The Tao of Wonder Woman — Richard Kightlinger

Chapter Twenty-Five, Man is Great

“Wonder Woman! Wonder Woman! Now the world is ready for you and the wonders you can do… Make a hawk a dove… Stop a war with love… Make a liar tell the truth…” *

We know of four great things and humans are one of them. Humans can accomplish many things. The problem is that Humans forget. Humans forget to seek a spiritual life, to trust the world, to look to heaven and to seek peace first. Humans forget that if the earth falls then humans will fall. The earth is mother to all things. Humans should care for the earth and treat the mother as an obedient child cares for the loving mother.

To follow the Tao means to be great. Humans can be great. We just need to remember. The Earth is all we have. To care for the Earth is to care for your home. How we treat the Earth reflects how we treat each other. If we do not care for our fellows, then we do not care for the Earth. If we do not care for the Earth, then we do not care for Heaven. Then if we do not care for Heaven then we certainly are not a spiritual life. To care for your fellows is a sign of practicing some sort of spiritual life. If we practice a spiritual life with kindness, peace, and love then we too can be great.

“There is a Being that is all-inclusive and existed before heaven and earth. Calm, indeed, and immaterial! It is alone and changeless! All creation flows from it and returns to it.it is the world’s mother. I cannot define it, but I will call it Tao. If forced to describe it, I will call it Great. The great is evasive, the evasive is the distant, the distant is ever near. The Tao is Great. So is Heaven great, and so is Earth and so is man. Man is the child of Earth, Earth is the child of Heaven, Heaven is the child of the Tao. The Tao has no mother but is the mother of all.” *

What Diana has learned. Therefore, she is great. She seeks to teach these lessons through her mission. Wonder Woman believes all beings are great. That all who live have the potential for greatness.

“If the prospect of living in a world where trying to respect the basic rights of those around you and valuing each other simply because we exist are such daunting, impossible tasks that only a superhero born of royalty can address them, then what sort of world are we left with? And what sort of world do you want to live in?" *

“How disgraceful and how sick. Where does it come from this idea you seem to have – that threating other human beings in such a malignant way is somehow acceptable?” *

“I’m sorry for your loss, my friend. But if loss makes you doubt your belief in justice…Then you never truly believed in justice at all.” *

“I know it sounds terrifying, but many of us have seen what patriarch’s world has to offer. It’s not simply war and filth… but science and medicines and technologies many of us have only dreamed about from this world and a thousand others. We can do this. We can take the very best we’ve seen and combine it with the best we have to offer…and make a Themyscira like none we’ve ever seen!” *

*Wonder Woman, Lyrics by Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox

*Tao Teh Ching, The Book of the Way, by Lao Tzu, translated by Dwight Goddard (1919), revised and edited by Sam Torode, Ancient Renewal, Middleton Delaware, 2015

*“A Day In The Life”, Wonder Woman #170, DC Comics, July 2001

*“Paradise Found”, Wonder Woman #177, DC Comics, February 2002

*“Lifeblood”, Expatriate Part 2, Wonder Woman #19, DC Comics, 2008

*“Paradise Found”, Wonder Woman #177, DC Comics, February 2002

Chapter Twenty-Six, The Baggage Cart

“I want light baggage when I decide to blow this joint.” - Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Rebecca Wells,

“Heaviness is the root of lightness. Serenity is the master of restlessness. Therefore, the Sage traveling all day, does not part with the baggage wagon; though there may be gorgeous sights to see. He stays at ease in his own home. Why should a lord of ten thousand chariots display his lightness to the world? To be light is to be separated from one’s root; to be restless is to lose one’s self-mastery” *

The Tao suggests that being always light and carefree can cause us to get lost and separated from our home. But to be always sitting at home not enjoying life can bring about complacency and boredom. Either way we would leave our spiritual table forgetting to nourish our spiritual selves. We all seek to keep our heads in the clouds with God. We also seek to keep our feet firmly on the ground in reality. The mastery of the self will allow us to do just that – to spiritual and realistic.

The person practicing a healthy spiritual life will realize where they have come from, recognizing their recovery. Remembering the losses and the gains from the life lived. We all carry this baggage. The baggage is the root – the heaviness. We all have hopes and dreams, desires. These are the lightness of our souls. Keeping an eye on both will allow us to be firmly on the path and at the same time watching the horizon for our next landmark.

