TAO 53- Gaia's Driving Force

If I understood only one thing,
I would want to use it to follow the Tao.
My only fear would be one of pride.
The Tao goes in the level places,
but people prefer to take the short cuts.

If too much time is spent cleaning the house
the land will become neglected and full of weeds,
and the granaries will soon become empty
because there is no one out working the fields.
To wear fancy clothes and ornaments,
to have your fill of food and drink
and to waste all of your money buying possessions
is called the crime of excess.
Oh, how these things go against the way of the Tao!

The creative drive of Gaia is the dissipation of energy.

That is all I need to understand.

It is personal.  It is internal.

It can only affect me; to rant against humanity is vanity.

If I spend my time fighting other human perceptions, it is a waste of time.

If I try to legislate climate control, it is a fool’s errand.

If I believe I am entitled, it is a crime.

If I believe I can take it with me, it is folly.

If I live as an example of simple dissipation.

Expecting no more, no less.

Only then will I obey the Law.

TAO 54- Gaia=Perfection=Awe

That which is well built
will never be torn down.
That which is well latched
can not slip away.
Those who do things well
will be honored from generation to generation.

If this idea is cultivated in the individual,
then his virtue will become genuine.
If this idea is cultivated in your family,
then virtue in your family will be great.
If this idea is cultivated in your community,
then virtue will go a long way.
If this idea is cultivated in your country,
then virtue will be in many places.
If this idea is cultivated in the world,
then virtue will be with everyone.

Then observe the person for what the person does,
and observe the family for what it does,
and observe the community for what it does,
and observe the country for what it does,
and observe the world for what it does.
How do I know this saying is true?
I observe these things and see.

We live with the opportunity of AWE.

Gaia provides everything we need, perfectly.

Thermodynamics chaotically drives creation and life.

That is unchanging.

Know why we simply dissipate energy, and participate as a Gaian.

Create this joy with your family.

Make your family a pillar of society

Help society maintain this miracle we all share.

Walk the Talk it’s said.

It can make the difference.

I know, because I look in a mirror.

TAO 55- Life and Death

One who is filled with the Tao
is like a newborn child.
The infant is protected from
the stinging insects, wild beasts, and birds of prey.
Its bones are soft, its muscles are weak,
but its grip is firm and strong.
It doesn't know about the union
of male and female,
yet his penis can stand erect,
because of the power of life within him.
It can cry all day and never become hoarse.
This is perfect harmony.

To understand harmony is to understand the Constant.
To know the Constant is to be called 'enlightened'.
To unnaturally try to extend life is not appropriate.
To try and alter the life-breath is unnatural.
The master understands that when something reaches its prime
it will soon begin to decline.
Changing the natural is against the way of the Tao.
Those who do it will come to an early end.

Heinlein in Stranger in a Strange Land  groked.

His messiah Michael changed his environment by example

If I grok the Second Law

If I accept that life is no more or less than dissipation of energy

I can find balance and peace.

Perhaps I can change my environment by example.

To live in balance is to understand thermodynamics;

Entropy and Enthalpy = Life and Death.

I cannot change the law.

I can influence those around me.

Gaia is fragile, we cannot abuse her.

Gaia will survive climate change.

Gaia will survive nuclear disasters.

Gaia will survive human hubris.

Humanity can’t.

TAO 56- Walk the Talk

Those who know do not talk.
Those who talk do not know.

Stop talking,
meditate in silence,
blunt your sharpness,
release your worries,
harmonize your inner light,
and become one with the dust.
Doing this is called the dark and mysterious identity.

Those who have achieved the mysterious identity
can not be approached, and they can not be alienated.
They can not be benefited nor harmed.
They can not be made noble nor to suffer disgrace.
This makes them the most noble of all under the heavens.

If we are to save Gaia

We need to grok the second Law of Thermodynamics.

This means to understand at a primal survival level.

Those who brag about their idea of a perfect solution are wrong.

If you broadcast your solution

If you are the wisest of the wise

If you proselytize changing the law because of a godly message

You delude yourself while wearing a public dunce cap.

Gaians understand.

Gaians walk the walk, talk the talk.

They are an attractor state for balance and harmony.

