The Great Inconsistent Tao is Beautifully Consistent
WTF Is Going On?
WTF Is Going On?
“This is all according to God’s plan.”
“Don’t worry, things always work out in the end.”
“If it’s meant to be, then it’s meant to be, and you’ll get back together.”
Do you ever wonder why we pass them down from generation to generation when they only turn out to be right ~50% of the time? I can flip a coin and be as correct. The truth is that your future isn’t always in your favor. In fact, as most would say, it’s consistently inconsistent.
Now that’s not to say we can’t predict some mediocre outcomes. I know that if I’m standing on the ground and throw a ball up in the air unless acted upon by another force, it will fall straight to the ground. Yet, we can not predict what might happen while it’s in the air. A bird might snatch it, or a gust of wind might blow it in one direction. So, in reality, we can not say that the ball is highly likely to come back down. But, we can say that it will probably fall straight down.
Such are our lives and our future. I can predict with near certainty that tonight I will lay down in my bed, fall asleep sleep, and wake up. Then, I must get my children ready for school and begin working. Yet, the key phrase is “almost near certainty” because tomorrow is not promised.
I’ve lived long enough to personally have known those who did not live to see the next sunrise. A friend fell asleep next to her husband one Sunday evening, and she never did when he woke up Monday morning. My grandfather-in-law also went to sleep one night and never woke up.
So you see, even something as simple as “I will go to sleep and wake up tomorrow” is inconsistent.
Thus, we must conclude that the Tao is consistently inconsistent. So it has been, and so it will always be. Most people would consider this a scary concept. How can we operate our lives if we can’t be sure of anything? Should we stay in our house or retreat into the woods to become a hermit like Taoist sages of the past?
But I take comfort in knowing that nothing is certain. I laugh at the excellent comisc play unfolding before me, for it’s not a tragedy, as others would say. It’s a comedy.
I’m reminded of Chapter 41 of the Tao Te Ching. You can find Derek Lin’s translation for free on his website, Taoism.net, and I’ve pasted it below:
Higher people hear of the Tao They diligently practice it Average people hear of the Tao They sometimes keep it and sometimes lose it
Lower people hear of the Tao They laugh loudly at it If they do not laugh, it would not be the Tao
So, stay foolish friends, and laugh more than you do. You may hear the universe laugh back at you.