Innocence
Black and orange butterfly --
Flying joyously.
Wings like a nun's hands:
First fold in prayer,
Then open in offering.
The world moves toward war. Leaders increase their rhetoric. Armies
mass along the border. The world, it seems, never tires of conflict.
We should remember the innocent in life. The delicate, the gossamer,
the beautiful. A butterfly lives for a day. It comes into the world
with very little reason except to fly and mate. It does not question
its destiny. It does not engage in any alchemy to extend its lifespan
or to change its lot. It goes about its brief life happily.
A butterfly is always attracted to the beautiful. Whether it is the
sun on a blade of grass or the edge of a deep ruby rose, the butterfly
spends its brief time dwelling on loveliness.
Even the angry and insane leave the butterfly alone. Why can we not
learn to honor the innocence in one another? Maybe we spend too much
time dwelling on the ugly. In the name of practicality and realism, we
think about strategy, defense, territory, gain, and advantage. We are
too late to be like the butterfly. But at least we can honor it, and
move as closely as possible to its simple existence.
Personal Interpretation
Simplicity is the key to an enjoyable life. The more we amass, the more complicated life becomes. The more we think on things that are beyond our ability to change, the less we live in the moment. Let us strive to be more like the butterfly who is content to live its short life in peace. It is innocence embodied, attracted to beauty in all its myriad forms. Perhaps a world of peace and prosperity is only a dream, but we improve our world with each and every effort we make toward tranquility. Let the butterfly be our guide.
Friday, September 25, 2015
September 21st
Non-interference
I love this lake,
Basin of heavenly tears,
Tilted from lunar pull
Jostling its shore.
I love these mountains,
Stark rock outcroppings,
Sculpted by the oceans,
Lifted at some unknown time,
Isolated in a field of vetch,
Cleaved by silver falls.
A sentinel owl regards me unblinkingly,
And beyond, alpine forests form a cadence
To a distant moon.
The earth is overrun by investigators and engineers. The wilderness is made vulgar with the noise of tourists. We don't need their thermometers and saws. We don't need bridges and monuments. In the context of Tao, this is to violate the earth with human ambition and to crawl over the landscape like flies over fresh fruit. Instead we should simply walk through this mysterious world without being a burden to it.
Personal Interpretation
For too long we have tried to bend nature to our will. We have taken without giving anything in return. We need not impose ourselves on the natural world. We can walk through forests without harvesting the wood of their trees, can reflect on the sea without disturbing its waters. To live in concert with Tao is to see ourselves as being on equal footing with all life. When we truly adopt this mindset we will find that we think less about our sense of self and more about the great web of life itself.
I love this lake,
Basin of heavenly tears,
Tilted from lunar pull
Jostling its shore.
I love these mountains,
Stark rock outcroppings,
Sculpted by the oceans,
Lifted at some unknown time,
Isolated in a field of vetch,
Cleaved by silver falls.
A sentinel owl regards me unblinkingly,
And beyond, alpine forests form a cadence
To a distant moon.
The earth is overrun by investigators and engineers. The wilderness is made vulgar with the noise of tourists. We don't need their thermometers and saws. We don't need bridges and monuments. In the context of Tao, this is to violate the earth with human ambition and to crawl over the landscape like flies over fresh fruit. Instead we should simply walk through this mysterious world without being a burden to it.
Personal Interpretation
For too long we have tried to bend nature to our will. We have taken without giving anything in return. We need not impose ourselves on the natural world. We can walk through forests without harvesting the wood of their trees, can reflect on the sea without disturbing its waters. To live in concert with Tao is to see ourselves as being on equal footing with all life. When we truly adopt this mindset we will find that we think less about our sense of self and more about the great web of life itself.
September 20th
Counterpoint
It is blazing hot today.
Valley heat is drawn to meet the coast.
The cool days of autumn dance with false summer.
White within black, black within white.
Autumn was coming on, and yet today there is a sudden shift. It is hotter than summer. Even in the midst of a cooling trend there is its opposite. In the minds of those who follow Tao, duality in life is not clearly demarcated. There is a fuzziness at the line. Day does not have a sharp border with night. So it is with the alternations of the seasons. It is not a simple, smooth continuum from summer into autumn. There is complexity and counterpoint.
If nature is full of subtlety and even false appearances, how wise must we be in order to follow life's rhythms unerringly?
Personal Interpretation
Followers of Tao see the dual forces of nature as defining one another, and the boundaries between opposites are more blurred than we sometimes acknowledge. We may observe trends only to witness unexpected reversals. This is the nature of life. It can be difficult to sense patterns and to accept their divergence, but this is precisely what we must do if we wish to live in accordance with the principles of Tao.
It is blazing hot today.
Valley heat is drawn to meet the coast.
The cool days of autumn dance with false summer.
White within black, black within white.
Autumn was coming on, and yet today there is a sudden shift. It is hotter than summer. Even in the midst of a cooling trend there is its opposite. In the minds of those who follow Tao, duality in life is not clearly demarcated. There is a fuzziness at the line. Day does not have a sharp border with night. So it is with the alternations of the seasons. It is not a simple, smooth continuum from summer into autumn. There is complexity and counterpoint.
If nature is full of subtlety and even false appearances, how wise must we be in order to follow life's rhythms unerringly?
Personal Interpretation
Followers of Tao see the dual forces of nature as defining one another, and the boundaries between opposites are more blurred than we sometimes acknowledge. We may observe trends only to witness unexpected reversals. This is the nature of life. It can be difficult to sense patterns and to accept their divergence, but this is precisely what we must do if we wish to live in accordance with the principles of Tao.
September 19th
Loneliness
Loneliness need not be despair.
It could be an opportunity
Why are people lonely? It is because they feel no contact with anyone or anything else. They need to feel that they are valued, that they are a part of something, and that their environment will respond to them. When that does not happen, they feel isolated. One of the major strategies for combating loneliness is to have a mate and family. That is not always perfect, and the problems of a relationship and family sometimes outweigh the terror of loneliness. It is far better to be self-sufficient. Then whether one has loved ones or not, one will not suffer from loneliness.
Some people claim that self-sufficiency is a myth. A person is a social animal, they declare; people cannot successfully live outside of some community. But that is not the correct way to understand true self-sufficiency. What we are referring to is a supreme sense of connection with oneself and the cosmos around oneself. This doesn't preclude community with others, but it does prevent the excesses and shortcomings that occur when society is one's only source of union.
Tao surrounds us. One who is with Tao is never lonely, but is an integral part of the natural cycle. In the same way that water surrounds a fish, Tao surrounds us. If we feel lonely, then it is only because we are forgetting how we are totally immersed in Tao. That is why loneliness can be an opportunity : It reminds us that we are dwelling on our own egoistic identity rather than on the support of Tao.
Personal Interpretation
Loneliness need not lead to despair. It can be an opportunity to realign ourselves with Tao. We should not rely upon others for a sense of comfort, but rather choose self-sufficiency. This does not mean that we should never commune with others. It means simply that we should also be capable of disconnecting from the world. While it may seem counterintuitive, this is the surest way to reestablish a connection with society and feel less isolated.
Loneliness need not be despair.