TAO 57- Participation

Govern your country with integrity,
Weapons of war can be used with great cunning,
but loyalty is only won by not-doing.
How do I know the way things are?
By these:

The more prohibitions you make,
the poorer people will be.
The more weapons you possess,
the greater the chaos in your country.
The more knowledge that is acquired,
the stranger the world will become.
The more laws that you make,
the greater the number of criminals.

Therefore the Master says:
I do nothing,
and people become good by themselves.
I seek peace,
and people take care of their own problems.
I do not meddle in their personal lives,
and the people become prosperous.
I let go of all my desires,
and the people return to the Uncarved Block.

Lao Tsu wrote universally of the human tragedy.

He warned of governments out of control.

He warned of individuals who meddle in the natural order.

The more human society fights the law of thermodynamics

The further we go astray

The more we try to explain a simple concept

The more unfathomable it becomes.

It is better not to participate in

Government, Greed, Soapboxes, Excess, and Intellectual Vanity.

It is better to understand life as a dissipative function

And participate in reality.

TAO 58- Government Should STFU

If a government is unobtrusive,
the people become whole.
If a government is repressive,
the people become treacherous.

Good fortune has its roots in disaster,
and disaster lurks with good fortune.
Who knows why these things happen,
or when this cycle will end?
Good things seem to change into bad,
and bad things often turn out for good.
These things have always been hard to comprehend.

Thus the Master makes things change
without interfering.
She is probing yet causes no harm.
Straightforward, yet does not impose her will.
Radiant, and easy on the eye.

If the government, congress, and world leaders, would just quit being the smartest person in the room and shut up for a while,

Maybe we can change

Maybe we can start to understand

Maybe we can quit labeling

Maybe we can accept science

Maybe we can believe again

Look in a mirror.

Ask questions.

Trust your instincts.

The laws of thermodynamics are neither good nor bad.

They just are.

TAO 59 - Moderation

There is nothing better than moderation
for teaching people or serving Heaven.
Those who use moderation
are already on the path to the Tao.
Those who follow the Tao early
will have an abundance of virtue.
When there is an abundance of virtue,
there is nothing that can not be done.
Where there is limitless ability,
then the kingdom is within your grasp.
When you know the Mother of the kingdom,
then you will be long enduring.

This is spoken of as the deep root and the firm trunk,
the Way to a long life and great spiritual vision.

Ranting, raving, blogging and legislating

Won’t solve the problem

Won’t protect Gaia

Won’t change the law

Control yourself and you teach.

Teach and you control others.

Others have the powerless power to change

It starts with me

When I grok the second law I can show it

When others see it and dissipate they show it

Network this understanding

TAO 60- Sewing Moonbeams to Sunlight

Governing a large country
is like frying small fish.
Too much poking spoils the meat.

When the Tao is used to govern the world
then evil will lose its power to harm the people.
Not that evil will no longer exist,
but only because it has lost its power.
Just as evil can lose its ability to harm,
the Master shuns the use of violence.

If you give evil nothing to oppose,
then virtue will return by itself.

Try to make the world understand climate change

Try to change this comprehension

Try to sew a moonbeam to sunlight.

When we understand that our purpose is to change sunlight into moonbeams

Then we don’t need to buy carbon credits.

When we understand that changing fossil fuel to carbon dioxide is folly

Exxon has lost is power over us.

If we refuse to participate in the rape of Gaia

She will reward us.

TAO 61- Kyoto

A large country should take the low place like a great watershed,
which from its low position assumes the female role.
The female overcomes the male by the power of her position.
Her tranquility gives rise to her humility.

If a large country takes the low position,
it will be able to influence smaller countries.
If smaller countries take the lower position,
then they can allow themselves to be influenced.
So both seek to take the lower position
in order to influence the other, or be influenced.

Large countries should desire to protect and help the people,
and small countries should desire to serve others.
Both large and small countries benefit greatly from humility.

Kyoto

Who won?  Who dominated?

Who’s politics were smarter?

One village, one family, one Gaia.

China, India, United States

Who is different and sets the agenda?

Who buys pollution from whom?

Who cares? 

Only Gaia and 1 person.

