Weblog von Hans-Wolfgang

That is the definition of humbleness. Not to try to be perfect is to be humble. And a humble person becomes more and more total because he has nothing to deny, nothing to reject. He accepts whatsoever he is, good, bad. And a humble person is very rich because he accepts his wholeness; his anger, his sex, his greed -- everything is accepted. In that deep acceptance a great alchemical change happens. All that is ugly by and by disappears on its own accord. He becomes more and more harmonious, more and more whole.

A saint is a perfectionist; a holy man is totally different. Zen Masters are holy men; Catholic saints are saints. The very word 'saint' is ugly. It comes from 'sanctos' -- one who has been given sanction by the authority that he is a saint. Now who can authorise anybody to be a saint? Is it a sort of degree? But the Christian Church goes on doing that foolish thing

Even posthumous degrees are awarded. A saint may have died three hundred years before, then the Church revises its ideas, or the world has changed, and after three hundred years the Church gives a posthumous degree -- a sanction that that man was really a saint, we could not understand him at the time. And the church may have killed that man -- that's how Joan of Arc became a saint. They killed her, but later on they changed their idea. People by and by came closer and closer to Joan of Arc and it became difficult not to accept her. First they killed her, then they worshipped her. After hundreds of years, her bones were found and worshipped. She was burned by the same people, the same Church.

No, the word 'saint' is not good. A holy man is a holy man because of himself, not because some church decides to award him sainthood.

Jacobson, aged ninety, had lived through beatings in Polish pogroms, concentration camps in Germany, and dozens of other anti-Semitic experiences.

'Oh, Lord!' he prayed, sitting in a synagogue. 'Isn't it true that we are your chosen people?'

And from the heavens boomed a voice:'Yes, Jacobson, the Jews are my chosen people!'

'Well, then,' wailed the old man,'isn't it time you chose somebody else?'

Perfectionists are the chosen people of God, remember. In fact, the day you understand that you are creating your own misery because of your ideas, you break all ideas. Then you simply live out of your reality -- whatsoever it is. That is a great transformation.

So don't try to be chosen people of God, just be human. For God's sake, just be human!

Scholars say that the original Tao Te Ching is a poem. It is hardly difficult to understand the enduring quality of the Tao Te Ching. Written by Lao Tsu in the sixth century BC is a simple, quiet book that reflects upon our true nature and our behavior. Broken up into 81 'chapters' or short poems, it comprises a mere 5,000 words. Every other sentence is a memorable quote, and one can read it in an hour and study it for a lifetime.

"What is a good man? A teacher of a bad man. What is a bad man? A good man's charge."

"The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao."

So begins the Tao Te Ching. This book provides an experience of the Tao like few others. First, there is the blank page. Lots of white space. The absence, the void.

"The Tao is an empty vessel; it is used, but never filled."

"Profit comes from what is there, / Usefulness from what is not there."

Emptiness is the vessel which contains the words and images of this experience.

"The form of the formless / the image of the imageless / it is called indefinable and beyond imagination."

The text does "not tinkle like jade / or clatter like stone chimes."

"Less and less is done / until non-action is achieved. / When nothing is done, nothing is left undone."

The Tao teaches a peaceful way of life. This short work is one of the most important in Chinese philosophy and religion, especially in Taoism, but also in Buddhism, Many Chinese artists, including poets, painters, calligraphers and even gardeners have used the book as a source of inspiration. Its influence has also spread widely outside the Far East, aided by many different translations of the text into western languages.

The first two statements can be alternatively translated as:

The state can be stated is not the normal state. The name can be named is not the normal name.

"Alert, like men aware of danger
Courteous like visiting guests
Yielding, like ice about to melt
Simple, like uncarved blocks of wood"

How can one place value on something? What is value? The Tao Te Ching is an amazing view of the world.

"The Tao that can be reviewed is not the eternal Tao.", those who understand don't review and those who review don't understand, unless they do.