It could be an opportunity
Why are people lonely? It is because they feel no contact with anyone or anything else. They need to feel that they are valued, that they are a part of something, and that their environment will respond to them. When that does not happen, they feel isolated. One of the major strategies for combating loneliness is to have a mate and family. That is not always perfect, and the problems of a relationship and family sometimes outweigh the terror of loneliness. It is far better to be self-sufficient. Then whether one has loved ones or not, one will not suffer from loneliness.
Some people claim that self-sufficiency is a myth. A person is a social animal, they declare; people cannot successfully live outside of some community. But that is not the correct way to understand true self-sufficiency. What we are referring to is a supreme sense of connection with oneself and the cosmos around oneself. This doesn't preclude community with others, but it does prevent the excesses and shortcomings that occur when society is one's only source of union.
Tao surrounds us. One who is with Tao is never lonely, but is an integral part of the natural cycle. In the same way that water surrounds a fish, Tao surrounds us. If we feel lonely, then it is only because we are forgetting how we are totally immersed in Tao. That is why loneliness can be an opportunity : It reminds us that we are dwelling on our own egoistic identity rather than on the support of Tao.
Personal Interpretation
Loneliness need not lead to despair. It can be an opportunity to realign ourselves with Tao. We should not rely upon others for a sense of comfort, but rather choose self-sufficiency. This does not mean that we should never commune with others. It means simply that we should also be capable of disconnecting from the world. While it may seem counterintuitive, this is the surest way to reestablish a connection with society and feel less isolated.
Friday, September 18, 2015
September 18th
Silence
Seek silence.
Gladden in silence.
Adore silence.
Personal Interpretation
Learn to adore the silence if you truly wish to be at peace. When we close ourselves to the world and turn inward, we are free to express ourselves. There is no need to defend ourselves or relentlessly pursue the aims of a materialistic and ultimately transient life. We can simply be. There is great beauty in the silence. It is here that Tao resides and once we experience it for the first time, we will find ourselves drawn to it time and time again. This is as it should be.
Gladden in silence.
Adore silence.
As one progresses on the path, one seeks silence more and more. It will be a great comfort, a tremendous source of solace and peace.Once you find deep solitude and calm, there will be a great gladness in your heart. Here finally is the place where you need neither defense nor offense -- the place where you can truly be open. There will be bliss, wonder, the awe of attaining something pure and sacred.
After that, you will feel adoration of silence. This is the peace that seems to elude so many. This is the beauty of Tao.
Personal Interpretation
Learn to adore the silence if you truly wish to be at peace. When we close ourselves to the world and turn inward, we are free to express ourselves. There is no need to defend ourselves or relentlessly pursue the aims of a materialistic and ultimately transient life. We can simply be. There is great beauty in the silence. It is here that Tao resides and once we experience it for the first time, we will find ourselves drawn to it time and time again. This is as it should be.
September 17th
Stimulation
Sex, coffee, liquor, and cigarettes
Are the totems of today.
Stimulation has replaced feeling.
Personal Interpretation
Stimulation is not the same thing as feeling. We often seek what we need from external source. Ultimately, it must come from within if we are to be at peace with ourselves. We should cultivate sensitivity and good health, should work to be compassionate and aware of the importance of our own selves. All that we need is within. We are not obligated to rely upon the many crutches of artificiality that dominate our lives. The sooner we discover that, the sooner we can return to Tao's embrace.
Are the totems of today.
Stimulation has replaced feeling.
In today's world, these are the unfortunate equations :Do you want intimacy? Have sex.
Do you want to be energetic? Drink coffee.
Do you want freedom from inhibitions? Drink wine.
Do you want a fashionable prop? Smoke cigarettes.
Why is it that these things have replaced what should naturally be done? Because people have lost the knowledge of how to do these things without artificial stimulation. Why not seek intimacy through sensitivity? Energy through good health? If we overcome our obstacles, we won't need inhibition. Pretension will fall away. Only then will there be a blossoming of Tao.
Personal Interpretation
Stimulation is not the same thing as feeling. We often seek what we need from external source. Ultimately, it must come from within if we are to be at peace with ourselves. We should cultivate sensitivity and good health, should work to be compassionate and aware of the importance of our own selves. All that we need is within. We are not obligated to rely upon the many crutches of artificiality that dominate our lives. The sooner we discover that, the sooner we can return to Tao's embrace.
Thursday, September 17, 2015
September 16th
Bridge
Dream arch shimmers in storm clouds:
Bridge between heaven and earth.
Its entrance is hard to find.
In legends, they say that the rainbow is the bridge between heaven and earth. Think how difficult it is to walk this bridge. Not only does it appear very seldom, but we cannot easily find it. It seems to be just at the horizon, but the more we go toward it, the more it eludes us. To find its end, to even stand at its base and contemplate the dizzying heights that must hover over its high arch is even more impossible. If we were to stumble upon that sacred path, could we be light enough and pure enough to walk its raindrop surface to the embraces of gods?
My companion says that he once saw a triple rainbow. What a rare sight indeed! Truly, the land where he saw it must have been blessed, and he was lucky to have such beauty revealed to him.
But then again how high must heaven be to need three insurmountable bridges?
Personal Interpretation
Some say the rainbow is the bridge between Heaven and Earth. How ephemeral it is, seeming to vanish as we approach it. Perhaps there is a lesson in this notion. Heaven is unattainable to us while we are bound to the mortal coil. The best we can hope to do is marvel from afar. A thing is not made less beautiful because it eludes us. Some might argue that it is this characteristic about a thing that makes it more beautiful. There is true value in reaching for perfection even if we can never attain it. Sometimes it is enough to observe a thing, to be immersed in it, to be moved to wonder. We spend so much time glorifying ourselves. Why not glorify nature for once? It holds untold mysteries.
Dream arch shimmers in storm clouds:
Bridge between heaven and earth.
Its entrance is hard to find.
In legends, they say that the rainbow is the bridge between heaven and earth. Think how difficult it is to walk this bridge. Not only does it appear very seldom, but we cannot easily find it. It seems to be just at the horizon, but the more we go toward it, the more it eludes us. To find its end, to even stand at its base and contemplate the dizzying heights that must hover over its high arch is even more impossible. If we were to stumble upon that sacred path, could we be light enough and pure enough to walk its raindrop surface to the embraces of gods?
My companion says that he once saw a triple rainbow. What a rare sight indeed! Truly, the land where he saw it must have been blessed, and he was lucky to have such beauty revealed to him.
But then again how high must heaven be to need three insurmountable bridges?
Personal Interpretation
Some say the rainbow is the bridge between Heaven and Earth. How ephemeral it is, seeming to vanish as we approach it. Perhaps there is a lesson in this notion. Heaven is unattainable to us while we are bound to the mortal coil. The best we can hope to do is marvel from afar. A thing is not made less beautiful because it eludes us. Some might argue that it is this characteristic about a thing that makes it more beautiful. There is true value in reaching for perfection even if we can never attain it. Sometimes it is enough to observe a thing, to be immersed in it, to be moved to wonder. We spend so much time glorifying ourselves. Why not glorify nature for once? It holds untold mysteries.
September 15th
Cleansing
Early autumn rain cleanses away smeared heat.
A grateful traveler takes in crystal skies and crisp air.
Distant mountains seem more vast and blue,
And the sound of the waterfall grows more loud.
