Posted by ron1953 on July 31, 2010, at 10:51:01
In reply to Re: The Question Remains: Why Is Babble Not Babbling?, posted by sigismund on July 31, 2010, at 1:48:18
> >I'm posing the question to the other PB members: what changes might you suggest to make this place more vibrant?
>
> That's an interesting (if less than productive) question which I shall not address, it having been argued about with little result for the last 4 years and perhaps longer for all I know.
> Instead here is something to reflect on
>
>
>
> Three in the Morning (Chuang Tzu)
> When we wear out our minds, stubbornly clinging to one partial view of things, refusing to see a deeper agreement between this and its complentary opposite, we have what is called 'three in the morning'.
> What is this 'three in the morning'?
> A monkey trainer went to his monkeys and told them: 'As regards your chestnuts: you are going to have three measures in the morning and four in the afternoon.'
> At this they all became very angry. So he said: 'All right, in that case I will give you four in the morning and three in the afternoon.' This time they were satisfied.
> The two arrangements were the same in that the number of chestnuts did not change. But in one case the animals were displeased, and in the other they were satisfied. The keeper had been willing to change his personal arrangement in order to meet objective conditions. He lost nothing by it!
> The truly wise man, considering both sides of the question without partiality, sees them both in the light of Tao.
> This is called following two courses at once.That is an excellent piece of philosophy, which I'm afraid too few can understand or embrace, as evidenced by the single-mindedness so common in PB.
I think it may be best for me to end my visit to the kiddie pool and head back to deeper waters.
poster:ron1953
thread:956448
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20100716/msgs/956553.html