January 22nd

The lesson of the day reads thus:

Movement, objects, speech, and words :
We communicate through gross symbols.
We call them "objective,"
But we cannot escape our point of view.

We cannot communicate directly from mind to mind, and so misinterpretation is a perennial problem. Motions, signs, talking, and the written word are all encumbered by miscommunication. A dozen eyewitnesses to the same event cannot agree on a single account. We may each see something different in cards set up by a circus magician. Therefore, we are forever imprisoned by our subjectivity.Followers of Tao assert that we know no absolute truth in the world, only varying degrees of ambiguity. Some call this poetry; some call this art. The fact remains that all communication is relative. Those who follow Tao are practical. They know that words are imperfect and therefore give them limited importance : The symbol is not the same as the reality.

Personal Interpretation: 

Tao is that which cannot be named or experienced directly. It is the space between things, the essence embodying the mortal and the divine. It is the dual nature of existence. Today's lesson holds that communication is imperfect because of the limited range of the lens through which we view reality. We are all capable of seeing only a small piece of the puzzle, and none of us sees exactly the same thing. Truth then, cannot be absolute. How can we determine the nature of something when we can't see it in its entirety, when we can't separate our experience of it from our narrow perspectives?

For me, Taoism is a quest for the truth that can never be known in this plane of being.. It is a recognizing of the barriers that exist. It is coming to see that, while we seem to constitute those barriers, we are more than we imagine ourselves to be. We build barriers that keep us from the light. That we simultaneously seek illumination speaks to our divine origins.

There is power in words, but there is also power in silent reflection. Action and inaction both have places in our lives. We must learn when to exercise patience, when to reflect, and when to act. Timing is everything. If we distance ourselves from the sounds of civilization, we can receive the messages of the universe. We can gaze in wonder at the organization of the Heavens and learn to organize ourselves in a similar fashion, so that we communicate the essence of ourselves in a way that is easily understood. Words are tools, and we should not use them overmuch, particularly when they hurt rather than help our purpose.