Autumn is coming. The air becomes fresh and crisp. The fruits of summer are being harvested; the heat of labor is beginning to cool. There is a more relaxed feeling in the air : The fiery activity of summer is replaced by the celebrations of autumn. In spring, we all had to struggle to make the ascendancy of the year. In summer, we reveled in the glory of fire and vigor. Now, we can begin to let things relax. Just as the pumpkins are beginning to fill out, the squash is hanging heavy and golden on the vines, and the leaves are starting to hint of warm colors, so too can we look forward to mellowness and quietness.
This is the time for harvest. But every planting and growing season also leaves behind excess and inevitable waste. The dust of summer still lingers. The stubble in the fields will have to be burned. We must harvest fully and then clean up fully. Harvest is also the time of cleansing and taking stock.
Personal Interpretation
Autumn is upon us. It is a time for harvest and relaxation, a time for reaping what we have sown and for reflecting on what is to come. We can quiet ourselves and take in the warm glow of a world asplash with color as we get our bearings. Excess has a way of accumulating, and this is the season for disposing of it, the time when we can at last conserve our energy. Let us adapt our way of being to the cycle of the seasons and rejoice in our proximity to nature and the wisdom it provides.
Early autumn rain cleanses away smeared heat.
A grateful traveler takes in crystal skies and crisp air.
Distant mountains seem more vast and blue,
And the sound of the waterfall grows more loud.
Autumn is coming. The air becomes fresh and crisp. The fruits of summer are being harvested; the heat of labor is beginning to cool. There is a more relaxed feeling in the air : The fiery activity of summer is replaced by the celebrations of autumn. In spring, we all had to struggle to make the ascendancy of the year. In summer, we reveled in the glory of fire and vigor. Now, we can begin to let things relax. Just as the pumpkins are beginning to fill out, the squash is hanging heavy and golden on the vines, and the leaves are starting to hint of warm colors, so too can we look forward to mellowness and quietness.
This is the time for harvest. But every planting and growing season also leaves behind excess and inevitable waste. The dust of summer still lingers. The stubble in the fields will have to be burned. We must harvest fully and then clean up fully. Harvest is also the time of cleansing and taking stock.
Personal Interpretation
Autumn is upon us. It is a time for harvest and relaxation, a time for reaping what we have sown and for reflecting on what is to come. We can quiet ourselves and take in the warm glow of a world asplash with color as we get our bearings. Excess has a way of accumulating, and this is the season for disposing of it, the time when we can at last conserve our energy. Let us adapt our way of being to the cycle of the seasons and rejoice in our proximity to nature and the wisdom it provides.
Monday, September 14, 2015
September 14th
Breakthrough
In late summer, heaven's breath is damply hot.
It smothers the earth with dullness.
Suddenly, thick clouds gather :
A wave of polar air passes like a frigid rake.
Acorns fall like bullets,
And a new wind breaks through.
Personal Interpretation
The only constant is change. Stagnation can never last. We should take our cue from nature. The patterns of the seasons mirror what we will know in our own lives. If we can do something about our own life situations, we should. If we are powerless to change our circumstances, we must simply exercise patience and remain vigilant. An opportunity for change will present itself eventually. It is inevitable. To live in concert with Tao is to know when to act and when to wait for the right opportunity to act. Timing is everything.
In late summer, heaven's breath is damply hot.
It smothers the earth with dullness.
Suddenly, thick clouds gather :
A wave of polar air passes like a frigid rake.
Acorns fall like bullets,
And a new wind breaks through.
When the air is hot and humid, there is a feeling of dullness and stagnation. Everyone is oppressed by lassitude. As the seasons begin changing, fresh air comes from the arctic. Clouds that have been building up begin to dispense rain, and damp air is exchanged for fresh, cool breezes. At night, the heavens are changing so quickly that lightning flashes from colliding clouds, and thunder heralds the revolving of the skies. The same is true of human life. If the heavens cannot endure stagnation for long, how can stagnation last with us? If we find ourselves blocked and frustrated in life, we must look for the inevitable outlet. Nothing is permanent, so how can our obstacles last? We need to look for the first opportunity to set things moving again.
On the other hand, sometimes stagnation comes from our own laziness or incompetence. In this case, then it is we who must show initiative and stimulate a breakthrough in dull circumstances. As soon as we see a chance, we must act. Unless we engage ourselves and events fully, we cannot expect to act sufficiently.
Personal Interpretation
The only constant is change. Stagnation can never last. We should take our cue from nature. The patterns of the seasons mirror what we will know in our own lives. If we can do something about our own life situations, we should. If we are powerless to change our circumstances, we must simply exercise patience and remain vigilant. An opportunity for change will present itself eventually. It is inevitable. To live in concert with Tao is to know when to act and when to wait for the right opportunity to act. Timing is everything.
September 13th
Arbitrary
Meaning in life is arbitrary.
Why ruin the universe with rigidity?
Why do we make the choices we do? After all, we do not have unlimited freedom to do things. We find ourselves constrained by our gender, our race, our economic circumstances, our personalities that were shaped both by genetics and the random processes of life. Furthermore, we find that other people have their own ideas of what we should be doing, and they constrain us still further. A person born into one culture will have entirely different options that one born into another. They may both lead valuable lives, but they will most certainly differ in many respects. The meaning that they find will come from different palettes. We cannot say that one person's life is more valuable than another's.
Of all the people who have lived, have any of them been truly "better" than another? We see in their lives only the exercise of preferences, not differences of inherent meaning.
All meaning in life is arbitrary. It is not tied to god, family, or self unless we define it as such. Nothing in life gives us meaning in and of itself. It is we who assign meaning to objects and relationships. We all try to make the structure of our meaning pretty, but in the end, there is no escape from the feeling that it is all arbitrary.
It might be better not to ruin the universe with our own patterns.
Personal Interpretation
What is the meaning of life? We strive to find a satisfying answer to this question by turning to philosophy, religion, philanthropy, any any number of other things. There is nothing inherently wrong with giving of ourselves or affiliating ourselves with a particular religious denomination, or seeing the world through a particular philosophical framework, unless doing so prevents us from exploring, asking, probing into the unknown. Truly, we are the ones who give meaning to the things that come to mean something for us. Two people born into two different cultures will have different life experiences, and yet neither has had a more meaningful existence, for there is no objective way of determining what has value and what lacks it. We connect meaning to abstract concepts like god, religion, happiness. What are these things? When queried, many of us cannot answer. And yet, we a are a part of the fabric of existence. We affect our environments and our environments affect us. We will always attach meaning to particular things and people. The trick is to recognize that we are doing it.
Meaning in life is arbitrary.
Why ruin the universe with rigidity?
Why do we make the choices we do? After all, we do not have unlimited freedom to do things. We find ourselves constrained by our gender, our race, our economic circumstances, our personalities that were shaped both by genetics and the random processes of life. Furthermore, we find that other people have their own ideas of what we should be doing, and they constrain us still further. A person born into one culture will have entirely different options that one born into another. They may both lead valuable lives, but they will most certainly differ in many respects. The meaning that they find will come from different palettes. We cannot say that one person's life is more valuable than another's.
Of all the people who have lived, have any of them been truly "better" than another? We see in their lives only the exercise of preferences, not differences of inherent meaning.
