Zen and the Tao: Living in Natural Alignment

*transcript generated by AI

Good morning.

Thank you all for practicing today.

Here in Colombiana, we have a brisk morning that is turning into a beautiful, warm, sunny fall day.

So it’s rather delightful weather here.

Which actually makes me really want to open the door, but we’ll just leave it be for today.

So, um, I wanted to start today, or I wanted to pick up a line from the Tao Te Ching, which I’m translating.

Those of you who know what I’m translating is entitling it, Weaving the Way, or Weaving the Virtuous Way, or something like that, you know, work in progress.

But this particular verse opens with a stanza that I find very much encapsulates one of the key insights and realizations and challenges of Zen practice.

So I’ll read the verse in total, but we’re really only going to talk about the first couple lines.

Superior integrity, this is the verse, okay?

Superior integrity is not virtuous.

This is how it has integrity.

Inferior integrity does not lose virtue.

This is how it lacks integrity.

Integrity is inaction and surrender.

Virtue is doing and acquiring.

Compassion acts with surrender.

Righteousness acts with forcefulness.

Propriety acts, and when no one responds, drags them along against their will.

Therefore, neglect the Tao, and virtue follows.

Neglect virtue, and compassion follows.

Neglect righteousness, and propriety follows.

Propriety, a veneer of sincerity, leading to instability.

Foreknowledge, a flower of the Tao, leading to foolishness.

Therefore, release that, and hold to this.

So the verse itself lends to extensive commentary, and if you’re really interested in that, then that will be on the website and substack tomorrow.

But today, the opening lines, right?

Superior integrity is not virtuous.

That is how it has integrity.

Inferior integrity does not lose virtue.

This is how it lacks integrity.

I think it’s a wonderful, wonderful way to describe our practice.

So what does this mean, okay?

When we’re talking about superior integrity not being virtuous, and thereby having integrity, what we’re saying is that integrity and virtue are kind of like two sides of a coin.

And virtue, in the worldview of the Tao Te Ching, is kind of a preconceived notion of how things should be, of what right is, of a particular moral stance.

So to be virtuous is a really clearly defined quality.

It’s predetermined what virtue will be, okay?

And this is how it’s an acting and a doing.

I am the creator of virtue in the world, and I will go out, and I will act, and I will do the virtuous things, right?

It’s a very clearly defined position that then gets held by an individual as they go about their lives.

And it’s actually a really good thing, right?

It’s good to be virtuous.

No one will argue with that.

The Tao Te Ching isn’t arguing against that, okay?

But they’re saying that integrity is not virtuous, and that’s how it has integrity.

What does that mean?

Integrity is a complete alignment with who you are in the moment, where your inner and your outer are completely integrated as you flow with life, okay?

And so sometimes we have like these base impulses that are not very virtuous, and it’s very good to hold to those virtues and to suppress those base impulses and act out of virtue, right?

But this is an inferior form of integrity.

We would still call that integrity.

It’s an integrity with our virtues, right?

But it’s an inferior form of integrity because there is a war within.

We are suppressing or cutting off a part of ourselves in order to act out this virtue, right?

And so it’s an inferior form of integrity from the integrity that’s being spoken out here, which is that when our naturalness is virtuous and we are completely aligned within ourselves, our heart, our mind, our action, our speech are all in alignment, well now we have true integrity and there can be inner peace, right?

And so what we’re tasked with doing in this practice is finding those places where virtue is not natural for us.

When we feel the discord of insecurity or anger or self-protection or whatever, wanting us to behave in one way, even though we know that it’s really not the best thing to do, right?

And our job is to do the work on the interior, to do the work in our hearts and in our minds so that we can actually be in integrity within the context of a virtuous life.

So that virtue becomes entirely natural and spontaneous because all of the other parts of us that want to do non-virtuous things have been dealt with, have been integrated, have been served, have been loved, have been reformed, have been restructured.

And what I love about this verse in particular is that it goes on to give a very clear guideline on how we can assess where we are in that process, you know?

