The ambassador alludes (perhaps subconsciously) to concepts that are similar to many religions. I eagerly saw the relationship between what he said and Taoism for I have recently immersed myself in the Tao Te Ching and other writings on the background of Taoism.

It would be premature for me to align the ambassadors thoughts too closely to Taoism because it seems that his recent muse temporarily took refuge some place other than his explored mind before it reached completion.

However, due to the restraints on my own mind, will attempt to follow his musing from the perspective of an aspiring Taoist.

The Tao, which means path, is kin to the concept of Out There. It is the path that leads us through Out There in search, or perhaps in avoidance, of the Peace and the Fear.

The Peace and the Fear are kin to the concept of yin and yang. These are the two opposing forces of Out There that are always in harmony. The most common understanding of yin and yang is the balance between good and evil in the universe. That, however, is just the tip of the ice berg, so to speak.

The yin and yang are like energy - they can neither be created nor destroyed. They will always exist and must always exist. They are mutaully arising and inseperable. They are not, however, necessarily good or evil and although the word fear has a certain connotation of something dangerous or, evil, I do not think that the ambassador necessarily means the Fear is inherently a bad thing.

Taoism offers a two conecpts: Te (the power) and Wu-wei (inaction). Both concepts introduce the idea of sharing and/or attaining what the ambassador might call the Peace. One is predominently individualistic while the other is communistic (clearly not the political theory of communism, rather the idea of bettering the community).

Is there a difference between inner peace and the Peace?

-the colonel