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 …
A person at birth is soft and gentle At death is hard and unyielding Sprouting plants are tender and supple At death are brittle and dry Stiff and unyielding are associated with death Soft and gentle with life The wisdom in this chapter is easy to understand from our own observations. Babies learning to …
People in the United States have traditionally greeted each other with the question “How are you?” It is often intended as a perfunctory politeness, not a genuine question about health and well-being. The typical answer is “Fine thanks. You?” Lately, however, I get the sense when asked, that people are sincerely asking how I’m really doing. …
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 …
Sorrow sorrowCarry me homeWash me cleanAnd sing me a lullabyRock me gently Through the nightTill morning comesWith dawn’s sweet kiss
I began this year thinking of it as the year of the heart. Heart energy had exploded open in my soul. I was aflame for the Beloved. It was exciting, but hard to sustain. Fire, after all, consumes. In martial arts we use the wisdom of the Chinese five element practice, which associates elements with …
It happened again. I was practicing push hands with another tai chi student before class a few days ago. (Push hands is sort of like tai chi sparring with a partner.) The teacher was watching us from across the room as he got ready for class. After a few minutes, he called to me, “You’re …
I am participating in a four part Art and Meditation workshop. That doesn’t sound like such a remarkable thing until you know that I am a bit phobic about art. I joke (but not really joking) that my sister got all the artistic talent in the family. She is indeed a wonderful artist and my …
The Tao Te Ching has been a source of inspiration in my life for many years. I don’t remember how I first encountered it in my young life, but I do remember that its simple wisdom resonated in my soul and I have loved it ever since. Several years ago, I gathered various translations with …
You can’t organize truth. That’s like trying to shape a pound of water in wrapping paper. ~Bruce Lee I was having a discussion with a friend about a particular theological concept, one that has defied any sort of sensible explanation for centuries. We had read various scholars’ analyses; we had listened to podcasts interviewing well …
Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls. ~Psalm 42:7 For the last six weeks, my usually busy schedule has been emptied. I suspended my martial arts classes, my piano lessons, my Chinese tutor. I made a choice to devote my mornings to a writing project. (Mornings, I’ve discovered, are really the only …
The story is told of Milarepa, an 8th century Tibetan Buddhist, who came back to his cave one day to find it filled with demons. He didn’t know how to get rid of them. He got angry and shouted at them to leave. They just laughed. He regained his composure and tried to teach them …
No words can paintThe pastel shades of mistOr sing the morning lightSoft dancing with the waterI stand silentIn the splendor of defeat
The creek thundersWith fresh vigorAfter summer’s droughtBelly bursting banksLaughing full of autumn rain
This is a beautiful little chapter about the relationship between Tao and the ten thousand things. (The “ten thousand things” is a poetic name for the manifested universe.) It begins with another water image for Tao. As we have already seen, water is the most often used metaphor for the nature of Tao. Great Tao …
I recently wrote a post about the effect of naming on our direct experience of the present moment, and now I turn to the next chapter in the Tao Te Ching and guess what it’s about. Naming! Cosmic synchronicity. I promise I didn’t plan it this way. Tao is forever without name Though its natural state …
The theme of this chapter is returning to our natural state. Tao is the undifferentiated source of the manifested universe. Tao manifests in the universe as Te. Remember that Te is loosely translated as virtue but does not mean virtue in the sense of morality, but rather in the sense of an inner harmony or …
Divided into two parts, this chapter first attempts to describe the indescribable Tao, and then moves to a description of humanity’s place in the grand scheme of the universe. There is something mysteriously undifferentiatedExisting before the beginning of heaven and earthSilent and formless, unimaginableAlone unchanging This opening passage reminds me of Genesis 1:2: Now the …
The creek speaks a secret languageSo quiet you might miss itBeneath the rushing water songA voice burbles near the bankKneel down in the sponge wet mossLean close and listenCotton soft marimba bellsWhisper messages of mysteryDon’t try to understandThis is the language of the soulAnd only there is it received
Winter is when the earth is pregnant. ~Dave Fall was the season of courage, a time of gathering and preparing. Now winter draws us into the dark mystery of life. Outward activity slows as we burrow into our cozy nests and settle down for our “long winter’s nap.” Winter is the season of stillness, allowing …
