Also, you get soft. You're not on the ki-vive. You develop flabby muscles because you never get involved in a fight. And so gradually, the successful group fails. The group which managed to obliterate all its enemies will fall apart.
So, what are we to do about that? See, part of the whole joke of present-day international politics is that the United States, in order with its vast prosperity and enormous facilities for living the lazy life, must have an external enemy to get excited about.
And so, even though the Cold War is, in a way, total nonsense, and everybody who's in the know about anything knows it, that, for example, an atomic war between Russia and the United States would simply end the human race, but the populace has to be kept bamboozled.
And we keep fighting wars, like in Vietnam, in order to keep everybody excited, and in order to make a fracas and to give the soldiers practice. It's a horrible business, but that's the way things run.
And the question is, you see, can we run the human race without awful bloodshed, murders and tortures and all that kind of thing? Can we somehow introduce a new kind of gamesmanship as a substitute for war? It's the same thing in business.
Exactly. If you wipe out your competitor, then you have no reason to produce anything but a lousy product. And then you may make lots of money because you wiped out your competitors, you've got the whole market.
Then you've got this money, what are you going to buy with it? Well, there's nothing to buy except other people's lousy products, who wiped out their competitors, or who cheated the public by packaging the thing to look elegant, but it was nothing inside.
That's all you've got to buy. So naturally, if you're a success in General Motors, you go and buy a Rolls Royce from England, or you go and buy a Mercedes from Germany, because there happen to be better cars.
Or if you want to make a lot of money in the clothing industry here, making wretched prints, and you want some good clothes, what do you do? Well, you have to go to Mexico and buy the things peasants wear, because they're still substantial, solid, damn good clothes.
So you see, there's something always self-defeating in these attempts to succeed, because nothing fails like success.
So for this reason, then, the Taoist always had an attitude of caution.
Cautiously, Lao Tzu says, as one who crosses a river in spring.
That means either because of the spring floods, or because the ice is still there, and you're not quite sure how strong it is, because it's beginning to thaw.
So, what the Taoist tries to develop is a sensibility to the situation.
He tries to feel out intuitively what kind of action is required under these circumstances,
because he feels that he can never discover it analytically, with his conscious attention alone.
Well, now, to talk in modern Western terms about how this is done, we must realize, of course,
that we are equipped inside our heads with an absolutely fantastic thing called the brain.
With its millions and millions of neuron cells, it is, as it were, the most amazing computer ever devised.
The basic to the Taoist attitude to life is that you have that within you,
and you may, if you don't know anything about brains very much, call it intuition or something of that kind.
But you have within you the most amazing logical analyzer that exists in the known world.
And the point is to get it to work for you.
And instead of trying, with conscious attention alone,
which can only think of about three things at a time without using a pencil,
that is to say, keep three variables in mind at once.
Very few people can do four without using a pencil.
You can do four if you're a trained musician,
where you're playing four different lines of a fugue, say.
You're keeping four variables in mind at once.
With an organist, you can go from four to six,
because you've got your two feet, and they're playing two.
But that requires a high amount of training to be able,
with conscious attention, to keep these many variables in mind.
But the world around us has infinitely many variables going in it.
And you can reason out something with your conscious verbal thinking.
Say you want to make a contract in business,
and you figure out how to make it,
whether it will be a good contract, whether it will work, etc., etc.
And you think of all these things and write them down,
and you make the contract, and you think that's fine.
But one of the variables that you couldn't possibly include in the contract
was that your partner would slip on a banana skin and break his neck.
All sorts of things.
I mean, the contract might make provisions in it
if your lawyer was thoughtful for what was to be done
under the case of the disability of any of the parties thereto, etc.
But eventually there are so many possibilities that can occur
that you cannot think of them all.
So then the question arises,
is it within the power of the human brain
to comprehend, because of its immense complexity,
in a kind of un- or subconscious way
what the surface consciousness can never grasp?
And the Taoist would say, certainly it can.
But you've got to learn to use your brain
by allowing it to go to work on your problems
without interfering with it.
And then it will deliver you a decision.
And this is why,
when you get to the real study
of Taoist and Zen Buddhist practice,
you get to the point where you learn to act
without making decisions.
