{"id":1307,"date":"2014-01-27T17:41:50","date_gmt":"2014-01-27T22:41:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/?p=1307"},"modified":"2014-01-27T17:44:10","modified_gmt":"2014-01-27T22:44:10","slug":"poem-autobiography-of-tao-rex","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/toppun.com\/blog\/2014\/01\/27\/poem-autobiography-of-tao-rex\/","title":{"rendered":"POEM: The Autobiography of Tao Rex"},"content":{"rendered":"

The opening lines<\/span>
\nOf the autobiography<\/span>
\nOf Tao Rex<\/span>
\nAlias Not Neil:<\/span>
\nNeil was a man of substance<\/span>
\nWho was not waiting<\/span>
\nFor it to come into style<\/span>
\nIf in the course of life<\/span>
\nHe should cross<\/span>
\nKingmakers<\/span>
\nAnd Job creators<\/span>
\nHe would not settle<\/span>
\nFor being a part<\/span>
\nAs sum illumine knotty<\/span>
\nThough some might<\/span>
\nSay naughty<\/span>
\nWhatever could be said<\/span>
\nOf such calamities<\/span>
\nOr calumnies<\/span>
\nIt is not about kneel<\/span>
\nOr similar conventions<\/span>
\nThe rest<\/span>
\nRights itself<\/span><\/p>\n

This poem is a tip of the hat to the Tao, and a hybridization of the eternally one Tao with social activism.\u00a0 An appreciation of the wisdom of the Tao recognizes the unique, ineffable, and dynamic way of life.\u00a0 This way does not mistake mere style with deep truth of the Tao’s reality.\u00a0 Living into the unity of the Tao does not settle for being a mere part of the whole of reality, but dynamically seeks harmony of the part and whole.\u00a0 The Tao’s connection to social activism springs from this unity, giving rise to human rights shared by all.\u00a0 Those who would parcel out reality for their own individual gain may be clever, and even powerful in their own right, but such behavior impugns the shared character of humanity.\u00a0 Kneeling, or bowing, to such powers is often considered simple, conventional wisdom.\u00a0 Nonetheless, the Tao is not about kneeling to convention, but seeking the deeper spring from which all life arises in harmony, even perfection.\u00a0 And from The rest\/Rights itself<\/em>.”\u00a0 Not surprisingly, The rest<\/em> is a pun, meaning both “all else” and “the state of resting.”<\/p>\n

The rest<\/em> begs a spiritual perspective, a transcendent perspective, because reality can never be fully tapped by the mind and\/or heart.\u00a0 This endless reserve, The rest<\/em>, can be viewed as the source of all being, a higher power, or God.\u00a0 East and West meet with The rest<\/em> of the Tao and the sabbath of Jewish and Christian spiritual practice.\u00a0 Honoring the Sabbath is the fourth of the infamous ten commandments.\u00a0 The sabbath commandment is the culmination of the three commandments; they go together.\u00a0 The first three commandments are about a proper relationship with the one true God, the highest and most sacred reality.\u00a0 Beyond the “I am” of the first commandment, we are instructed in the second commandment to not reduce the sacred to mere images, “graven images,” daring to reduce the whole truth to a partial truth.\u00a0 The third commandment is similar in that it warns of taking God’s name\/character in vain, to impugn the very power of God, the sacred source of all being and moving.\u00a0 Trusting, putting your faith, in this sacred source, parallel to the Tao in Taoism, is demonstrated behaviorally by respecting\/honoring rest, recognizing that there are far greater powers than ourselves from which life’s bounty rests and springs forth.\u00a0 To disrespect the Sabbath by trying to rely exclusively on our own power is idolatry, putting ourselves above God, The rest.\u00a0 <\/em>Translating the Sabbath day commandment to modern-day capitalism and its relevance to social activism is basically God calling for a work-stoppage every week.\u00a0 Honoring the Sabbath witnesses to the primacy of God, The rest<\/em>.\u00a0 This radical act, an apparent non-act to some, is a powerful threat to capitalism’s constant assertion of perpetual busyness to grow and thrive.\u00a0 Capitalism’s worldview, basic operating assumptions are idolatrous.\u00a0 Capitalism is idolatrous because it regularly discounts the sacred act of honoring The rest<\/em>.\u00a0 In capitalism’s equation, The rest<\/em>, is a barrier to maximizing profits and productivity.\u00a0 Even the more sophisticated view of recognizing that rest may be needed to maximize worker productivity reduces The rest<\/em> to mere utility, a means to an end, not a honoring The rest <\/em>as good in itself, a gift from God.<\/p>\n

Related to the modern fixation on utility, the practical, secularized mindset of postmodern culture usually skips to the last six commandments which deal with more easily recognizable behavioral elements (though “honoring mother and father” seems a transitional commandment for moving from a proper understanding of the order of things in heaven to earth).\u00a0 The remaining commandments deal with murder, adultery, theft, lying, and greed.\u00a0 Of course, focusing even only on these commandments leaves plenty of critique for capitalism, with its inevitable warring over creation’s bounty, siphoning wealth from the weak, lying to self and others to cover one’s dishonorable tracks, and perhaps most infamously and audaciously arguing that greed is good!<\/p>\n

May you find rest in the sacred source of all being.\u00a0 And may you fight restively for justice from such a bounteous place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The opening lines Of the autobiography Of Tao Rex Alias Not Neil: Neil was a man of substance Who was not waiting For it to come into style If in the course of life He should cross Kingmakers And Job … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,15],"tags":[236,87,435,25,229,574,516,432,608,65,117,446,431,506,122,305,127,296,493,402,359,486,438,548,454,354,658,94,110,526,197,601,502,525,128,30,186,320,547,464,421,719,203,111,389,380,550],"class_list":["post-1307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-poems","category-political-and-philosophical-musings","tag-busyness","tag-capitalism","tag-character","tag-christian","tag-conventional-wisdom","tag-creation","tag-culture","tag-faith","tag-gift","tag-god","tag-greed","tag-harmony","tag-heart","tag-heaven","tag-human-rights","tag-humanity","tag-idolatry","tag-jewish","tag-job","tag-justice","tag-life","tag-meaning","tag-mind","tag-modern","tag-murder","tag-perspective","tag-poems","tag-poetry","tag-power","tag-productivity","tag-radical","tag-reality","tag-respect","tag-sabbath","tag-sacred","tag-spiritual","tag-state","tag-tao","tag-transcendent","tag-trust","tag-truth","tag-unity","tag-war","tag-wealth","tag-wisdom","tag-work","tag-worldview"],"yoast_head":"\nPOEM: The Autobiography of Tao Rex | Poems, Political and Philosophical Musings | Top Pun's Poetry, Funny Puns, Free Posters, Public Health Radio Show! 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