CALL ME MAGGIE

Lao tse

  • Alan Watts – Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching – YouTube

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    Alan Watts – Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching – YouTube

  • Daodejing 11

    #11* Thirty wheel spokes sharing one hub. The empty space in the middle has the usefulness to a cart. Knead clay to make a vessel. The empty space in the middle has usefulness to the vessel. Cutting the door and… Continue reading

    Daodejing 11

  • Daodejing 10

    #10* Body and soul integrated as one. Inseparable? Concentrate Qì  [1] for suppleness. Baby-like? Wash and cleanse the profound mirror. [2] Never blemish? Love the people and govern a country. Do doing-without-doing (wěi-wú-wěi)? The door of heaven Opens and closes. Yielding? [3] Brilliantly perceive The… Continue reading

    Daodejing 10

  • Daodejing 20

    #20* Sincerity’s “yes” and Flattery’s “yes”: How much difference Is there between them? Good and evil, how much difference is there between them? What people fear, they cannot not-fear. [1] So vast; how never endless it is! People who are busy… Continue reading

    Daodejing 20

  • Daodejing 9

    #9.* Holding and filling it up, no comparison to stopping it in time; Honing and sharpening it cannot remain for a long time. Gold and jade fill the hall, Yet cannot be guarded. Wealthy and honored Yet arrogant, Brings disaster… Continue reading

    Daodejing 9

  • Daodejing 8

    #8* The highest good is like water: Water is good at benefitting the 10,000 things yet never contends. Dwell in the place that the majority dislikes; thus, be close To Dào . Be good at dwelling in place; Be good at… Continue reading

    Daodejing 8

  • Daodejing 7

    #7* Heaven is eternal; earth is everlasting. The reason why heaven and earth can be eternal and everlasting? Because they do not exist for themselves, [they] thus can live long. Therefore, the Sage makes himself go behind yet he comes… Continue reading

    Daodejing 7

  • Daodejing 6

    #6* The Grain God never dies; it is called “the mysterious female”. The door of the mysterious female is called “the root of heaven and earth.” Existing endlessly, use it and never be exhausted. *Translation by LU Wenlong & Keith… Continue reading

    Daodejing 6

  • Daodejing 5

    #5* Heaven and earth have no mercy, treating the 10,000 things as straw dogs; the Sage has no mercy, treating people as straw dogs. [1]  The space between Heaven and earth Just like a bellows! Empty but never Exhausted; work it… Continue reading

    Daodejing 5

  • A Mantra on the Way

    After spending the last year translating Dao de Jing with my dear friend and good brother, Lu Wenlong, a new “mantra” or phrase has become a regular part of the day. Dào does; I should not do. In my not doing,… Continue reading

    A Mantra on the Way

  • Daodejing 3

    #3* Do not encourage excellent abilities, [1] [and] keep people from contention; do not value rare goods, keep people from stealing; do not flaunt the desirable, keep people’s hearts undisturbed. Hence, the governance Of the sage Empties their hearts Fills their… Continue reading

    Daodejing 3

  • Daodejing 43

    #43* The softest entity under heaven gallops [1] through the hardest. The intangible Penetrates the solid. [2] Therefore, I know the  the benefit of wú-wěi. [3] The teaching without words. The benefit of wú-wěi: Few under-heaven Keep pace with this. *Translation by LU… Continue reading

    Daodejing 43

  • Daodejing 42

    #42* Dao begets one. One begets two. Two begets three. Three begets 10,000 things. The 10,000 things carry YIN on their backs and embrace YANG. Yin and Yang contest Then blend each with the Other in harmony. People detest most… Continue reading

    Daodejing 42

  • Daodejing 40

    #40* The motion of DAO: returning. The usage of DAO: weakening. 10,000 things grow by having. [1] Having generates from not-having . [2] *Translation by LU Wenlong & Keith Wayne Brown, ©2013. [1] Having –> 有 [Yǒu]: to have, to exist. We might put here… Continue reading

    Daodejing 40

  • Daodejing 39

    #39* In the ancient days: grasping one. Heaven grasping one: clear and bright. Earth grasping one, tranquility. Spirit grasping one, effective. [1] River valley grasping one, fullness. 10,000 things grasping one, growth. Kings grasping one, leading under-heaven. Draw this inference: Grasp one. Heaven without clear and bright, splitting open.… Continue reading

    Daodejing 39

  • Daodejing 38 Redux

    With this poem, we begin the Book of DE (the second part of the Daodejing, the poems on virtue or excellence).  #38* Magnificent excellence (DE): Acting without thinking of being excellent. Acting thus is authentic excellence. Debased excellence: Keeping up… Continue reading

    Daodejing 38 Redux

  • Pǔ or the uncarved block

    Very often, translators render the Chinese word Pǔ into English as “the uncarved block.” The term refers to a state of pure possibility (what the Greeks mean by DYNAMIS). This describes the original condition of the mind before the happening of… Continue reading

    Pǔ or the uncarved block

  • Daodejing 28

    #28* Knowing power, abiding in modesty; like a stream under Heaven. Like a stream under Heaven- never abandoning eternal virtue, returning at last to purity. Knowing white, abiding in black; like this order under Heaven. Like this order under Heaven-… Continue reading

    Daodejing 28