According to an old Chinese legend, after their death, daoist scholars transform into cranes. They leave behind the world we know and fly home. Back to the origin of the universe. They call it: Dao: also known as the great unit. The Alma Mater, the great mother. The matrix, paradise or whatever names the various cultures of humanity gave it. Once there, they dissolved and then flowed back into the infinite cycle of materialization and dematerialization. The dynamics of yin and yang. The Dao. Birthplace of all things known and unknown to us. The place to which we will all return one day.
This is only one of countless legends that circulate around this wonderful bird. In almost every culture, from ancient times to the Middle Ages, the crane has had an important position.
We have chosen this daoist legend to present our band.
The legend is symbolic of the loneliness and aimlessness of the human species and its desperate hope of eventually finding a safe home. The fate of man. Lost in this infinite universe, bound together in fear and loneliness.
Left behind only with the cursed hope that there is a sanctuary somewhere. This security that many of us want so much. The security that this planet just can’t give us, even though it is our only home. A roof that offers no protection?…Devil may care.
All religious and sectarian movements since the beginning of human civilization have recognized this dilemma of man.
Perhaps naive superstition in the beginning, later used as a means of power, they invented alternate «homelands».
The competition of weird and wacky stories was open. Every culture invented its own illusions and god stories. The narrative is amazingly similar throughout all cultures. Some stories are very similar. Only the names of the protagonists change.
But what connected the stories was the guarantee of a «sanctuary» after being here.
And now the great killing began. Which illusion is a fact? Mine or yours? The desire for security maddens us. At least the illusion of my tribe gives me some sort of a home.
Life seems to be boon and bane simultaneously.
«Culture is not your friend»
Terence MacKenna
The dictum of the message in the taoist philosophy, is to achieve independence.
Independence from earthly or heavenly promises. Self-sufficiency as the highest maxim.
From very early on, daoists knew only too well what religious or ideological movements were capable of doing.
Pagan gods
Judaism
Christianity
Islam
Buddhism
Hinduism
Scientology
Communism
Fascism
The invisible hand of the market
and so on…
All of the above «movements» sell «illusory security» to their followers. Carried by the despair of man, his loneliness and the fear of being forgotten in infinity. In the end, they are all just testaments. One day remnants of past cultures. Which in the end brought more suffering than blessing.
At the moment we are in a time of transitions. Well, at least in some parts of the secularized world. Some behave by threatening everything new all the harder. Radicalize and lash out like a cornered animal.
No culture gives away its hard-won illusions just like that.
Unfortunately, as we all see, war is unavoidable.
When war or better change is not fought inside, then it comes to the fight outside.
That was and still is the more popular outcome because it’s the easier way.
What comes after Religion? …….Religion of course!
The new generations in the secularized world are currently creating movements with «religion-like» features. Unfortunately they also obviously still need gods. The culture of debate leaves much to be desired. Excluding, defaming and ignoring those who think differently are the tried and tested weapons of those they fight against.
«Same same but different».
The vacuum of the void should not be underestimated.
Emptiness is an opportunity but at the same time also very threatening for people.
No obligation to anyone is another of the maxims of Daoism. No suprise it did not become the favorite movement of the chinese dynasties. But Confucianism was welcome, because it demanded absolute obedience to the authorities.
Daoist were often regarded as Misfits.
The birth of Daoism was the book «tao te king» by Laozi, a fictional character.
600-400 B.C. World Literature.
Described as one of the first anarchist works.
A godless book!
An earthquake at the time that did not bring them many admirers.
A godless book 400 years before Christ! Fascinated? Read it and see.
The Oath of the Cranes therefore means a promise. The promise of a home that exists.
The universe. Not more not less.
No angels, no devils, no virgins. They are all at home here. Enjoy them now.
The home where we all come from. Back to a world before we arrived here and were educated, confused, seduced or abused by ideologies, religions or mundane desires, which in the end, as we all experience ourselves, alienate us from our being and cripple us physically and mentally and also alienate us from this wonderful planet. That’s probably why we treat it so badly, even though it provides us with everything for free. We humans couldn’t even make a crappy carrot without the earth’s help.
FACT.
Show me your face before you were born.
Zen-philosophy
Daoists recommended us to submit to the «cosmic» laws.
Means: to accept the irrevocable things.
But this is not the strength of human beings. Interference and control is our great desire. But control and security are not cosmic laws. Neither is hope. These are human needs and therefore doomed to fail.
Be wary of those who guarantee you safety. They usually leave mass graves.
Take responsibility for your actions. Your words become your life.
Act only according to that maxim whereby you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.
— Immanuel Kant, Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals[1]
But first of all realize your own indoctrination
or in the words of the tao:
the obfuscation of the third eye
SeA 2022
With this text I don’t intend to emphasize daoism as the measure of all things. It is also only a philosophy. In the west a not so noticed one. In my eyes however a very rich source of knowledge. I like the idea that the universe is simply a coincidence. That life was simply possible because the potential for it is present in the universe. A liberating thought. The text is conceived as an inspiration.
Never stop asking, thinking, laughing and most importantly, wondering.
By the way, Laozi means: The old child.
Old but still with the ability to be amazed. Keep this ability and you will experience bliss.