So propriety, everyone knows somebody who’s very proper, right?

They don’t even know why they’re telling you to do what they’re doing, but they do it that way and therefore you have to do it that way.

And if you don’t, then you’re, you know, insert whatever consequences they want to put in, but they’re just forcing a way of life onto themselves and onto others, right?

So this is propriety in our worldview, right?

And then there’s righteousness, which is like one step above that, which is like, no, this is the right way to do it and I know why we should do it this way.

And if we don’t do it this way, there are consequences.

And so I’m going to make you do it that way too because I know that it’s the right thing to do.

It’s morally justifiable and those consequences are bad enough where I need you to do it too, right?

And now that you understand, you’re going to want to do it too, right?

So righteousness is a step up from propriety because there’s more context, there’s more sense of understanding, there’s more purpose, there’s more structure, there’s a sense of persuading people into the right way and not just forcing the right way, but it’s still very righteous, right?

And then the next step up from that is compassion, right?

And compassion acts with surrender, right?

And so that’s a little bit more like, hey, I know that doing it this way is really hard and for you this feels like a really challenging task.

So how can we resource you to be able to feel more comfortable doing it this way?

What do you need?

How can we help you?

So compassion still holds a correctness to it and isn’t laissez-faire in the sense that anything goes, but it’s more oriented on what do you really need in order for this to feel good to you, for you to be able to do this thing, right?

So it’s like a next step.

And then we have virtue and virtue is an acting and doing that’s very close to integrity and it’s kind of like saying, I know this is really hard, I know you don’t really want to, I know you think this should be otherwise, and that’s all true.

We have work to do to make life a little bit easier, a little bit better so that you have more resources, but damn it, you’re going to do it anyway because it’s the right thing to do and we both know it’s the right thing to do and this is just how it’s got to be if we want to be integrity with ourselves, if we want to live according to our values.

So however you feel about it, that’s all great, but you know it doesn’t really matter how I feel about it because we got to do the right thing, right?

And that’s actually a very virtuous attitude, right?

Is to show up in the world according to our principles regardless of how we feel about it, but in there is a lack of integrity because there is a part of us that doesn’t really agree, that doesn’t really want that and so we’re denying and suppressing that truth within ourselves and therefore it’s not really an integrity.

It’s an integrity with our values, but it’s not really a true bottom-up integrity.

And then integrity would go, well, hang on a second, voice of mind that says you really don’t want to do this, is that true?

What do you really care about?

What’s going on here?

What do you need?

Now that we’ve gotten all that cleared out, isn’t it obvious what you have to do?

Don’t you actually in fact want to do the thing that you say your values are?

Whatever this other thing is that’s competing with that, do you really want to listen to it?

And then you make a choice to sit in a form of integrity where you’re focused on the part of you that knows a deeper truth, right?

And then that holds all the parts of you that want to rant and rave and scream against how life is and how unfair it is and want to do other things that are lustful or greedy or etc etc etc, right?

And then we actually have a form of integrity because from the bottom up we know that what we’re doing is exactly the right thing to do, exactly the right way to be in harmony with our lives, right?

And there’s no conflict, there’s just the peace and the knowledge and the clarity of this is how life unfolds, this is how life must unfold, and to do otherwise would be unimaginable.

No, you’re fine.

And then when we have true harmony with the Tao or when we’re really in flow with the way, then we don’t even need to think about integrity because it just is, right?

The trick with that though is that when we jump to that too early and we assume that our natural state is the state of the way, then we can live out all sorts of shadows and projections and our naturalness can actually be very unskillful and unwise and uncompassionate, but it’s very natural, right?

It’s also natural for sea otters to do horrible things to seals, but we don’t necessarily want to embody that behavior for ourselves.

And I will allow you to google sea otters and seals for yourself if you would like to know what I’m talking about because it’s not necessarily totally appropriate for a Dharma talk.

But that’s the idea for today.

