{"id":3448,"date":"2011-07-15T00:46:11","date_gmt":"2011-07-15T04:46:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/yang-sheng.com\/?p=3448"},"modified":"2012-01-01T18:56:49","modified_gmt":"2012-01-01T23:56:49","slug":"echoes-of-emptiness-%e8%99%9a%e4%b9%8b%e9%9f%bf-%e2%80%93-happiness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yang-sheng.com\/?p=3448","title":{"rendered":"Echoes of Emptiness (\u865a\u4e4b\u97ff)-Happiness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Happiness<\/strong><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

by \u00a9 Jacob Newell (Daoshi Gu Shen Yu)<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In a sense we can consider the goal of meditation to be achieving happiness.\u00a0 But this view is self-limiting in that it relegates meditation to being a cure for a lack of happiness, while meditation is really much bigger than this.<\/p>\n

Zhuangzi describes happiness as \u201cthe absence of searching for happiness\u201d.\u00a0 Seen in this light, if we approach meditation in order to achieve happiness, we\u2019re moving in the wrong direction.<\/p>\n

Laozi mentions happiness only once in the entire Dao De Jing, doubling the character for emphasis, associating it with the masses, distinguishing their way from the qi-quality of the sage:<\/p>\n

The masses are happy, happy, as if enjoying the sacrificial ox
\nOr climbing the terrace in spring
\nI alone waver without a trace
\nTurbid, turbid, like a baby that has not yet learned to laugh
\nTired, tired, as if nowhere to return
\nThe masses all have excess
\nI alone have lost everything, I have the heart of a fool
\n(Ch. 20)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Laozi is clearly distinguishing the sage \u2013 or the adept, which is us when we practice properly \u2013 from the masses.\u00a0 He is suggesting we not look for the same thing others are looking for \u2013 namely happiness, celebration, and having more than we need.<\/p>\n

Instead of happiness, Laozi suggests that we embody another quality: \u8db3 (“z\u00fa”).\u00a0 Zu is a compound character made of 2 parts \u2013 \u201cmouth\u201d and \u201cstop\u201d.\u00a0 It means having had enough, knowing when to stop, or recognizing fulfillment.<\/p>\n

Knowing when you have enough is wealth
\n(Ch 33)<\/p>\n

Knowing when you have enough, you avoid disgrace
\nKnowing when to stop, you avoid harm
\n(Ch 44)<\/p>\n

There is no greater disaster than not knowing when you have enough
\nThere is no greater fault than desire for gain
\nIf you know enough as enough
\nYou will always have enough!
\n(Ch 46)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Applying these lines to the practice of meditation, if we are seeking some grandiose experience beyond what we already have, or some kind of happy paradise, this is nothing other than loading ourselves down with desire for gain and excess, and we thus lose the virtue of Dao.<\/p>\n

So how do we cultivate the virtue of Dao?\u00a0 Not by chasing after it.\u00a0 We are advised instead to know enough as enough and not to seek more.\u00a0 Looking for happiness and enlightenment can itself be a form of greed, which is an obstacle to our practice.\u00a0 So Laozi says to drop our aspirations:<\/p>\n

The sage governs by emptying the heart-mind and filling the belly
\nWeakening the ambition and strengthening the bones
\n(Ch 3)<\/p>\n

To preserve Dao, do not desire abundance
\n(Ch 15)<\/p>\n

Abandon sagehood and renounce knowledge
\nReduce selfishness, lesson desires
\n(Ch 19)<\/p>\n

Without desires, there is tranquility
\nAnd all under Heaven settles of itself
\n(Ch 37)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The references to dropping desires and aspirations of elevated states go on and on.\u00a0 So how do we practice like this?\u00a0 Laozi suggests not tainting our meditation practice with desire and aspiration.\u00a0 If we are seeking to fulfill spiritual desires, or if we are seeking happiness, this not Laozi\u2019s practice.<\/p>\n

When we practice in this way, there is a change which happens within us.\u00a0 It is very significant and profound and totally changes our relationship to meditation practice.\u00a0 When we sit, we can just sit.\u00a0 I hesitate to call this happiness, but lack of happiness is certainly no problem whatsoever.<\/p>\n

Poems:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1.<\/p>\n

Obscured by clouds
\nLonging for the sun
\nSuch a limited Dao!<\/p>\n

Sun and cloud
\nLight and dark
\nStillness and agitation<\/p>\n

This is the unlimited Dao
\nOf unchanging illumination<\/p>\n

2.<\/p>\n

I sink lower and lower
\nHidden in the shadows
\nTurned in upon myself<\/p>\n

The masses all hop along with joy
\nWithout root,\u00a0they exhaust their spirit<\/p>\n

They may know my name
\nBut they do not know me<\/p>\n

In the darkness of midnight
\nThe moon is full, round, and bright<\/p>\n

3.<\/p>\n

In light, darkness
\nIn darkness, light<\/p>\n

Flock to light
\nLight fades<\/p>\n

Settle into darkness
\nLight emerges<\/p>\n

4.<\/p>\n

The sun sets
\nThe world disappears
\nCrickets chant immortal hymns
\nThe empty valley is filled with moonlight <\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Chapters cited herein are my own translations of the Dao De Jing (Wang Bi).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Jacob Ne<\/em>\"\"<\/a><\/em>well (Daoshi Gu Shen Yu) <\/em>is an ordained Daoist priest and founder of Old Oak School of Dao.\u00a0 He practices and teaches Taijiquan <\/em>and Daoist cultivation in Sonoma County, California.\u00a0 His book of poetry, These Daoist Bones, is available from his website, www.oldoakdao.org<\/a>.<\/em> <\/em><\/address>\n
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