All meaning in life is arbitrary. It is not tied to god, family, or self unless we define it as such. Nothing in life gives us meaning in and of itself. It is we who assign meaning to objects and relationships. We all try to make the structure of our meaning pretty, but in the end, there is no escape from the feeling that it is all arbitrary.
It might be better not to ruin the universe with our own patterns.
Personal Interpretation
What is the meaning of life? We strive to find a satisfying answer to this question by turning to philosophy, religion, philanthropy, any any number of other things. There is nothing inherently wrong with giving of ourselves or affiliating ourselves with a particular religious denomination, or seeing the world through a particular philosophical framework, unless doing so prevents us from exploring, asking, probing into the unknown. Truly, we are the ones who give meaning to the things that come to mean something for us. Two people born into two different cultures will have different life experiences, and yet neither has had a more meaningful existence, for there is no objective way of determining what has value and what lacks it. We connect meaning to abstract concepts like god, religion, happiness. What are these things? When queried, many of us cannot answer. And yet, we a are a part of the fabric of existence. We affect our environments and our environments affect us. We will always attach meaning to particular things and people. The trick is to recognize that we are doing it.
September 12th
Indefinite
Spring was a time of swaggering declarations.
Reaching autumn, one finds few absolutes.
Life is mystery and ambiguity,
Toward winter, that now seems agreeable and comfortable.
When young, one makes heroic attempts. The world will surely bend to our will, we think, and we will surely make grand contributions. Social injustice will be righted. The big questions will be answered. I once went to see a master writer. Long retired, white-haired and fragile, she nevertheless evinced a sharp and discerning mind. I was a novice writer. She had edited hundreds of great authors. I peppered her with all my anxieties and asked her all the questions that my teachers never answered. To most of my questions she would only answer, "Yes." She knew all the answers, and she knew all the exceptions, and she knew the best thing that an older person could tell a younger person was "Yes." Yes, the affirmative. Yes, as in keep exploring. Yes, as in there are no ultimate answers.
I used to push for an immediate resolution to daily problems. Now, I am not so anxious. Is science right about things, or is religion? Is there good and evil on a metaphysical level? Is there one god, or are there many gods, or no gods? A hundred answers exist for these questions. They are all known, but no one agrees. Today, I think it all very fine. Let there be a hundred answers with none of them entirely correct. The asking of the question is already enough.
Personal Interpretation
Exploration is an essential part of human nature, and the best thing we can do for someone with an inquisitive mind is to encourage the asking of questions. It is enough to ask. We need not know the answers. Some might argue that real knowledge is impossible. We must understand the truth of this assessment and yet proceed as if we could know everything. Behaving in this way paves the way for the richest possible experience of life.
Spring was a time of swaggering declarations.
Reaching autumn, one finds few absolutes.
Life is mystery and ambiguity,
Toward winter, that now seems agreeable and comfortable.
When young, one makes heroic attempts. The world will surely bend to our will, we think, and we will surely make grand contributions. Social injustice will be righted. The big questions will be answered. I once went to see a master writer. Long retired, white-haired and fragile, she nevertheless evinced a sharp and discerning mind. I was a novice writer. She had edited hundreds of great authors. I peppered her with all my anxieties and asked her all the questions that my teachers never answered. To most of my questions she would only answer, "Yes." She knew all the answers, and she knew all the exceptions, and she knew the best thing that an older person could tell a younger person was "Yes." Yes, the affirmative. Yes, as in keep exploring. Yes, as in there are no ultimate answers.
I used to push for an immediate resolution to daily problems. Now, I am not so anxious. Is science right about things, or is religion? Is there good and evil on a metaphysical level? Is there one god, or are there many gods, or no gods? A hundred answers exist for these questions. They are all known, but no one agrees. Today, I think it all very fine. Let there be a hundred answers with none of them entirely correct. The asking of the question is already enough.
Personal Interpretation
Exploration is an essential part of human nature, and the best thing we can do for someone with an inquisitive mind is to encourage the asking of questions. It is enough to ask. We need not know the answers. Some might argue that real knowledge is impossible. We must understand the truth of this assessment and yet proceed as if we could know everything. Behaving in this way paves the way for the richest possible experience of life.
Friday, September 11, 2015
September 11th
Conundrum
Which came first,
Experience or meaning?
When we were children, a favorite riddle used to be, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" This conundrum was so sticky that it stayed with us even into adulthood and became a cliché indicating any difficult situation of logic. Maybe meaning in life is somewhat arbitrary. People go to work, and their work becomes part of the meaning to their lives. People marry and have a family and declare that these are the most important things to them. If they had taken different jobs, or if they had married a different person, or if they had renounced the world and had become nuns and monks, wouldn't their lives have had different meanings?
And then we have the people for whom life dictated so many of their meanings : A person with physical deformities will have a much different life than one born healthy. Someone born into a wealthy, aristocratic family will obviously have a much different outlook than a beggar's child. Someone born in Asia will look at life differently than someone born in Europe.
So which comes first, those who say that meaning comes from our definitions, or those who declare that our circumstances determine our meaning?
Personal Interpretation
To some extent, experience determines meaning and meaning determines experience. The two are interwoven in this tapestry we call life. We may accomplish certain goals and declare that they give our lives meaning because we have accomplished them, or we may seek a certain kind of meaning and find it in these things, allowing that quest to dictate the things that matter for us. Most of us engage in both behaviors at some time or other.
I would argue that meaning is something which we construct for ourselves. We simply are. What we do with our existence is up to us. We must be invested in life; it must come to mean something for us. Sometimes we can intuit what will motivate us to live the best possible lives before we experience much of the world, but that meaning morphs as we encounter the people, places, and ideas which will come to constitute our frames of reference. For many of us, it is difficult to know where to start constructing meaning. Sometimes we must simply start somewhere. The more experiences we have, the more we will come to understand who we are, what our place in the world is, and what matters most to us.
Which came first,
Experience or meaning?
When we were children, a favorite riddle used to be, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" This conundrum was so sticky that it stayed with us even into adulthood and became a cliché indicating any difficult situation of logic. Maybe meaning in life is somewhat arbitrary. People go to work, and their work becomes part of the meaning to their lives. People marry and have a family and declare that these are the most important things to them. If they had taken different jobs, or if they had married a different person, or if they had renounced the world and had become nuns and monks, wouldn't their lives have had different meanings?
And then we have the people for whom life dictated so many of their meanings : A person with physical deformities will have a much different life than one born healthy. Someone born into a wealthy, aristocratic family will obviously have a much different outlook than a beggar's child. Someone born in Asia will look at life differently than someone born in Europe.
So which comes first, those who say that meaning comes from our definitions, or those who declare that our circumstances determine our meaning?
Personal Interpretation
To some extent, experience determines meaning and meaning determines experience. The two are interwoven in this tapestry we call life. We may accomplish certain goals and declare that they give our lives meaning because we have accomplished them, or we may seek a certain kind of meaning and find it in these things, allowing that quest to dictate the things that matter for us. Most of us engage in both behaviors at some time or other.
I would argue that meaning is something which we construct for ourselves. We simply are. What we do with our existence is up to us. We must be invested in life; it must come to mean something for us. Sometimes we can intuit what will motivate us to live the best possible lives before we experience much of the world, but that meaning morphs as we encounter the people, places, and ideas which will come to constitute our frames of reference. For many of us, it is difficult to know where to start constructing meaning. Sometimes we must simply start somewhere. The more experiences we have, the more we will come to understand who we are, what our place in the world is, and what matters most to us.
