Growing Downward, Episode 197
We're taught by our culture to think in polarities - something is either good, or bad; worthwhile, or a waste of time; valuable, or worthless. And because of this we often judge ourselves and our lives in polarised terms too - we're broken, or whole; empty, or full - which in turn leads us into efforting to 'get' the side of the polarity we judge as the right one. Where does this polarised thinking lead us? And might there be another way?
This week's Turning Towards Life is a dive into the depths beneath and beyond polarisation, hosted as always by Lizzie Winn and Justin Wise of Thirdspace.
Here's our source for this week:
Growing downward
Be broken to be whole.
Twist to be straight.
Be empty to be full.
Wear out to be renewed.
Have little and gain much.
Have much and get confused.
So wise souls hold to the one, and test all things against it.
Not showing themselves, they shine forth.
Not justifying themselves, they’re self-evident.
Not praising themselves, they’re accomplished.
Not competing, they have in all the world no competitor.
What they used to say in the old days,
“Be broken to be whole,” was that mistaken?
Truly, to be whole is to return.
Ursula K Le Guin, translation from 'Tao Te Ching' by Lao Tzu
Photo by Motoki Tonn on Unsplash