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In the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu wrote, “To know that you do not know is highest.
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To not know but think you know is flawed.
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Only when one recognizes the fault as a fault can one be without fault.
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The sages are without fault.
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Because they recognize the fault as a fault.
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That is why they are without fault.”
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So if I understood that correctly, wisdom lies in seeing our own faults, or in other
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words, our own foolishness.
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But how do we see our own foolishness?
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As usual, I'm gonna explore this idea through a dialogue.
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The following is a conversation between a monk (M) and his student (S).
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S: Teacher, how do I become wise?
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M: Wisdom lies in seeing your own foolishness.
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When you see your own foolishness as foolishness, you stop being a fool.
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S: Then how do I see my own foolishness?
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M: In the same way you see anything: by looking at it.
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S: Well, it can't be that easy.
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I feel like I'm not seeing it.
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Why am I not seeing it?
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M: Do you know what foolishness looks like?
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S: What do you mean?
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M: If you don't know what foolishness looks like, how will you see it?
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S: If I were to make a guess, I'd say a fool is someone who makes a lot of errors.
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M: Can you go through life without making a lot of errors?
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S: Probably not.
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M: So that definition is probably not very useful.
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It's normal to make lots of errors.
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But if you see your errors as errors, you become less likely to repeat them, and by
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doing so, you become more knowledgable over time.
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Do you agree?
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S: I agree.
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M: So how about we say this: foolishness is being blind to your own errors—leading you
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to repeat them and preventing you from becoming more knowledgeable?
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S: I like that.
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So you're saying I'm blind to my own errors.
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That's the source of my foolishness, right?
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M: Right.
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S: Why can I not see my errors?
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M: Try this.
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Take one of your index fingers and hold it in front of your eyes.
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Count the lines on your finger.
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Now, bring it closer to your face and really focus on one of the lines.
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Do you notice how everything but the finger blurs?
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Do you notice how everything else becomes unclear?
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Do you notice how you become less able to see anything but the finger?
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And if you were in a busy place, things might happen in the periphery of your vision that
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you do not notice because you are so fixated on your finger.
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S: Yeah, I see all of that.
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So what are you trying to say?
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M: Desire, ambition, and obsession: these things lead to a partial blindness.
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The more you fixate on your finger, the less attentive you become to everything else.
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You visually ignore things so you can bring your finger into focus.
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Everything else becomes distorted with respect to your fixation.
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Tell me, while looking closely at your finger, can you see the rest of the world clearly?
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S: Of course not.
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M: Now drop your finger.
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What has happened?
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S: I see the world more clearly as a whole.
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M: So you see, when desire, ambition, or obsession drop away, your perception opens up.
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You are able to see the things you were previously blind to.
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S: So are you saying my own desires will blind me to my errors?
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M: Yes.
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For example, if you really want to believe there is no such thing as green apples, you
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will ignore any evidence that proves otherwise.
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You will always have an excuse or a justification that allows you to dismiss the evidence.
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So yes, your own desires will blind you to your errors.
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But when desire drops away, you are able to see the things you were previously blind to.
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When desire drops away, it's like seeing a birds-eye view of an entire city.
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You can see the entire flow of traffic, the different districts, the troubled areas, and
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so on.
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You can see the bigger picture.
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S: But I lose the details, don't I?
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M: You do.
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But from this higher point of view, you can properly decide where to re-direct your attention
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and desire.
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You can decide where to look more closely.
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---
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In the Tao te Ching, Lao Tzu wrote, “The sages are without fault.
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Because they recognize the fault as a fault,” and I explored this idea more fully through
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a dialogue.
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What prevents us from seeing our own foolishness?
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I believe it's strong desire, ambition, obsession, or fixation.
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For example, when we look really closely at our hand, we become more blind to everything
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else, to the bigger picture.
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A strong desire, ambition, or fixation leads to a partial blindness.
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For example, if we really want to believe there is no such thing as oranges, we'll
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ignore any evidence that proves otherwise.
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We'll always have an excuse or a justification that allows us to dismiss the evidence.
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So desire blinds us to our errors.
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But when desire drops away, our perception opens up, and we're able to see the things
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we were previously blind to.
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We get a birds-eye view of our world, and from this view, we can see more clearly where
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we would like to redirect our focus.
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As always, this is just my opinion and understanding of Lao Tzu's words, not advice.
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Feel free to use this information however you like, and if you have a different take
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on Lao Tzu's words, I'd love to hear
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your perspective in
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the comments.