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Septermber 10th
Patience
This apple is like a jewel,
With every shade of red and green
And a perfect shape.
What a miraculous fruit.
The owner of an orchard came to visit me one day. He kindly remembers me every year with the best of his crop. As we shared a lunch, the talk turned to fishing. He told me that he had once had a great love of fishing, but that he now had little time for it. "I am an impatient man," he told me. I replied that I thought him very patient. After all, not everyone can plant trees and tend them until they bear good fruit. He insisted that there was something to do every moment and that his orchards needed constant attention. "This year's apples are a bit smaller," he apologized. "I could have made them bigger by thinning the trees. It takes a man an entire day to prune a tree properly, and with over 500 trees, you can imagine the difficulty and expense of the task. So I let the trees grow as they wanted, and was still able to send my crop to market." The apples were sweet, of course, and not nearly as small as he said they were.
Those who follow Tao say that all things happen in their own time. What is lazy and what is hard work? Those who follow Tao say to follow nature. That requires patience. By knowing when to let the trees grow as they wanted, the orchard owner still had a good crop.
Personal Interpretation
We should live in accordance with the rules of nature. It will give and it will take away. Sometimes it will provide us with a bountiful crop and sometimes we will struggle. This is the nature of things. We must work, but when we work with nature instead of against it, we will find that we accomplish what we need to accomplish. We should be happy with what we have, not always desiring more. Gratitude is the greatest harvest of all.
This apple is like a jewel,
With every shade of red and green
And a perfect shape.
What a miraculous fruit.
The owner of an orchard came to visit me one day. He kindly remembers me every year with the best of his crop. As we shared a lunch, the talk turned to fishing. He told me that he had once had a great love of fishing, but that he now had little time for it. "I am an impatient man," he told me. I replied that I thought him very patient. After all, not everyone can plant trees and tend them until they bear good fruit. He insisted that there was something to do every moment and that his orchards needed constant attention. "This year's apples are a bit smaller," he apologized. "I could have made them bigger by thinning the trees. It takes a man an entire day to prune a tree properly, and with over 500 trees, you can imagine the difficulty and expense of the task. So I let the trees grow as they wanted, and was still able to send my crop to market." The apples were sweet, of course, and not nearly as small as he said they were.
Those who follow Tao say that all things happen in their own time. What is lazy and what is hard work? Those who follow Tao say to follow nature. That requires patience. By knowing when to let the trees grow as they wanted, the orchard owner still had a good crop.
Personal Interpretation
We should live in accordance with the rules of nature. It will give and it will take away. Sometimes it will provide us with a bountiful crop and sometimes we will struggle. This is the nature of things. We must work, but when we work with nature instead of against it, we will find that we accomplish what we need to accomplish. We should be happy with what we have, not always desiring more. Gratitude is the greatest harvest of all.
Wednesday, September 9, 2015
September 9th
Deserving
Prostrate before the altar.
Are you worthy of your deity?
Can you eliminate profanity,
And strive for constant adoration?
It is not easy to worship. Simply going to a temple once a week to have a priest intercede on your behalf is not enough. True worship is a daily act of humbling yourself before your deity and offering a pure heart and holy words. A great holy leader came to my city once. He initiated 5,000 people into a simple practice of chanting. Since that time, it has been a struggle to keep up 108 chants a night. There is no prospect of stopping, no chance of "finishing."
In the same way, all scriptures must be recited. That means daily devotion. Once you begin, you cannot stop for the rest of your life. There is no room for laziness. Your body and mouth must be clean, you must be in a good frame of mind, and you cannot have uttered or done profane things. We must be worthy of our deities.
It doesn't matter if we are "getting anything out of it." Whether there is a response is secondary. The mere act of devotion is its own reward. It brings transformation.
Personal Interpretation
Daily devotion brings transformation. Without it we stagnate. It is not enough to have someone intercede on our behalf or focus on what we stand to gain from our prayers. The act itself is what is important. It is not always a simple matter to find the time for prayer, the energy for meditation, the drive for repentance. We must constantly work to purify ourselves, must seek to be the best versions of ourselves that we can be. We must look beyond our own selves as we engage in these practices. We are part of a great network of energy. Our own interests are secondary to the betterment of the world into which we had the good fortune to be born.
Prostrate before the altar.
Are you worthy of your deity?
Can you eliminate profanity,
And strive for constant adoration?
It is not easy to worship. Simply going to a temple once a week to have a priest intercede on your behalf is not enough. True worship is a daily act of humbling yourself before your deity and offering a pure heart and holy words. A great holy leader came to my city once. He initiated 5,000 people into a simple practice of chanting. Since that time, it has been a struggle to keep up 108 chants a night. There is no prospect of stopping, no chance of "finishing."
In the same way, all scriptures must be recited. That means daily devotion. Once you begin, you cannot stop for the rest of your life. There is no room for laziness. Your body and mouth must be clean, you must be in a good frame of mind, and you cannot have uttered or done profane things. We must be worthy of our deities.
It doesn't matter if we are "getting anything out of it." Whether there is a response is secondary. The mere act of devotion is its own reward. It brings transformation.
Personal Interpretation
Daily devotion brings transformation. Without it we stagnate. It is not enough to have someone intercede on our behalf or focus on what we stand to gain from our prayers. The act itself is what is important. It is not always a simple matter to find the time for prayer, the energy for meditation, the drive for repentance. We must constantly work to purify ourselves, must seek to be the best versions of ourselves that we can be. We must look beyond our own selves as we engage in these practices. We are part of a great network of energy. Our own interests are secondary to the betterment of the world into which we had the good fortune to be born.
September 8th
Vitality
Snail, tiny spiral in calcified membrane;
Inchworm, a hairpin dragon;
Bumblebee, blob of velvet black and yellow;
White butterfly, syncopated burst of gladness;
Naked bulbs, white pubic tentacles in crumbling soil;
Pears, children of earth and sun.
If you ever doubt life, you need only spend a little time tending a garden. You will see great diversity. Everywhere that you look there will be some dynamic event in progress. Perhaps it's the way a lotus sprouts up from the rot and mud, or the way that an earthworm dances a writhing passage through the dirt. The smell of moist earth is strangely stirring, the sight of growing trees wonderfully appealing. No matter how well tended a garden is, there is constant entropy and disorder. That is fine. That is the way it is supposed to be. Our schemes and our aesthetics are imperfect. Our minds cannot comprehend the diversity of nature. Let nature take its variegated course. Variety is vitality.
Personal Interpretation
Gardens are full of vitality. There is perhaps no greater microcosm of the processes of nature. We till the soil, plant seeds that will become the food that will nourish us, pick weeds that encroach. Our efforts are endless. This is ok. Things in nature die and are replaced by new things. Decay leads to rebirth. A number of cycles are at work in the garden. The variety that meets our eyes is vitality. It is life. We should work to see the beauty in it, and in ourselves, for we too are vital despite the fact that we often see more to loathe than to love.
Snail, tiny spiral in calcified membrane;
Inchworm, a hairpin dragon;
Bumblebee, blob of velvet black and yellow;
White butterfly, syncopated burst of gladness;
Naked bulbs, white pubic tentacles in crumbling soil;
Pears, children of earth and sun.