Thermodynamics doesn’t give a damn.

TAO 62- Simple

The Tao is the tabernacle of creation,
it is a treasure for those who are good,
and a place of refuge for those who are not.

How can those who are not good be abandoned?
Words that are beautiful are worth much,
but good behavior can only be learned by example.

When a new leader takes office,
don't give him gifts and offerings.
These things are not as valuable
as teaching him about the Tao.

Why was the Tao esteemed by the ancient Masters?
Is it not said: "With it we find without looking.
With it we find forgiveness for our transgressions."
That is why the world can not understand it.

The second law is creation.

Grok that and live in joy and harmony.

Don’t get it, you can still be awed.

Rules, tribal conflicts, politics, and nation states don’t matter.

Resource rich lands are dangerous without understanding.

Homage to religion, politics, or spirits means nothing,

Without understanding.

If you simply dissipate your energy, you are not at fault.

You do nothing wrong.

Perhaps the idea is too simple to grasp?

TAO 63- Fix Only What You Can

Act by not acting;
do by not doing.
Enjoy the plain and simple.
Find that greatness in the small.
Take care of difficult problems
while they are still easy;
Do easy things before they become too hard.

Difficult problems are best solved while they are easy.
Great projects are best started while they are small.
The Master never takes on more than she can handle,
which means that she leaves nothing undone.

When an affirmation is given too lightly,
keep your eyes open for trouble ahead.
When something seems too easy,
difficulty is hiding in the details.
The master expects great difficulty,
so the task is always easier than planned.

Participate in the beauty of Gaia.

Don’t try to change Her.

Find the Awe in creation and understand

Creation is a simple process

Change yourself to be in harmony

Before you change society.

Bicycle to work today

Before you bomb the refinery.

Be an example of what you can fix and no more.

Take a single bite of the elephant today.

Open your eyes to the world as it should be.

Pay attention to the forces that fight the law.

Stick your finger in the dike

Before it becomes a tsunami.

TAO 64- Don't Procrastinate

Things are easier to control while things are quiet.
Things are easier to plan far in advance.
Things break easier while they are still brittle.
Things are easier hid while they are still small.

Prevent problems before they arise.
Take action before things get out of hand.
The tallest tree
begins as a tiny sprout.
The tallest building
starts with one shovel of dirt.
A journey of a thousand miles
starts with a single footstep.

If you rush into action, you will fail.
If you hold on too tight, you will lose your grip.

Therefore the Master lets things take their course
and thus never fails.
She doesn't hold on to things
and never loses them.
By pursing your goals too relentlessly,
you let them slip away.
If you are as concerned about the outcome
as you are about the beginning,
then it is hard to do things wrong.
The master seeks no possessions.
She learns by unlearning,
thus she is able to understand all things.
This gives her the ability to help all of creation.

There is nothing unique about life.

Thermodynamics demands that life exists everywhere.

Uniqueness comes from obeying this law.

Gaia is not unique in the universe, yet our only platform for dissipation.

Technological disobedience to the law starts small.

Man creates fire, then the wheel, then tries to harness nuclear energy.

We can only change the little things; we can only change us.

Try too hard and we fail.

Push a rock toward a cliff and it falls off the edge.

An unintended consequence is a collateral law.

There is no return to an idyllic past.

We can’t stop the machine.

We may no longer be able to control it.

Gaia doesn’t care,

She will continue to turn sunlight into heat long after we’re gone.

TAO 65- The Carbon Cycle

The ancient Masters
who understood the way of the Tao,
did not educate people, but made them forget.

Smart people are difficult to guide,
because they think they are too clever.
To use cleverness to rule a country,
is to lead the country to ruin.
To avoid cleverness in ruling a country,
is to lead the country to prosperity.

Knowing the two alternatives is a pattern.
Remaining aware of the pattern is a virtue.
This dark and mysterious virtue is profound.
It is opposite our natural inclination,
but leads to harmony with the heavens.

Homo genus has always understood thermodynamic balance.

Life, death, survival, dissipation.

Sapien species has become too clever to survive.

We have engineered an imbalance in entropy.

