{"id":1162,"date":"2020-04-07T18:54:00","date_gmt":"2020-04-07T18:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oscillationss.blogspot.com\/?p=1162"},"modified":"2020-04-07T18:54:00","modified_gmt":"2020-04-07T18:54:00","slug":"covid-19-crisis-and-the-way-of-tao","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oscillations.in\/?p=1162","title":{"rendered":"Covid-19 crisis and The Way of Tao"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/p>\n
\nCoronavirus spread has devastated
\nthe entire globe. The devastation has not just created a healthcare crisis but also
\neconomic and existential. But most horrific thing about this crisis is that it
\nhas, with its global spread at fast pace, turned much adorable \u201cglobalization\u201d
\ninto a curse. This curse is not limited to the spread of virus across borders
\nbut with the closure of international boundaries it has stopped the flow of
\ngoods across the globe because globalization has resulted into vast distances
\nin demand centers and supply centers like USA is facing extreme troubles in
\nprocurements because China is its main supplier although many supply centers in
\nchina are in fact owned by American companies. It is not that these products
\ncan\u2019t be manufactured in USA or something near but these are being manufactured
\nin china and then travelled to thousand kilometers just because of profit or
\nlower costs. But all this has really rendered our world an extremely complex
\nplace.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nBut amid all this chaos, one day I
\nhappened to remember one great piece of wisdom about state of utopia\u2026the ideal
\nplace to live life and it describes Utopian state is a small country of few
\npeople who love their homes so much that they do not like to travel, they are
\ncontent with healthy food and useful clothes, they enjoy the labor of their
\nhands. These words are from the great Chinese mystic Lao Tzu (Laozi) and are
\ntaken from verse 80 of his book \u201cTao Te Ching\u201d. His words continued to come
\ninto my mind all the time recently. It is strange that I am missing this great man now
\nin most difficult times but the wisdom of Lao Tzu was never more relevant than
\nit is now. It is quite ironic that china is the epicenter of current covid
\ncrisis which is the birth place of Lao Tzu and Taoism. Let me reproduce this
\ngreat Verse:<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nImagine a small country with few people:<\/i>
\nthey have weapons and do not employ them;<\/i>
\nthey enjoy the labour of their hands and<\/i>
\ndo not waste time inventing labor-saving machines.<\/i><\/div>\n
\nThey take death seriously and do not travel far.<\/i>
\nSince they dearly love their homes, they are not interested in travel.<\/i>
\nAlthough they have boats and carriages, no one uses them.<\/i><\/div>\n
\nThey are content with healthy food, pleased with useful
\nclothing,<\/i>
\nsatisfied in snug homes, and protective of their way of life.<\/i><\/div>\n
\nAlthough they live within sight of their neighbours,<\/i>
\nand crowing cocks and barking dogs can be heard across the way,<\/i>
\nthey leave each other in peace while they grow old and die.<\/i><\/div>\n
\n
<\/i><\/div>\n
\nActually Utopia is not a physical
\nstate (and quite possible that it may never be created but going near is
\npossible) but it is related to mental state first. So Utopia is not a place of
\nvast flashy palaces, no work, vast variety of food\u2026not at all. But Utopia is
\nwhen we live our lives in simplicity (without striving too hard for everything
\nand thus missing the present moment of bliss), harmony with nature (No over
\nexploitation of natural resources) and contentment with what we have.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nBut let me clear some things
\nabout Lao Tzu. People often take him as supporter of laziness (doing nothing
\nand sitting silently). But when I read him I did not find anything like this.