If you ever doubt life, you need only spend a little time tending a garden. You will see great diversity. Everywhere that you look there will be some dynamic event in progress. Perhaps it's the way a lotus sprouts up from the rot and mud, or the way that an earthworm dances a writhing passage through the dirt. The smell of moist earth is strangely stirring, the sight of growing trees wonderfully appealing. No matter how well tended a garden is, there is constant entropy and disorder. That is fine. That is the way it is supposed to be. Our schemes and our aesthetics are imperfect. Our minds cannot comprehend the diversity of nature. Let nature take its variegated course. Variety is vitality.
Personal Interpretation
Gardens are full of vitality. There is perhaps no greater microcosm of the processes of nature. We till the soil, plant seeds that will become the food that will nourish us, pick weeds that encroach. Our efforts are endless. This is ok. Things in nature die and are replaced by new things. Decay leads to rebirth. A number of cycles are at work in the garden. The variety that meets our eyes is vitality. It is life. We should work to see the beauty in it, and in ourselves, for we too are vital despite the fact that we often see more to loathe than to love.
September 7th
Reverence
An ocean of ink in a single drop,
Trembling at the tip of my brush,
Poised above stark white paper,
A universe waits for existence.
Personal Interpretation
Reverence should proceed all action. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Reverence often follows profound experiences in our lives. Only when we are able to distance ourselves from the buzz of everyday life can we witness the wonder underlying all of creation. Contemplation brings appreciation.
Think of the artist, brush poised over a blank canvas. What will he create? Will it be worthy? To be reverent is to be on the edge of the unknown, to stand in awe of the potential that is inherent in all things, ourselves included.
An ocean of ink in a single drop,
Trembling at the tip of my brush,
Poised above stark white paper,
A universe waits for existence.
Everything we do should be imbued with reverence, and so one would think that we should begin with this concept. But no. Reverence only comes with experience and care. Only when we tire of our excesses can there be esteem. Those of us who contemplate our world soon come to have a great sense of wonder. The perfection of the stars, the beauty of mountains and streams, the invigorating quality of clean ocean air fill us with feelings of celebration. In our own small way, we must create and bring order to our lives each day. We must be responsible, and at the same time express the wonder of all that we know as human.
A painter poises above blank paper. It is not the painting to come that is as important as that single moment when all things still lie in a state of potential. Will something ugly or beautiful be created? The stately determination to make something worthy of the materials and the moment is reverence.
Personal Interpretation
Reverence should proceed all action. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Reverence often follows profound experiences in our lives. Only when we are able to distance ourselves from the buzz of everyday life can we witness the wonder underlying all of creation. Contemplation brings appreciation.
Think of the artist, brush poised over a blank canvas. What will he create? Will it be worthy? To be reverent is to be on the edge of the unknown, to stand in awe of the potential that is inherent in all things, ourselves included.
September 6th
Outlook
Spawned from a mountain cataract,
The long river surges to the sea.
Its torrents savage its igneous bed,
Yet one blade of rock twists it tightly.
Angry waves plow stone furrows into a maze,
And boats find it difficult to maneuver.
From this point, one man held off an entire army,
And poets found inspiration among the nests of eagles.
Along the Yangtze River is a high cliff. The space for the river narrows dramatically at this point, and the water must back up into a large bay before plunging through the difficult passage. Rocks underneath are treacherous, and even today boats find it difficult to negotiate this stretch. At the crown of the cliff is the Temple to the White King, in honor of a man from ancient times. Numerous historical events took place here. In medieval times, a famous strategist was able to defeat an entire army with a much smaller force. Later, famous poets found inspiration from the high view of the river and mountains. In more recent times, the high cliff served as the headquarters of a warlord.
There are places in nature that can give people great power, but the character of the individuals determines whether the power is used for war or peace. It is not enough to struggle for vantage points. Position must be used with wisdom.
Personal Interpretation
There are natural features that can be quite advantageous to our purposes. The Wise know how to use these to gain important victories. It is the character of the person who determines whether they use their advantage to accomplish peace or war. Both come at a cost. Some might argue that war is profitable and difficult to give up. Others see it as a necessary evil, something that cannot be done away with without doing away with humanity. Others look forward to its eradication. Cycles dominate all things. The only constant is change. Those who are in tune with Tao know when to act and when to wait. Vantage points are important, but they must be used wisely if they are to bring about the kind of change we'd like to see in the world.
Spawned from a mountain cataract,
The long river surges to the sea.
Its torrents savage its igneous bed,
Yet one blade of rock twists it tightly.
Angry waves plow stone furrows into a maze,
And boats find it difficult to maneuver.
From this point, one man held off an entire army,
And poets found inspiration among the nests of eagles.
Along the Yangtze River is a high cliff. The space for the river narrows dramatically at this point, and the water must back up into a large bay before plunging through the difficult passage. Rocks underneath are treacherous, and even today boats find it difficult to negotiate this stretch. At the crown of the cliff is the Temple to the White King, in honor of a man from ancient times. Numerous historical events took place here. In medieval times, a famous strategist was able to defeat an entire army with a much smaller force. Later, famous poets found inspiration from the high view of the river and mountains. In more recent times, the high cliff served as the headquarters of a warlord.
There are places in nature that can give people great power, but the character of the individuals determines whether the power is used for war or peace. It is not enough to struggle for vantage points. Position must be used with wisdom.
Personal Interpretation
There are natural features that can be quite advantageous to our purposes. The Wise know how to use these to gain important victories. It is the character of the person who determines whether they use their advantage to accomplish peace or war. Both come at a cost. Some might argue that war is profitable and difficult to give up. Others see it as a necessary evil, something that cannot be done away with without doing away with humanity. Others look forward to its eradication. Cycles dominate all things. The only constant is change. Those who are in tune with Tao know when to act and when to wait. Vantage points are important, but they must be used wisely if they are to bring about the kind of change we'd like to see in the world.
September 5th
Receptivity
I want to make myself an empty room:
Quiet whitewashed walls with slant sunshine
And a fresh breeze through open windows.
Some days are extremely fluid, and all possible courses of action are equally attractive. Rather than do something arbitrary, it is far better to empty oneself completely. Then the more subtle currents of life may be felt. One should avoid the mistake of random action. Arbitrary action will most likely be out of accord with the times. It is artificial, a structure that we impose from our own thought. Such movements are invariably stilted and wooden; they do not have the fresh perfection of the natural.
We do not have enough peace. Yet peace will never be attained by perpetual action. Stirred water never has the chance to settle clear. A tree buffeted by winds can never grow straight. Give up all unnecessary activity. Give up all arbitrary actions. Make yourself receptive. The peace that you seek shall be quickly at hand.
Personal Interpretation
Every action that we take should be purposeful. When there seems to be nothing to do, we should seek the refuge of meditation. By quieting our minds, we open ourselves to Spirit and allow our souls to realign with Tao. Like the tree that is constantly buffeted by strong winds, we cannot grow straight if we do not cultivate peace. And peace is not coincidental-it is something that we have the ability to create for ourselves. But we must resist the urge to act when action will not accomplish anything meaningful.
I want to make myself an empty room:
Quiet whitewashed walls with slant sunshine
And a fresh breeze through open windows.
