Action – The Master Cure

Posted on July 19, 2010 by Josh

In Taoist cosmology/philosophy, there are four states leading to “being”:
Zero – “The Tao” or Huntun (and/or see this entry by Scott Phillips)/Wuji – formlessness, undifferentiation (“none”)
One – Condensation (“one”)
Two – Taiji – differentiation (“two”)
Three – The “two” give birth to three…not sure what this one is “specifically”
Four – Reality/”naming” – 10,000 things

Here’s a quote from Chapter 42 of the Tao Te Ching:
The Tao gives birth to One.
One gives birth to Two.
Two gives birth to Three.
Three gives birth to all things.

In my recent experience, I’ve encountered the distinction between these.

Undifferentiation
There seems to be a realm we can inhabit, mentally, of undifferentiation. Though it may seem like apathy, it isn’t the same. It is a state of ease with the fact that all things are just as-they-are. Some people call this “alchemy.” This would be level zero in the above model.

Ideal/Utopian
Then there is an “ideal-state” mode of thought, where we reside in how we wish things were. There is only one idealized future. I would say this is level one above.

Polarity/Contrastive
The next level is polarity. The place where we make abrupt/acute distinctions between things – either/or. This is level two, Taiji.

Naming
Level three is the place where “naming” begins. Once you’ve identified a polarity, you begin to make discriminations. Yes, something can be black or white. But there are also shades of grey in between. This is the place where you recognize grey. Not all of the shades, that’s next. Level three is similar to level zero, in that it is a transitional state between Two and Four. It is the realm of the trichotomy – the either/or/and situation.

State-Chaser
Level four is somewhat easier to identify. I’d say it’s when we’re in the “state-chaser” frame of mind/being. We’re smelling the flowers, getting drunk, doing feats of physical endurance, swimming in really cold water, going to rock concerts, moving to an ashram in India – in order to experience all of the diversity that life has to offer (as opposed to doing those things with specific ends in mind).

What I realized in my personal life was that I’d been spending too much time in the Undifferentiated and Ideal zones, and had begun taking those as reality.

Or, I would vacillate between Relativism, Idealism, and Polarity.

It made it hard to figure out what to do next.

The solution has been to understand nature as, ultimately, undifferentiated, and accept that. Leave that where it is. Then, to understand my own desired “utopian state.” What is my “ideal” in xyz situations? Then, to leave that where it is. Finally, to come to “reality” and take actions that seem best for me right now, based on my past experience, and the ideal(s) I have in mind for a particular situation.

Action cures all ills.

The Prerequisite to You Living a Fulfilled Life

Posted on June 30, 2010 by Josh

There are several tendencies and assumptions we have in our culture, here in the United States. Here are a few:

Being a specialist is better than being generalist
You have to have certain credentials in order to do certain things
Only experts are allowed to have opinions about things
People who publish things or appear in media (film, tv, etc.) are experts
Boys are X way and girls are Y way

What all of these things have in common is this – we recognize certain differences between oppositions that we’ve created in our minds and then we cling tenaciously to those differences.

Once we’ve done that, we do what’s called “meaning making” – we create the reasons why the differences we’ve decided upon are right (correct).

We do it after the fact. Rarely are we allowed to come to our own decision about something. As a matter of fact, once you’re old enough to read and understand the words in this blog post, you have enough prejudices about the precise definitions and meanings of different things, words and relationships, that, unless you’re consciously trying to be open (or doing some kind of drug), you are automatically using meanings that were given to you from the day you were born by your parents and culture.

A person’s “qualifications” (usually seen, in our culture, in their resume or “curriculum vitae”) simply list the types of things they did before they started to do what they’re doing now.

That is, a resume or CV is relatively meaningless by itself. When the person began doing what they’re doing now, they were in the same position as any beginner.

This is not to say that you can just start doing something and be as proficient as someone who has been doing it for 10 years. That doesn’t make any sense.

What I am saying here is that everyone starts from where they’re at, at the moment at which they start.

