60 Chinese Philosophy&Holiness #3: Fable of Farmer's Horse - a podcast by Br Lawrence MGL

How do we navigate times of misfortune and suffering? Allow the wisdom of this Chinese fable to teach us patience and detachment. Learn how "Acting without forcefulness" helps us surrender to Divine Providence.   

Excerpt from episode: "After all, without the mind of God himself, can I truly judge an accident, or a missed opportunity or a broken relationship to be definitively bad? After all, if the horse hadn’t run off at the start of the story, the farmer’s son would probably be dead in the war. 

Chinese wisdom would suggest that this fable is actually not about whether or not good fortune is good, or bad fortune is bad. Rather, it is about learning to have a healthy detachment from either extremes. It is about learning to hold on to seemingly good and bad fortune lightly, so as to be always ready to flow with the Tao, a word which you may remember means the Way. Taoist philosophy invites us to live in accordance with the natural flow of things, trusting in the balance of the cosmos, and therefore to avoid making forceful, premature actions. Every season has its fruits, and try as we might to cultivate mangoes in winter, we will only work against the Tao, doing violence to ourselves and others. Better to grow mangoes in summer, says the Tao, and while in winter, to cultivate oranges instead. Or Mandarins. Tao is as much about knowing when to act, as it is about acting well. In reference to the horse fable, Taoist teaching warns us from making premature judgements about events, because from premature judgements flows premature actions..." 

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