Friday, June 13, 2008

Encountering daoist masters in the world

Contrary to a widely held belief, Daoist masters are not necessarily cloistered in monasteries, as many of their Buddhist brethren are. In fact, they are great practitioners of the the phrase:

before enlightenment, chop wood.
after enlightenment....chop wood!

They live IN the world, enjoying its pulsations of duality and integration and teaching by the example of their lives and in the particular duality they integrate. One such master is Cesar Millan, the dog whisperer. In actuality, he's also a people-whisperer, as he demonstrates time and again on his show. Cesar's duality is that people treat their dogs like people, when they need to treat them like dogs. Once they understand the psychology of dogs, harmony and balance are achieved. Dogs are simply mirrors for people (thus our own daoist gurus) and tell us about ourselves and how we are progressing on our path. It's perhaps no accident that his book, Cesar's Way, which chronicles his journey from a farm in Mexico to the US, has the word "Way" in it.

And just today, I encountered Zeke (512-478-2181)a daoist master who fixed my broken air-conditioner. Our entire interaction placed a subtle smile on my face.

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