We have cut down the tress that dissipate the energy of carbon dioxide

To produce the wood we burn to carbon dioxide

To cook the meat from the cow that dissipates the energy of a blade of grass

Grown on the empty forest floor.

We think we can ignore the carbon cycle,

Rush through the resources with time to recycle.

That our cleverness alone can rebalance the equation.

To what end, Fools?

TAO 66- Gaia as Leader

Rivers and seas are rulers
of the streams of hundreds of valleys
because of the power of their low position.
If you want to be the ruler of people,
you must speak to them like you are their servant.
If you want to lead other people,
you must put their interest ahead of your own.

The people will not feel burdened,
if a wise person is in a position of power.
The people will not feel like they are being manipulated,
if a wise person is in front as their leader.
The whole world will ask for her guidance,
and will never get tired of her.
Because she does not like to compete,
no one can compete with the things she accomplishes.

Gaia is a self-organized, dissipative structure.

She will turn sunlight into heat without or without our help.

We can help her with that process according to thermodynamics

Or we can disobey and vanish.

In a time of human panic and discord over our planet,

We forget where the real power is.

Our leaders can argue their cleverness,

Legislate our compliance,

Ignore the entropy/enthalpy balance to be re-elected.

The true source of power will continue to do what She does best.

She is not competing for leadership or dominance.

If we let her, She will give abundant life.

She doesn’t care.

TAO 67- Compassion, Moderation, and Humility

The world talks about honoring the Tao,
but you can't tell it from their actions.
Because it is thought of as great,
the world makes light of it.
It seems too easy for anyone to use.

There are three jewels that I cherish:
compassion, moderation, and humility.
With compassion, you will be able to be brave,
With moderation, you will be able to give to others,
With humility, you will be able to become a great leader.
To abandon compassion while seeking to be brave,
or abandoning moderation while being benevolent,
or abandoning humility while seeking to lead
will only lead to greater trouble.
The compassionate warrior will be the winner,
and if compassion is your defense you will be secure.
Compassion is the protector of Heaven's salvation.

We awe at the environment.

Praise an anthropomorphic god for the majesty.

Bow to the white tower of science for simple explanations

But fail to adhere to life.

Religious leaders teach poverty of materials, wealth of spirit.

Gaia gives us everything and more to share freely without want.

We have evolved to a level of complexity to understand this.

With that complexity comes greed.

Give up greed and Gaia provides untold wealth

Free energy to dissipate,

Participation in Enthalpy and Entropy.

Membership in her club.

TAO 68- Non-Competition

The best warriors
do not use violence.
The best generals
do not destroy indiscriminately.
The best tacticians
try to avoid confrontation.
The best leaders
become servants of their people.

This is called the virtue of non-competition.
This is called the power to manage others.
This is called attaining harmony with the heavens.

We do not have to destroy to get what we need.

Gaians do not rape Her for glory and profit.

We seek to inform, educate and participate in thermodynamics.

We are the true new revolution.

We don’t legislate obedience

Nor force others to believe

We participate and remain an example.

TAO 69- War

There is an old saying:
"It is better to become the passive
in order to see what will happen.
It is better to retreat a foot
than to advance only an inch."

This is called
being flexible while advancing,
pushing back without using force,
and destroying the enemy without engaging him.

There is no greater disaster
than underestimating your enemy.
Underestimating your enemy
means losing your greatest assets.
When equal forces meet in battle,
victory will go to the one
that enters with the greatest sorrow.

We are at war.

Not with Gaia, nor the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

We have completely underestimated the fact that they are not even the enemy.

We are at war with ourselves for survival.

Another old saying:

“I have found the enemy and it is me”

We have polluted ourselves with

Toxins in the air

Toxins in the water

Toxins in the soil

Toxins in the spirit

Toxic populations

Gaia can flush those back into the entropy toilet without blinking

To win the battle, we must step back from the brink

And stop the battle within ourselves

TAO 70- Choose

My words are easy to understand
and easier to put into practice.
Yet no one in the world seems to understand them,
or be able to apply what I teach.

My teachings come from the ancients,
the things I do are done for a reason.

Because you do not know me,
you are not able to understand my teachings.
Because those who know me are few,
my teachings become even more precious.