“Daybreak. No better reason to go on, to persevere what exists in nature. It’s felt a bit like night would never end. So much pain. So much grief. And every day the sun comes up again. Warm illuminating and indescribably lovely. That bounty, that majesty shines on saint and sinner alike. Every rise of the sun is a new chance to change ways, to be the person we’d always hoped we could be. It is our gift from the heavens. Our chance to be reborn. Our chance to breathe air as reinvented beings.” *

Diana strives to be spiritual and realistic. However, she is lucky. She can communion with the gods and walk among them in Olympus, calling them by their true names. But she knows the truth about humans as well. She knows they sin for reasons that can be just and worthy or to be murderous in the name of “love”. Therefore, she keeps close to her lasso of truth. The truth she seeks, is the heaviness of her soul. It keeps her grounded in her mission. Her mission of LOVE and Peace is what keeps her soul restless and light. The idea that all humans can change, becoming better keeps her moving along her path. Her truth and mission are constantly nourishing her spiritually.

“That’s what I love about you Diana. To this day, it still awes you the depths to which the souls of those in patriarch’s world can sink. Even after all your years here. It really is one of your great charms.” *

*Tao The Ching, Lao Tzu, Translated by John C.H. Wu, Shambhala Publications, Boston & London 2003

*“Contagion”, Wrath of the Silver Serpent, part 1, Wonder Woman #42, DC Comics, May 2010

*“Paradise Found”, Wonder Woman #177, DC Comics, February 2002

Chapter Twenty-Seven, The Inner Light

“Always let your inner light shine. By doing so, you not only light a path for yourself, but also light a way for others.” Donald L Hicks

“Great leaders have three things; inner light, inner vision and inner strength.” Amit Ray

Diana’s inner light shines. There are those people naturally drawn to her as well as those repulsed by her. But still her light shines. She seeks the goodness. She stays true to her mission. She stays true to love. People are afraid to see her feats of strength but so very grateful to have her protect them. There are those that find Diana beautiful while those think her style of clothing is offensive. Some think she is the perfect role model for women and young girls. While others think she gives femininity a slap in the face.

Wonder Woman teaches us to do great things. To be great people. She is an inspiration. She is truly a good person. Her mission of Love and Peace becomes so much more. Good or bad Wonder Woman is an inspiration.

“That Wonder Woman deals with things that are global, that are relevant to our world today. Problems that we have with politics, inequality, with humanitarian abuses and things like that. She is much more about hope and tolerance than a lot of other superheroes. She has grown beyond DC comics, beyond any writer of creator.” Gail Simone *

“Wonder Woman’s legacy is what we make it. You she gave us an idea of justice, and compassion and friendship among women. Now it depends on what we do with it.” Gloria Steinem *

John C H Wu’s translation of the Tao the Ching, speaks of “following the guidance of the Inner Light.” * This has been translated into many ways. It can mean one’s discernment, one’s understanding, and one’s values. It is the brightness one holds inside. Which is the spiritual practice. When we practice, we find inner strength, power and light. Used correctly it can guide us in the direction we need to go along our path. When we are following our inner guidance, we find we do more for what is right. We seek less approval but seek the needs of others. How can our actions help our fellows?

We see the true nature of things. There will always be people to question our actions. But if we are being true to our “inner guidance” nothing will pull us away from our path. This inner guidance is wise and true. This inner guidance is our heart’s desire. Our true nature. What we perceive as good and bad come from the same place. Therefore, there is a fine line between what is good and bad. A mother will give up her career because her family’s needs outweigh her own. A husband will leave his wife because he realizes he is gay. Both are good or bad. The mother could develop resentments that will manifest into abuse on the children. The gay husband leaves his wife so that the true healing can begin.

Our teachers are the people in our lives. We see them for who we are. They are our mirrors. Those that honor us we follow. Those that we honor follow us. The wife of the gay husband will love him through his inner turmoil. The gay husband will love his wife enough to set her free. When honoring each other we can recognize our light in each other.

