Chapter 25 (part) – Goal Setting

Man follows the earth.
Earth follows heaven.
Heaven follows the Tao.
Tao follows what is natural.

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We each consciously hold some of the Tao in us. But it is only a slither of something bigger, grander, and totally elusive. Like the Blind Men and The Elephant, we feel assured by the bit (tail, trunk, knee, ear, etc) we feel that it is what we ‘know’ (its a ‘rope’, a ‘hose’, a ‘tree’, a ‘leaf’, etc), while not knowing it is quite different to the whole (an elephant!).

More consciously, we have the earth in us: our own body’s flesh and blood remind us everyday that we are made of stuff that we experience intimately. Hungry, we eat; thirsty, we drink; tired, we sleep; energetic, we seek and do; all the time our earthly instincts guiding us.

In between the earth and the Tao, we have heaven. Less conscious than the earth’s presence, but more conscious than of the Tao, we sense not physical signals but spiritual ones. Emotions of joy, sadness, fear, and guilt, are triggered by our relationships while deep but clear yearnings and longings are triggered in us by anything at all. Scent, touch, and sensual attraction, are earthly signals, but all the time they are awakening in us an awareness of the ‘other’, and of the ‘other’s awareness of us.

We plot our life’s goals according to our dreams and to our earthly needs. If you are drawn to this talk of the Tao, or any of its similar forms, then you are already shaping your goals with its grand possibilities in mind. Our dreams become fueled by the deep happiness and rich freedom that a stronger connection with the Tao brings. Representing this freedom in clear heavenly and earthly goals is natural, and a challenge that makes us strong.

Goal setting sits in heaven, between two pulling forces. The force of the Tao, that we do not know and can not name pulls us from one direction, while our conscious earthly mind pulls us from another direction. Let’s take ‘wealth’ – for most of us it is the result of what we do. If we set goals around it we are consciously planning to do things. But everyone of us can only consciously plan to do things that our unconscious permits, not in a moral way, but in an energetic way.

Where the tension between these two forces is tightest, we are closest to our own inner truth. The strange thing is that it may consciously feel like we are at the farthermost point away from that truth.