The Tao is called the Great Mother
Empty, yet inexhaustible
It gives birth to infinite worlds
It is always present within you
You can use it any way you want.
There is great, indeed infinite, flexibility to an “open mind” or “thinking outside the box”. The capacity to be open to all stimuli, to “resist nothing” is what allows for the greatest creativity and the the best possible solution for the moment.
In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1973), there is a passage concerning the American way of governing, and how inbuilt into its philosophy is the pragmatism of using the best solution for the problem at the time. Harry Truman said, concerning his administration’s programs, “We’ll just try them—and if they don’t work—why then we’ll just try something else.”
But we seem to have reached a point in our nation’s history where the parties have rigid, ideological stances that are perpetuated on an individual level through social media. We have lost our flexibility in general. In keeping with our stuckness, our Shadow, the anti Harry Truman is all about enforcing his way rather than follow the Way.
Solutions can be found where you least expect, but if you are not open to them, you won’t find them. We are in Chaos, the Void. Infinite possibilities are available. Will we force one, or let Tao guide us? We can only make individual choices
Sevilla King, LICSW 