"A fly can't bird, but a bird can fly." Very simple. It's obvious, isn't it? And yet, you'd be surprised how many people violate this simple principle every day of their lives and try to fit square pegs into round holes, ignoring the clear reality that Things Are As They Are. [LINE]In other words, everything has its own place and function. That applies to people, although many don't seem to realize it, stuck as they are in the wrong job, the wrong marriage, or the wrong house. When you know and respect your own Inner Nature, you know where you belong. You also know where you [i]don't[/i] belong. One man's food is often another man's poison, and what is glamorous and exciting to some can be a dangerous trap to others. [LINE]"A fish can't whistle and neither can I." Coming from a wise mind, such a statement would mean, "I have certain limitations, and I know what they are." Such a mind would act accordingly. There's nothing wrong with not being able to whistle, especially if you're a fish. But there can be lots of things wrong with blindly trying to do what you aren't designed for. Fish don't live in trees, and birds don't spend too much time underwater if they can help it. Unfortunately, some [i]people[/i]- who always seem to think they're smarter than fish and birds, somehow- aren't so wise, and end up causing big trouble for themselves and others. [LINE]The wise know their limitations; the foolish do not. [LINE]When you work with [i]Wu Wei[/i], you put the round peg in the round hole and the square peg in the square hole. No stress, no struggle. Egotistical Desire tries to force the round peg into the square hole and the square peg into the round hole. Cleverness tries to devise craftier ways fo making pegs fit where they don't belong. Knowledge tries to figure out why round pegs fit round holes, but not square holes. [i]Wu Wei[/i] doesn't try. It doesn't think about it. It just does it. And when it does, it doesn't appear to do much of anything. But Things Get Done. [LINE]The surest way to become Tense, Awkward, and Confused is to develop a mind that tries too hard- one that thinks too much.
"Tragically, a nation that was created by intellectuals and visionaries has now been completely taken over by venal corporate gangsters, delusional Christian fruitcakes and hopelessly shallow Texas shit-kickers." -Tom Robbins
