of our environment in a non-interfering, receptive manner. In this way we also learn to rely on more than just our intellect and logical mind to gather and assess information. We develop and trust our intuition as our direct connection to the Tao. We heed the intelligence of our whole body, not only our brain. And we learn through our own experience. All of this allows us to respond readily to the needs of the environment, which of course includes ourselves. And just as the Tao functions in this manner to promote harmony and balance, our own actions, performed in the spirit of wu-wei, produce the same result.
~ Ted Kardash

These Eastern concepts can be a little confusing at first but after one tries to understand for a period of time, then just relax, clear the mind, and you will understand.

Karma Rules So Why Try?

Karma keeps us coming back to the material realm until we overcome it. Few of us will cross this barrier. This does not mean we should stop trying. In fact, we should spend every possible moment letting go of the steering wheel of life and turning control of ourselves over to the infinite wisdom of the Present. It is only in these moments that we are living outside of Karma and therefore one with our True Nature - in the perfection of our Source or God. This is real Faith! This is when we are truly alive, in touch with our infinite goodness, experiencing the altruistic universal Love, and feeling the ultimate bliss of Empathy. One thought, though, and this paradise is gone. We are back to the world of Karma where causes chase effects like a dog chases it's tail. The more we try to get back to that magical place the farther away it gets. A perfect example is when you lose a thought. It is on the tip of your brain so you chase after it. You chase and chase and chase but it keeps moving away. How frustrating it gets so you chase even harder. Maybe your frustration even makes you angry at yourself - what a dummy I am! Funny, though, how as soon as you give up the chase, relax, and move on, you instantly remember the thought. Living in the wondrous infinity of the Present is exactly the same. You must give up trying. You must quit believing you can control, or are in control, of anything. Control is all an illusion created by your Ego. The only time you are truly in control is when you give up trying to control. By not-doing, all is done!

Karma still rules the day though. The Ego is very powerful and does not relinquish control easily. So why bother? You must understand that as long as you let your Ego create causes through thoughts and thinking actions, you are creating effects that will come back on you. Remember, when you are born into this material world, you have left blissful perfection and will now reap what you have previously sown. Welcome back to "Judgement Day"! You will be confronted by your leftover effects, good and bad, and will continue to create or cause more future effects. By letting go and shutting down all "control" by your Ego, all causes cease. No new effects are being created. The more often you can "stop the world" and live in the Present, the less Karma will effect you. The more often you experience these moments of pure Love, total Empathy, and overwhelming bliss, the more in touch you become with the suffering and needs of others. The more love you feel towards others who are struggling just like you to get through their "Judgement Day". You still create causes that create effects that will come back to you, however, your causes(thoughts and thinking actions) are more often kind, caring, and positive. The resulting effects will return to you kindness, caring, and goodness. Life becomes better. Your attitude becomes more positive. You find yourself driven to the aid of others whether that be a kind word and a smile to someone who desperately needs it or you are compelled to run to the aid of someone in immediate danger. Your world view is slowly but surely changing for the better and you feel happier with yourself, your material situation, and with your perception of others. The most important thing, though, is you find yourself living in the Present more often. Now that you are aware of the Power of the Present, you are automatically and unknowingly drawn into these beautiful moments - no trying, no controlling, it just happens.

As "they" say, "practice makes perfect". This age-old cliche' could not be more accurate! The more you experience the wonders of the Present, the more often you will experience it. The more often you experience it, the closer to perfection you get. The closer you get to perfection, the closer you get to overcoming Karma. The closer you get to overcoming Karma, the closer you get to Overcoming this World. This is "The Way" as taught by Jesus. This is "The Way and It's Power(Virtue)" as taught by Lao-tse in the "Tao Te Ching". Now do you know why you must try?


"If you stay in the center and embrace death with your whole heart, you will endure forever"
~ Lao-tse

Karma: Our Anchor to this World

This is my perspective on Karma that I have been promising for some time now. The essay "Overcoming Ignorance" by Jos Slabbert prompted me to present this essay on Karma that not only fits perfectly with the Taoist teachings of Lao-tse, "The Tao Te Ching" but also with the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, "The Way". The two together clearly explain the Law of Cause and Effect, or Karma, which is the ultimate principle governing human existence.



