Causes and Symptoms

The causes of our current troubles are as old as our species. Only the particular symptoms are new.

The great teachers have advised us.
We see expressed upon our macro-canvas of the world, precisely the colors and brushstrokes that are upon our micro-canvases within.

As within, so without. The problem is us.

We continue, generation after generation, wave after wave, like cultural adolescents - thinking we know better - thinking we can disregard the laws of nature without paying the price. The universe doesn't work that way. As arrogant adolescents always and inevitably do, we have fallen flat on our faces in the mud. Now, it's time for this particular wave of adolescent humanity to get up out of the mud and ask,
"Duh, how did that happen?" Some will learn. Some will not.

Same as it ever was........ Same as it ever was.......

Symptoms change. Root causes do not.

We've never had to deal with man-made climate disruption before.
New symptom? Yes. New cause? No.

Here are a few perspectives from The Tao Te Ching, the words of one of the great masters, Lao Tzu, written approximately 500 years before the birth of Jesus.
The masters, including Lao Tzu, Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha and others, have long ago given us the guidance we need.
We've had the answers for thousands of years.
We just don't seem to have the humility to accept it.


A sampling from the Tao Te Ching:

The master concerns himself with the depths
and not the surface
with the fruit and not the flower

When rich speculators prosper
while farmers lose their land;
when government officials spend money on weapons
instead of cures;
when the upper class is extravagant and irresponsible
while the poor have nowhere to turn -
all this is robbery and chaos.
It is not in keeping with the Tao.

Governing a large country
is like frying a small fish.
You spoil it with too much poking.

When a country obtains great power,
it becomes like the sea:
all streams run downward into it.
The more powerful it grows,
the greater the need for humility.
Humility means trusting the Tao,
thus never needing to be defensive.

A great nation is like a great man;
When he makes a mistake, he realizes it.
Having realized it, he admits it.
Having admitted it, he corrects it.
He considers those who point out his faults
as his most benevolent teachers.
He thinks of his enemy
as the shadow that he himself casts.

If a nation is centered in the Tao,
if it nourishes it's own people
and doesn't meddle in the affairs of others
it will be a light to all nations in the world.


The Tao Te Ching is a body of concise perspectives on understanding, nourishing and governing in all matters from the self, to the family, to the community and the world.