Reflections on the 50th Verse of the Tao Te Ching

 

Reflections On the 50^th Verse of the Tao Te Ching

 

 

… he dwells in that place/where death cannot enter….

witness the end without ending.

Empty riddles or Oriental wisdom profound?

Eastern seer slicing through constipated moral ambiguity of the ages, Lao-tzu?

Leading the ethereal charge toward human enlightenment?

Or stage-setting in place a 2,500-year-old paradox/conundrum to perplex intellects of

            gurus wide and far in constant soul-searching of the eternal existential abyss?

…end without ending—ending in the vortex of human memory, laden with a no-thing

            (-ness) dripping within the core of human existence at the very heart of the

            10,000 things.

Live by doing nothing and in doing nothing everything gets done. 

Quietly the devotees slog on as though to blaze a poignant trail into the Realm of the

            Unknown.

And in this unknown world what awaits them?

Another fathomless puzzle to ponder?  or unveiling of wisdom divine in a Tao-centered

            existence?

To live the Tao in the ephemeral realm of tomorrow or wallow in the inconsequential

            world of today….  What is a person’s True Nature and what is the Light?

            Awaken to the vision eternal and true, does The Master teach us?  Epiphany

            never-ending.

Ah, the Great Way in 81 verses.  Essence of the Divine without end.

                                                

And what of it?

  

 

Ron Roman

 

As associate professor, Ron Roman has taught English and the humanities for the University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC - Asia) all over the Pacific until the COVID-19 crisis earlier last year.  His academic, travel, and op-ed essays have appeared in regional, national, and international publications.  His thriller novel Of Ashes and Dust is scheduled for release in the fall of 2022 by Addison & Highsmith (imprint).