KARMA

Karma is the ultimate principle governing our human experience in this physical world. It is the the law - the judge, the jury, and the "executioner" - that rewards us for our good actions and punishes us for our bad actions. Karma is what many religious teachings refer to as "Judgement Day", however, it is not a day but is spread out over our lifetimes. We are our own judge because each cause(action, thought, word) births a resulting effect which is the reward or punishment, depending on the cause. As long as we create causes, we will experience the associated effect sometime afterwards. Our Karma started sometime in the distant past at the time our soul first arrived in this physical world. No one knows when that moment occurred but for all practical purposes, it was many lifetimes ago. Each of us is born into this world in a state of perfection but facing a long list of effects that will manifest sometime during our lifetime. We have no choice but to deal with the good or the bad effects because Karma is absolute, objective, and guaranteed. As long as we create causes, the consequential effects must run their course. All causes and effects, Karma, take place in the material realm therefore we are bound to this world for as long as there are effects to be dealt with. This is why each of us is born to a Destiny that is predetermined by the effects left over from previous incarnations. Hence, reincarnatiion is mandatory under the principle of Karma. Because we can not just choose to leave this world, we do not have Free Will. The choice we do have, though, is how we choose to deal with the events we are destined to experience. This is the key to our happiness and, for a few, the key to Destiny itself. The teachings of Lao-tse teach us how to master ourselves and return to our True Nature, Our Source, or God. I have studied the Tao Te Ching for about thirty years but have yet to find where it clearly addresses overcoming Karma. There are five chapters in the Tao Te Ching that pertain to achieving immortality* but the wording can be somewhat confusing. For clarity on this, I turn to the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth which he called, "The Way".

This is where my perspective on Karma deviates from that of Jos Slabbert, the author of "Overcoming Ignorance". I have the greatest respect for his scholarly work but I just can not deny the whole point of the teachings of Jesus. By his own words, he exclaims that, "I have overcome this world". By any definition of the word "overcome", it means that he had been bound to this material world at some time in the distant past just as we are right now, however, he had overcome that which had bound him to this world - Karma. He accomplished the most difficult thing a human can do. He gained true Free Will, and escaped the grasp of this material world. The incredible thing about Free Will, is that he had the choice to come back to this material world to show us "The Way" to do what he did, overcome Karma. This is Not to be taken lightly! "The Way" is the absolute epitome of challenges that relatively few will ever conquer, yet it IS possible. Jesus exhibited the altruistic Love that is the essence of our highest level of existence when he chose to come back and show us "The Way". There is no doubt that it took many reincarnations, the eventual awakening we all must experience, the beginning of his Path with Heart, his complete mastery of self, a mastery of each and every moment in time, and a life completely lived in the objective Present. In other words, he stopped creating causes and his accumulated effects ran their course as he objectively flowed by each and every one of them. Eventually his accumulated effects reached zero, his Destiny ended, he was free from the grasp of Karma, and he overcame this world!! This is called "Heaven" by many Christian teachings, "Nirvana"* in Buddhism, "Moksha"* in Hinduism, and by many other names throughout the various cultures of the world. So where do we go when we die?

This is probably the most thought about question in the world. This is where different perspectives of the One Truth eventually became the myriad of religions in existence today. The origins of each one arose in the same way as when ten people who witness the exact same event "see" ten different events. They all saw the same thing at the same time yet each person interpretted the event differently. Anyone who has taken Sociology 101 has experienced this phenomena with a simple exercise all Sociology professors use to demonstrate perception. Ironically, and sadly, this variance in perception of the One Truth has been, and continues to this day to be, the main reason mankind engages in war and hate. If only the religious leaders of the world would come together to examine the very core of their beliefs, they would eventually find this thread of Truth at the center of all religions. My what imaginations we have! So, religions aside, where do we go upon death? I can tell you what little I remember from the two "near death" experiences I had in 1975. There has been two times since then where I was faced with certain death and I "saw" again what I had glimpsed at the moment of my "death". I experienced the most incredible state of perfect peace, perfect calm, perfect silence, and exctasy infinitely beyond mere words. I saw, and was engulfed in, the most beautiful golden light. A light so bright yet so soothing, a golden light that wrapped me in complete security and sereneness, a light so powerful that I could not resist it's pull on me even if I had wanted to. Wherever we go to rest between reincarnations is what I would call Heaven. The Taoist sage, Lao-tse, wrote "Mourn a birth and rejoice a death". I completely understand this truth for it is here in this material world where all pain and suffering occurs from the moment of birth until the moment of death. It is completely up to us how we deal with the challenges of life on earth and whether the Karma we create manifests as pain or as pleasure. This is the one choice we all have.

Namaste'


"The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you."
~ Jesus of Nazareth

"To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne."
~ Jesus of Nazareth



* (Tao Te Ching) Immortality, Chapters 16, 33, 44, 50, 52.

