THE CONTRIVED AND THE NATURAL
“The Creator has no wish to be powerful; and thus he is truly powerful. The ordinary man craves to be powerful; and thus he never has enough power.
The Creator does nothing, yet nothing is left undone.
The ordinary man is always doing things,
yet there are always many more to be done.
With the grace of the Creator, we experience natural goodness.
Natural goodness requires no effort, no
expectation of reward or recognition.
Contrived goodness requires great
effort, with little or no accomplishment.
Compassion and loving-kindness seek
nothing in return.
Fairness and justice demand results,
with expectation of correct behavior.
Natural goodness comes from within,
which is our essence, and not from without, which is only our appearance.
When we are separate from our true nature, we experience no natural goodness, no compassion and no loving-kindness.
Our goodness then becomes contrived,
demanding fairness and justice, focusing on appearance and superficiality.”
(Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, chapter 38)
Control and manipulation, fairness and justice, prestige and power, reward and recognition—they may all distort your perception of the realities of all things. They may seem to be what they are not.
So, do not seek them.
Being your true nature, you may see things as what they really are, and not as what you wish they were or should be.
Stephen Lau
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