\nIn fact, Lao Tzu does not talk about fixed dogmas\u2026fixed rules to live life. He
\nfeels everyone shall find his own path. In my view, this misunderstanding of
\nLao tzu is due to our misunderstanding of simplicity and contentment. We think
\nsimplicity happens when someone wears plain white clothes (not costly), eats
\nvegetables and rice and no meat, and rides on a cycle. But this is not the
\nmeaning. Simplicity and contentment happens when we do not strive madly for
\nachieving and getting something because in this madness we\u2019ll miss the present
\nmoment which we can enjoy. So we are simple when we enjoy what we have or can
\nhave without resorting to \u201cover-doing\u201d because this \u201cover-doing\u201d is going to
\nbreak the balance of our lives and natural resources.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nMany authors have accused Lao Tzu
\nfor supporting backwardness and boring life. But I think there is tremendous
\namount of misunderstanding of this great man mainly because Lao Tzu was way
\nahead of us in the understanding of subtle forces of life and then cryptic
\nlanguage of his book has made people to interpret it as per their level of
\nconsciousness and wisdom. But Lao Tzu was not backward or anti-growth. In this
\nverse, he is not asking to not to produce weapons and boats. He is asking for
\nhaving these but people shall not feel the need of using these. There is no
\ndoubt about the weapon use. About boats, Lao Tzu is not asking for abandoning
\n(doing) them because he is not a person to enforce doing something. He is a
\nbeliever of the happening. Actually in this verse, he is mentioning the signs
\nof an ideal state. First, state does not exist on its own i.e. it does not have
\nany consciousness or collective consciousness. So contentment and enjoyment at
\nindividual level of what one is having is the first pre-condition of an ideal
\nstate. Hence, people should first enjoy their current state. If they do not
\nlike their home, their city then there is no value in going for a vacation
\ntravelling afar. Lao Tzu does not see any value in this\u2026for him this is not
\nideal. He is not abstaining from travelling but first one should make his home
\nan ideal place for living.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n <\/span>I know many people who have left farming for a
\njob in big cities where they are living a very nasty life\u2026in crowded places,
\nterrible pollution and traffic. And then they go back to their villages or hill
\nstations for taking a break for this nasty life. Lao Tzu does not advocate this
\nnonsense life just to earn more money. We can enjoy 10-20 days vacations in our
\nvillage but we can enjoy this forever if we leave our greed for money and name.
\nIf we can see, we all want to go to Switzerland, hills, sea shore and forests because
\nwe do not derive happiness from our present way of life. We show other people
\nthat we are successful with all our money but deep inside only we feel the
\nvoid\u2026there is no real happiness. Lau Tzu knows that happiness is not relative
\njust like most of our things (truths) are\u2026happiness is not relative to the
\nviews of other people about me. Lao Tzu knows that it originates from our
\nwithin\u2026from our actions only for ourselves. So Lao Tzu wants people not to be
\nguided and motivated by money and social success because there is no end to
\nthis greed.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nRemember Lao Tzu belonged to a
\nperiod which is almost dated back 2700 years so one just can\u2019t juxtapose his
\nwords into present physical world and declare him anti-growth. His physical
\nworld was different from our world but much advanced from Stone Age. So Lao Tzu
\ncould have told to go back to Stone Age nomadic life but he had not. He had not
\nasked people to wear clothes made of skin or tree leaves. He was saddened not
\nby the growth in physical world but by the moral decay of humans at that time
\ndue to excessive greed and longing for physical life avoiding simplicity and
\nnatural harmony. So when he tells for doing labor with hands in farms, one can\u2019t
\nconclude that Lao Tzu would have wanted the same thing at present. He just
\nwants people to involve in physical work because even now we all have realized
\nhow our sedentary life style has created havoc with our health by giving rise
\nto dreaded life style diseases like Diabetes and BP. <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nIn our quest for physical growth,
\nwe have destroyed and polluted nature and natural resources at massive scale. And
\nwithout any further explanations, we all know that we are over-doing our lives
\nfor long time and we have destroyed everything which can turn this earth into a
\nUtopia.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nLao Tzu- The wise
\nold man<\/span><\/u><\/b><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/u><\/b><\/div>\n
\nLao Tzu was the greatest thing
\nthat happened with China but drifting away from the path of Lao Tzu was the
\nbiggest mistake committed by China. Lao Tzu (which means wise old man in
\nChinese) was the father of Taoism (Daoism in Chinese) in china. He summarized
\nhis experiences and views on how to live a perfect balanced life in harmony
\nwith nature in his book \u201cTao Te Ching\u201d. If you ask me, Lao Tzu was rare among
\nall the mystics ever born onto this earth. Quite unlike most others, Lao Tzu
\nfound that the life on earth can really be worthy, having purpose and true
\nhappiness. He did not denounce this life by regarding it as worthless but a
\nchance to experience blissfulness during this short journey on this earth. But
\nwhat we regard as happiness is the first on the list of Lao Tzu which according
\nto him makes our life miserable and worthless. Main reason- our happiness is in
\nthe eyes of others and to make matter worst these eyes value gold more than the
\nexperience. We value what others think about ourselves not what we want to do
\nfor ourselves and as this is happening for ages we take this as part of our
\nlife\u2026we never question this nonsense. We think that this is the only \u201cway\u201d<\/b>
\nto live this life- the way which only makes our life miserable\u2026it is only about
\nfor how long our bodies can tolerate this nonsense which we regard as life.