* (Buddhism) Nirvana is the complete cessation of suffering; a blissful state attained through realization of no-self; enlightenment.

* (Hinduism) Moksha is the liberation from samsara, the cycle of death and rebirth or reincarnation

A Simple Meditation

When I was training in and instructing Kenpo, my Sensei would lead me and the few other associate instructors in a meditation similar to this one before every Instructors Tech training session. He verbally directed this form of hypnosis starting with the feet and working on each muscle until we no longer felt our bodies. We became nothing but pure consciousness! It was an incredible experience that completely relaxed the body and calmed the mind to a state of unbelievable clarity and awareness. Our abilities to train and to Kumite became seriously enhanced. I suggest you tense each muscle first before relaxing it because this added technique increases your ability to isolate each muscle and also increases the level of relaxation. Enjoy!


A Simple Meditation

For those who have never tried meditation, a simple exercise is given here. It requires only a little time each day, or whenever you feel stressed, and can have a beneficial effect in a very short time. All you just need is a comfortable place to relax, some fresh air, and some peace. Simple meditation requires no special technique, just a little time and some patience.

Body....

Firstly, lie down on your back and take a few moments to get comfortable and gather your thoughts. Relaxation of mind and body go hand in hand, so begin by relaxing your body as much as possible, which is much more difficult than you might think. Pay special attention to any areas of tension, such as the shoulders or lower back. Here are a few time honoured techniques to help you relax:

If you have a reasonable grasp of the workings of the body, you can go through each muscle in turn, picturing it in your mind as it relaxes and lengthens. Start at the feet and work your way slowly up the whole body until you reach the top of the head. Actually visualise the muscles, tendons and bones and see them relaxing in turn.

If your knowledge of anatomy isn't so good, just work up through the body parts in turn and feel them all relaxing slowly in turn. Just let the tension slip slowly away...

A favourite technique of stage hypnotists to induce hypnotism is to try imagining that your whole body is very heavy or very light. Feel your limbs either sinking into the floor as if made of lead or rising up into the air as if attached to a helium balloon- many people find that this is very relaxing.

Whatever you do, don't worry if its harder than you thought or you don't seem to be getting very far, you'll improve with practice.

Mind.....

Having spent some time relaxing the body it is time to quieten the mind. Don't try to simply 'stop thinking', just take a back seat and detach yourself from your thoughts, be like a spectator, watching them drift through your mind and pay them no heed. Don't worry if you don't seem to be having much success, just relax and see what happens.

One of the best ways to calm the mind is to focus on some repetitive action, this is why mantras (repeated sounds) are used in some systems. Better still is to focus on the breathing, so once you feel relaxed in mind and body, take notice of the way you are breathing. Try to take slower, deeper breaths as low down into your abdomen as possible. If you have difficulty breathing into the abdomen, place one hand there, and the other on your chest - try and breath so that only your lower hand moves. Every time you slip and discover your mind drifting just gently return your concentration to your breath. Don't scold yourself, don't worry whether or not it's doing anything, just relax as much as you can and enjoy the time to yourself.

You can practice this simple breathing meditation as often as you like, and for as long as you like. Once you feel you have done enough allow yourself to slowly come back into the normal world, allow yourself a little time to notice how you are feeling, and slowly sit up, and then try to carry the relaxation with you into your routine life.

Above all, enjoy it and don't try too hard!

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Overcoming Ignorance....continued..... Part III: Conclusion

Please read Parts I and II first....



This is the conclusion to the expansive essay on overcoming ignorance. This essay is very detailed and filled with actions necessary to be one with Tao. I want to thank the author, Jos Slabbert, for allowing me to use his wise words to help light the way on my Path with Heart and hopefully to help others to find their way also. As I stated previously, I have a different and more serious perspective on Karma and will attempt to illucidate my position in a new post very soon.


D. Behavioral Symptoms of ignorance

Behavioral symptoms of ignorance may be clearly visible to outsiders, but the ignorant are mostly unaware of their own ignorance.

What follows is a list of what could be symptoms of ignorance. They might indicate where you can improve.

Many of these symptoms might seem obvious, but make no mistake. They can manifest themselves in subtle, discreet, almost invisible forms. Your own ego, too, has a way of presenting itself in forms acceptable to your conscience. Do not be fooled by it.

What all these symptoms have in common is a lack of compassion. In fact, ignorance can be defined as any state of mind other than compassion.

