Confluence of Opposites

SR No.: 006704
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Champat Rai Jain
Publisher: Champat Rai Jain
Publication Year: 1921
Total Pages: 422
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 15 MB

Page 271

CONFLUENCE OF OPPOSITES
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officiousness and blustering self-assertiveness that are characteristic of mankind is general. Tao, of course, is the natural heritage of man, but, in the majority of cases, that inheritance has been set aside by other interests. The quest of Tao must be undertaken if men are to regain that tranquillity, that complete contentment which can never be acquired by the worldly minded. For Tao is also the goal tawards which all things tend. The means by which the goal is to be reached are generally available to all, demanding only the condition of absolute self-abnegation. To abandon the vaunted *wisdom' of the schools, to lay aside all self-interest, to throw open every avenue of thought and feeling to the entrance of Tao are the necessary steps to that final consummation, viz, return to Tao. Ambition, luxury, wealth and pleasure have no place in the life-programme of the Taoist. He must strive for the attainment of quietness, for nothing else, not even for the promotion of virtue, or the preaching of his doctrines. The Taoist holds that virtue which is artificially developed is valueless as compared with that which is the unconscious expression of the Tao within. Tao must be attained, therefore, by every means in one's power. It is only when the root is present that flowers will bloom! Amongst the steps the first is purgation. Only he who is eternally free from earthly passions will reach Tao. The second is illumination when dispassion becomes a habit. The third is the attainment of unity, when "without going out of doors one may know the whole world." The process,