When our contemplation group used to meet in person, I sometimes placed a bowl by the door. As we settled in, I invited people to place in the bowl anything that was weighing them down, distracting them, keeping them from being fully present – worries, anxiety, should’s, judgments, have to’s, and so on. “Don’t worry,” […]
No one tells you There is a sadness When all is left behind Although shed willingly Touch lingers A last caress Of what was once a treasure There is no going back Nor would you want to Yet there were moments When happiness kissed your lips And longing stirred your soul When the dream sang
The Sadness of Letting Go Read More »
As a person who often advocates “practice,” I’ve been exploring what it means to practice something. We might have lots of practices. I practice martial arts, for example. Some of us practice mindfulness, meditation, yoga, loving-kindness, and more. When we have an intention to cultivate or develop a skill or a habit, we devote time
The Art of Allowing Read More »
Some of you are familiar with the Zen story of the university professor who went to visit a famous Zen master. While the master quietly served tea, the professor pontificated about Zen, holding himself forth as an expert on the topic. The master poured the visitor’s cup to the brim, and then kept pouring. The
I Really Don’t Know Read More »
This chapter starts with a description of a small country with few people. They live simply and in harmony with nature. (This chapter could have been the model for the back to the land movement of my younger years. Reading it brought back wonderful memories of living in a shack in the mountains of Montana!)
Tao Te Ching – Chapter 80 Read More »
Under heaven nothing is more soft and yielding than water Yet nothing is better for overcoming what is hard and stiff As we approach the end of the Tao Te Ching’s 81 chapters, the text returns to the theme of water. Water is the most common metaphor for the energy of Tao. It flows
Tao Te Ching – Chapter 78 Read More »
For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. 1 Corinthians 13:12 When we read this verse, we might yearn for that time of seeing face to face, when all things become clear and we see things as they really are. We don’t often pause to wonder if we will like
Summer is the season of pure yang energy. Its element is fire. Its organ is the heart. Yang energy is active, hot, rising, powerful. When someone is wildly successful, driving forward, dominating the competition, unstoppable, we might say, “Wow, she’s on fire!” Our western culture highly values yang energy. Idle hands do the devil’s work,
Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point. ~C. S. Lewis As the tectonic plates of culture alternately drift further apart and then crash into each other with increasing violence, I am reminded of blog posts of the past, written in times of heart pain
Courage at the Testing Point Read More »
You think you know yourself until things start happening, until you lose the insulation of normality. ~Robert Wilson The photo above shows a label on the side of a jigsaw puzzle box. I was immediately intrigued. “Specification colors
Please in Kind Prevail Read More »
When people do not fear powerGreat power appearsThese first two lines have been translated and interpreted so many ways, it’s difficult to find any footing in a particular meaning. Like many passages in the Tao Te Ching which seem to address governance, this couplet could refer to actual political government, and could also refer to
Tao Te Ching – Chapter 72 Read More »
This chapter is about power and the use of power. It starts out with four lines, each beginning with the character for “good.” A good warrior is not violentA good fighter is not enragedA good conqueror does not engage the enemyA good leader humbles himself The ancient treatise The Art of War counsels that the
Tao Te Ching – Chapter 68 Read More »
I have three treasuresWhich I hold closely and cherishFirst is compassionSecond is simplicityThird is humilityCompassion generates courageSimplicity allows generosityHumility creates enduring potential This chapter reminds me of Matthew 6:21. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Compassion, simplicity, humility, all bring us into harmony and alignment with our true nature, with
Tao Te Ching – Chapter 67 Read More »
This beautiful chapter is about leadership, comparing a good leader to the sea, resting patiently in the lowest position, allowing all water to return according to its own path. The sea is king of the hundred valleysBecause it lies well below them This passage blends two thematic images in the Tao Te Ching – water
Tao Te Ching – Chapter 66 Read More »
In a recent post, I described my grandson’s loving acceptance of George the lemur who lost his tail. This morning, George was found with his hand resting on Chao Chao in what appears to be a gesture of kindness. (Everyone denies staging this scenario, so think what you will about how this came about.) Chao
George Pays It Forward Read More »
Tao is the honored source of all creationThe awakened person treasures itThe unenlightened are protected by it This chapter is an ode to the natural beauty and humble majesty of Tao. Similar to the Bible’s observation that the sun shines and the rain falls equally on the just and the unjust, here we are told
Tao Te Ching – Chapter 62 Read More »
This chapter address the theme of power in the context of the relationship between large and small countries. Like other chapters addressing nations and government, this chapter can also apply to individuals – how we govern ourselves and how we relate to others. A large country is like a river deltaThe lowest point where all
Tao Te Ching – Chapter 61 Read More »