SHIN JIN MEI | 信心銘- DAY FIFTEEN
"The two exist because of the One,
But hold not even to this One;
When a mind is not disturbed,
The ten thousand things offer no offense."
The two is a colloquial way of rendering dualism. It is a reminder that dualism is not to be somehow disparaged - as it has its source in the One. We work skillfully with what presents itself - this is our practice.
Additionally, even the One should not be grasped tightly - as it stands to decay into a conceptual mirage if it is objectified. Embody the One - live it before the clouds of picking and choosing obscure it.
The ten thousand things is a common Taoist reference to the myriad manifest forms of the material universe. We see, label, and catalog these as concepts. As concepts, these are further identified as good or bad, desirable or loathsome, etc. We can take offense or cling to something in concept. When a mind is not disturbed, however, the ten thousand things offer no offense - as there is no gap in which to cast discriminating thoughts. We experience directly.