\nThat\u2019s why the likes of Lao Tzu had to come forward to show us the correct
\npath, the Tao. Tao means \u201cthe way\u201d.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/a><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n

\nAs per the legends, Lao Tzu was
\neighty years old when he retired feeling extreme sadness by seeing people
\nliving life full of corruption, hatred and misery in complete isolation from
\nthe path of natural goodness. Lao Tzu lived in modern day Tibet around 606 to
\n530 B.C and before leaving the place forever he was requested by one of his
\nfriend who was the custom officer to write his teachings which resulted in this
\nwonderful book- Tao Te Ching and perhaps this has been the most translated book
\nafter The Bible and The Gita. But still I think that most of these efforts have
\nstill failed to catch the glimpse of the soul of Lao Tzu, the Tao. I think he
\nis one of the least understood mystics. I often hear that he was a great
\nphilosopher. But I do not think that he was a Philosopher\u2026Philosophy does not
\nrequire experience\u2026it is the vision of the mind\u2026.contemplation. And
\nSpiritualism begins at the fall of mind. Lao Tzu was a spiritual man (not
\nreligious)\u2026a true mystic who felt the divine forces governing life and most of
\nall been able to express it in most subtle way.<\/div>\n

\n<\/div>\n
\nI think this misinformation about
\nLao Tzu stems from the fact that his masterpiece \u201cTao Te Ching\u201d does not talk
\nabout God, his personality or his reasons for creating this world. But that\u2019s exactly
\nwhy I found this book rare\u2026a true masterpiece. The Great Lao Tzu talks of life
\non this earth. Tao Te Ching is about man not superman (God). Lao Tzu was able
\nto observe the universal law behind all the forces of nature and this book
\ntalks of this law with reference to man\u2019s life not about the nature and origin
\nof this universal law. It just accepts the presence of this law and then moves
\nforward to assess its relationship with the happiness of human beings. <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nBut the language used by Lao Tzu
\nis pure magic. It is unimaginable that he could understand the nature of
\nuniverse with such perfection 2700 years ago and most of it he could express
\nthe same in human language in most perfect way. When you read this book\u2026in
\nevery Verse you can feel the presence of quantum mechanics. Derivation of
\nnon-dualism from dualism (Yin and Yang) is unimaginable. Lao Tzu looks like a
\nperson living for thousand years\u2026fought countless wars and recognizes every
\ngrain of sand on this earth. <\/span>Most people
\ntake China as a land devoid of any religion but if you ask me then Taoism is
\nthe most advanced religion in the world. Buddhism is very similar to Taoism and
\nthat\u2019s why it could spread to Far East after it left India. <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nAfter Lao Tzu, it was the great Chuang-tzu
\n(Zhuang Zhou) who carried forward the Taoism to great heights. People doubt on
\nthe existence of Lao Tzu but Chuang Tzu did happen and he was the man of
\nmassive wisdom. It was because of Chuang Tzu that Buddhism is transformed into
\nanother unique religion in China\/japan- Zen. <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nWhat is the Path
\nof Lao Tzu-The TAO<\/span><\/u><\/b><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/u><\/b><\/div>\n
\nBut what is this Tao? Lao Tzu was
\na very keen observer of the nature. He watched trees, breeze blowing, the
\nwarmth of sun, flowing river. Very soon he realized that except human beings
\nnothing strives (please note strive is more aggressive than doing or wanting)
\nfor power and fame. Things are just \u201care\u201d\u2026there is no attempt to break the
\nnatural harmony. Lao Tzu was quick to understand that this madness and hunger
\nfor power and money is the root cause of all the misery of humanity. Instead of
\nbeing happy at what we have naturally; human beings want to grasp more and more
\njust to earn the jealousy (not praise and value as we think) of others. Like when
\ni compose music or draw a painting I do not feel happiness at this great piece
\nof creation because I want to create a great noise for my creation\u2026to earn money
\nand name\u2026nothing else. It was a shock for the people like Lao Tzu that how
\nsomeone can\u2019t feel happiness at his creation and quite contrary he feels happy
\nonly when his creation is rewarded with money and fame\u2026otherwise he feels
\nmiserable. <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nI have seen many creative persons
\nwho are always full of despair and emptiness because they could not earn name,
\nfame and money with their art. They were always taught the value of money and
\nname since their birth and they believed this to such an extent that they just
\ncan\u2019t enjoy the gift of creativity given by Mother Nature to them. If they have
\nthe eyes they should see that they are the chosen ones because I have always
\nfelt that creativity is the best way to feel happiness\u2026.in fact extreme