The radiation of one who is awakened is a very delicate phenomenon. It is just like a fragrance: if you have the understanding and the courage to receive it, only then will you be able to know it; otherwise, thousands of people passed by Gautam Buddha realizing nothing. They were puzzled why others were feeling so much, why others were in tears of joy. The radiation of the awakened, of the enlightened, is nonaggressive; that is one of the most significant things to be understood. In no way is it going to transgress your individuality unless you invite it, unless you are in a state of welcome, unless you are waiting for it. Unless you are ready to be a host it won't knock on your doors. And naturally, if it does not knock on your doors you will feel that all these people who are experiencing radiation, light, joy, seem to be a little strange, because the majority of humanity has not felt it. The majority of humanity is completely closed -- not even a single window of the heart is open. It is almost the same as if a blind man denies that there is sun and there is light. As far as he is concerned, he is right. He has never seen the sun and he has never seen the light. There is an illuminating story about Gautam Buddha and a blind man. It contains so much that if you can comprehend it in its totality, it may help you to open your eyes, to open your heart. A blind man was brought to Gautam Buddha, and the people who had brought the man told Buddha, "This man is not only blind, he is a genius in logic, in argumentation. We all know there is light, we all know there is sun, there is moon, there are stars, but we cannot convince this man. He lives in our village and he argues so well against all of us that sometimes we start thinking that perhaps we are deluded. "His arguments are very strong. He says, `I am absolutely willing to accept your sun, your moon, your stars, your light -- but just let me touch your light. I want to feel it. If touching it is difficult, let me smell it. If that too is difficult, beat it like a drum so I can hear the sound of your light. Or I am ready even to swallow it, to have some taste of it. "But unless at least one of my four senses is convinced, I can only say to you that you are in an illusion. And moreover, I feel that you want to humiliate me by declaring this stupid idea about light, so that you can claim you have eyes and I don't have eyes. You want simply to insult me.'" Hearing that Gautam Buddha was passing by the nearby village, they rushed there. They thought that perhaps this would be the only moment, the only chance and opportunity to take this blind man to a man who is ultimately awakened and may be able to convince him about light. If he fails, then there is no hope. Gautam Buddha laughed and he said, "As far as I am concerned, I absolutely agree with the blind man, because he confirms my attitude about truth. Unless you experience it, don't believe it. And because he cannot experience light, it does not matter whether light exists or not; he is absolutely correct not to believe in it. Every belief is far more dangerous than blindness, because every belief is spiritual blindness." The blind man for the first time could not believe that somebody of the status of Gautam Buddha would support him. Tears came from his blind eyes. Gautam Buddha said, "Don't be worried. I have the best physician of the land with me." A great king, Prasenjita, had offered Gautam Buddha his own personal physician, because he was fragile, old, and he needed somebody to look after him. So Gautam Buddha said, "Don't be worried. I will call the physician; he is just in another camp. Let him treat you. You don't need an awakened man, you need a physician, talented, a genius, because no other argument can convince you. And you should not be convinced by any other argument." The blind man was taken to the physician, and Gautam Buddha said, "Stay in this village till you have cured his eyes." It was not a difficult job. Within six months the man's eyes were cured, and the moment he saw the light he rushed to the other village, far away, where Buddha was. Dancing, in utter joy, he fell at Gautam Buddha's feet and told him, "If I had not met you I would have remained blind. In fact I was defending my blindness with all my arguments. But you are a man of tremendous discrimination. You did not argue with me; you simply said, `I am not a physician and your problem can be solved only by a physician.'"

This is the situation with the majority of humanity.

Ein guter Redner braucht nichts zu widerlegen.
Ein guter Rechner braucht keine Rechenstäbchen.
Ein guter Schließer braucht nicht Schloß noch Schlüssel,
und doch kann niemand auftun.
Ein guter Binder braucht nicht Strick noch Bänder,
und doch kann niemand lösen.
Der Berufene versteht es immer gut, die Menschen zu retten;
darum gibt es für ihn keine verworfenen Menschen.
Er versteht es immer gut, die Dinge zu retten;
darum gibt es für ihn keine verworfenen Dinge.
Das heißt die Klarheit erben.
So sind die guten Menschen die Lehrer der Nichtguten,
und die nichtguten Menschen sind der Stoff für die Guten.
Wer seine Lehrer nicht werthielte und seinen Stoff nicht liebte,
der wäre bei allem Wissen in schwerem Irrtum.
Das ist das große Geheimnis.

When the ruler looks repressed the people will be happy and satisfied;
When the ruler looks lively and self-assured the people will be carping and discontented.
"It is upon bad fortune that good fortune leans, upon good fortune that bad fortune rests."
But though few know it, there is a bourn where there is neither right nor wrong;
In a realm where every straight is doubled by a crooked, and every good by an ill,

surely mankind has gone long enough astray?
Therefore the Sage
Squares without cutting,
Shapes the corners without iopping,
Straightens without stretching,
Gives forth light without shining.