My fitbit #Fitstats for 12/24/2013: 5,811 steps and 2.5 miles traveled. http://www.fitbit.com/user/28KDGG
Daily Tao / 358 – Collectivity
Ancient societies were tribal;
The group did the thinking.
Current society is splintered;
The individual must be complex.
People from old traditions were often less complicated because they had the advantage of a complete culture that did the thinking for them. Everyone had a role that fit the whole. Individuals could concentrate on fulfilling their place, confident that the other needs would be met by the collective.
The specialization of modern times calls for individual roles that do not necessarily form a whole. We often lose sight even of what the whole is. We have commentators, we have critics, but we do not have leaders. We celebrate egalitarianism and consensus, but it is phony : a chaos of voices rather than a democracy; a populace of individuals pursuing their own ends rather than a collective.
The burden thus falls on the individual to fulfill a tremendous range of functions. We have to make more choices, be more informed, act in a wide variety of areas. We cannot simply concentrate on doing our part, because now our part is to compete with everyone else.
Spirituality is more difficult today. In the past, you could become a spiritual aspirant and the people would support you; a holy person was just as much a part of the collective as a farmer. Now, to be a holy aspirant you have to look for your own job and find new ways through a society that barely recognizes the spiritual.
Daily Fitbit stats
My fitbit #Fitstats for 12/23/2013: 4,889 steps and 2.1 miles traveled. http://www.fitbit.com/user/28KDGG
Daily Tao / 357 – Rusticity
The laughter of country folk is uncomplicated.
The laughter of city folk is full of dark nuance.
The ambition of country folk is to grow their crops well.
The ambition of city folk is to overcome others.
The joy of country folk is to participate in the seasons.
The joy of city folk is to achieve sophistication.
When you see urban people in the countryside, you can often hear one of them making fun of the simplicity of the country folk. After all, we have so many words to mock them with : bumpkin, yokel, hick, hayseed, peasant, clodhopper, hillbilly, lout, oaf, cabbagehead, simpleton, rube. If one stops to consider, are these descriptions worse than neurotic, compulsive, stressed, ambitious, devious, shrewd, obsessive, money-hungry, or nouveau riche?
Those who follow Tao celebrate country living over the difficult existence in the cities. While we certainly cannot go back to an exclusively agrarian way of living, it is beneficial for us to consider the agrarian ideal. City living is a mental construct that collapses once we cease to make it real.
Strive in the cities, if you must. But don’t forget that there is little ultimate value in it. Don’t forget your soul, and don’t forget that a rustic setting is the best way to keep your soul.
Daily Fitbit stats
My fitbit #Fitstats for 12/22/2013: 6,179 steps and 2.7 miles traveled. http://www.fitbit.com/user/28KDGG
Daily Tao / 356 – Attachment
The monk shaved his head as a symbol of renunciation.
But now he goes nowhere without his little cap.
It’s funny to see someone who says that he is a renunciate call childishly for his few meager possessions. Why renounce the world when you really cannot? Before you cut your hair, ask yourself if you can afford to give up your attachments. Before you give up your freedom, ask yourself if you can submit to monastic order. Before you say that you are spiritual, ask yourself if you can give up worldly desires.
I am not trying to make fun of monks here. I am observing that every path in life has its own sacrifices and its own hardships. Before you embark on a path, search yourself thoroughly and investigate the path completely. Then you will dispel misgivings. You will also reduce the chance of hypocrisy.
Whoever you are, live your life completely. If you are a plumber, be the best plumber. If you are a saint, be the best saint. If you are common, be common. If you are extraordinary, be extraordinary. People only err when they try to be who they are not.
Daily Fitbit stats
My fitbit #Fitstats for 12/21/2013: 6,020 steps and 2.6 miles traveled. http://www.fitbit.com/user/28KDGG
Daily Fitbit stats
My fitbit #Fitstats for 12/20/2013: 193 steps and 0.1 miles traveled. http://www.fitbit.com/user/28KDGG
Daily Tao / 355 – Winter
A homeless man dies in the gutter.
A tree cracks in the cold:
A shocking sound.
At the winter solstice, the day is shortest of all and night is longest. It can also be the time of bitter cold. The wind blows with a frigid ferocity, cutting all before it. Snow and ice became deadly. Those who are homeless die of exposure. Even the mightiest of trees can split from the drop in temperature.
The sound of a tree snapping is a sudden slap.
The horrors, the tragedies that this nadir brings! Winter tortures the world with icy whips, and those who are weak are ground beneath its glacial heels. Sometimes, we dare not even lament those who die in the onslaught of winter, in fear that the tears will freeze upon our faces. But we see, and hear. Huddling closer to the fire, we vow to survive.
No matter how affected we are by misfortune, we must remember that this is the lowest turn of the wheel. Things cannot forever go downward. There are limits to everything — even the cold, and the darkness, and the wind, and the dying.
They call this the first day of winter, but actually it is the beginning of winter’s death. From this day on, we can look forward to warming and brightening.
my mostly unfabulous life 