To be simple, pure, clear, still, level, and constant; to be impartial without action and in action to be aligned with heaven— this is the way to sustain the spirit. The swords made at Wu and Yue are kept in a box and rarely used since they are valuable. But the subtle spirit moves…
Ingrained ideas, a high regard for oneself, abandoning the world to pursue an uncommon course, talking imposingly and disparaging others – these are the traits of conceit. This is what scholars who retreat to the hills and valleys, who find fault with the world and who are like withered trees or throw themselves into…
I dare not sleep-in today, even though it is Monday and I am retired… Retired!? Ha! So what? I am still a human being among my own kind,… I live in a small town, Batavia. Batavia belongs to the State of Illinois, which is in the midsection of the U.S. of A. I cannot…
It is Saturday, raining and the sky hints of snow to come. I do not mind rain in wintertime, or any time. Trees need water, a subsurface soaking. Lately rain seems to come less frequently, sometimes weeks pass with little to no moisture. Like it or not we (humans) belong to Nature, we are…
This art of dissimulationreaches its peakin man. Deception, flattering, lying, deluding, talking behind the back, putting up a false front, living in borrowed splendor, wearing a mask, hiding behind convention, playing a role for others and for oneself – in short, a continuous flutteringaround the solitary flame of vanity – is so much the…
Once upon a time, in some out of the way corner of that universe which is dispersed into numberless twinkling solar systems, there was a star upon which clever beasts invented knowing. That was the most arrogant and mendacious minute of “world history,” but nevertheless, it was only a minute. After nature had drawn…
In the last part of the performance, I played notes which did not have an enervating effect. I blended them with spontaneity. Hence the sounds came forth in dissonance, like a cluster of plants growing from one root, or like the music of the forest coming from no perceptible form. The sounds spread in…
These verses describe a concert sponsored by the Yellow Emperor. Beimin Cheng, a member of the court is speaking with the Yellow Emperor. Cheng relates that the music effected him. The concert was in two parts. Here the Yellow Emperor describes the second part – the sensations felt by the listener who is enveloped…
1. Does heaven revolve continuously? 2. Does earth continuously abide in rest? 3. And do the sun and moon pursue one another? 4. Who guides and directs these movements? 5. Who holds them together and connects them? 6. Who is it that, without straining and effort, brings them about and maintains them?…
Shicheng Qi came to see Lao-tsu and asked him, “I heard master, that you are a sage, so I came to see you, not minding the long journey. During the hundred days of the journey the soles of my feet became callous, but I did not stop to rest. Now I see that you…
