LOSING THE THREAD
Tao works for no one,
but with any one
and every thing.Whatever is taken, the whole remains.
Knowledge is gleaned, wisdom left behind.
Casting a light eclipses the vital spark.
Unpicking a tapestry loses the picture.
Dissecting Tao invites confusion.
Simplifying obscures simplicity.
Trees fall;
Woods stand.
Tao cannot be
commanded and gives no orders to be obeyed. When Tao is
unhindered, things follow their natural course.
Attempts
have been made to explain and control the action of Tao by
referring to various notional energies, forces, capacities
and so on.
Although
sincere and well-meaning, such endeavours tend to veil or
hide the 'primal simplicity' of Tao behind an
unintentionally complex web of ideas.
The analytical or reductionist method,
which works so well in the physical sciences, is manifestly
unsuitable for reaching a deep understanding of Tao.
It has some value in producing conceptual models which convey
an 'exterior' knowledge of Tao, but can do nothing to develop
'interior' knowledge.
Taoism is not unique is this respect; when philosophies
or religions become elaborated, their
inspirational core often tends to get 'lost in
the system'.
