Alo and De Values #34
(PD) Alo and De Lake on Land.
Copyright ©2018 October 09, 2018
Yan: I have listened to the elders speak of their lives. All of the elders spoke of a similar thing, that of having searched most all of their lives for meaning, something of real value, something that they felt was worthy of devoting their lives to. Most interesting to me, is that most all of the elders agreed that the things that they found to be worthy, were not found until the elders were old... and too, all of the elders felt regret for having spent so many years of their lives doing things that the elders later discovered were not worthy at all.
Alo: I have heard similar... but it is not easy to know what is good, until, sometimes, long after we have already done what was bad. Sometimes it is merely the contrasts that show us the differences, but sometimes it is a slow learning, of living long enough to grow bored with things that do not warm the heart.
Yan: Yes, some elders spoke of their having grown bored, or worse, people getting old, and only then discovering that their lives had been wasted... wasted... completely and utterly wasted... the regrets are huge, and eat-away at their souls.
Alo: To me, it is like the idea of someone walking into a wall, over and over, stepping back and walking into the wall again, over and over for days, until the person finally dies of hunger and thirst... we might say that the person has a thinking problem, but, for us, we also find it to be unreasonable to do one thing over and over and over for years, for the whole of one's life... to us, too much of most anything becomes boring. For myself, I might be interested in something for five to ten years... art, woodworking, landscaping, housing design, chess, a specific genre of music... but then I grow bored and need a change. The only thing that I do not grow bored of, is De, and chidao...
Jun: De's giggle... she was wondering the same as me...
Alo: Ha! No, no quick excuses this time... it was already in my heart... De knows...
Jun: Harmony... true harmony, it is not a thing that is done... it is a thing that we are...
Alo: Yes... precisely.
Yan: Harmony... I like that... the elders spoke of the outsiders spending their lives following a style... some people follow a baroque style, but then tire of the classical music and furnishings... some people follow a cowboy style, but then tire of the hard work and depressing music... people following styles shown in Hollywood movies... so many people in the cities, they spend their lives working jobs to pay for material things, but then, eventually, the people tire of the material things, and then regret that their lives had no value.
Alo: Even for the people who begin early in life, searching for value... a dao... it is not easy to find... it usually takes years of dedication... and, also, there are no places in nearby cities where a person can go, to find advice of finding their own dao.
Yan: I have heard stories of people who had joined cults... the people are now angry, angry at the cult people, and angry with themselves for having made such bad mistakes. There are television shows, where people speak of how bad the cults are, but still other people join the cults... people are desperate for meaning in life... desperate for value.
Alo: When younger, I searched also... within each ideology I studied their words, learned of their behaviors, did all the things that the ideologies held to be their highest ideals, but then I began critiquing them all... if a thing is true, then it can withstand critiquing... nothing wrong can be found. Unfortunately, all of the ideologies failed critiquing... none possessed truth, except, of course, Nature's way. Nature's way is the only thing that always remains correct... Nature's way never changes... Nature's way is always honest.
Yan: And there, precisely, there is no talk of Nature's way in the cities. City people, they think that talk about Nature is merely either talking about laws of Nature, or some cult-like thing of magical powers.
Alo: Yes... funny sort of, because the people claim to know everything about everything, but, also sad, because the people cannot now know of Nature's way... the one thing that is always correct, is the one thing that the cities have no knowledge of.
Yan: I was about to ask why, but the answer is obvious... for thousands of years men have spoken of Nature's way, and still almost no one listened... less-so would anyone listen today.
Alo: Yes... we grew tired of walking into the same wall over, and over, and over again...
Yan: Ha! Funny way of phrasing it! But so true...
Alo: It is funny to me, that when younger, I spent years just trying to discover what the word 'value' means... is it not odd that there were no known books that spoke of what 'value' is? But then, one day, I finally reasoned the answer, and after a prolonged critiquing, the answer did not waver... the ultimate value, is creativity... it is so simple to me now, and I laugh at myself for having made it so difficult upon myself to reason the meaning of 'value'. More funny, was that a few days later, I saw a similar interpretation in an old book that spoke of the sayings of a quiet man... he had not phrased his thoughts the same as mine, but his answer was close enough... creativity...
Yan: Source's root... Jun has shown me the ancient writings, and of how you interpreted the words... to me, this is beautiful... no material things to rust, nothing that moths can eat holes in... nothing to lose... no regrets, nothing wasted... life has meaning, value... I am finding that value with Jun...
Alo: Not alone...
Yan: True... I could never have found this alone... creativity does not exist in solitude... nor does value.