My words are very easy to understand, and very easy to practice:
But the world cannot understand them, nor practice them.
My words have an Ancestor.
My deeds have a Lord.
The people have no knowledge of this.
Therefore, they have no knowledge of me.
The fewer persons know me,
The nobler are they that follow me.
Therefore, the Sage wears coarse clothes,
While keeping the jade in his bosom.
-- John C.H. Wu, Chapter 70, Tao Te Ching
Jesus, Lao Tzu and I were at the Kickstand Cafe.
The place was pleasantly busy.
We had a table to ourselves.
"What's it like being you?" Lao Tzu asked Jesus.
"They built a church on top of me," said Jesus.
"Ouch!" said Lao Tzu.
"What's it like being you?" Jesus asked Lao Tzu.
"Invisibility," said Lao Tzu. "Only small children and people with childlike hearts notice my existence."
"Similar here," said Jesus, taking a sip of his coffee.
They looked at me.
"What's it like being me?" I asked.
They nodded.
"Happiness emerging, continuously emerging from the Wellspring." I said.
They smiled.
"Similar here," they said.
We sat quietly for a while.
But the world cannot understand them, nor practice them.
My words have an Ancestor.
My deeds have a Lord.
The people have no knowledge of this.
Therefore, they have no knowledge of me.
The fewer persons know me,
The nobler are they that follow me.
Therefore, the Sage wears coarse clothes,
While keeping the jade in his bosom.
-- John C.H. Wu, Chapter 70, Tao Te Ching
Jesus, Lao Tzu and I were at the Kickstand Cafe.
The place was pleasantly busy.
We had a table to ourselves.
"What's it like being you?" Lao Tzu asked Jesus.
"They built a church on top of me," said Jesus.
"Ouch!" said Lao Tzu.
"What's it like being you?" Jesus asked Lao Tzu.
"Invisibility," said Lao Tzu. "Only small children and people with childlike hearts notice my existence."
"Similar here," said Jesus, taking a sip of his coffee.
They looked at me.
"What's it like being me?" I asked.
They nodded.
"Happiness emerging, continuously emerging from the Wellspring." I said.
They smiled.
"Similar here," they said.
We sat quietly for a while.
hmmm. nice surprise. always thought of Jesus as a Chai, not a coffee person. these distinctions are important. ;-)
ReplyDeleteRed and yellow, black and white, chai and coffee, all are precious in his sight.
DeleteAny attempt to keep Jesus "in character" becomes a fundamental religion.
ReplyDeleteThe Tao Te Ching quote reminds me of Don Genero's "Journey to Ixtlan" where everyone he sees tells him he is going the wrong way. Not sure what he was drinking.
ReplyDeleteI was struck by the fact that you asked yourself the "What's it like to be you" question.
ReplyDeleteThen, I thought, "What if Jesus & Lao Tzu are in George's head? So, even when the other two were talking to each other, he's still talking to himself."
THEN I thought, "Maybe Jesus is Lao Tzu, Lao Tzu is George, and George is Jesus...And maybe they're all me. So. Once again, the Universe is contemplating its own navel."
Haha! Philosophical calisthenics! The Mobius strip of existence!