It’s relevant to our Zen practice because Zen can face challenges with ethics and morality, simultaneously discarding them while also saying they’re essential.

And I believe this concept, superior integrity, is not virtuous.

That is how it is.

Integrity exactly aligns with the insight that we are all trying to achieve through our practice.

Thank you very much.

I am done rambling for today, and that leaves us about 15 minutes or so for some discussion.

Whether it’s related or unrelated to the topic I kick us off with, topic I kick us off with, as long as I’m done.

I’ll hop in right off the bat.

No, I didn’t give you any kind of, I’m just kind of the walk-in for the day.

I didn’t give you a warning on anything, but what is that topic really?

And you can kind of I can relate to that greatly at this moment in my life.

A lot of struggles and stresses in life and organizations and whatnot.

And trying to find the balance between helping for something that needs, you know, something that you view as being, it needs to be, it has to be for the good of all involved.

And not becoming that righteous fist that is forcing it to happen to where everybody fights you on it.

And then you start questioning yourself on it as well.

So that’s really applicable in my life at this moment.

That’s really good.

I really enjoy it.

I think it’s dissecting the problem at hand to better understand the better way to accomplish the goal.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And there’s a, there’s a beautiful moment in here where we get to suspend all of our would, could, should, if, how, unless, may, right?

All of our, all of our wants and desires are part of what is.

So we’re not trying to deny them, but if we go through a process of separating what the situation is, who are the parties involved, what are the structures that are in place?

What is?

And we really get that clear.

And then as a separate step, looking at that from that detached perspective, then we say, okay, well, this is what I want.

This is what I think could, should, would happen.

This is what I think would happen unless or if, right?

And we take that and then we have these two different pictures and then we start to overlay them with each other, right?

Then we can start to recognize that, well, yes, this would be better.

And, you know, with these personalities involved, these minds would need to be changed.

These structures would have to adapt these.

Now, now we get a really clear to do lists and then we can just step out of the emotional turmoil that leads to the reactivity and skillfulness and say, well, in order to do this, we have to have these compromises.

We have to have these consolidations.

We have to have this level of cooperation and we cannot control other people.

So once we put forward our argument and we, and we do it in a way that we feel really good about, and we feel like we’ve given it our best shot.

If other people don’t want to participate in that worldview, well, then you have a choice.

Do you stay in a worldview you think is not correct, or do you go elsewhere and make a, and start your own thing?

Just, you know, let’s say this isn’t for me.

I mean, what do you do?

You know, but then you have a clear, then you have a really clear way of moving through that with integrity because you know that you’re really clear.

You know that you gave the most skillful effort you could to inviting other people into this new worldview.

That seems like it would be infinite, but they bet it.

And as a group, it didn’t work.

So then, no.

Stay, go.

You know, and this process is, I think, well, it’s how I’ve managed very difficult, similar situations in my own life, and I found it to be very useful.

So that’s why I’m recommending it.

So that first step there is really difficult.

That step to separate all the emotional power of want, will, could, should, would, if, unless, who are they, why are they, you know, like all of that stuff and just setting that aside to get with what is factually before you get into what you want emotionally.

Right.

Again, not to say that they’re separate, not to say one takes precedence over the other, but dealing with them as two separate parts of the problem really facilitates that clarity.

To bring about integrity and not righteousness, which is the initial question.

What just comes to my mind is, I mean, we have two eyes.

If we would have like surgery in one eye, maybe, and we’re not able to look, there would be some kind, it’s just an idea of another picture here, to have like, so our eyes are combining one situation, but really they see different things.

And so it is as if you really focus on one eye and on the other to really have that like in separate, so to say, but really it is one, but because there is an overlay and there is a lot of things going on inside your brain for the view, and yet you might not understand the overlay.

And so it’s so important to have like two separate views that you know that are the same, but you need to distinguish between those to really see clearly.

Otherwise, it’s not possible.

That is a great metaphor or analogy.

I never know the difference between metaphors and analogies, but it’s one of them and it’s great.

