The Evolved Way

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The Evolved Way

"Sincere words are not embellished; embellished words are not sincere. Those who are good are not defensive; those who are defensive are not good. Those who know are not erudite; those who are erudite do not know."

"Enlightened people do not accumulate. The more they do for others, the more they gain; the more they give to others, the more they possess."

"The Tao of Nature is to serve without spoiling. The Tao of enlightened people is to act without contending."

Reality, integrity, insight - characteristics cultivated by Taoists must not be allowed to become distorted. If the truth is not enhanced and embellished, it has less chance of becoming an illusion. If actions are not quickly justified by words, then good works can shine through; if knowledge goes deeper than worldly matters and runs deep into the Self, then Wisdom will grow.

Enlightened people know that hoarding goods (matter), services (energy) or information runs contrary to the laws of Nature, and such actions will crea te a dangerous personal imbalance.

In order to continually align themselves with the Tao and stabilise their position within the flow of people and events, they dispense with what they have so that more might flow freely through their hands. They avoid acting in a way that suggests aggressiveness or contention - thus they don't invite counter-reactions that might deflect them from the Way. (81)

The evolved way of living one’s life revolves around doing the maximum amount of good in the most unobtrusive way. The reward is not honour and recognition from society but the deep satisfaction of knowing that one is emulating the Tao and is thereby in harmony with it. It might be quite difficult for people to do good for others, much less do it in an unobtrusive way, and that is because the ego gets in the way, asserting it’s pre-eminence. It whispers alarming doubts and fears that make a person fearful of losing what they have. It slyly suggests that the best thing to do is to be selfish.
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Published by: David Tuffley (January 2000) | Home Page