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Are You Engaged in the Act of Existence? Then You’re a Man of the Tao
My daughter runs.
She runs in the morning, she runs at night. Runs, runs, runs.
People around town see her and go, “Look at that girl! She’s a runner.”
But I know she’s more than that.
My daughter breathes. She breathes in the morning, she breathes at night. Breathes, breathes, breathes. She’s a breather.
And you know what else?
She exists. She exists in the morning, she exists at night. Exists, exists, exists. She’s an exister . . . a being.
It’s All Absurdly Axiomatic
It’s all common sense, right? Almost so obvious that it borders on stupidity?
“Scheske, we get it: Your daughter engages in the act of running, so we know she’s a runner. She engages in the act of breathing, so we know she’s a breather. She engages in the act of existing, so we know she’s a being. It’s axiomatic to the point of absurd common sense.”
Perhaps.
But just grant me this: There’s something different between “engaging in the act of running/breathing/existing” and “being a runner/breather/being.”
I don’t even want you to explain what the difference is. Just concede the point: they’re different somehow.
And then focus on the “being” part.
Let Me Hurt Your Brain a Little
Each person is engaged in the act of existence. Therefore, each person exists. We know a person exists by seeing her (and the traits that distinguish her from other things), so in that sense, her distinguishing traits are prior to her existence (we know the traits before we know the being), but even before the traits can be seen, she is engaged in the act of existence. If she weren’t, there would be nothing for the traits to latch onto.
Now let me give you a simple formula:
Act of existence →essence →being.
I call it the “Reality Spectrum.” It’s the full spectrum, in three points of reference, of our reality. We are engaged in the act of existence, which allows essences (attributes, traits…