What I’m saying here is – no matter how far you’ve gone down the wrong road, turn back.

What I’m saying here is – whatever it is that you want to do in life – START NOW.

And then something happened…

Posted on April 4, 2010 by Josh

We like to think that we have it all figured out all the time.

Or that we don’t have anything figured out, and that we’re totally helpless.

It seems infrequent that we actually play in the grey areas – where we might actively admit what we really do know, and what we really do not, and let the rest lie, or fall where it may.

Life is surprising, beyond our comprehension, and we pay it so little attention, that we really shouldn’t be approving or disapproving of different circumstances, or things that occur. It really doesn’t make sense to claim an understanding of “cause and effect” where we have none.

However, in every action, or event, we create this idea that we had some control over it. Or, even, that we planned the event.

And it passes. And it is forgotten. And we do it again.

Instead of participating in this post-facto justification – which may be the single purpose for our neo-cortex – instead, do something else…

Listen…

Listen to what’s actually occurring around you, and within you, now. Listen deeply. Listen to the whisper of the blood in your veins. It’s audible. You just have to listen.

Listen to the traffic out on the street, and then listen further. How many blocks away can you listen? How far out can you stretch that awareness?

Listen to the people speaking to you in your life. Stop doing other things. Stop text-messaging during an in-person conversation. Stop trying to “multi-task” (you can’t, anyway). Stop speaking in your own head when the other person is talking, and listen.

Listen.

Get real

Posted on September 22, 2009 by Josh

Part of make believe is that you know it isn’t real.

When we begin to take things as real that are not real, we are, technically “insane.”

Now, what is our culture aimed at? What is your participation in your life aimed at? Is it aimed at understanding what is fundamental, what is real? Or is it aimed at artificialities?

How much do you believe what you hear or see on the radio, TV, magazines, newspapers, movies, or internet?

How much do you believe what you hear or see in your personal relationships?

How much of it is real?

In the realm of fitness, you’ll often hear advice like “you have to see yourself as being thin…” or “you have to see yourself succeeding.” This type of visualization practice can be helpful, but usually only in elite athletes, who’ve already succeeded at “seeing themselves succeed” at things by actually doing them.

We hold the brain, and the product(s) of the brain – our mind and thoughts – in such high regard these days, that we forget that only one thing changes the brain – action.

Passivity, motionlessness, inaction – all are death.

Action. Activity. Doing. Movement. Physical doing. Those things change the brain. In turn they change the mind, and change our thoughts.

So what good are your thoughts? Get rid of them.

Get more action.

Go where you want to be…

Posted on July 9, 2009 by Josh

A good friend of mine, Sam, developed an incredibly unique approach to life. He said (at least) a couple of things that always intrigued me, and that have stuck with me over the years.

One of those things is the title of this post – Go where you want to be.

The first time I heard Sam say this was in reference to finding a parking spot, of all things.

We were going to meet up at a club in DC to hear a band play, and I spent about fifteen minutes looking for a spot. When I got into the bar, there was Sam, having a beer, looking relaxed, as usual.

“How’s it going, Josh?” he asked.
“Great. Took me forever to find a spot though!”
“Huh,” Sam said.

We talked some more, the band played, and then it was time to go. We walked out of the front of the bar and there was Sam’s car! Parked right in front! I hadn’t even noticed it on my way in.

“Nice spot!” I said.
Sam looked at me and paused, as he did once in a while – usually after I’d said something earlier related to a life-philosophy idea, and the time had come to talk about it.
“You have to go where you want to be Josh” he said.
I stared at him like he’d just told me I should eat a banana.
“What?”
“Yeah. I just go where I want to be. If I’m looking for a spot, I don’t drive all around the place looking for one. I drive right up to the front of the place first. That’s where I want to park. Usually, there’s a spot right there for me. When there’s not, I work my way out from where I want to be – not vice versa.”

We parted for the evening, but the words have never left me.

I think about this a lot, and apply it to much more than parking, and I think you should too. Think about places in your life right now, where you aren’t going where you want to be.

Then turn around and go there instead.