Stand and Face the World

What We Must Do

"We want to stand upon our own feet and look fair and square at the world - its good facts, its bad facts, and its ugliness; see the world as it is, and be not afraid of it. Conquer the world by intelligence, and not merely by being slavishly subdued by the terror that comes from it.  The whole conception of God is a conception derived from the ancient Oriental despotisms. It is a conception quite unworthy of free men.  When you hear people in church debasing themselves and saying that they are miserable sinners, and all the rest of it, it seems contemptable and not worthy of self-respecting human beings.  We ought to stand up and look at the world frankly in the face.  We ought to make the best we can of the world, and if it is not so good as we wish, after all it will still be better than what these others have made of it in all these ages.  A good world needs knowledge, kindliness, and courage; it does not need a regretful hankering after the past, or a fettering of the free intelligence by the words uttered long ago by ignorant men.  It needs a fearless outlook and a free intelligence.  It needs hope for the future, not looking back all the time towards a past that is dead, which we trust will be far surpassed by the future that our intelligence can create."
- Bertrand Russell, Why I Am Not A Christian, 1927

[Does "Oriental" really mean from the Middle East and India; although despotisms existed all around the world.]

Bertrand Russell on God and Religion. Edited by Al Seckel. Prometheus Books, 1986, index, 250 pages.

Buddhism Without Beliefs: A Contemporary Guide to Awakening. By Stephen Batchelor. New York, Riverhead Books, 1997, 127 pages.  

Free Thought: My Views

Nature Mysticism

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise and Respected Persons

"Face the world and go crosswise."
Linji, Zen Master, 850 CE

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, Chapter 18

Dao De Jing, Laozi
Chapter 18

[Note: I find the issues of translation, interpolation, and interpretation of the texts between two very different languages, cultures, historical circumstances, religions, and world-views to be highly instructive.] 

"When humankind strayed from the natural way of life,
Relative social disciplines began to appear. 
When intelligence and cleverness of mind are admired,
Great hypocrisy is born. 
When disharmony manifested in family relations,
Children who respected their parents
And parents who respected their children
Became rare examples. 
When chaos prevailed in the county,
Only a few loyal ministers were recognized. 
Let all people return to their true nature. 
Love, kindness, wisdom, family harmony, and loyalty
Should not be taught one by one,
Separately from an honest life. 
Then, once again,
People will regain the natural virtue of wholeness. 
The world will be naturally ordered.  
There will be no one who singly and cunningly
Works for personal interest alone."
-  Translated by Hua-Ching Ni, 1979, Chapter 18   


"When the great Reason is obliterated, we have benevolence and justice.
Prudence and circumspection appear, and we have much hypocrisy.
When family relations no longer harmonize, we have filial piety and paternal devotion.
When the country and the clans decay through disorder, we have loyalty and allegiance."
-  Translated by D. T. Suzuki and Paul Carus, 1913, Chapter 18 


"When the Way of the Great Dao ceased to be observed, benevolence and righteousness came into vogue.
Then appeared wisdom and shrewdness, and there ensued great hypocrisy. 
When harmony no longer prevailed throughout the six kinships, filial sons found their manifestation. 
When the states and clans fell into disorder, loyal ministers appeared."   
-  Translated by James Legge, 1891, Chapter 18 


"Wherever the cosmic order is neglected,
Goodness and morality are born.
When the heart’s awareness is repressed,
The intellect is led into hypocrisy.
When the family loses its natural harmony,
The rules of duty and honor are enforced.
When the natural society is disrupted,
The dragon of state arises,
And powerful leaders take over."
-  Translated by Brian Donohue, 2005, Chapter 18  

 

"When people lost sight of the way to live
Came codes of love and honesty,
Learning came, charity came,
Hypocrisy took charge;
When differences weakened family ties
Came benevolent fathers and dutiful sons;
And when lands were disrupted and misgoverned
Came ministers commended as loyal."
-  Translated by Witter Bynner, 1944, Chapter 18

 

A typical webpage created by Mike Garofalo for each one of the 81 Chapters (Verses, Sections) of the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing) by Lao Tzu (Laozi) includes 25 different English language translations or interpolations for that Chapter, 5 Spanish language translations for that Chapter, the Chinese characters for that Chapter, the Wade-Giles and Hanyu Pinyin transliterations (Romanization) of the Mandarin Chinese words for that Chapter, and 2 German and 1 French translation of that Chapter.  Each webpage for each one of the 81 Chapters of the Tao Te Ching includes extensive indexing by key words, phrases, and terms for that Chapter in English, Spanish, and the Wade-Giles Romanization.  Each webpage on a Chapter of the Daodejing includes recommended reading in books and websites, a detailed bibliography, some commentary, research leads, translation sources, a Google Translate drop down menu, and other resources for that Chapter.   

