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jonalcoholic

Texas

Member Since 2004

Followers 9 Following 7

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Friday Feb 06, 2004

Feb 5, 2004
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It's friday, thought i'd leave with you something to think about over the weekend. Oh yea, the last poem is archived in my pics.
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The Vinegar Tasters. In this painting, composed long ago, we see three men standing around a vat of vinegar. Each has dipped his finger into the vinegar and tasted of it. The expression on each man's face shows his individual reaction. The painting is intended to be allegorical and each of the three men represent one of the Three Teachings of China. The vinegar they are tasting represents the Essence of Life. The three men represented are: K'ung Fu-tse (Confucius), Buddha, and Lao-tse (author of the oldest book of Taoism). For the purposes of this story we shall call them Confucius, Buddha and Lao-Tse.

The first man has a sour look on his face, the second wears a bitter expression, but the third man is smiling. Why the difference?

To Confucius, life seemed rather sour. He believed that the present was out of step with the past and that the world would be a much better place if there were strict rules. Confucius emphasized a strict order which ruled the affairs of all in his land. Anything that did not fit into the established order, was bad and not worthy.

To Buddha, the second figure in our painting, life on earth was bitter. This world, according to Buddha, was filled with attachments and desires that led to suffering. The world was seen as a setter of traps, a generator of illusions and a revolving wheel of endless pain. In order to find peace, Buddha maintained that it was necessary to transcend this world. The Buddhist sees the path to happiness constantly being interrupted by the bitterness of this world.

Now we come to the third man in our painting, Lao-tse. According to Lao-tse, the world was governed by the laws of nature, not by those of men. He maintained that the more man interfered with the natural balance of things, the more out of balance the world became. As things became unbalanced, trouble followed.

So why is Lao-tse smiling? We all know what vinegar taste like. And, if the vat of vinegar represents the essence of life, should he not also have the bitter expression on his face as the other two? From the Taoist point of view, sourness and bitterness come from the interfering and unappreciative mind. Life itself, when understood and utilized for what it is, is sweet. That is the message of The Vinegar Tasters.

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