Verse 65: The Loss of Innocence
In ancient times,
before there were those who were governed,
and those who governed over,
the sage blended with others,
and all was done through the Primal Simplicity.
People lived in innocence.
When the Great Fragmentation
replaced the Great Integrity,
cleverness defeated wisdom.
Even some enlightened sages
became victims of the rulers
commanding the highest intrigue.
— Tao Te Ching
It seems that all spiritual traditions point to a time when humans lived in harmony with nature. In this passage, Lao Tzu refers to this time of innocence as the a time of the Great Integrity.
Most of us today can relate to the Great Fragmentation. Cleverness seems to defeat wisdom all around us. There seems to be a general lack of appreciation for innocence in much of the competitive culture of our times.
There are antidotes to the Great Fragmentation. One of them is taking the time to create encounters with sacred space.
Sacred space returns us to the primal simplicity and the Great Integrity.
Daily Contemplation:
Are you allowing the simplicity of sacred space to guide you to wisdom and integrity?
Related articles
- Tao Te Ching (culturalcreativestimes.wordpress.com)
- An Introduction to the Tao Te Ching (talesfromthelou.wordpress.com)
- What Makes a Space Sacred? (writingyourdestiny.com)
- Trees and Sacred Space (writingyourdestiny.com)
- Creating Sacred Space (writingyourdestiny.com)
I like that… cleverness replacing wisdom… hmmm…
It’s an interesting contemplation, isn’t it?
I have come back to the Tao Te Ching time and time again to discover fascinating insights on being and living. I would imagine another antidote to the Great Fragmentation is to be humble enough to appreciate the mystery of the sacred space, to understand that intellect and cleverness themselves have limits in their efficacy. The path back to the Way is to accept and embrace these uncertainties.
Like you I return to the Tao Te Ching again and again because I can return to the same verses and passages at different times and get new insights from them. The Tao Te Ching (regardless of translation) also seems to have an energy that helps me to access my most wise self and remember that humility is good. Thank you so much for your comment.
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This is beautiful, I must admit that I have never heard of the Tao Te Ching, I will now look it up x
I have a feeling you would love the messages in the Tao Te Ching. The Chinese sage Lao Tzu is attributed to writing these ancient words of wisdom. There are many translations of the book to choose from. I’m not a scholar of the Tao Te Ching, but I have a few different translations of the Tao Te Ching to experience different perspectives on the words. This passage comes from the translation by Ralph Alan Dale. Another one I like is from Stephen Mitchell.