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 […]
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I cannot tellWhat I now seeI have not wordsIt matters notIt matters only thatI live the seeing
The words are spoken in silenceHeard only in the heartDo not doubt what they revealMore real than any heard in mindTrust the truth of what is known beyond knowingAnd do not be misled by thoughtThat seeks to hold illusionBe thou thus ignited With what has always burnedDeep Deep
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Understanding that we do not know is wisdomBelieving that we know the unknowable is sufferingFirst year law students often arrive expecting that they are going to be told all the answers to legal questions. After a few weeks of hearing professors say, “That depends on …,” they begin to suspect that the professors know the
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Darkness darkness, be my pillow Take my head and let me sleepIn the coolness of your shadowIn the silence of your dreamDarkness darkness, hide my yearningFor the things that cannot beKeep my mind from constant turning Towards the things I cannot see ~Stephen Stills Today is the first day of winter, the season we associate with
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Like other chapters which address principles of governance, this chapter applies just as well, and perhaps with more relevance, to how we govern ourselves. In ancient times rulers who followed TaoDid not teach people to be cleverBut rather encouraged people to follow their true natureGoverning by manipulation brought ruinBut governing in alignment with Tao brought
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Each momentIs a doorwayAn open door into the infiniteAn invitation to enter The mystery of eternityTime — an endless hall of doorsEach momentWe walk through … or we don’tEither way there is another doorUntil we leave time altogetherAnd see all doors as oneDisappearing as soon as we step throughInto the place we never left
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I’m reading a book titled “What is Mysticism” by Jon Mundy. Yesterday I read this passage: Mostly, it’s a profound inner knowing and an awareness of the interconnectedness of all things – a sense that everything is perfect just the way it is. When I read it, I got chills because I was blessed to
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One who knows does not speakOne who speaks does not know Upon reading these opening lines, our first instinct might be to be quiet, to show that, or at least hope that, we are among those who know. But then, after a while, we want to talk about it, either to share what we think
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When I’m sparring with my martial arts teacher and somehow manage to get him in a hold, he will pause and look at me. “Oh, you got me.” And just as I’m feeling smug, he simply melts away like smoke. While I’m left holding nothing, he says with a twinkle, “Do you?” This year has
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To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight, and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings. ~Wendell Berry As we passed the equinox in September, I wrote about the season of darkness, about
This chapter paints an accurate picture of the human experience. If I have even a little knowledgeI will walk on the path of the great TaoStraying from it is my only fearThis path is very smooth and easyBut people love to veer off on side roadsWhile the palace courts are splendid The fields lie fallowAnd the
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I have on occasion had folks tell me, in the nicest way possible, that my writing and speaking about the Tao Te Ching are sometimes – hmm, how do they put it – dense, obscure, inaccessible. Oh dear. I want them to be wrong, but of course I must admit that they are right. How
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This chapter is a dance between Tao and Te – Tao as the source of all things, and Te as the life force that sustains all things. Many chapters focus on one or the other, so it is enlightening to see here the interplay between the two fundamental concepts of the Tao Te Ching. It
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The chapter opens with an observation on dualism. Going out into life, entering death What causes this cycle of life and death? Because attachment to life is intense The character for intense has additional meanings of thick, solid, lavish. This contrasts with the description in the second part of the chapter, which is one of
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The equinox has passed. Night is now longer than day. We are entering the gradual darkening until winter solstice calls the light to return. Darkness gets such a bad rap. It’s scary, it hides secrets and shame, danger lurks in its shadows. Here in the Pacific Northwest, it is gray and rainy much of the
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