Seeking Something?

My previous blog post about poverty and renunciation left several questions unanswered. Is renunciation simply the flip side of seeking more? Aren’t the ideas of seeking more and of seeking less both the process of seeking something? And what is that something? Is it unity with the Tao, with God, or something else? The only answers I have are idiosyncratic, applying to me and my life as I experience it and not prescriptive for others.

Many spiritualities advocate a seeking of God, of The One, or of Enlightenment. I have no real quarrel with this, but my experience of Taoism is a bit different. In Taoist thought the idea of unity with God/Tao is not an experience to be sought. It is simply a given in life. Everything is in unity with the Tao by its very nature. So, for me, seeking more or seeking less is about something other than God; something far more ordinary and prosaic.

I’m not looking for an esoteric experience of unity. (though there are times as I walk through the forest that such an experience arises unsought.) I’m not looking for holiness or righteousness. I’m not even looking to be “good” or “nice.” Like all human beings I am seeking, at the core, a satisfactory, authentic, and pleasurable experience of life. Take away the fancy spiritual words and that is what we are all seeking. Taoism admits that as a starting point.

So my seeking of a simpler and therefore, to me, freer life is not a spiritual quest. All of life is spiritual. Taoist thought recommends simplicity, not because it is holy or righteous, but because IT WORKS! If a constantly increasing accumulation of goods and wealth worked we would be the happiest, most contented society in history. If “more” worked better than “less,” we would be halfway to nirvana by now.

So, sure I’m seeking something. I’m seeking happiness. I have been all my life. And I’ve been successful. Not in finding the giddy Pollyanna kind of happiness, but in refining my work and my life to be more and more in tune with what seems authentic and satisfying. I can give a personal testimony that, for me, less is better than more.

With the basics of food, shelter, and community in place, a life of joyful freedom is possible. Work can be chosen for its helpfulness and creativity. Location can be chosen for its health and beauty. Company can be chosen for companionship and love. If you want something more, that’s fine with me. I have lots of very nice “things.” But my happiness arises from the freedom to enjoy my life. The reason religions have recommended renunciation, even though they couch it in spiritual terms, is because, in the “pursuit of happiness” it is the only thing that works. It may even increase a sense of the Presence of the Mystery. But that is really beside the point.

Taoist thought is, above all, ordinary and practical; no temples, no beliefs, no rules. Simply the encouragement to look carefully at life with clarity and honesty and discern what seems to be its natural way of flowing. What I have seen is this: simplicity is more gratifying than complexity; compassion is more satisfactory than hate; and generosity is more pleasurable than greed. It’s that simple.