Passive Acceptance or Active Resistance?
It is the author’s hope and experience that the practices of the Tao can lead one to feelings of connectedness with other beings and with nature. If I see other people as similar to myself, all animals as dear as my own pet, and Heaven and Earth as life-giving parents, then how could I continue to support systems that poison the planet, kill animals by the millions, and hold people in invisible prison from birth to death?
At the same time, the verses of the Tao te Ching praise one’s ability to not see duality, to see everything as perfect, and to avoid judgement and frustration. Perhaps it is a sign of enlightenment and spiritual progress to treat the whole of creation with a playful curiosity.
Or, perhaps the one that seeks or has attained enlightenment has a duty to fight, protest, or stand up against the evils perpetrated by the powerful against the powerless? This author will let the reader decide what is right for them.