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…
No. 20 Stop thinking, and end your problems.What difference between yes and no?What difference between success and failure?Must you value what others value,avoid what others avoid?How ridiculous! Other people are excited,as though they were at a parade.I alone don’t care,I alone am expressionless,like an infant before it can smile. Other people have what they…
A second day, family vacation close to Coloma Michigan. St. Joseph is just a fifteen minute drive south, a famed small town enjoyed by generations. The view from the bluff of Silver Beach is spectacular. There is a very large circular concrete splash pad with timed water jets for toddlers, and older children to…
No. 8 The supreme good is like water, which nourishes all things without trying to. It is content with the low places that people disdain. Thus it is like the Tao. In dwelling, live close to the ground. In thinking, keep to the simple. In conflict, be fair and generous. In governing, don’t try…
PLAY Is not the opposite of work but the improvisational genius the inner child sage PLAY Is rehearsal for reality remaking of reality myth-making in motion shapeshifting on purpose how we make love to uncertainty composing music out of paradox HOLY PLAY Sabotages fanaticism and dogmatic ferocity MUST sabotage fanaticism can you dignify plain…
Contrary to the expectationsof 19th century radicals, religion hasnot gone away–perhaps we’d be better off if it had–but instead has increased in power,seemingly in proportion to the global increasein the realm of technology& rational control. Both fundamentalism& the New Agederive some forcefrom deep & widespread dissatisfactionwith the System that works againstall perception of the…
It was shocking in the Sixties when the painter Anselm Kiefer photographed himself in various European locales performing the Nazi salute. “Too soon,” people said – even if it’s satire. Those wounds were still raw. (Even Mel Brooks was a couple years away from “springtime for Hitler.”) Kiefer was born in Germany at the…
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” Gospel of Matthew 22:37-39 There exists a creature which is perfectly harmless; when it passes…
IN SLEEP WE DREAM of only two forms of government – anarchy & monarchy. Primordial root consciousness understands no politics & never plays fair. A democratic dream? A socialists dream? Impossible. Only kings & wild people populate my night. Monads & nomads. But in a dream we are never ruled except by love or…
But granting that someone did sayin all seriousness thatthe poets lie too much: he was right – we do lie too much. We also know too little,and are bad learners: so we are obliged to lie. And which of us poets has not adulterated his wine?Many a poisonous messhas evolved in our cellars:many an…