1. Talking too much

Talking too much is often based on an overestimation of your ability to grasp subject matter. It could also be the result of your underestimation of the difficulty of subject matter. Ignorant people are often too eager to give their opinions on complex matters. They often rush in "where angels fear to tread". The wise are aware of their limitations, and with this in mind, they will carefully search for solutions.

Talking too much is often a manifestation of an inflated ego. For more information on this aspect, read the essay "Talking: A Problem and a Challenge"at www.truetao.org/the way/talking.htm.

2. Closed mind

In spite of their talkativeness, ignorant people do not want to get involved in true and vigorous exchanges of ideas. Their conversations are often monologues designed to impress. They are bad listeners, because they have usually made up their minds, and do not plan to change their minds. They are too insecure to change their minds. They are quick to criticize others, but cannot take criticism themselves. They are too scared to change their ideas or behavior. They will not admit being wrong, and they are more interested in appearance than true substance.

3. Egocentrism

Ignorant people are egocentric. They are focused on themselves, their careers, their development, their agendas and their interests. They show very little interest in anyone else's concerns but their own, except when somebody else's activities could be of benefit to them.
4. Inflexibility

Ignorance is often betrayed by inflexibility. Ignorant people often show off impressive agendas. Their agendas of self-interest often become their focus, and they refuse to deviate from their carefully planned strategies. They have no time for spontaneity and intuitive moments of compassion or just sheer joy. Ignorant people will often become slaves of schedules or aims, forgetting totally that life is there to be lived, and not to be enslaved to.

5. Ambition

Ignorant people often tend to be exceedingly ambitious, and their ambition is clearly centered in the service of their own selves. An integral part of their ambition is to outperform competitors and opponents. It is to become the center of attention and admiration. Even when their work is of a "spiritual" nature, they will still be plagued by egocentric ambitions which diminish or pervert their work.

6. Vanity

Ignorant people tend to be very vain. They are very worried about appearance, and what others think of them. Maintaining appearance is an obsession with them. For this reason they are susceptible to manipulation and corruption. Their fear of losing face will cow them into submission at the cost of betraying themselves.

7. Desire for status

Ignorant people crave status, or at least the appearance of status. They tend to see status as of greater substance than true performance, and they often surround themselves with superficial artefacts depicting status.

Fame or integrity: which is more important?
Money or happiness: which is more valuable?
Success of failure: which is more destructive?

(The Tao Te Ching, Chapter 44)

Their desire for status often turns them into individuals easily cowed by the specter of losing the good opinion of society. Reputation is high and integrity low on their priority list. Their fearful little minds search desperately for the warmth of recognition and acceptance.

8. Envy, jealousy, meanness

Ignorant people are often so dedicated to the ego that they cannot tolerate people close to them being successful. The last thing they can do is genuinely rejoice in the success of their "friends" or peers. They are forever enviously measuring the success of those they deem to be in competition with themselves, and they live in fear of being outdone by someone. They often small-mindedly refuse to accept any new ideas that might endanger their standing or status. They would sometimes revert to meanness to "defend" what they feel is their rank or position. They are often discreet gossip mongers, or sly backbiters, manipulating people's opinions to their own advantage. There is very little space for any form of real compassion in their lives, even though they would go to great pains to publicly demonstrate virtue.

9. Quick to condemn, slow to forgive

Ignorant people are often very quick to condemn. Their condemnation is often based on prejudices and uninformed assumptions. They prefer to reflect the popular prejudices and sentiments which promote their status. They are quite easily cowed by the group mind. In fact, they have few real principles they would not betray when faced by rejection. Often, ignorant people are slow to forgive because they refuse to take the bigger picture into consideration, and because compassion does not play a role in their lives.

10. Cynicism

The most dangerous form of ignorance is that of deliberately making the wrong choices, in spite of knowing they are wrong. People doing this are often beyond help, and can only be wrenched back to sanity by extremely traumatic experiences in their own lives.

11. Driven by emotions

Ignorant people are often driven by their emotions, and they tend to be as fickle and unreliable as their emotions. Their mood swings determine the level of their commitment and devotion. They tend to accept their emotions as reality, and would therefore often be enslaved by them.

Desperate and ignorant people
search for peace
on perpetual waves of inconstant emotion
or in the possession of things.
The Taoist sage knows
peace is
neither a condition,
nor a possession,
nor an emotion.
Peace is
emptiness
and
silence.

(The Tao is Tao, 92)

12. Easily captured by ideas

Ignorant people lack the critical faculties to evaluate concepts and ideas, and they therefore easily fall prey to ideologies. In this way, they would easily allow a concept to influence them and govern their actions. They lack the awareness that they can easily be ruled by things they are not aware of, particularly destructive tendencies in their own minds.

