Like many who spent time in the Bay Area in the ’70s, I was made aware of a nicely Illustrated paperback translation of the Tao Te Ching. Seemed profound to a 20-year-old. But a lot of its charm lay in the obscurity of what it pronounced.
Looking back and rereading as an old guy, I am less excited about any holy writings. It’s not so much that often the literal scenes are a lot like superhero comic books, but rather that even the deeper metaphors are not all that deep or relevant.
To be fair to the Tao, it claims at the beginning that it cannot be put into words. Then somebody tries to put it into words. Huh?
The main use of alternate learning, when one is young, is to gain perspective. Our species tends to be very certain of its knowledge when a teenager. Breaking into those self-constructed shells is important in living a balanced life, although possibly blunting the edge of ambition.
Now I seek not to fall into the same trap. Out of declining memory and aging tiredness, I tend to slip into the same easy certainties, even if simply to claim that things like the Tao are silly. But I need to be generous and admit that there is really a time for every purpose under heaven.
HuntingtonHarborThoughts 