Tao

Before the exam storms broke loose, I was slowly working my way through a little self-help book that taught meditation from a Taoist perspective. In case you're unfamiliar with Taoism, it is one of those unfalsifiable belief system that is quasi-mystical, quasi-religious but nevertheless acceptable to the secular Western mind. It does not judge you; ideally, it does not burn anyone; it does not perscribe morals, only a general outlook on existence. What is the Tao? We cannot speak of it; we cannot characterize it or unite its cntradictory meanings through dialectics. It is The Way; it is change and flux and it is balance; it is a path yet it is undirected; it is everything and nothing. It is mystical and empirical; it cannot be captured by a word, but we use "Tao" as shorthand.

Anyway, I still haven't decided whether it is watered-down New Age "spiritual" bullshit or a subtle theoretical shift, the smallest detectable, that makes the pieces fit and will allow one to be more content with life. Not happy, but content. It brings another, unrelated, doctrine to mind. The Hindu/Buddhist notion of reincarnation: a very satisfying metaphysical idea, and elegant and balanced and intellectually satisfying idea, which unfortunately flits in my mind between the extremes of "the one unifying concept" and utter fairytale bullshit. It doesn't help that my beliefs shift like a house of cards in a windstorm: they change with the fullness of my stomach, how much sleep I've had, the day I've had, the conversation I just had, the pamphlet I've just read, the song I've just heard. How anti-metaphysical.

Consider: "When you want to fool the world, tell the truth."