\nhappiness. In fact not just happiness but feeling close to Almighty because if
\nyou ask any creative person how he creates music or draw a great painting or a
\ngreat story then he can vouch that in some sacred moments these creations unfold
\nonto them from somewhere. But it is shocking that these fellows can\u2019t value and
\nfeel the bliss at these rare moments when Mother Nature visits them. <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nI know a person who has been
\nblessed with a great voice (for singing) by Mother Nature but due to some
\nreasons that he couldn\u2019t touch the heights of name and fame and I have always
\nseen him miserable in all his life. He could not enjoy his own singing because
\nhe strived for name in the society\u2026the only aim was to rise high in the eyes of
\nothers. So in place of feeling bliss at this amazing capability he has wasted
\nhis life so far in grief. And if you ask me singing and music is amazing\u2026it is
\nthe language of emotions\u2026best way to express joy and pain. When you sing or
\nhear music the sound resonates with something in you (Vedas say
\n\u201cShabdaikagunamakasham\u201d which means that Shabad (Sound) is the guna (Property)
\nof Akasha) and you become a sound only\u2026.time disappears\u2026eyes stand still\u2026hours
\npass like minutes. I told him to start teaching a small group and enjoy but he
\ndoes not want a small group of people to know him, value him\u2026he wants the
\nentire sky.<\/div>\n
\nFor Lao Tzu, this is not the way
\nto live life\u2026this is not natural. Happiness and peace for Lao Tzu come from one\u2019s
\nwithin and do not depend upon worldly success and wealth. Lao Tzu wants people
\nto observe nature to understand how all the things in nature follows the
\nnatural path\u2026natural law which guides all the things in this entire
\nuniverse\u2026the Tao. <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nTaoism: A cosmic
\ninterplay of opposites<\/span><\/u><\/b><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/u><\/b><\/div>\n
\nLao Tzu\u2019s Tao is about the
\nuniversal law\u2026the nature of reality\u2026the regulation which holds together entire
\nuniverse\u2026all the existence\u2026and everything. That\u2019s why lao Tzu tells that Tao
\nexisted before everything. The most remarkable thing about Taoism is that there
\nis not personified God\u2026they just talk about the universal regulation. And this
\nis why Taoism is so special. Almost all mystics have talked about, described
\nthe Supreme Being called God in their writings or teachings. They have tried to
\npersonified him for our understandings and if we can see this has created so
\nmuch of religious anarchism among humans because all have tried to declare that
\ntheir God (personification) is most authentic.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nBut if you ask me then this
\nnon-personification is the biggest contribution of Taoism to the mankind. But
\nwhy non-personification? Just see what Lao Tzu says:<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nVerse1: The Tao that can be
\ntold is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name. <\/span><\/i>(Just look at the
\npoetic beauty of this\u2026wisdom\u2026just incredible\u2026I read this and I have teary eyes)<\/span><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/div>\n
\nVerse 2: All
\ncan see beauty as beauty only because there is ugliness. <\/i><\/div>\n
\nAll can
\nknow good as good only because there is evil.<\/i><\/div>\n
\nBeing and
\nnonbeing produce each other. The difficult is born in the easy.<\/i><\/div>\n
\nLong is
\ndefined by short, the high by the low. Before and after go along with each
\nother.<\/i><\/div>\n
\nSo the sage
\nlives openly with apparent duality and paradoxical unity.<\/i><\/div>\n
\nThe sage
\ncan act without effort and teach without words.<\/i><\/div>\n
\n
<\/i><\/div>\n
\nLao Tzu understands the inherent
\nlimitations of our language and senses. That\u2019s why he refrains from using words
\nfor the ultimate doctrine because of the limitations of our language this can
\nlead to very wrong interpretations. Our words\/truths are relative\u2026relative to
\nthe point of reference and they are defined by opposites. Truth is not defined
\nor confined by time and space\u2026truth is absolute When we say good then this
\npoints towards existence of bad also.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nThe great PD Ouspensky in his
\nbook \u201cThe Tertium Organum\u201d (one of the best books I have ever read and will
\never read) explains:<\/div>\n
\n\u201cWe cannot
\ndefine one unknown by means of another unknown. The result is nothing but the
\nidentity of two unknowns: x = y, y = x. <\/i><\/div>\n
\nMatter<\/span> is that in which the changes called motion<\/span> take place: and motion<\/span>
\nis those changes which take place in matter\u201d<\/span>.<\/i><\/div>\n
\n
<\/i><\/div>\n
\nAnd you realize the relativity of
\nour facts and concepts. Our words are incomplete and hollow. Like health\u2026we do
\nnot have any positive or independent definition of health. It says health is
\nwhen we do not have any disease\/illness so health is defined by the opposite
