Aldous Huxley & Tao Te Ching

I don't know if Aldous Huxley ever read 'the book of the way' although he was heavily into philosophical mysticism and influenced by several Indian mystics/ holy men, so I expect he knew it well and probably miles more than me. Anyway, I was thinking (and Procrastinating at times) about religious issues (as usual) and Huxley's book - "The Doors of perception and Heaven and Hell" - came to mind. I had to grope around in my subconscious before I came up with one of the profound quotes from it (The Famous One)...

"If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through narrow chinks of his cavern."

Huxley's intention in "The doors of perception.." is to discuss the effects of mescaline on human perception, referring to and frequently practising the Shamanistic art of attaining a higher state of awareness through the use of hallucinogenics. However, as an analogy or a commentary on the inability of many to open their minds on more than one level, especially in today's materialistic society, this quote is very apt and for my purposes I have drawn upon it.

One could also apply this observation to the troubling theological/religious unrest festering away in the world today and the way that our ruling bodies dupe us and indoctrinate us into following their programmes of belief without actually having to explain or tell us too much about it. They just create and allow certain ideas, opinions and stories to run in the media and let people formulate their impressions and beliefs 'by themselves' based on the available (often heavily biased) information. What they don't do is give us the whole truth about anything because sometimes 'silence speaks louder than words.'

Another quote from Huxley says it all:

"Great is truth, but still greater, from a practical point of view, is silence about truth. By simply not mentioning certain subjects... totalitarian propagandists have influenced opinion much more effectively than they could have by the most eloquent denunciations."

That's probably why politicians never answer questions directly. That and legal culpability blended with spin and a liberal sprinkling of semantic bollocks.

The Tao Te Ching explains things this way in the final chapter,

True words aren't eloquent;
eloquent words aren't true.
Wise men don't need to prove their point;
Men who need to prove their point aren't wise.

The Master has no possessions.
The more he does for others,
the happier he is.
The more he gives to others,
the wealthier he is.

The Tao nourishes by not forcing.
By not dominating, the Master leads.

I have chosen to link the next passage from the "Tao Te Ching" with the ideas above, of opening oneself to the infinite nature of life and the Tao, which is the essence and source of everything, and attaining some idea of the real truth or what really matters. Having (heavily) explored the hallucinogenic trail myself using both synthetic and natural means, I have at times fleetingly seen the wiring under the board and experienced the wonder of infinity within a raindrop. Also, at times when I was in my deepest madness I had brief visions of such clarity no 'sane' person could have accessed because in our 'normal' closed state, we are less able to accept our varied metaphysical relationships with the world around us. We are unable to view life from other dimensions, other states of being, because we are predominately attached to our physical senses and primary drives for life and we are conditioned to accept the physical to be the only reality. Furthermore, our ever-increasingly materialistic life-styles serve to crowd our conscious mind and stifle our connection with what is natural and what it is truly possible for us to do and experience when we cleanse our doors of perception and we find ourselves centred within the Tao.

Once I learned to accept life as it happened and stopped trying to look too hard into things; once I began mastering my craving and desire for the material pleasures of life; once I began to learn how to let go of my anger, frustration and lust, my existence became more peaceful and more purposeful and more complete.

14

Look, and it can't be seen,
Listen and it can't be heard,
Reach, and it can't be grasped.

Above, it isn't bright.
Below it isn't dark.
Seamless, unnameable,
it returns to the realms of nothing.
Form that includes all forms,
image without an image,
subtle, beyond all conception.

Approach it and there is no beginning,
follow it and there is no end.
You can't know it, but you can be it,
at ease in your own life.
Just realise where you come from:
this is the essence of wisdom.