Laozi

  • Daodejing 35

    #35* Grasping the appearance: all will come along following without quarrel. Tranquility Peace Quietude Sweet music and good food catch the passersby (like bait). When the Great Way (DAO) is spoken: dull and tasteless. Seeing it: not enough to be… Continue reading

    Daodejing 35
  • Daodejing 34

    #34* DAO (Great Way) everywhere. Left or right, all around. On It, the 10,000 entities† relying nurturing, never rejecting. Achieving completion without needing recognition. Feeding the 10,000 without being the master. Forever without desire: It can be called small. The… Continue reading

    Daodejing 34
  • Daodejing 33

    #33* Knowing others: lucidity. Knowing self: brilliance.† Defeating others: strength. Defeating self: discipline. Contentedness: wealth. Perseverance: will. Never losing self: endurance. Dead yet unforgotten: longevity. †The characters translated in these two lines both contain the glyph for sun. Lucidity is… Continue reading

    Daodejing 33
  • Daodejing 32

    #32* DAO (the Great Way) always and forever without name. Simple and small. Nothing under-heaven can rule over the Great Way. If Kings obey this, all under-heaven will follow them spontaneously. Heaven and earth† join together: sweet dew will fall… Continue reading

    Daodejing 32
  • Daodejing 31

    #31* Powerful weapon: inauspicious instrument. The person on the Way disapproves of such instruments. Such are disgusting. The worthy person in daily life respects the Left as place of honor.† The person in time of war regards the right as… Continue reading

    Daodejing 31
  • Daodejing 30

    #30* The minister who relies on the DAO never threatens all under heaven with violence. Surely such an action must lead to retaliation. Wherever troops walk, weeds grow After the time of war, must come the time of famine. The… Continue reading

    Daodejing 30
  • Daodejing 29

    #29* Desiring to possess all under heaven by force I think this never works. All under heaven is sacred. It cannot be taken over by force. It is uncontrollable. Possessiveness destroys; Control loses. Hence, the sage “does nothing” (wu wei)†… Continue reading

    Daodejing 29
  • Carrying Over Laozi

    The translation of Daodejing proceeds apace. Dear Wenlong works harder than ever to help me understand the simultaneous complexity and simplicity of Laozi. The term “to translate” literally mean to move something from one place to another or to carry… Continue reading

    Carrying Over Laozi
  • Whispering / Glimpsing

    Now/here flows the Way. Not in the words but around them, atop, beneath, behind, before, and after them. When ever we write, where ever we speak, the words themselves should not be the focus of meaning. While we can determine… Continue reading

    Whispering / Glimpsing
  • Boon of Dandelions 9

    Dozing content on mid-may morning Cool pillow against my cheek Iced coffee just enough to keep me from going back into dreamland Birds squawking at the humid heat Sun bright, day brilliant Writing thinking planning ———————- My futon is tight… Continue reading

    Boon of Dandelions 9
  • A Psyche the Size of Earth ~ James Hillman

    See on Scoop.it – Pahndeepah Perceptions There is only one core issue for all of psychology. Where is the “me”? Where does the “me” begin? Where does the “me” stop? Where does the “other” begin? For most of its history, psychology… Continue reading

    A Psyche the Size of Earth ~ James Hillman
  • 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
  • Daodejing 27

    #27* The one who masters walking leaves no footprints. The one who masters speaking makes no slips of the tongue. The one who masters counting needs no tally tools to count. The one who masters shutting the door needs no… Continue reading

    Daodejing 27
  • Daodejing 26

    #26* Heaven is the root of lightness. Tranquility masters recklessness. Therefore the Sage travels all day careful to abandon nothing. Even in the face of luxury, like the swallow he flies undistracted. Why is the King with 10,000 chariots reckless… Continue reading

    Daodejing 26
  • Daodejing 24

    #24* A show-off never learns A know-it-all never shines A braggart never achieves A boaster never gets ahead All of this is most unnecessary Seen from the viewpoint of the Way The person on the Way avoids all of this… Continue reading

    Daodejing 24
  • Daodejing 23

    #23* Speak rarely like Nature. Typhoons do not blow all morning. Thunderstorms do not last all day. Who makes the typhoon to blow and storm to thunder? Heaven and earth. If even Heaven and Earth cannot sustain things for long,… Continue reading

    Daodejing 23
  • Walking Meditation 20130309

    “Everybody knows how useful it is to be useful; nobody knows how useful it is to be useless.” –Zhuangzi Contemplating how seeking after the future makes all things but mere tools on the way to success in a later-on nowhere… Continue reading

    Walking Meditation 20130309
  • Along the Great Way

    “If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.” – Laozi “It is better to travel well than to arrive.” – Buddha “Oh beloved Phaedrus, where are you going & from whence do you come?”… Continue reading