Some days are extremely fluid, and all possible courses of action are equally attractive. Rather than do something arbitrary, it is far better to empty oneself completely. Then the more subtle currents of life may be felt. One should avoid the mistake of random action. Arbitrary action will most likely be out of accord with the times. It is artificial, a structure that we impose from our own thought. Such movements are invariably stilted and wooden; they do not have the fresh perfection of the natural.
We do not have enough peace. Yet peace will never be attained by perpetual action. Stirred water never has the chance to settle clear. A tree buffeted by winds can never grow straight. Give up all unnecessary activity. Give up all arbitrary actions. Make yourself receptive. The peace that you seek shall be quickly at hand.
Personal Interpretation
Every action that we take should be purposeful. When there seems to be nothing to do, we should seek the refuge of meditation. By quieting our minds, we open ourselves to Spirit and allow our souls to realign with Tao. Like the tree that is constantly buffeted by strong winds, we cannot grow straight if we do not cultivate peace. And peace is not coincidental-it is something that we have the ability to create for ourselves. But we must resist the urge to act when action will not accomplish anything meaningful.
Friday, September 4, 2015
September 4th
Dove
A dove got caught in the rafters last night.
I had quite a time trying to get her out.
She hit her head several times in panic.
Only when she was stunned was I able to care for her.
In the paper there was this quote from a sage:
"Human nature was originally one and we were a whole,
And the desire and pursuit of the whole is called love."
It was late at night. Her flapping caught my attention. I looked up to see her perched in the rafters. The dove tried to fly out, but she was either hurt or disoriented. She skittered across the ceiling. Landing at the blue windows, she looked out, unable to pass through the invisible barrier. I climbed up and tried to get her to fly out. She let me come very close but was unable to understand my language or actions. She flew from me but quickly lost altitude and landed on the floor. I climbed down and urged her on. There was just a short distance to go, but she panicked and flew into a wall. She fell to my worktable, stunned, breathing hard, a feather lying loose at her side. Only then was I able to put her in a box and care for her.
She couldn't understand my intentions and so was hurt. I was unable to help her without being frightening. Were all living beings once connected? Perhaps so, but in this world, the pursuit of love and compassion is not without pain and confusion.
Personal Interpretation
Like the disoriented dove that fails to see the intentions behind the actions of the soul who would release her from her confinement, we too are ignorant in our willful enslavement to the world. We want the freedom that Tao offers, but we fail to see that those things which seem only to hurt and confuse are their own kind of lessons, meant to enrich our understanding and promote our growth. We must seek a sense of calm within ourselves and stop trying to swim against the tide.
A dove got caught in the rafters last night.
I had quite a time trying to get her out.
She hit her head several times in panic.
Only when she was stunned was I able to care for her.
In the paper there was this quote from a sage:
"Human nature was originally one and we were a whole,
And the desire and pursuit of the whole is called love."
It was late at night. Her flapping caught my attention. I looked up to see her perched in the rafters. The dove tried to fly out, but she was either hurt or disoriented. She skittered across the ceiling. Landing at the blue windows, she looked out, unable to pass through the invisible barrier. I climbed up and tried to get her to fly out. She let me come very close but was unable to understand my language or actions. She flew from me but quickly lost altitude and landed on the floor. I climbed down and urged her on. There was just a short distance to go, but she panicked and flew into a wall. She fell to my worktable, stunned, breathing hard, a feather lying loose at her side. Only then was I able to put her in a box and care for her.
She couldn't understand my intentions and so was hurt. I was unable to help her without being frightening. Were all living beings once connected? Perhaps so, but in this world, the pursuit of love and compassion is not without pain and confusion.
Personal Interpretation
Like the disoriented dove that fails to see the intentions behind the actions of the soul who would release her from her confinement, we too are ignorant in our willful enslavement to the world. We want the freedom that Tao offers, but we fail to see that those things which seem only to hurt and confuse are their own kind of lessons, meant to enrich our understanding and promote our growth. We must seek a sense of calm within ourselves and stop trying to swim against the tide.
Thursday, September 3, 2015
September 3rd
Tree
Did you measure to attain your height?
Did you use geometry to radiate your limbs?
Did you lament storm-torn branches?
Did you inventory your leaves for the sun?
You did none of these things, yet man in his cleverness
Cannot match your perfection.
When will we give up the artificiality of our tiresome lives and cleave instead to what is natural? All the achievements of man are only monuments to overwhelming pride. There has not been a single man-made item that has been a necessary improvement to the earth. Did we need the Great Wall of China? Did we need the pyramids of Egypt? Did we need the Colossus of Rhodes? Did we need mechanization, steam power, electricity, nuclear power, or computer technology? All our achievements have been for the sake of our exclusive comfort and gratification. We have only advanced the mad tangle of supply and demand that we call civilization. We don't need all this "sophistication" in order to live with Tao. Our involvement in society blinds us to this fact. We ignore the natural order of our own bodies and minds and close ourselves to the point so that only sex and drugs are stimulating enough. We lament that we are lost and alienated. Ironically, the answers are right nearby. If you just go to the nearest tree and contemplate, you will easily see the secret to natural living.
Personal Interpretation
The monuments we build do not help us achieve the state of being wherein we can experience Tao. We must reconnect with nature and rediscover simplicity to accomplish that. Why not find a tree and meditate beneath its branches? It is truly a work of art, a wonder of the world greater than any on the list of seven that we have devised. It takes what is offered, extends its branches deep into the earth, reaches upward while remaining bound to the the land of its birth. It lives and dies and is reborn again. It does not fight against the natural order but embraces it. If we truly want to know peace, we should do the same.
Did you measure to attain your height?
Did you use geometry to radiate your limbs?
Did you lament storm-torn branches?
Did you inventory your leaves for the sun?
You did none of these things, yet man in his cleverness
Cannot match your perfection.
When will we give up the artificiality of our tiresome lives and cleave instead to what is natural? All the achievements of man are only monuments to overwhelming pride. There has not been a single man-made item that has been a necessary improvement to the earth. Did we need the Great Wall of China? Did we need the pyramids of Egypt? Did we need the Colossus of Rhodes? Did we need mechanization, steam power, electricity, nuclear power, or computer technology? All our achievements have been for the sake of our exclusive comfort and gratification. We have only advanced the mad tangle of supply and demand that we call civilization. We don't need all this "sophistication" in order to live with Tao. Our involvement in society blinds us to this fact. We ignore the natural order of our own bodies and minds and close ourselves to the point so that only sex and drugs are stimulating enough. We lament that we are lost and alienated. Ironically, the answers are right nearby. If you just go to the nearest tree and contemplate, you will easily see the secret to natural living.
Personal Interpretation
The monuments we build do not help us achieve the state of being wherein we can experience Tao. We must reconnect with nature and rediscover simplicity to accomplish that. Why not find a tree and meditate beneath its branches? It is truly a work of art, a wonder of the world greater than any on the list of seven that we have devised. It takes what is offered, extends its branches deep into the earth, reaches upward while remaining bound to the the land of its birth. It lives and dies and is reborn again. It does not fight against the natural order but embraces it. If we truly want to know peace, we should do the same.
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
September 2nd
Garden
Blinding heat divides day from night,
Brands short shadows into fecund soil.
Green tendrils, heavy with beans,
Coil around rustic bamboo racks.