Or rather, to use a more exact word,
without choosing.
Krishnamurti talks a great deal about
being choicelessly aware.
And he says freedom is precisely the state
of not having to choose.
Now that sounds quite paradoxical,
because we're always talking about freedom of choice.
But choice is not a form of freedom
in the sense of the word.
What is choice in the sense of the word?
Choice is the act of hesitation that we make
before making a decision.
It is a mental wobbling.
You know some people,
when they take up a pen to write,
they don't just write,
but they jiggle the pen around
undecisively like this,
and then start writing.
Or a person comes into a room
and wonders who to talk to
and sort of is in doubt, you see.
In that moment, he's choosing.
Whereas a person who comes into a room
and decides who to approach,
he doesn't wait to choose.
We say he is decisive.
But that's a funny saying,
because it means he doesn't stop to decide.
So in the training in Zen Buddhism,
which is simply a Buddhist extension of Taoism,
it all, Zen Buddhism arose
out of the marriage of Buddhism and Taoism
in the 5th century AD
and over the following centuries.
So they have a way of training you
so that you always act without choosing.
For example,
there was one day a leaky roof
and there were a couple of monks
attending the Zen master
and he said,
the roof is leaking.
One monk disappeared
and came back instantly with a sieve
and put it under the drips.
Another monk after some time
came back with a bucket.
The master praised the one
who brought the sieve.
Now,
the action wasn't exactly appropriate,
I mean,
you know,
to catching rain.
But the point was
that he was in the spirit
of the Zen discipline
by acting without choosing.
And you'll notice this
with certain people.
Certain people
never hesitate.
They always seem,
if something needs to be done,
they seem somehow
simply to grab something
and do it.
You know,
which is a kind of a Zen
capacity.
So what happens is this,
that the teacher of Zen
constantly throws curves
at his students
and puts them in dilemma situations
where they have to act immediately.
One of the things,
of course,
that you mustn't do
is rush
because rush
is a form of hesitation.
Rushing,
when a person rushes
to get a train,
he starts to fall over
his own feet.
See?
So it really holds him up.
It's like trying
to drive at high speed
through the water
with a blunt-nosed boat
at rush.
But now,
what he's trying to get
is a kind of a smooth,
unhesitating,
flowing action
that is the response
to the challenge.
And it must be done
in the,
with what is called
another use of this word
mu.
This is called
wu nian
in Chinese
or munen
in Japanese.
and this word
nian
is composed
of the character
meaning now
and the character
meaning
mind,
heart,
shin.
And so,
it has the meaning
of a thought
but especially
for us
it is well translated
by the psychological term
blocking.
You're blocking,
you say to someone
when they hesitate,
when they
dither,
when they
stop to choose.
So,
the attitude of mu nian
or wu nian
is
the unblocked mind
where
it doesn't hesitate
ever.
Just as the river
doesn't hesitate
when it flows
and just when you
clap your hands
the sound
comes out
without hesitation
and when the moon rises
the water
doesn't wait
to reflect it.
It reflects it instantly.
So,
that instant reflection
or it's a kind
of resonance
is
what is looked for
as a response
of the individual
to his environment.
And he does this
to the degree
that he knows himself
to be one
with his environment.
then his
capacity for response
increases
in according
to the way
in which he feels
that he is simply
all of a piece
with it
and not something
that is
in it
and with a barrier
around him
through which
messages have to get
and then their decisions
have to be made up
and sent out.
So then,
you could say
that a kind of
extremely subtle
sensory awareness
has to be developed
as between
the individual
and his environment
so that he
feels it out.
Now,
today,
this sort of talk
is very unpopular
because
scientifically-minded people
especially
academic scientists
those who teach
in universities
are
exceedingly
suspicious
of intuitive
reactions.
They say,
oh,
well,
you can get
into all sorts
of trouble
that way.
But the thing
that they neglect
to realize
is that
everybody
uses it.
Even the most
meticulously
careful,
analytical,
rigorous,
sound
scientist
uses
intuitive
judgment
after a certain
point.
Why?