\n(although I feel health is when we do not feel our bodies\u2026so light). So when we
\nsay someone is healthy then that also means illness. <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nThat\u2019s why lord Buddha became
\nsilent when asked about God. Some says he denied God but he had not\u2026he was
\nsilent and silence does not mean denial. He was silent because of stupidity of
\nhuman beings. This earth has seen countless enlightened beings who have tried
\nhard to make us understand the nature of supreme existence so that we can see
\nthe meaninglessness and worthlessness of life we are living. But just look at
\nthe following what we have understood so far about the supreme existence or
\nGod:<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nOur God wants us to
\nacknowledge his gratitude for giving us this life and so he seeks submission
\nand continuous songs\/reciting of praise. And when we drift away or avoid his
\npre-described path or directions he cursed us with sufferings in hell.<\/i><\/div>\n
\n
<\/i><\/div>\n
\nThis is what we have made of
\nhim\u2026only in the image of human being\u2026and this is what precisely the essence of religion for most of the
\nhumanity. To be a follower of this type of religion one only needs one thing-
\nLow IQ. It is not surprising that most of these so called religious people have
\nlow IQ. These are the religious people who feel content just by offering a thing
\nor words as prayer, who feel being religious will end all their worldly
\nproblems, who feel just by listening verses, by fasting they are touching the
\nsupreme divine. You will not see any sort of religion in their eyes, their
\nactions\u2026they indulge in all type of nonsense but they think they are religious.
\nIn fact, they do not have their religion by their choice. They
\nare born into it. <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nBut this happens when we have a
\npersonified God who is kind and desires for our happiness. So I can offer one
\ncoconut or flowers or fasting for twice a week and I will be delighted that I
\nhave made God aware of my religiousness and he\u2019ll take care of me. It is
\nshameful that we still seek the world from religion. But if you go near a
\nperson like Buddha or Lao Tzu they will first of all destroy the world for you
\nso that you can see the real world beyond. They will not do this in most
\npleasing way; in fact they will kill you and your ego.<\/p>\n
\nIf you ask me about God and
\nreligion, then creativity is the thing which takes us near to the supreme
\ndivinity. When Supreme created this universe, he had done the greatest piece of
\ncreativity. So when we create something- a new music, new piece of an art, new
\ninvention…every new creation is his mirror image, his idea of being in bliss, his idea of purpose, happiness and Joy. <\/span>We are moving ahead the wave started by him…the realm of creation. That\u2019s why creative people are rare. That\u2019s why creative
\npeople always feel that in their creation they are guided by the divine. Every new song, new painting, new story, new idea is an addition to this world.every song is unique…not created before.<\/span>That\u2019s
\nwhy the world value creativity so dearly. So being creative and by creating
\nsomething new we are worshiping the Supreme in reality. At times, creative
\npeople looks eccentric but they are the happiest if guided properly to not to
\nseek money and fame. That\u2019s why I have always felt that an ideal society will
\nmotivate and support the creativity.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nThat\u2019s why I feel for today\u2019s
\nworld, Lao Tzu is the person to follow.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n<\/a><\/div>\n

\nLao Tzu sees the perfect harmony
\nin opposites\u2026it is the inherent design of nature\u2026.unity of opposites. It shows
\nthat the visible separate or opposite systems are united and one can\u2019t exist
\nwithout the other. Universe is one single cosmic event or existence but it is
\nhuman who differentiates between life and death, old and young, good and bad,
\nmale and female energy, light and darkness, joy and sorrow because they can\u2019t
\nsee the oneness of the existence. The opposite forces do not kill each other
\nbut they are complementary forces balancing the life for its nurturing. So
\nthose who understand the Tao and paradoxical forces of life they know that due
\nto very nature of life being balanced out by opposing forces so there will be
\ngood and bad times but the follower of Tao does not try to avoid this but he
\naccepts this as part of life and by doing so he transcends this. This is most
\nbasic teaching of Taoism- the Yin and Yang symbol.<\/div>\n

\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nLao Tzu observes that this unity
\nof opposites exist in both natural and human world. Love and hate coexists. Happiness
\nand grief coexists. For example, I love my beloved and this feeling of love
\ngives me great happiness and joy but in the end one day she will be dead or she
\nwould leave me for someone else and this will turn all the happiness into pain
