I am a writer, a storyteller, a yarn-spinning freakazoid. My life is full of two things today, lessons and blessings. I write fiction mostly but I also love to write about my life and the things I go through on a daily basis. Writing it out inspires and motivates me and that's why I do it. Plus if it does that for me maybe it will for someone else too.
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One thought on “Tao Te Ching Day 87: Sacred Life.”
I think the translation you’re working from is suffering just a little from NorCal Buddhism in it’s translation. 🙂
First, remember that Chinese philosophers rarely spoke in absolutes, especially Taoists ones. When it’s said do not use them, it’s meant avoid it if at all possible. I know there’s ALOT of controversy around this verse, BUT I view it kind of like in Luke where Jesus says: “He said to them, ‘But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.’”
Why have it if you’re literally NEVER going to use it? Maybe in both cases the weapons are metaphorical, but I think on another (perhaps lower) level, there is a realization that sometimes the good have to actively oppose evil, BUT that violence should absolutely be the last resort and only in the clear defense of that sacred life.
Seeking Purpose Today 
I think the translation you’re working from is suffering just a little from NorCal Buddhism in it’s translation. 🙂
First, remember that Chinese philosophers rarely spoke in absolutes, especially Taoists ones. When it’s said do not use them, it’s meant avoid it if at all possible. I know there’s ALOT of controversy around this verse, BUT I view it kind of like in Luke where Jesus says: “He said to them, ‘But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don’t have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one.’”
Why have it if you’re literally NEVER going to use it? Maybe in both cases the weapons are metaphorical, but I think on another (perhaps lower) level, there is a realization that sometimes the good have to actively oppose evil, BUT that violence should absolutely be the last resort and only in the clear defense of that sacred life.
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