Yeah, I think that was a good perception.

Tyson or Marie, anything arising for you this morning?

Yeah, I thought of, is there such a thing as common virtue?

Because we all have our own history and values, we may want to assume when we’re self-righteous that there is a common virtue, that our programming is the way it should be.

And it kind of spills over to what you said about the way, and I would label it the easy way, without self-examination that, oh, I’ve got this.

I can just be complacent and say, oh, que sera, sera, and I don’t have to do any heavy lifting on my own.

I just float down the river because I’ve got this.

So I think the easy way of the Tao and the common virtue are kind of joined together at the hip and they’re a bit self-righteous.

Yeah.

Yeah, that’s one of those things we need to pull out of our, when we’re getting our depth perception, is who else in this situation shares the same values that I do?

Like you said, it’s very easy to assume that our values are universal, and they’re just not.

Unfortunately, if everyone had my values, the world would be such a better place, which I actually think is true.

Okay.

Because Marie isn’t jumping in.

I just want to thank you that you brought some clarity on those words, because like, what?

This was a verse.

So without you having like explaining parts of it and making it like a step-by-step thing, I would have been totally lost.

And that would be one of those verses where I would sit over like hours and not knowing where to start.

And like, yeah, so thank you.

That’s why I’m doing what I’m doing.

I’m glad to hear that it’s working out.

Yeah, I’m really excited about this one.

There’s a lot in the commentary that’s going to be pretty juicy.

Yeah.

And we just kind of touched on it here today.

But yeah, it’s a delightful path for practice, right?

Zen is a beautiful structure, because it comes down to such fundamental principles that it accommodates any relative reality, any individual perspective, any individuality is accommodated because your individual nature is created out of these universal principles.

And Zen is basically a practice of discovering the universal principles behind the way everything works.

And then once you get those, then you can make whatever numerous adjustments you want to make.

Or you can say, nope, I don’t want to make any adjustments.

I’m good just the way I am.

Thank you very much.

And if you have a relationship with a Zen teacher, they would probably challenge that perspective.

But that’s a different Dharma talk.

I can’t entirely leave it there.

Part of the reason for that is because life is evolution.

And when we think we got it, and we’re static, then we’re denying the life impulse to evolve.

So this is why our practice, despite doing this, part of the reason why we do the exact same thing every single time is so that you can become minutely better at it forever.

If you change your practice regularly, you can notice how much you improve very quickly.

But you never can actually attain perfection because you’re not making the small micro evolutions over time.

And so what happens in the arc of Zen training is that you’re like, you come in and it’s new.

And everything’s kind of like hard and confusing.

You don’t really know how to do kin hand, and you don’t really know how to sit well, you don’t really know how to meditate, you don’t really get all the instruments, and you don’t really know the service.

And so you get this deluge that if it doesn’t scare the shit out of you and make you never come back, you eventually get excited about learning.

And then you get to a point where you know it, and you can come in and you can do it mindlessly.

Right?

And then if you have a good song around you, they’re going to start nitpicking the shit out of you.

So that you start to grow and evolve again, and you discover this love of micro evolution.

And these these infinitely recursive cycles of just seeing, you know, if my foot was just a little bit more this way, when I stood up, then my bow could be that much more elegant.

Right?

And that becomes like the most deliciously delightful discovery.

And then when we take that into our lives, then we adopt a whole lifestyle of continuous evolution.

And now we’re in accord with the idea that life is evolving life is unfolding, there is no static fixed position that you can hold the idea of making a decision five years ago and still doing the exact same thing today without questioning it becomes completely absurd.

Because you’re different, the world’s different, your situation is different, the people you’re talking to are different.

Right?

And that really creates a very different quality of life and well being than what we get when we try and lock things down and keep it the same.

Just jumped into a totally separate Dharma talk right there.

Yeah, it’s because it’s all one baby.

All right.

And with all that said, thank you all very much for your practice and training today and deeply grateful for the time together.

Let’s go

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