13. Lack of perspective

Often the thinking of ignorant people lacks perspective. They do not have the detachment to evaluate their own ideas. They refuse to think critically about their own thinking. In this way, they become slaves of their own thoughts.

Thoughts
shape
the ignorant.
The Taoist sage
is shaped
by silence.

(The Tao is Tao, 65)

14. Feelings of superiority

The Master views the parts with compassion,
because he understands the whole.

(Tao Te Ching, Chapter 39)

Pride is mostly a symptom of ignorance. Humility is a natural product of true understanding. The moment you understand the whole, you realize that you are not better than a person who has fallen by the wayside. Looking down on others is a sign of ignorance. When you truly understand, you will stop condemning others. Feelings of superiority prevent compassionate action. They allow prejudice and hatred to flourish. They constitute a terrible form of ignorance.

15. Materialism

The most obvious symptom of ignorance is a life devoted primarily to material gain beyond basic necessity. People focused on material gain are often chasing illusions of permanence, and will never find real satisfaction. You find this form of illusion even among religious people, who will rationalize their greed with "spiritual" argumentation. Materialism is linked to ego and dependence on status. It is a terrible form of captivity. Freedom linked to materialism is an illusion. Democracy based on greed and material wealth will never bring true justice and freedom to its people. True liberation is a spiritual one.

16. Impatient action

In ignorant people, impatience and action often combine in a very destructive way. Driven by their ego and their own ambition, ignorant people lack the patience to wait for the right moment to act. Thirsting for honor, they would not sit back and allow others to take the credit for solving problems, even if they are better able to. They are geared to short-termed strategies and solutions. Their impatience is often a result of their own greed, and it therefore often has destructive results in the long term.

E. Overcoming ignorance

Ignorance is a condition encompassing all aspects of life. Overcoming it is an essentially holistic venture exacting changes of a far reaching nature. Conquering ignorance is a deeply spiritual process. As such, this process cannot be described adequately in language. Its final condition is one of complete harmony with the Tao.

What follows is an incomplete list of a few important steps that can be taken to overcome ignorance, or at least to reduce it.

1. Expand your knowledge

The kind of knowledge referred to here is knowledge about relevant matters of the spirit. In spite of warnings that the intellect is not the main force in spiritual development, it nevertheless still plays an important role, particularly at the beginning of one's development. There are many things one could learn through reading or conversation. Through texts, one could "meet" many great minds, and learn from them. By discussing central concepts with more advanced minds, or with compassionate and wise friends, one could learn tremendously.

2. Kill your ego

Reducing the ego is essential. It is the source of too much suffering and delusion to tolerate. It is a tall order, though, for it could involve a total change in one's attitude and approach to life.

To learn more about dealing with the ego, go to the essay titled "Reducing the Ego: Strategies and Tips" at www.truetao.org/the way/ego.htm.

3. Become compassionate

The best way to start is to leave one's comfort zone and to become deliberately and actively compassionate. It is amazing how compassionate action can help to reduce the ego, and how it naturally increases wisdom in you. But it is essential that your compassion is not in the service of your own self. It must be true compassion, where the self has become unimportant.

To learn more about compassion, read the following essays:

"Wisdom and Compassion: Two sides of the Same Coin" at www.truetao.org/theway/wisdom.htm.

"The Tao Te Ching: Qualities of Compassion" at www.truetao.org/theway/ttc.htm.

4. Persist

Never give up. Remember that the path you have taken might be a long and strenuous one. You will need discipline as well as patience with yourself. And lots of faith.

5. Meditate

Find ways of disciplining and expanding your mind Make it part of your daily routine. It is essential that you learn to be in control of your mind and your thoughts.

For more information, read "Thinking: Winning the Battle of the Mind" at www.truetao.org/the way/thinking.htm.
6. Accept the mystery

As has been pointed out earlier in this essay, faith does play a part. Particularly at the beginning of your development, you have no choice but to tentatively accept certain premises in good faith. As you grow in spiritual experience, you will have ample opportunity to test these premises, and uncertainties will then become certainty. But the mystery of the Tao will remain, and faith will always be essential.

For more information on the role of faith, read "The Power of Faith in Tao" at www.truetao.org/the way/faith.htm.

Who can think the unthinkable?
Only the sage
in total harmony with Tao.
Yet his thinking
is an act of complete faith
beyond concepts.

(The Tao is Tao, 94)

~ Jos Slabbert, 2001