Violet flowers gape erotically among velvet leaves :
A single gourd contains the entire world's dream.
Personal Interpretation
Gardening is yet another way to be close to Tao. When we grow our own food we must put forth different kinds of effort at different points during the year. We must work in accordance with the elements of our environments. In the end the product of our efforts becomes our food, our means of sustaining ourselves. We will return to the earth when we die, and in time our decaying forms will help new life to spring up. We are part of the great cycle of life, and gardening is one of the acts that makes this apparent. Is there any simpler way to give our thanks than to put ourselves wholly into the cultivation of life?
Blinding heat divides day from night,
Brands short shadows into fecund soil.
Green tendrils, heavy with beans,
Coil around rustic bamboo racks.
Violet flowers gape erotically among velvet leaves :
A single gourd contains the entire world's dream.
There is a great comfort in growing your own food. You are close to the soil. You use the basic elements -- water, sunlight, earth, air, and plants -- for your work, your sustenance, and your pleasure. You nurture your garden from seedlings to mature plants, tending, pruning, weeding. Year after year, you see cycles come and go, from sprouting to harvest to withering, to seeding again. You eat your plants to live. You don't mind and they don't mind. Some day, you will fall back to this earth, back into the sun-baked dirt, and you will become food for the plants. It's the way of all life, and it's all very agreeable. Those who follow Tao say that all reality is like a series of nesting circles : microcosms within macrocosms. What is close at hand is a microcosm of what is far away. Why search all over for Tao? It is all contained in the seeds of the gourd growing in your garden.
Personal Interpretation
Gardening is yet another way to be close to Tao. When we grow our own food we must put forth different kinds of effort at different points during the year. We must work in accordance with the elements of our environments. In the end the product of our efforts becomes our food, our means of sustaining ourselves. We will return to the earth when we die, and in time our decaying forms will help new life to spring up. We are part of the great cycle of life, and gardening is one of the acts that makes this apparent. Is there any simpler way to give our thanks than to put ourselves wholly into the cultivation of life?
Tuesday, September 1, 2015
September 1st
Farmers
Plain country folk with rounded bodies,
Skin turning to bronze in the valley heat.
Why talk to them about Tao?
They eat when they are hungry,
They sleep when they are sleepy.
Even a sage with infinite permutations
Could not match their simplicity.
Do you want to know about simplicity? Go live with farmers. Their daily activities are coordinated with the seasons, they are close to the earth, and they do not spend their time figuring out how to attain status. They are honest and plain. They make no distinction between who they are as individuals and who they are as farmers. Those of us who live in cities would be hard pressed to equal the farmer in simplicity. Simplicity, after all, is what Tao most celebrates. Who needs to know all the digits of pi? Who needs to engineer a new monetary policy? Who needs to strive for political office? None of these things is necessary to be a human being.
Give up unnecessary things.
Personal Interpretation
Tao is about cultivating simplicity. To truly know it, we should look at those who live closest to the Earth. Farmers fit the bill. They make no distinction between their work and their identities, for to them they are one and the same. They respond to hunger, exhaustion, and other elements of the human condition. They have no need for spiritual reasoning. They simply are. And that is what each of us should attempt to do. We should be content with simply being. Much of our unhappiness comes from self-imposed limitations and requirements.
Plain country folk with rounded bodies,
Skin turning to bronze in the valley heat.
Why talk to them about Tao?
They eat when they are hungry,
They sleep when they are sleepy.
Even a sage with infinite permutations
Could not match their simplicity.
Do you want to know about simplicity? Go live with farmers. Their daily activities are coordinated with the seasons, they are close to the earth, and they do not spend their time figuring out how to attain status. They are honest and plain. They make no distinction between who they are as individuals and who they are as farmers. Those of us who live in cities would be hard pressed to equal the farmer in simplicity. Simplicity, after all, is what Tao most celebrates. Who needs to know all the digits of pi? Who needs to engineer a new monetary policy? Who needs to strive for political office? None of these things is necessary to be a human being.
Give up unnecessary things.
Personal Interpretation
Tao is about cultivating simplicity. To truly know it, we should look at those who live closest to the Earth. Farmers fit the bill. They make no distinction between their work and their identities, for to them they are one and the same. They respond to hunger, exhaustion, and other elements of the human condition. They have no need for spiritual reasoning. They simply are. And that is what each of us should attempt to do. We should be content with simply being. Much of our unhappiness comes from self-imposed limitations and requirements.
August 31st
Dialogue
I still talk in my sleep.
I still dream.
How can there be perfect stillness
When my brain's so noisy?
We carry on a constant dialogue within ourselves. This is the origin of our problems. The very word 'dialogue' means talking between two sides. We could not have an inner dialogue unless there was a split in our minds. We all have two sides; as long as they are not united, we cannot attain the wholeness that spirituality requires.
Even with years of self-cultivation, it is not easy to tame the wild mind. One might appear to have attained perfect control in all waking situations, only to find endless turbulence during meditation and sleep. This is a sign of incomplete attainment. Perfection must be total.
The process of perfection is long and must be methodical. Although our efforts must be to the utmost, we must never risk repressing ourselves. Indeed, rather than shutting away the unpleasant or unruly aspects of ourselves, we must take them all out and examine them. Daily introspection brings harmony to all our facets. Those aspects that are bad can be dissolved. Those that are of advantage can be cultivated. This effort will take many years, but in this gradual way, we resolve ourselves with our subconscious mind and free ourselves from the struggle and conflict.
Personal Interpretation
The inner dialogue that we have with ourselves is an indication that our mind is not whole. A divided mind is unenlightened. We must work to quiet ourselves before we can truly be complete and free of conflict. The process takes years and even those who seem to exercise self-control in every conceivable situation may experience inner turmoil when meditating. Let us reflect on ourselves each and every day. It is within our power to discard that which does no service to us and cultivate that which has the potential to ease the spiritual journey we must all undertake.
I still talk in my sleep.
I still dream.
How can there be perfect stillness
When my brain's so noisy?
We carry on a constant dialogue within ourselves. This is the origin of our problems. The very word 'dialogue' means talking between two sides. We could not have an inner dialogue unless there was a split in our minds. We all have two sides; as long as they are not united, we cannot attain the wholeness that spirituality requires.
Even with years of self-cultivation, it is not easy to tame the wild mind. One might appear to have attained perfect control in all waking situations, only to find endless turbulence during meditation and sleep. This is a sign of incomplete attainment. Perfection must be total.
The process of perfection is long and must be methodical. Although our efforts must be to the utmost, we must never risk repressing ourselves. Indeed, rather than shutting away the unpleasant or unruly aspects of ourselves, we must take them all out and examine them. Daily introspection brings harmony to all our facets. Those aspects that are bad can be dissolved. Those that are of advantage can be cultivated. This effort will take many years, but in this gradual way, we resolve ourselves with our subconscious mind and free ourselves from the struggle and conflict.
Personal Interpretation
The inner dialogue that we have with ourselves is an indication that our mind is not whole. A divided mind is unenlightened. We must work to quiet ourselves before we can truly be complete and free of conflict. The process takes years and even those who seem to exercise self-control in every conceivable situation may experience inner turmoil when meditating. Let us reflect on ourselves each and every day. It is within our power to discard that which does no service to us and cultivate that which has the potential to ease the spiritual journey we must all undertake.
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