From: mark maxwell (laughingpines@yahoo.co.uk)
Date: Fri Apr 04 2003 - 00:56:16 BST
To quote myself from the Progress and Benevolence
thread:
>
>I'm reminded of the classic Chinese proverb regarding
good luck and
bad
>luck. It follows:
>
>There once was a farmer in China who had an ox. One
day the ox ran
away.
>
>All his neighbors came to console him, but he was not
distressed. He
>told them, "Good luck, bad luck, who knows?" A few
days later the ox
>returned and with it was a horse. All his neighbors
came to him to
>congratulate him on his good fortune, but again he
would not mind them
>telling them, "Good luck, bad luck, who knows?" A
week later his son
was
>
>riding the horse, fell and broke his arm. Again the
neighbors came to
>wish him condolences and tell him how very unlucky he
was. The farmer
>shook his head and said, "Good luck, bad luck, who
knows?" A few days
>later, war was declared and all able-bodied young men
were
conscripted,
>but because on his son's broken arm, he was not.
"Good luck, bad luck,
>who knows?"
>
>The quality of the luck is a subjective projection
based on POV. None
of
>
>these events are inherently good or bad, they just
are. Applying good
or
>
>bad is simply an exercise in coping skills--An
attempt to assign
either
>benevolence or malice to the universe for the sake of
our own
interests.
>
>
>In each instance, the Farmer refrains from
>ascribing Benevolence or Malevolence to the Universe.
When the ox runs
>away, the Farmer does NOT bemoan the 'unfairness' of
it all. Perhaps
>even more telling, IMO, is that the Farmer does NOT
take the opposite
>view either, i.e. expressing the sentiment that "It
will work out for
>the best" or "God works in mysterious ways" or some
other ascription
of
>Hope. The Farmer instead (and wisely, IMO) withholds
his own petty,
>finite, limited perspective and judgment and allows
for the Universe
to
>decide whether this thing is bad or good.
>
>The Farmer awaits the TAO.
>
>Does this parallel your ideas somewhat, Johnny?
>
>Anyone have thoughts about it?
>
>-Kevin
Hello Kevin,
You invited thoughts so i felt i would be welcome to
say something?
The first thing is that when the proverb was written
we had no advanced science. We cannot be so uninformed
today as in ancient China and the MoQ helps in this
regard i feel.
The second thing is that the proverb encourages us to
understand that the Tao can work for you as well as
against you. Inaction and openness to it can very
often be all that is required. Maybe an illustration
of that would be just sitting because very often when
you just sit and empty your mind a good idea comes
along. (ZMM)
I feel sure this is the source of great art, as Erin
has been talking about in his posts. Great art can be
rational and scientific too.
I suppose when a scientist thinks of an experiment and
then waits to see what happens he/she is doing what
the farmer did in the proverb? The scientist asks a
question but does not impose an answer. This is
because change will be what it is depending on the
moral state of the Universe? I say moral state because
moral states are about the most real things that can
be said to exist even if they do not appear too
appealing to us Humans. (Lila)
That's what i think anyway.
LP.
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