\nand all the love into hatred (if she leaves me). But Lao Tzu tells us to accept
\nthis as nature of phenomenon as it follows the universal Tao of balance in
\nopposites.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n<\/a><\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n(Yin and Yang)<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nOne day, a young man was telling
\nme about himself and he claimed that he is very brave and has no fear. I told
\nhim that actually a brave man does not know that he is brave. He is just \u201cwhat
\nhe is\u201d and when someone says he is brave than that means he also has his share
\nof fear. I asked him a question about three persons who on a dark night visited
\na haunted graveyard. One person believes in Ghosts but still he went to the
\ngraveyard. Second fellow does not believe in ghosts (but he knows the concept)
\nbut still he went and the third does not even know the concept of ghosts and he
\nalso went to the graveyard. Now tell me who among three is brave or bravest of
\nthree? This is paradoxical life. And if we can see the first & second fellows
\nare brave but they have the element of fear in them but the third fellow is not
\nhaving any fear at all but whether he is brave or not?? I leave this to
\nreaders. But if we can see nature- the lion who is the king is very brave but
\nstill he also has the element of fear in himself. Sometimes an angry buffalo
\nmakes him run. This fear is necessary for his survival. So if we can see then
\nfear is the Yin and courage is the yang. Courage is not the \u201cabsence of fear\u201d
\nbut acting on the face of your fear. But a lion is never good or bad, a human
\nbeing is. So the courage can make a good human die for the cause of highest
\ngood.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nIn many commentaries on Tao Te
\nChing, I have seen authors explaining this unity in paradoxes (verse 2) that
\nLao Tzu wants us to see the contradictions in life and wants us to avoid any
\naction on these opposites like Lao Tzu will not take any \u201caction\u201d when he loves
\nsomebody; he won\u2019t tell that person that Lao Tzu loves him because love will
\n\u201clead\u201d to hatred in the end. Lao Tzu will be silent. First, I do not think that
\ntelling somebody that I love him is \u201caction\u201d and falling in love is not. Love
\nhas already happened but it coexists with hate. But not telling love is not the
\nway of Tao. <\/span>Lao Tzu is not denying the
\nopposites that if you say love then hate will come. No. He is just saying that
\nboth these coexist just like all the things in our life and nature\u2026they are
\nbalanced by opposites. So we should accept them just as they are in whole. No
\nneed for any action in denial of this. This is the meaning of Lao Tzu when he
\nsays that sage manage affairs without action\u2026it is the innate nature of Tao.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nI need to stop here because
\nTaoism is so vast that it is not possible to cover the entire vision here.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nCovid-19 has
\ngiven us a perspective to stop and look back<\/span><\/u><\/b><\/div>\n
\n
<\/span><\/u><\/b><\/div>\n
\nIn our quest for growth in the
\nform of money and power we have wreaked havoc on this earth and destroyed so
\nmuch of delicate ecosystem. Every country wants GDP growth and so they are just
\ntearing earth for minerals, cutting forests, polluting rivers, making public
\nconsume more and more. The end result of this nonsense is our devastated lives
\nand highly polluted cities and rivers. If you ask Lao Tzu then he would say
\nthat human has tried to hit the balance of yin and yang and so earth will take
\nits action.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nSometimes back, I was sharing
\nthis with my wife that mother earth is a living being and it is not possible
\nthat \u201cthey\u201d (the creators) will leave the destiny of earth in the hands of
\nfoolish human beings so we may see some \u201ccleansing\u201d action from mother earth
\nand that can bring devastation and chaos in our lives. But now with the
\nonslaught of Covid-19, I think nature has given us a chance to sit back and
\nobserve the peace prevailing in our lives and at earth these days. Cities are
\nhaving fresh clear air\u2026pollution levels are reducing greatly. This covid crisis
\nis going to phase out soon but I really hope and pray that this will give us
\nmuch more in the form of understanding the importance of living in harmony with
\nmother earth and importance of simplicity and contentment in our life.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nI hope that this will serve as a
\nperspective for us to bring necessary changes in our view towards growth. First
\nchange which I feel we need is to include balance sheet in our calculation of
\nGDP growth. In our GDP calculations we only have profit & loss account
\nwhere we measure the goods and services produced in a given period of time. But
\nwe never account for the damage inflicted by our GDP growth actions on
\nenvironment i.e. deforestation, soil degradation, air and water pollution.
