I'm very much enjoying the last several pages of this thread. It's been revolving around one of the central struggles of the spiritual aspirant. (I'm speaking for myself here; please don't get offended. I do not claim to be any kind of expert or authority; I'm just a traveler on my personal journey. What I say here I hope is of value to someone, and if you read it and turn away in disgust that's perfect, too. When I say "we", I do not mean "you and I, dear reader", I simply mean the body of individuals comprising the society within which I was raised.)
Given that we are raised in a society and conditioned into thinking in terms of "good" and bad", we naturally approach all endeavor this way. So we (naively) approach spirituality from the perspective of good and bad. We might even be tempted to try and figure out what is "permitted" and what is not permitted.
I believe there is a vast gulf of space between discussion and speculation versus direct, personal experience. I would personally agonize at times about decisions, wondering which way was correct. I now know this to be besides the point. One does not know the truth, because it is the mind that knows and the mind (although being one of the ten thousand, so to speak) is itself simply a biomechanical machine that responds in a predictable way to mental and physical stimuli. One has to become the truth. Even in physics scientists are seeing this: in the act of observing one alters the observed phenomenon. There is only one whole, seamless reality within which we are a co-creator. The spiritual path (this stage of it, in my opinion) is dedicated to teaching us simple things like cause-and-effect, and our true identity in spirit (not mind).
So yes, duality isn't what we're after. The idea that some things are right and some things are wrong is dual. The idea that "I" might try to be "spiritual" is dual. We shouldn't try to seek out the good and avoid the bad, because we are denying part of the whole. Rather, in true realization, the way becomes clear. It's not simply so easy as selecting the "correct" path among an infinitely branching series of decisions in our lives--that is not the way. The Way (Tao) is a process of becoming and then being. Put differently, we want to see both the good and the bad (as completely as possible) and then transcend both.
This is not easily expressed in English, so forgive me if what I'm saying is unclear. Being the truth is embodying it; when we are the truth, we understand it and our actions naturally follow. People in my society buy self-help books to try and alter their own behavior, thinking that this will improve who they are; make them a better person. However, this is going about it backwards (in my opinion). The sage seeks first within. The world is not illusion in the sense that it isn't real, but it is illusion in the sense that a shadow cast on the wall is not the object casting the shadow. Reality exists first in spirit (Tao), then manifests "downward" through various phases: one becoming two then ten thousand (This whole ten thousand thing is just a Chinese way of saying everything under heaven.) Tao is unmanifested (but quite real), it filters downward splitting into dual forces (entering the mental plane), then manifests as thought, emotions, and even physical objects.
We already are, of course. The spiritual journey is not one in which we seek to change our essence. We seek to alter our perspective. We initially approach reality through the filter of the mind, which only knows how to sort things (good/bad). By retiring inwards, we can begin the process of slowly undoing the many years of false teachings heaped upon us by society, history, and our (fleeting) status as human beings.
That's why sometimes sages will talk about "doing without doing". If there were nothing to be done, all this would be pointless. We seek, on a spiritual path, to alter our perspective so that instead of letting outer circumstances dictate to us what to think or how to feel, we move inwards and upwards to realize that thoughts and emotions aren't even part of our true selves. So many religions focus on emotional experience--while this has value, it isn't "real" because it's not eternal like we are.
This brings us full circle back to desire. Let's not let English definitions or word games confuse us. There is definitely a "Way", it does travel first up through the mind in a kind of backwards "undoing" of our mental baggage. "Thinking" isn't "bad", "desire" isn't bad. It's not bad to want things, and it's not bad to want to "be spiritual". Part of this maturation process is to understand that it's not about "good and bad", it's simply about understanding the effects of our causes. If we harm someone else, we are harming ourselves. This is not morality; the sage does not need to consider this because the sage perceives directly. The sage, being the truth, does not need to think about whether harming another is a good idea, just as we (hopefully) don't need to wonder if cutting off a finger is a good idea. If that finger is going to get blood poisoning, that might be a special case, but we're not playing word games (or semantic games), right?
This is why I say that Dao de Jing (Tao Te Ching) is practical advice. When read from a vibrational perspective, looking back from what I've learned through experience, it's a practical manual of how to retire inwards and separate the real from the unreal. Separate is a really poor word; unify would be better. Transcend is better yet. The Tao Te Ching is literally spelling out how you should approach things in viewpoint, if one but has the eyes to see (and ears to hear) what is written. It's important to realize that the words themselves are but references to a truth that can only be purchased through the hard sweat and knocks of real experience. I look at it almost like an answer key--if one is so fortunate to correctly navigate one's karmic experiences, one might easily peruse the Tao Te Ching and suddenly understand what was written there! Before that realization it's just so much esoteric gobblety-gook. So in just living one's life, one is on the path. It's just a matter of degree in sincerity and conscious realization of moving "forward" on the path (way).
I'm sorry this was such a long post. I had better stop here, and continue onwards if someone addresses me directly. If you stuck with me through this, thanks for reading such a long-winded post!