Bal, Yahweh, Jehova, Jesus, Buddha, Lao Tsu, Mohammad, Newton, Einstein, Sagan.

The message was the same in different languages.

Yet we rush mindlessly toward the cliffs edge.

Choose:

Become a part of the process to dissipate energy

Become a solution

Or not

TAO 71- Knowing

Knowing you don't know is wholeness.
Thinking you know is a disease.
Only by recognizing that you have an illness
can you move to seek a cure.

The Master is whole because
she sees her illnesses and treats them,
and thus is able to remain whole.

We think we understand the nature of things,

That we have the right to control life on Gaia.

This hubris is deadly.

Gaia lives because she dissipates.

All life assists in that process;

Some positive and dissipative,

Others destructive and terminal

Gaia is resilient

She responds to energy

She survived asteroid car wrecks

She drained her nuclear pimple

Humanity is but a virus to Her

Spreading faster than thermodynamics allows

Destroying with growth

When I have an infection I get a fever

Gaia calls it climate change.

TAO 72- Don't Meddle

When people become overly bold,
then disaster will soon arrive.

Do not meddle with people's livelihoods;
if you respect them, they will in turn respect you.

Therefore, the Master knows herself but is not arrogant.
She loves herself but also loves others.
This is how she is able to make appropriate choices.

We don’t control our environment.

We don’t understand and obey the Law.

Homo Sapiens are looking at extinction.

When we become Gaians,

Gaia will reward us.

Learn to love life.

Learn to love the process.

Understand that everything dissipates energy differently.

Do the next right thing.

TAO 73- Voted Off the Island

Being over bold and confident is deadly.
The wise use of caution will keep you alive.

One is the way to death,
and the other is the way to preserve your life.
Who can understand the workings of Heaven?

The Tao of the universe
does not compete, yet wins;
does not speak, yet responds;
does not command, yet is obeyed;
and does act, but is good at directing.

The nets of Heaven are wide,
but nothing escapes its grasp.

To think that we can out-wit, out-think, and out-survive Thermodynamics

gets you voted off the Island.

We, as society, can live in Thermodynamic Balance,

or ignore Entropy and Enthalpy.

We can choose to understand and participate.

Thermodynamic laws are unbending;

Gaia obeys the law.

She doesn’t care about anything else.

Everything, repeat Everything-

Happens

Is created by

Participates in

Belongs to

TAO, Thermodynamic Law, God, Entropy/ Enthalpy.

Got it?

TAO 74- Death

If you do not fear death,
then how can it intimidate you?
If you aren't afraid of dying,
there is nothing you can not do.

Those who harm others
are like inexperienced boys trying to take the place of a great lumberjack.
Trying to fill his shoes will only get them seriously hurt.

Death is only part of the process.

Sunlight begins the process

Life changes sunlight to

Chemical reactions

Building blocks

Sugar

Amino Acids

DNA

Self-organization

Efficient energy processing

Heat/ thermal death

The process recycles itself

There is nothing you can do about that.

The greedy

Cut the forests

Mine the soil

Suck oil from the depth

Create offspring to delay aging

They lose.

Gaia wins.

TAO 75- Politics Is Not Life

When people go hungry,
the government's taxes are too high.
When people become rebellious,
the government has become too intrusive.

When people begin to view death lightly,
wealthy people have too much
which causes others to starve.

Only those who do not cling to their life can save it.

Life has nothing to do with politics

Nothing to do with glory

Nothing to do with possessions

Nothing to do with arbitrary geopolitical boundaries

Nothing to do with society

Nothing to do with Homo Sapiens

When we forget that absolute Kelvin is the end,

then we forget reality.

Life is energy processing.

Participate and process, you have life.

What more can you expect?

TAO 76- Go With the Flow

The living are soft and yielding;
the dead are rigid and stiff.
Living plants are flexible and tender;
the dead are brittle and dry.

Those who are stiff and rigid
are the disciple of death.
Those who are soft and yielding
are the disciples of life.

The rigid and stiff will be broken.
The soft and yielding will overcome.

Go with the flow.

