What else can really define us other than how we connect to the world. To look to our highest attributes and to express them to our fullest. What I especially like about Eastern philosophy is that it allows us to express that our knowledge and wisdom we may have gained over time is to become more that simply a theory, but that we are to exemplify a certain way of life. To do this we must lay down a foundation with our knowledge as to create a meaningful life.
Our individual greatness lies in recognizing that we can’t know everything, as some things will always remain unknowable. In Western philosophy, Aristotle from ancient Greece teaches us to strive for understanding in all things. When knowledge becomes a way of life, it achieves an eternal quality. This is what I love about studying history, whether from the East or the West. His influence extended from late antiquity and the early middle-ages into the Renaissance and beyond to Judeo-Islamic philosophies during the Middle Ages, as well as Christian theology, and the scholastic tradition of the Catholic Church.
The point here is that we never know the extent of our influence on others even after we are gone. Confucius was never recognized while he was alive as being important. It was not until after he was gone for over a hundred years that he was recognized for the greatness of what was to become Confucian philosophy. Aristotle was revered among medieval Muslim scholars as “The First Teacher”, and among medieval Christians like Thomas Aquinas as simply “The Philosopher”, while the poet Dante called him “the master of those who know”.
Instead of chasing what feels limited, we should seek the infinite that lies within us. By embracing the infinite, we can find ourselves in something fresh and unexpected. We never know when, around the next corner, the answer we’ve been seeking will show up—or perhaps reappear, trying to catch our attention. It’s about not letting the fear of knowing hold us back but rather using the edge of fear as a starting point for new beginnings.
An ancient saying tells us that when the student is ready, the teacher appears. It is the knowledge we embrace that unlocks the path to the teacher. This concept is a recurring theme in the study of Lieh Tzu, encouraging us to constantly question what we assume or believe we already know or understand. With the answer lying in what may still remain unknown or as yet to be remembered.
My travels with Lieh Tzu / Interpolations along the Way
Chapter 3 – King Mu of Zhou
48. Fine-tuning Directions
Something is out there waiting for you Cloud Dancing. You won’t find it where you 
are now or where you have been. Stay clear of attachments and go as if blinded by the wind. Your eyes squinting to see what cannot be seen. Leaving everyday wants and desires behind for those who cannot appreciate the way of virtue that must be followed to the end.
Remember what you have written and come forward with only the strength of your inner vision for all to see. Stop antagonizing over events past and present. Rejoice in the nature around you and your own quiet resolve to shape events as the dragons would have them and find peace and comfort within your own heart and soul. Everything that occurs must occur for your destiny to be fulfilled. Simply by falling back and letting it happen.
What there is to be known you already know. All that comes forward is simply the way of coming forward to know yourself. You travel with dragons now so what harm could possibly occur.
You must conquer your own fear of the unknown. Since you know all there could be to know, how could you not know fear and what may lie behind it to see?
The path that you must take has already been determined. Live each moment to its fullest and what becomes clear will be the path that you must follow.
Something is out there waiting for you Cloud Dancing. You won’t find where you are now or where you have been. Simply continue fine tuning your direction through your writing and all will be made clear. 3/8/95
Number forty-eight of one hundred fifty-eight entries.
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