Unconscious Fate
This insight alone, ultimately, is what Laozi wrote 81 chapters about in his Dao de Jing.
Except that Laozi wouldn’t quite mean ‘know the unconscious’ the way we think about it … he does not want us to know with the ‘reasonable’ consciousness of a thinker — say, a scientist — but the mindful awareness of a master.
Jung would like me to ‘know’ the unconscious. Laozi suggests I embody what is Dao in my unconscious, and let go what is not. Not quite the same thing.
All things issue from it;
all things return to it.
To find the origin,
trace back the manifestations.
When you recognize the children
and find the mother,
you will be free of sorrow.
If you close your mind in judgements
and traffic with desires,
your heart will be troubled.
If you keep your mind from judging
and aren’t led by the senses,
your heart will find peace.
Seeing into darkness is clarity.
Knowing how to yield is strength.
Use your own light
and return to the source of light.
This is called practicing eternity.
(trans.) Stephen Mithcell
