One week before Thanksgiving. The weather has been distinctly unfall-like. The days have been comfortable, nearly too warm for a jacket along the Fox River valley just west of Chicago. There has been no frost to speak of. Yesterday with almost seventy degree weather I busied myself raking and mulching leaves. The ideal is…
48 In the pursuit of knowledge,every day something is added. In the practice of the Tao,every day something is dropped.Less and less do you need to force things,until finally you arrive at non-action.When nothing is done,nothing is left undone. True mastery can be gainedby letting things go their own way.It can’t be gained by…
45 True perfection seems imperfect,yet it is perfectly itself.True fullness seems empty,yet it is fully present. True straightness seems crooked.True wisdom seems foolish.True art seems artless. The Master allows things to happen.She shapes events as they come.She steps out of the wayand lets the Tao speak for itself. Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu,…
44 Fame or integrity: which is more important?Money or happiness: which is more valuable?Success or failure: which is more destructive? If you look to others for fulfillment,you will never truly be fulfilled.If your happiness depends on money,you will never be happy with yourself Be content with what you have;rejoice in the way things are.When…
I enjoyed the afternoon at the racetrack. I mean the environs of Great Lakes Dragaway located off of State Rt KR outside of Union Grove Wisconsin. Opened in 1955 the venue was the nation’s first purpose-built and is the oldest continuously operating dragstrip. The track was inspired by California racing. I was six years old…
28 Know the male,yet keep to the female:receive the world in your arms. If you receive the world, the Tao will never leave you and you will be like a little child. Know the white,yet keep to the black:be a pattern for the world. If you are a pattern for…
2 When people see some things as beautiful,other things become ugly.When people see some things as good,other things become bad.Being and non-being create each other.Difficult and easy support each other.Long and short define each other.High and low depend on each other.Before and after follow each other. Therefore the Masteracts without doing anythingand teaches without…
Three years ago I planted some oriental lily bulbs at the edge of our yard. The lily bed interfaces with the creek bed. Also a large boulder with a natural notch impressed me as the ideal resting place for a carved stone heart. The stone heart is about the size of a bowling ball….
This single flowerhas leaves and rootsthat take nourishment fromthe environing soil and air. And the soil contains the distilled nutrientsof past growth and decay that constitute the living ecological systemin which all of its participants are organically interdependent. The sun enables the flower to process these nutrients,while the atmosphere that caresses the floweralso nourishes…
No. 24 He who stands on tiptoedoesn’t stand firm.He who rushes aheaddoesn’t go far.He who tries to shinedims his own light.He who defines himselfcan’t know who he really is.He who has power over otherscan’t empower himself.He who clings to his workwill create nothing that endures.If you want to accord with the Tao,just do your…
