Today’s pontification is a continuation covering the second two topics that were provided to me by my friend Phil.

Topic #3 - Should the three jewels of the Tao - "Compassion, Moderation and Humility"- be expanded to include a fourth = "Fun"?

First I think I need to elaborate on exactly what the three jewels mean. I am not a Taoist, I am a spiritual seeker and while I have practiced Taoism and believe in a lot of the Taoist principles I am not a Taoist so please forgive me if I misinterpret any of this. Very simply put the three Jewels are basically the key ethical guidelines of the Taoist tradition. Jewel #1 is compassion and this is the ability and willingness to empathize with the suffering of others. By being able to empathize with the suffering of others will lead to a strengthening of our courage. As our courage increases we will, when we see folks suffering, be moved into action to help ease their difficulties, or suffering. Compassion flows from an understanding that all things are one and interconnected, not unlike the mythical “force” from the Star Wars series of movies. When we realize that we are of the same substance as all things, our sense of identity naturally begins to expand to include the well-being of all living things. The second jewel is moderation, this is the commitment to avoid overindulgence and excess. In the Tao Te Ching we are reminded that moderation leads to generosity. In addition to the traditional meanings of the term, moderation in the Taoist sense promotes a modest, wholesome, and non-materialistic lifestyle. And the third jewel is Humility, In advising us to “dare not to be ahead of others,” we here the echo’s of the famous sentiment of Jesus, “many who are last shall be first.” Indeed the best way to lead is to remain humble and set an example from behind the scenes. This approach also reminds us stay out of life’s line of fire, which can help us reach our full potential without being cut short by misfortune. I have read numerous books on the Tao, including “The Tao of Willie Nelson” and while I am by far no expert on Taoist traditions I believe that if the three jewels and the rest of the principles are practiced in a meaningful and serious manner fun is already part of it, although not necessarily called out as one of the jewels.


However, I will try, in the Taoist tradition, to expand the jewels to include fun. So what would the forth jewel of fun look like? There are many types of fun, which is different than the original jewels which have somewhat fixed definitions and are not open to a lot of interpretation. I suspect that is why it was not included when the Chinese philosopher Tzu Lao wrote the Tao Te Ching. Anyway if you were to have a pleasant, enjoyable, and light-hearted activity or amusement that was not meant to make fun of or poke fun at to ridicule or tease others it might work out. Fun usually implies laughter or gaiety but may imply merely a lack of seriousness or ulterior purpose, it could be in jest which implies lack of earnestness in what is said or done and may suggest a hoaxing or teasing. Fun sometimes arouses laughter against someone, teasing begun in sport led to anger, the game of fun is close to sport and often stresses mischievousness or maliciousness. I will again use the mythical “force” from the Star Wars movie, fun has two sides, a good side and a dark side and it is way too easy to go over to the dark side, as Anakin Skywalker (Darth Vader) found out. The more I explore the possibility of adding fun as the 4th jewel I find that we are NOT going to be able to do that, the temptation for evil doing is much to great and would stray far from the original meaning of the Tao.


The Three Jewels of Taoism are the basic ethical foundation for a Taoist life. While no one can embody these virtues perfectly at all times, each Taoist should strive to practice them in daily life to the best of his or her ability.



Topic #4 - Sunrise vs. Sunset, similar yet dichotomous?

This topic I can speak to as I enjoy them both and for different reasons. As I have talked about before I LOVE to watch the sunrise, from pitch black all the way through the sun actually popping over the horizon. The Sunset is the same thing in reverse, from about an hour before it goes down until it is pitch black is quite a sight to see. The beauty about both of them is that due to the constant rotation of the earth they both happen about every 24 hours, not exactly 24 hours because we humans think we have a better understanding of time than the universe does. The one constant about a celestial body is that is runs on its own clock and that clock runs at an even slower pace than an earthbound geologic clock. For some bizarre reason we humans think we know all about it, even though it has been spinning around for about 14 billion years by some estimates. We humans have only been looking at the stars in a meaningful way for, and I will OVERLY generous here and say 50 thousand years and even if the early hominids looked up and pondered it would still only be about 2 million years. Even using the 2 million number that is a scant fraction of a percentage point. Or a miniscule amount of time and for some reason in the last 50 years think we have gotten the universe all figured out, bullshit I say and I wonder why we can’t just enjoy the celestial body’s for their stunning beauty and realize that something’s are not meant to be explained, for whatever reason. Sometimes the explanations take away from the simplest grandeur and beauty that we should just enjoy.

Anyway there is a great deal of symbolism surrounding the sunrise and sunset and they could mean vastly different things but I think we have to start with the sun itself. I do not think we could find a better symbol of long term perseverance, it has burned brightly for billions of years and will continue to burn brightly for many millenniums to come. As far as sunrises go they do signify the start of a new day, symbolically that new day could mean many things, a fresh start after some failure, or simply putting things behind you and starting over again. I could pontificate for days about the symbology of the sunrise as it relates to a fresh start but you can easily get the idea. As for sunsets there could easily be similar symbology, the close of a chapter of your life, or your life itself, he is in the twilight of his life. The hero always rode into the sunset, that was obviously symbolic. At the end of a western movie the white hatted hero, after sorting out all the bad guys rode into the sunset. The symbology of that is the changed way of life he has presented to all the cowering folks in the town he just saved. For the hero it signified the end of one adventure with this set of bad guys and on to the next set of black hatters. The notion is almost romantic when you think about it. Symbolism abounds around the sunup and sundown and I think most of it is just that – Symbolism, I think the more important conversation about the sunrise and sunset has to revolve around the perseverance of the sun itself, right? Wrong!

The reasons I love to watch the sunrise and sunset have nothing to do with symbology, I watch for the simple beauty and the fact that EVERY day they are different. Watching that process for a couple of hours just reminds me how small and insignificant I am in the big picture, that helps any issues I may be dealing with seem even smaller, and they blend into nothingness. Surprisingly I find the sunset to be equally cathartic and I agree with Rabindranath Tagore when he said, “Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher a storm, but to add color to my sunset sky”.