Look at the various political leaders,
the so-called religious leaders and the leaders of social and economic
reform.
They all have schemes,
each saying that his scheme is the way to salvation,
to the eradication of poverty, and so on;
and the individuals like you,
who want to act in the face of all this misery and chaos,
get caught in the net of propaganda and dogmatic assertions.
Haven't you noticed that this very action breeds further misery and chaos?
(Krishnamurti)
Where you live
Most of us live in cities or towns and feel divorced from the
so-called 'natural world'.
'Natural world' is an interesting term because it suggests a place where the
inhabitants live according to their own
natures.
Can this be said of humans - is our living environment healthy and natural?
How you live
Taoism is interested in the way in which we do things.
The means is far more important than the end because it is the method that
is responsible for the outcome.
How you live your life is worth consideration.
Unfortunately we are conditioned to think rather than feel, to trust in
thought rather than intuition.
We are encouraged to be
obedient, to accept the framework of society and culture and not
to question how we feel.
Modern life is filled with time saving gadgets, yet everyone spends much of
the day rushing everywhere.
Leisure time is often spent in
apathy and boredom, 'killing time' with banal activities or eating junk
food
and drinking depressants like alcohol or stimulants like caffeine.
Are you happy?
Your life
We have a limited number of years to live and many of us
are just watching the seasons pass without noticing what is happening.
Taoism and tai chi encourage people to
stop.
Once you have stopped the ceaseless
activity, you can take a fresh
look at how you live and what it all means
to you.
Sadly it usually takes a traumatic event
like AIDS, bereavement, cancer or heart attack for people to question their
lives.
Other people suffer a 'mid-life crisis' - which is essentially the
realisation that their life feels meaningless to them.
Feeling alienated from your work, your family,
your friends and your life is not a sickness.
It may be the first step in waking up.
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Page created 5 June 2000