“Good Travelers leave no tracks. Good words leave no trace. Good counting needs no marks. Good doors have no bolts yet cannot be forced. Good knots have no rope but cannot be untied. In this way the Sage always helps people and rejects none, always helps all beings, and rejects none. This is called practicing brightness. Therefore, the good person is the bad person’s teacher, and the bad person is the good person’s resource. Not to value the teacher, not to love the resource, causes great confusion even for the intelligent. This is called the vital secret.” *

*“Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroines”, directed by Kristy Guevara-Flanagan, produced Kelcey Edwards. Documentary March 10, 2012

*Tao The Ching, Lao Tzu, Translated by John C.H. Wu, Shambhala Publications, Boston & London 2003

*Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu, translated by Stephen Addiss and Stanley Lombardo, Shambhala Publications, Boston & London, 2007

Chapter Twenty-Eight, Becoming a Mound of Clay

“Who knows his strength, yet retains gentleness, is the valley of the kingdom. (All flows to him) If he be the valley of the kingdom, humility abides with him; he becomes again a little child. Who knows his light, yet retains darkness, is the exemplar of the kingdom. If he be the exemplar of the kingdom, holiness abides with him; he becomes again perfect. Who knows his glory, yet retains humility, is likewise the valley of the kingdom. If he be the valley of the kingdom, his righteousness is made perfect; he gains again the perfect simplicity (of the way). When the perfect simplicity (of the way) is spread abroad, it molds all beings. When the holy man attains, he becomes the ruler in the kingdom. Governing all, he injures none.” *

The Tao again speaks of humility becoming the greatest part of any arsenal. Through humility one become the example for the world. To know humility the spiritual person will know the male and female and become like a child. The essence of spirituality is to keep that childlike faith hope and wonder. That same spiritual person knowing humility will also know black, white; darkness and light; sin and salvation. They will become the model for the world to follow. If that same person knows true humility, they will become the they will know success and failure, the glorious and lowly. They will become mound of clay – easily formed into what is needed.

In the many different translations of the Tao Te Ching this idea of being formless yet ready to be formed is referred to as being “perfect”. The perfect simplicity* or primal simplicity*. This idea could be referred to as becoming like a block of wood easily fashioned. Remember the Tao was formed from nothing and became the way. The formless that has form. The empty space becomes useful. The nothingness has purpose. If we practice humility, we will eventually become formed carved or molded into the best people we can be and be useful members of society. The example of humility will be followed.

“And that to me is something. Coming to an understanding of who you are in the midst of discovering who you aren't.” – Brian Azzarello

“Interestingly enough, whenever I cite examples from superhero comic books in a lecture, my students never wonder when they will use this information in their "real life". Apparently they all have plans, post-graduation, that involve protecting the City from all threat while wearing spandex. As a law-abiding citizen, this notion fills me with a great sense of security, knowing as I do how many of my scientist colleagues could charitably be termed "mad".” *

“If you need to stop an asteroid, you call Superman. If you need to solve a mystery, you call Batman. But if you need to end a war, you call Wonder Woman.” – Gail Simone

Wonder Woman is just that…a mound of clay. Her original story was, her mother, Hippolyta, formed her out of clay and the ancient gods breathed life into her and giving her all her abilities and talents. Taken as is with the above description of the Tao, Diana is a formless mound turned into something useful. She keeps her infant childlike wonder always seeing the good in people and never losing hope. She is always searching for LOVE and Peace. Yet she keeps her feet firmly on the ground knowing that evil exist in the world and brings salvation to those that needed and to those that have sinned. Diana has become a pattern for the world – the exemplar.

Diana, Wonder Woman, is the model to practice. She teaches us to be great and humble. She is an inspiration, yet her ideals are simple. Following her inspiration brings Love and Peace to a world that needs Hope.

*The Tao Te Ching Lao Tzu’s Book of The Way and of Righteousness, Lao Tzu (author), Translation & Commentary by Charles Johnston, Serialized in Theosophical Quarterly, 1921-23, Kshetra Books, By Jon w. Fergus, 2016

*Tao The Ching, Lao Tzu, Translated by John C.H. Wu, Shambhala Publications, Boston & London 2003

The Physics of Superheroes: Spectacular Second Edition, James Kakalios, Penguin, Nov 3, 2009