\nThese natural resources are part of natural capital which is most important for
\nany sort of productive activities. We can\u2019t run our factories alone on machines
\nand labor. These factories needs air, water, soil, forests etc\u2026.everything we regard
\nas natural resources. All these natural resources are vital for our existence,
\nso if I destroy a forest and extracts iron ore from it we add this iron ore to
\nGDP but we never deduct the damage caused to Natural capital by this activity
\nwhich is as real as iron ore. So if we inflict any permanent damage to this
\nnatural capital then the same should be reduced from the total goods\/services
\nproduced. Hence our GDP figures are overstated. And unless we design a way to
\ncalculate this damage we will never understand the value of Natural capital. So
\nwe need to have a balance sheet of an economy comprising Natural Capital (its
\nvalue will be massive\u2026no doubt) and any diminution in the value of this natural
\ncapital should be adjusted against National Income account to present the true
\nstate of our economic activities.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nI am not surprised to see
\neconomists declaring the onslaught of global recession. But I think recession
\nis much more fundamental than fall in GDP rates alone. Recession is about
\nsignificant misallocation of productive resources whose course correction is
\nnot possible in short term. Like a country, where massive resources have been
\nput for manufacture of Automobiles (for local and exports) and then all of a
\nsudden there is global oil scarcity due to peak oil and oil prices shoot up
\nwhich hit the demand for automobiles very hard. In this situation, it is very
\nhard to do a fast course correction by creating new product manufacturing
\ncenters and also absorbing the massive loss of automobile capacity.<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nIf we can see the situation now,
\nafter Covid-19 crisis there are high chances that people may not go to cinemas,
\namusement parks, Tourism, restaurants or even shared taxis (ola\/uber)\u2026.i mean
\nall public places. But whether this curtailment of demand for these products will
\nbe permanent? Actually, the crowd is not only at cinemas or restaurants alone.
\nIt is and will be everywhere- whether it is schools\/colleges, factories, sports
\nevents, hospitals, businessmen going for air and railway travel. So avoidance
\nof crowded means stoppage of all and everything. But deep inside we all
\nunderstand that this is not going to happen so similarly there is a chance that
\nwhen factories, schools etc. will be opened first then the same will dissipate the fear of crowded places gradually and this demand curtailment of cinemas
\netc. may not be permanent. Even at the times of Spanish flu in 1918-20 cinemas etc.
\nwere survived. So we\u2019ll see this recession fear in detail in the next post as
\nthis post is only for the reverence of the great Lao Tzu.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Coronavirus spread has devastated the entire globe. The devastation has not just created a healthcare crisis but also economic and existential. But most horrific thing about this crisis is that it has, with its global spread at fast pace, turned much adorable \u201cglobalization\u201d into a curse. This curse is not limited to the spread of virus across borders but with the closure of international boundaries it has stopped the flow of goods across the globe because globalization has resulted into vast distances in demand centers and supply centers like USA is facing extreme troubles in procurements because China is its…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1162","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/oscillations.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1162","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/oscillations.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/oscillations.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oscillations.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oscillations.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1162"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/oscillations.in\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1162\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/oscillations.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1162"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oscillations.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1162"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/oscillations.in\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1162"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}