Light of the Stars asked Non-being, “Master, do you exist or do you not exist?” Light of the Stars received no reply and, gazing intensely into the appearance of Non-being, saw that it was a deep void. All day he looked at it but could see nothing; he listened for it but could hear…
Zhuangzi was walking on a mountain when he saw a great tree with enormous branches and abundant foliage. A woodcutter was standing beside the tree without touching it. When asked why he did not, he replied, “It is useless.” Zhuangzi then said, “This tree will live out its natural term of life because it…
A tree of a hundred years is cut and carved into a sacrificial wood vessel decorated with green and yellow. The rest is thrown into a ditch. If we compare the sacrificial vessel with what was thrown away, there is a difference between them in relation to beauty and ugliness. But they have a…
Holy Sonnets: Batter My heart, Three-person’d God By John Donne (1572–1631) Batter my heart, three-person’d God, for you As yet but knock, breathe, shine, and seek to mend; That I may rise and stand, o’erthrow me, and bend Your force to break, blow, burn, and make me new. I, like an usurp’d town to…
The Penumbra asked the Shadow, saying, ‘Formerly you were walking on, and now you have stopped; formerly you were sitting, and now you have risen up: how is it that you are so without stability?’ The Shadow replied, ‘I wait for the movements of something else to do what I do, and that something…
Life is lived in the shadow of language. Language conceals and reveals. Your opinion serves to define my opinion. Would there be any point to my opinion without you, without your opinion? Still there’s the nagging sense that something is missing. What if anything makes your view or my view true? Shall we seek…
66 All streams flow to the seabecause it is lower than they are.Humility gives it its power. If you want to govern the people,you must place yourself below them.If you want to lead the people,you must learn how to follow them. The Master is above the people,and no one feels oppressed.She goes ahead of…
57 If you want to be a great leader, you must learn to follow the Tao. Stop trying to control. Let go of fixed plans and concepts, and the world will govern itself. The more prohibitions you have, the less virtuous people will be. The more weapons you have, the less secure people will…
46 When a country is in harmony with the Tao, the factories make trucks and tractors. When a country goes counter to the Tao, warheads are stockpiled outside the cities. There is no greater illusion than fear, no greater wrong than preparing to defend yourself, no greater misfortune than having an enemy. Whoever can…
26 The heavy is the root of the light. The unmoved is the source of all movement. Thus the Master travels all day without leaving home. However splendid the views, she stays serenely in herself. Why should the lord of the country flit about like a fool? If you let yourself be blown to…
