THE EQUINOX
bound by purely arbitrary rules. The most successful
courtesans are those who have the most tricks in their bags.
I will not argue that this complexity is better than the Way
of the Tao. It is probably a perversion of taste, a spiritual
caviar. But as the poet says:
It may seem to you strange:
The fact is—I like it!
81. For itis written: “Teach to eschew all causes; the rip-
ple of effect, as the great tidal wave, thou shalt let run its
course.”
This verse apparently contradicts completely the long
philippic against inaction, for the Object of those who
counsel non-action is to prevent any inward cause arising, so
that when the old causes have worked this out there is noth-
ing left. But this is quite unphilosophical, for every effect
as soon as it occurs becomes a new cause, and it is always
equal to its cause. ‘There is no waste or dissipation. If you
take an atom of hydrogen and combine it with one hundred
thousand other atoms in turn, it still remains hydrogen, and
it has not lost any of its qualities.
The harmony of the doctrines of Action and Non-Action
is to be found in The Way of the Tao. One should do what
is perfectly natural to one; but this can only be done when
one’s consciousness is merged in the Universal or Phallic
Consciousness.
82. The “Open Way,’ no sooner hast thou reached its
goal, will lead thee to reject the Bodhisattvic body, and make
thee enter the thrice glorious state of Dharmakéya, which is
oblivion of the world and men for ever.
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