Because
you may
accumulate
data forever
and you may
decide
that this is
on the whole
and taking
all due things
into consideration
and procedures
having been
worked out
that this is
the right thing
to do.
Why do you
decide then?
Mostly
because time's
up
and somebody's
pressing for a
decision
or else
you are
bored to death
with bringing
in data
because you
never know
much
how much
data you
need to
make a
certain
decision
and therefore
you may
go on
collecting
data
till all
is blue
but in
the last
analysis
you'll
work on
hunch
and so
much
is actually
in the
end
decided
by
flipping
coins
and the
pity
and the pity
of flipping
coins
for making
decisions
gives you
only two
choices
heads or
tails
one way
or the
other
the
Chinese
have a
more
subtle
way
of
flipping
coins
they
have a
method
of a
sided
coin
to flip
so that
instead of
just heads
or tails
there are
possibilities
of coming
to a
decision
when you
don't know
what to
do
this is
called
the
yijing
or the
book of
changes
where
the
symbols
of
yang
and yin
that is
to say
for yang
a straight
line
undivided
for yin
a line
broken in
the middle
there are
64 ways
of combining
6 of
these lines
in a
hexagram
and so
there is
a complex
method
when you
have to
make a
grave
decision
for
tossing
you do it
by tossing
sticks
or coins
and it
gives you
one of
these
figures
now if
you are
very wise
and have
studied
the book
of change
for a long
time
you don't
need to
use the
book
you just
look at
what the
figure is
and you
can tell
what it
means
because
you see
these
figures
are made
up
of
each
hexagram
figure
is made
up
of
two
three
fold
components
that
has
two
components
of
which
this
one
is
water
and
this
one
is
heaven
so
you
will
have
water
over
heaven
and
a
person
very
skilled
in
the
interpretation
will
feel
out
the
meaning
of
water
over
heaven
but
actually
if
you
are
not
so
skilled
there
is
the
book
and
for
each
of
these
hexagrams
the
book
has
an
oracle
and
it
tells
you
in
curiously
vague
and yet
curiously
precise
terms
the
meaning
of
this
hexagram
and
then
you
in
the
light
of
your
own
situation
make
up
your
mind
what
it's
saying
to
you
in
the
light
of
the
problem
that
you've
raised
the
question
that
you've
asked
the
decision
that
you
had
to
make
you
will
find
invariably
that
these
choices
are
one
of
them
or
indeed
all
of
them
but
you
have
to
pick
one
of
them
because
you
are
after
all
tossing
a
coin
but
it
has
some
peculiarly
appropriate
thing
to
today
in
Asia
this
book
is
still
widely
used
for
making
business
and
political
decisions
although
people
who
are
westernized
wouldn't
let on
perhaps
that
they
use
it
and
so
anybody
who
does
politics
or
does
business
with
Asia
should
be
completely
versed
in
this
book
to
know
what
sort
of
thinking
what
sort
of
approach
might
be
Instagram
had
fallen
when
a
certain
politician
had
made
a
decision
it
would
be
immensely
enlightening
as to
his
future
course
of
action
in
the
same
way
for
example
in
dealing
with
Hitler
our
strategists
I don't
know
if they
did
should
have
been
students
of
astrology
because
he
was
always
consulting
astrologers
and
therefore
astrology
would
be
much
more
easy
to
penetrate
than
horoscope
well
we
have
access
to
Hitler's
horoscope
and
so
we
know
what
he's
thinking
about
it
but
you
don't
have
access
to
what
hexagram
Mao Zedong
threw
when he
decided
to do
something
or
other
so
it's
a
little
bit
more
subtle
well
then
I'm
making
the
point
then
that
our
scientists
are
very
suspicion
that
science
has
of
intuitive
judgment
has
filtered
down
to
the
average
person
in
terms
of
a
mistrust
of
his
own
intuition
of
the
marvelous
analytical
powers
of
his
own
brain
and
so
we
are
always
in
a
dither
of
doubt
as
to
whether
we
are
behaving
the
right
way
doing
the