Simple

Elegant

Real

Thermodynamics directs the flow of the Universe:

Big Bang to Thermal Death

TAO 77- GAIA Gives

The Tao of Heaven works in the world
like the drawing of a bow.
The top is bent downward;
the bottom is bent up.
The excess is taken from,
and the deficient is given to.

The Tao works to use the excess,
and gives to that which is depleted.
The way of people is to take from the depleted,
and give to those who already have an excess.

Who is able to give to the needy from their excess?
Only someone who is following the way of the Tao.

This is why the Master gives
expecting nothing in return.
She does not dwell on her past accomplishments,
and does not glory in any praise.

Balance is the name of the Game.

Energy is neither created nor destroyed

Energy and Matter interchange freely

Enthalpy and Entropy give direction

On Gaia, there exists excess energy from our sun

It warms the soil, feeds photosynthesis

Energizes physiology at all levels

Provides everything necessary.

How do we take advantage?

We don’t.

There is no advantage

Gaia gives without concern

Without caring

Without agenda

We can’t take

We receive

TAO 78- Smoke and Mirrors

Water is the softest and most yielding substance.
Yet nothing is better than water,
for overcoming the hard and rigid,
because nothing can compete with it.

Everyone knows that the soft and yielding
overcomes the rigid and hard,
but few can put this knowledge into practice.

Therefore the Master says:
"Only he who is the lowest servant of the kingdom,
is worthy to become its ruler.
He who is willing to tackle the most unpleasant tasks,
is the best ruler in the world."

True sayings seem contradictory.

Thermodynamics is smoke and mirrors

You can’t touch it, smell it or see it.

It overcomes all, drives all, creates all

Yet has no body or soul

We don’t know how to use this power

Because it cannot be used

It uses us

We are the servant

Our job is to obey the law and process energy

When we accept this we participate

We partake in the Awe, the Joy, and the Abundance Gaia gives us.

We don’t own it.  It is ours.

Strange, Huh?

TAO 79- Before Existance

Difficulties remain, even after solving a problem.
How then can we consider that as good?
Therefore the Master
does what she knows is right,
and makes no demands of others.
A virtuous person will do the right thing,
and persons with no virtue will take advantage of others.

The Tao does not choose sides,
the good person receives from the Tao
because she is on its side.

We may never know what came before the Big Bang

Parallel Universes?  P-branes? God?

Gravity can be tracked from 10^-30 second of this existence.

So what?

Strings can’t be produced in a physics lab.

So what?

Wisdom comes with acceptance

Acceptance comes with understanding

Understanding come with experience

Experience comes with life

Life comes with thermodynamics

Thermodynamics is Wisdom.

TAO 80- Grok

Small countries with few people are best.
Give them all of the things they want,
and they will see that they do not need them.
Teach them that death is a serious thing,
and to be content to never leave their homes.
Even though they have plenty
of horses, wagons and boats,
they won't feel that they need to use them.
Even if they have weapons and shields,
they will keep them out of sight.
Let people enjoy the simple technologies,
let them enjoy their food,
let them make their own clothes,
let them be content with their own homes,
and delight in the customs that they cherish.
Although the next country is close enough
that they can hear their roosters crowing and dogs barking,
they are content never to visit each other
all of the days of their lives.

Grok thermodynamics and participate in life.

Share with family and enjoy the bounty

Be an example to the community

Live in Awe of Gaia, without rancor, greed, pride, and hate.

There is excess energy for all life forms if we obey the Law.

 

TAO 81- Truth

True words do not sound beautiful;
beautiful sounding words are not true.
Wise men don't need to debate;
men who need to debate are not wise.
Wise men are not scholars,
and scholars are not wise.
The Master desires no possessions.
Since the things she does are for the people,
she has more than she needs.
The more she gives to others,
the more she has for herself.

The Tao of Heaven nourishes by not forcing.
The Tao of the Wise person acts by not competing.

 

Truth exists within each of us.

We experience Gaia just as She presents herself to us.

There are no descriptions, formulas, or dissertations that change that experience

 

You grok this or you don’t.

I can’t change that, neither can you.

It is there for you, in abundance, without asking

Gaia gives

Thermodynamics creates

Neither cares