Chapter 18 of the Dao De Jing by Laozi: Text and Commentaries  

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu: Introduction, Bibliography, Commentary, Chapter Index  

Index of English Language Translators of the Tao Te Ching 

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices  

Chapter and Thematic Index to the Tao Te Ching

 

Honesty: The Secret to Transformation

"In my life, the world has constantly changed around me, whether I liked it or not. Carpets were pulled out from under me and sometimes, blankets wrapped around my shoulders. Change in the world is inevitable, but there is no power in experiencing it. Flowing with change is simply enjoying what comes our way or weathering a storm. It’s about being an observer and reacting (or not reacting) to the unrelenting ebbs and flows of life.

There is a difference between change and transformation. Transformation is where the power is. I have transformed many things in my life as well, and any time I want it to last, there is always one key ingredient- honesty. 

Transformation can begin only with brutal honesty. We have to be unafraid to get raw, get dirty and get real. We have to close the gap between who we want to be and who we really are in order to evolve.

What happens when we try to transform without being honest about where and who we are in life? Well, it falls flat, it fades away and we are back to the same lies we were telling ourselves before to get through the day. When we start facing the truth, then and only then, can we begin to create the life for ourselves that we imagine possible.

Transformation isn’t easy, but I can promise you, it’s possible. You can be the person you always wanted to be. You can have the relationship you have always wanted. You can be healthy, fit and happy. You can transform your life into the one in your dreams. First, you just have to be honest. When you can do that, no one will or could stand in your way, not even you."
- Angie Cherry, Yoga Teacher, Vancouver, Washington

Donald Trump Deserves Our Disrespect

 “In my life, I have watched John Kennedy talk on television about missiles in Cuba. I saw Lyndon Johnson look Richard Russell squarely in the eye and and say, "And we shall overcome." I saw Richard Nixon resign and Gerald Ford tell the Congress that our long national nightmare was over. I saw Jimmy Carter talk about malaise and Ronald Reagan talk about a shining city on a hill. I saw George H.W. Bush deliver the eulogy for the Soviet bloc, and Bill Clinton comfort the survivors of Timothy McVeigh's madness in Oklahoma City. I saw George W. Bush struggle to make sense of it all on September 11, 2001, and I saw Barack Obama sing 'Amazing Grace' in the wounded sanctuary of Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina.

"These were the presidents of my lifetime. These were not perfect men. They were not perfect presidents, god knows. Not one of them was that. But they approached the job, and they took to the podium, with all the gravitas they could muster as appropriate to the job. They tried, at least, to reach for something in the presidency that was beyond their grasp as ordinary human beings. They were not all ennobled by the attempt, but they tried nonetheless.

"And comes now this hopeless, vicious buffoon, and the audience of equally hopeless and vicious buffoons who laughed and cheered when he made sport of a woman whose lasting memory of the trauma she suffered is the laughter of the perpetrators. Now he comes, a man swathed in scandal, with no interest beyond what he can put in his pocket and what he can put over on a universe of suckers, and he does something like this while occupying an office that we gave him, and while endowed with a public trust that he dishonors every day he wakes up in the White House.

"The scion of a multigenerational criminal enterprise, the parameters of which we are only now beginning to comprehend. A vessel for all the worst elements of the American condition. And a cheap, soulless bully besides. We never have had such a cheap counterfeit of a president* as currently occupies the office. We never have had a president* so completely deserving of scorn and yet so small in the office that it almost seems a waste of time and energy to summon up the requisite contempt.

"Watch how a republic dies in the empty eyes of an empty man who feels nothing but his own imaginary greatness, and who cannot find in himself the decency simply to shut up even when it is in his best interest to do so. Presidents don't have to be heroes to be good presidents. They just have to realize that their humanity is our common humanity, and that their political commonwealth is our political commonwealth, too. Watch him behind the seal of the President of the United States. Isn't he a funny man? Isn't what happened to that lady hilarious? Watch the assembled morons cheer. This is the only story now."

-   Charles Pierce

Donald does like playing golf and grabbing women and lying.