Ten days into December. A friend asked if I was finished my Christmas shopping? The gift giving custom can be approached in many ways. Christmas is best experienced for me by reducing the intensity of stress. Quite by accident I am learning to cultivate curiosity for each of the duties, the chores, and the…
Soon it will be mid-December. Its raining outside, Saturday. Tom Petty’s Runnin’ Down A Dream played on the radio, I drove on the rain slicked road before light this morning. An extended email exchange with an old friend occupied my thoughts. He is a die-hard conservative. I, on the other hand, am on the…
Nie Qüe asked about the Tao from Bei-yi who replied, ‘If you keep your body as it should be, and look only at the one thing, the Harmony of Heaven will come to you. Call in your knowledge, and make your measures uniform, and the spiritual (belonging to you) will come and lodge with…
The life is due to the collecting of the breath. When that is collected, there is life; when it is dispersed, there is death. Since death and life thus attend on each other, why should I account (either of) them an evil? ‘Therefore all things go through one and the same experience. (Life) is…
Knowledge had rambled northwards to the region of the Dark Water, where he ascended the height of Imperceptible Slope, when it happened that he met with Dumb Inaction. Knowledge addressed him, saying, ‘I wish to ask you some questions: By what process of thought and anxious consideration do we get to know the Tao?…
Tuesday is a gray day. A bit of snow this morning becomes an annunciation of winter. I look forward to winter because days are shorter. There’s the respite from growth. Absent the need to transform energy into concrete form, I make room for contemplation, reading, marinating my sense of self with the mind of…
look at the world I look at the world From awakening eyes in a black face— And this is what I see: This fenced-off narrow space Assigned to me. I look then at the silly walls Through dark eyes in a dark face— And this is what I know: That all these walls oppression…
The king of Ku and the ruler of Fan were sitting together. After a little while, the attendants of the king said, ‘Fan has been destroyed three times.’ The ruler of Fan rejoined, ‘The destruction of Fan has not been sufficient to destroy what we had that was most deserving to be preserved.’ Now,…
[There is no Life or Death,] by Mina Loy There is no Life or Death, Only activity And in the absolute Is no declivity. There is no Love or Lust Only propensity Who would possess Is a nonentity. There is no First or Last Only equality And who would rule Joins the majority. There…
“Beasts that feed on grass do not fret over a change of pasture; creatures that live in water do not fret over a change of stream. They accept the minor shift as long as the all-important constant is not lost. [Be like them,] And joy, anger, grief, and happiness can never enter your breast….
