The Great Tao: The Way of the Butterfly (Part 1)

In the first talk of his "Way of the Butterfly" series, Tim Burkett explores two stanzas of the Tao Te Ching (drawing from Stephen Mitchell's translation) to guide the audience toward a deeper, more peaceful way of being, especially in times of collective anxiety and societal division.

The Inexhaustible Treasury of Inner Radiance

Burkett begins by focusing on the stanza: "The great Tao cannot be named. It is rooted in not knowing. This is called inner radiance. Take from it. It is never depleted. It is the inexhaustible treasury."

He unpacks the core Taoist metaphor for this unnameable source: the "valley of the universe."

• The Valley as a Source: This valley is described as a pitch-black, dark, and warm nurturing womb—the yin from which all light (yang) emanates. In Zen, this is known as the Buddha nature.
• The Artificial Light vs. The Abyss: In difficult times, such as the current political climate, we tend to cling to the "artificial light" of our anxious, repetitive thinking—our "chatterbox cafe." This is an attempt to seek stability and certainty in a world that is always in flux, like a great, ever-changing ocean. The darkness of the Tao scares us, and we run back to our comforting, but ultimately limiting, thoughts.
• The Power of Going In: Burkett encourages the audience to move beyond their "fragile small identity" and courageously turn inward. He uses a personal story of being a fearful child who learned to dissolve his fear by moving closer to his grandmother in the dark. The darkness is not to be ignored, but explored. By sinking into the valley, we access an unnatural and healing light that Rumi referred to when he said, "If everything around seems dark, look again, you may be the light."
  
  

Embracing Non-Duality and Not Knowing

The talk then moves to the second stanza, which speaks to the non-dualistic wisdom of the sage: "The master is not trapped in opposites... They see that life becomes death and death becomes life. That right has a kernel of wrong within it and wrong a kernel of right."

• The Pivot of the Tao: The non-dual perspective recognizes that everything is in flux (yin and yang constantly changing) and interpenetrating. The master finds the "pivot of the Tao," or the center of the circle, where one can "sit serene" while the opposites of yes and no chase each other endlessly around the circumference. This "pivot" is the darkness of "don't know mind."
• The Shadow Personality: True peace and resilience come from a heart open beyond "either/or." Fear and the desire for "artificial light" cause us to repress and reject our negative emotions, instincts, and traumatic memories, which become a "shadow personality" that haunts us.
• Wisdom from the Dark: However, every rejected aspect "carries a seed of wisdom." By having the courage to acknowledge and "embrace the deplorable"—not by "letting go," but by simply being with it—we follow the emotion-tinged thought to its roots in the valley of the universe. This brings a natural, primal empathy and compassion that is not forced or based on a need to "be good."
• A New Life: Burkett concludes by stressing that this is our natural way of being. The depth we seek is not something to get through "striving," but is always available. Becoming a "disciple" of this truth replaces the need for harsh "discipline." By resting on the pivot of "no-thingness," we leap from the small self to the big self and find the "great treasure" within us—a life of "riding on dragons" that is whole and effortless.

The talk series is titled "The Way of the Butterfly"—a reference to the famous Zhuangzi (Chuang Tzu) story of dreaming one is a butterfly, highlighting the interpenetration and fluidity of all things, and the need to not be "caught by some idea of who we are or who we should be."

About the Speaker: Tim Burkett
Tim Burkett is a Zen priest, former clinical psychologist, and the author of Enlightenment is an Accident. He began his spiritual path with the renowned Zen master Shunryu Suzuki Roshi in 1964 and was later ordained by Katagiri Roshi. For decades, he served as the guiding teacher of the Minnesota Zen Meditation Center. As a psychologist, he also co-founded the People Incorporated, a mental health service organization in Minnesota. He describes Zen as "half Buddhist, half Taoist," with Buddhism as the father and Taoism as the mother, and often draws on the playful wisdom of Taoist sages in his current teachings.