Mysteriously, wonderfully,
I bid farewell to what goes, I greet what comes;
for what comes cannot be denied, and what goes cannot be detained.
Zhuang Zhou, 4th Century BCE
The world is sacred.
It can’t be improved.
If you tamper with it, you’ll ruin it.
If you treat it like an object, you’ll lose it.
There is a time for being ahead,
a time for being behind;
a time for being in motion,
a time for being at rest;
a time for being vigorous,
a time for being exhausted;
a time for being safe,
a time for being in danger.
The Master sees things as they are,
without trying to control them.
She lets them go their own way,
and resides at the center of the circle.
Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, 29 (Stephen Mitchell translation)
We have a tendency to blame others or circumstances, both for outside events and for what effects us directly. This “blaming mind” has been around forever and is very deep rooted. Modern social media seems to even strengthen this innate tendency.
Ah how shameless – the way these mortals blame the gods.
From us alone they say come all their miseries yes but they themselves with their own reckless ways compound their pains beyond their proper share.
Homer The Odyssey 1.37-40