right
thing
and
so
on
and
so
forth
and
lack
a
certain
kind
of
self
confidence
and
if
you
see
you
lack
self
confidence
you
will
make
mistakes
through
sheer
fumbling
if
you
do
have
self
confidence
you
may
carry
get
away
with
doing
entirely
the
wrong
thing
the
British
have
an
enormous
degree
of
self
confidence
they
know
they're
right
and
they're
not
even
defending
themselves
they
know
they're
so
right
and
therefore
they
can
allow
any
kind
of
political
revolution
total
free
speech
all
sorts
of
things
can
go
on
which
make
Americans
very
nervous
because
Americans
don't
have
the
same
degree
of
aplomb
they're
not
quite
sure
you
see
when
you're
an
aristocrat
and
you've
been
brought
up
for
generations
in
the
right
schools
and
there's
never
any
doubt
whatsoever
you
don't
even
have
to
mention
the
fact
that
you're
an
aristocrat
see
I mean
that's
why
aristocrats
know
how
to
treat
servants
but
they
never
take
it
out
on
their
servants
in
the
sense
of
having
to
emphasize
their
own
superiority
because
they
know
they're
superior
they
don't
even
question
it
see
well
this
is
extraordinary
kind
of
nerve
that
they've
built
up
and
so
the
you know
you
can
do
this
is
first
of
all
in
zen
practice
the
thing
that
you
have
to
understand
is
this
you
have
to
regard
yourself
as
a
cloud
in
the
flesh
because
you
see
clouds
never
make
mistakes
did
you
ever
see
a
cloud
that
was
misshapen
did
you
ever
see
a
badly
designed
wave
no
they
always
do
the
right
just
like
clouds
and
waves
only
we
have
complicated
games
which
cause
us
to
doubt
ourselves
but
if
you
will
treat
yourself
for
a
while
as
a
cloud
or
wave
and
realize
that
you
can't
make
a
mistake
whatever
you
do
because
even
if
you
do
something
that
seems
to
be
totally
disastrous
it
will
come
out
in
and
through
confidence
you
will
be
able
to
trust
your
own
intuition
only
the
thing
that
you
are
a
Buddha
anyhow
and
I'm
going
to
prove
I'm
a
Buddha
anyhow
by
breaking
all
the
rules
so
you
peddle
on
the
weirdest
filthiest
clothes
and
you
go
and
steal
things
and
all
kinds
of
things
like
that
that's
overdoing
it
that
shows
that
you
haven't
learned
you
don't
you're
overcompensating
because
before
you were
told to
do this
do that
and the
other
and watch
and be
self
conscious
and nervous
and so
on
and so
you
just
go
to
the
other
extreme
but
this
is
the
middle
way
of
knowing
it
has
nothing
to
do
with
your
decision
to
do
this
or
not
whether
you
decide
that
you
can't
make
a
mistake
or
whether
you
don't
decide
it
it's
true
anyway
that
you
are
like
cloud
and
water
and
through
that
realization
without
overcompensating
in the
other
direction
you
brain
but
at
that
level
you
are
supra
personal
that
is
to
say
when
you
realize
that
you
stand
here
as
a
body
it's
as
if
you
see
there
was
according
to
certain
cosmology
cosmological
theories
today
a primordial
explosion
which
blew
up
and
created
the
over
the
place
there's
a
big
blob
in
the
center
and
then
as
it
goes
out
it
that
originally
happened
that
in
a
certain
sense
is
in
you
are
still
manifesting
it
you
see
so
when
you
consider
yourself
as
a
physical
being
consider
this
hand
it
is
very
ancient
just like
you pick
up a
stone
how old
is
the stone
well
scientists
will say
well
it's
about
comes
from
the
plasticine
age
and it's
probably
you
know
four
million
years
old
but
then
you
think
well
wait a
minute
wait a
minute
you
mean
four
million
years
old
where
did
it
come
from
what
was
it
before
it
was
a
stone
well
it
was
something
or
other
and that
goes
back
you
see
so
everything
you
touch
including
yourself
is
incredibly
ancient
goes
back
to the
very
beginning
of
time
so
if
you
mind
awakens
you
suddenly
see
all
your
friends
sitting
around
you
looking
incredibly
ancient
I
was
there
from
the
beginning