Trust and believing

[ffvii]

I have read in the Tao Te Ching that trusting others brings out the good in them but where does trust become gullible? For example, if a man told me that he just jumped to the moon, or that there is not a pool there, just keep walking and i can assure you you will not be wet( but there clearly is a pool in front of me) should i trust this man?

[Marblehead]

I have read in the Tao Te Ching that trusting others brings out the good in them but where does trust become gullible? For example, if a man told me that he just jumped to the moon, or that there is not a pool there, just keep walking and i can assure you you will not be wet( but there clearly is a pool in front of me) should i trust this man?

 

Buyer Beware!

 

If it sounds too good to be true it probably isn't.

[ffvii]

but what would be the point of view of a tao master?

[Marblehead]

but what would be the point of view of a tao master?

 

I have no idea. I'm not one of those animals.

 

Have you read Chuang Tzu yet? You will likely find your answer there.

[Taomeow]

Take on a practice in the general direction of "know thyself." Once you know yourself better, you will trust your perceptions more. Once you trust your perceptions, the decision about trusting or not trusting other people does not have to be made all in the head. Your gut feeling will tell you. Your heart will know. A refined "gut feeling" resides in the lower dantien, and the heart gets informed by the middle one. The head that reads books but does not communicate with the body and its qi always makes many mistakes no matter what it has read. Refine communication between different parts of you, invest into unifying them into the "whole you" -- and you will make fewer and fewer mistakes either way, trusting or not trusting.

[steve]

There is also the aspect of whether we are masters of ourselves or subject to the whims of others.

I don't want to get too bogged down in typing right now but, in brief, we can try to be aware of how we react to others and see through the illusion that they have the power to cause us harm.

It takes some serious work and is multilayered, but the bottom line is that it is possible to achieve a state of being where no one can cause you to suffer, regardless of what they do.

 

I know that it is very easy to come back with horrible examples of how this is ridiculous but not matter what, it is within one's grasp to accept what the universe puts in ones path, whether the agent of that obstacle is human, animal, natural disaster, or otherwise, and to accept and be content and fulfilled with one's lot.

This is spoken to in Zhuang Zi's parable The Empty Boat.

It is alluded to in the DDJ Chapter 49 (and others).

It is also pointed to by the famous Christian admonition, to turn the other cheek.

We can get into it more if you'd like.

There is no greater proponent in the English language of this than Anthony DeMello - nominally a Jesuit from India but functionally a consummate Daoist sage, IMO.

 

PS Taomeow mentions the practice "To know thyself" - DeMello's message was awareness , to strive to be aware of everything within and without.

[RiverSnake]

When we consciously look for the true and false of a situation i think we put filters over our consciousness. Simply be open and live through ones gut.

 

My 2 cents

 

-Peace

[Harmonious Emptiness]

"I send you out as lambs amongst wolves, so be shrewd as a serpent and harmless as a dove."

 

I think trusting that people are not entirely bad is not the same as trusting everything that they say or do or want to do.

 

In Chinese Medicine they talk about the Po spirit connected to the lungs. The lungs breathe in and out the outside world and have a lot to do with our "instincts." Ever notice how a bird flys away when you just think about approaching it? That's because they have a super amazing Po. The same goes for cats. They can sense people's friendliness. Just watch their ears and movements change when you approach them. We have this too, but most humans need to understand everything before they accept it.

[ffvii]

Thank you all, You have all been of great help to me

[Marblehead]

If we are OK with making mistakes, ...

 

This is important, I think. It is very natural to make mistakes. I have made enough for three lifetimes. But that never kept me form making more.

 

Only those who claim to be perfect never make a mistake except for the one they made in claiming to be perfect.