Latest revision as of 13:35, 16 February 2011

part of the Sacred Chao Te Ching

Chapter 31

Being rigid makes a person easy to oppress;
The wise spags use the creative trip left,
or the destructive trip right,
and stay flexible.

Rules disguise suspicion;
So be suspicious about them.
The wise spags will break them
without drawing attention
and will be rewarded with sovereignty,
if being free is their intent.

When freedom is in danger,
there should be no rest.
Those who oppose the freedom of others are not evil,
but have caged themselves.  
Wise spags speak of a jail break,
and lead by example
by rattling their own chains.

They enter the idiot asylum
with care and consideration
as if crossing a battlefield
or tiptoeing through a slumber party.

The symphony of rattling chains
is neither noise nor music.
It is the sound of the Chao
and those who hear it.

Chapter 32

Chaos cannot be labeled,
because it contains all labels.
Therefore, all definitions are incomplete.
It's Gödels, all the way down.

Order and Disorder unite,
and Illusion slips into Chaos.
When people create language, labels begin.
With labels, one should know when to stop.
Knowing when to stop, the wise spags see the Illusion;
And are free to create as they choose.

Chapter 33

Those who question others are wise.
Those who questions themselves are enlightened.
Those who revolt against the masses seek attention.
Those who revolt against their own biases are brave.
Those who accept through faith are blind.
Those who reject the unproven are foolish.

Chapter 34

Chaos embraces the Illusions of Order and Disorder.
It contains all things,
even that which is not there.
It does not judge, 
it has no subjectivity.

It has no meta,
for even thoughts outside Chaos
are found within Chaos.
If all things that change are within it,
then it does not change;
Because there is no Other.

I know, you're thinking that this
is all one big, fat
intentional contradiction.
Fair enough;
But sometimes only a paradox
can explain what's going on.

Chapter 35

The wise spag treats every day like a day off, 
but still gets things done.
Everyone seeks the one who balances the Chao
because within it lives every possibility.

But even that is an incomplete map,
so beware of believing it to be the territory.

The Cabbage on the street may be starving,
but the Chao on the menu will never taste like hamburger.

Jump to conclusions,
fall flat on your face.

Chapter 36

Movement creates territory.
When you know where you are,
you know what to defend.

The maps in your head
are extensions of yourself.
You should pay attention
when your ideas get in someone's face.

People are frightened of new ideas
because they feel invaded.
They must protect their territory.

The wise spags know their maps
can only be changed by themselves;
Knowing this, they are not frightened
by the unknown.
Well, they shouldn't be frightened,
but we're all still monkeys in the end.

We create with the body,
but amend with the mind.

Chapter 37

Every spag has limitations.
Some are in the body.
Some are in the mind.
Limitations in the body are difficult to change.
Limitations in the mind are easier to change (but not by much).
Yet some people will live their entire lives
without ever encountering a stray thought.
These people do not know they are in Prison.

So the wise spags know their limitations,
and how to change them.
They are still in the Black Iron Prison,
yet can see through the bars
and attempt another jailbreak.

Chapter 38

The sacred Chao includes both Order and Disorder.
In the same way, the Self includes 
the inside and the outside.
To emphasize the inside 
is to pollute the outside with a grid.
To emphasize the outside 
is to lose your center.
While it's fun to toy with both, 
forgetting that they go together 
plants the seed of a cabbage.

Therefore when doubt is lost,
Absolutism is born.
When Absolutism encounters dissent,
Authority arises.
When Authority arises,
Freedom is lost.
When Freedom is lost,
the wise spags create their own rules.

Doubt allows people to see around corners,
and to peer above walls.
Therefore the wise spags never know,
and so are boundless.

Chapter 39

Every spag's mind
is a better artist than they can ever know.
For every conclusion they make,
supporting facts rise to the surface.
Each certainty has its own gravity
that attracts the Illusions of Order.

If you can think it, you can prove it.
This is how we turn Order and Disorder
into fractals of Illusion.

When spags try to order the Chao,
the sky becomes dirty, dingy;
Words are angry & sterile.

Words reduce the Chao;
A confused mind cannot grasp it
and cannot drop it, either.

Chapter 40

Incomprehensible Totality is the nature of Chaos.
The absence of Illusion is the state of Chaos.
All spags in the world create their own Illusions,
and then spend the rest of their lives bound by them.

For the record, "Incomprehensible Totality" 
is fairly incomprehensible.