Inspiration
Saturday, 6. October 2007, 11:38:50
Hello my friends, my apologies for neglecting you and this blog for a while, life has been on the hectic side now things have calmed down i will be back to posting with some degree of regularity.
peace to you
beccaxx
Chapter 5
Heaven and Earth are impartial
And regard myriad things as straw dogs
The sages are impartial
And regard people as straw dogs
The space between Heaven and Earth
Is it not like a bellows?
Empty, and yet never exhausted
It moves, and produces more
Too many words hasten failure
Cannot compare to keeping quiet
Recently I have been contemplating this chapter and its deeper meanings to life and how to apply it.
I have seen this chapter taken to mean do not speak of issues or leave an argument alone etc. And there is some validity to that. But then I thought but we can not always control what situations we are in, it may sometimes be necessary for us to speak and offer advice or counsel even if just to (to use a figure of speech) ‘move it off the street’ so then I thought maybe I need to contemplate this chapter deeply and see if it is possible to look at it as practically as Lau Tzu, Confucius or other sages would have done, or at least similarly not being a sage and all.
Well the first part to me seems to be saying all things are equal in Dao, so a Dao cultivator would cultivate harmonious equality in dealings with all life.
We are physical bodies and spirit in harmony and if we can move with that harmony we can move in harmony with Dao.
“Too many words hasten failure” hmmm to me this can be taken both on the surface meaning that there are times when speaking further is just not going to help and everyone could probably use a break to clear heads etc and look on things with fresh eyes/ears. However I’m also sure that in a practical sense there is more to it as well….. could be that “Too many words” is too many rules and regulations so everything is stifled and forced, things are prevented from harmonising and flowing by a cluster of rules and red tape.
So instead of too many rules which make life complex and clustered we look to the simplicity of Dao to less cluttered rules enough to do the job but not too many so there is no room for breathing.
1
Even when the last star
has imploded
and only blackness remains,
the Tao will be Tao:
emptiness in emptiness,
silence in silence,
nowhere,
yet everywhere;
beyond existence,
yet the essence of life.
Jos Slabbert ~ Tao is Tao
Perhaps we can look to the processes of Dao and witness the harmonic/dynamic balance and find some inspiration to apply to our lives in all situations we find ourselves in?
On that note i'd like to pass on my continued thoughts and meditations to those in Burma and those seriously effected by the typhoon hitting parts of Asia currently, Vietnam i know was hit badly last night UK time.
peace to you
beccaxx
Chapter 5
Heaven and Earth are impartial
And regard myriad things as straw dogs
The sages are impartial
And regard people as straw dogs
The space between Heaven and Earth
Is it not like a bellows?
Empty, and yet never exhausted
It moves, and produces more
Too many words hasten failure
Cannot compare to keeping quiet
Recently I have been contemplating this chapter and its deeper meanings to life and how to apply it.
I have seen this chapter taken to mean do not speak of issues or leave an argument alone etc. And there is some validity to that. But then I thought but we can not always control what situations we are in, it may sometimes be necessary for us to speak and offer advice or counsel even if just to (to use a figure of speech) ‘move it off the street’ so then I thought maybe I need to contemplate this chapter deeply and see if it is possible to look at it as practically as Lau Tzu, Confucius or other sages would have done, or at least similarly not being a sage and all.
Well the first part to me seems to be saying all things are equal in Dao, so a Dao cultivator would cultivate harmonious equality in dealings with all life.
We are physical bodies and spirit in harmony and if we can move with that harmony we can move in harmony with Dao.
“Too many words hasten failure” hmmm to me this can be taken both on the surface meaning that there are times when speaking further is just not going to help and everyone could probably use a break to clear heads etc and look on things with fresh eyes/ears. However I’m also sure that in a practical sense there is more to it as well….. could be that “Too many words” is too many rules and regulations so everything is stifled and forced, things are prevented from harmonising and flowing by a cluster of rules and red tape.
So instead of too many rules which make life complex and clustered we look to the simplicity of Dao to less cluttered rules enough to do the job but not too many so there is no room for breathing.
1
Even when the last star
has imploded
and only blackness remains,
the Tao will be Tao:
emptiness in emptiness,
silence in silence,
nowhere,
yet everywhere;
beyond existence,
yet the essence of life.
Jos Slabbert ~ Tao is Tao
Perhaps we can look to the processes of Dao and witness the harmonic/dynamic balance and find some inspiration to apply to our lives in all situations we find ourselves in?
On that note i'd like to pass on my continued thoughts and meditations to those in Burma and those seriously effected by the typhoon hitting parts of Asia currently, Vietnam i know was hit badly last night UK time.
WIDGETIZE
Anonymous # 8. October 2007, 07:52
When I think of too many words, I think of that point discussions sometimes reach at which you find you've been restating some point over and over, just elaborating and using different words to say the same thing, and it still isn't getting across. And you might pause to wonder if the other person has been doing the same thing...and if maybe the whole discussion has reached the place of too many words and is best left for another day. It seems like if you do square your shoulders and go on in that situation, the discussion becomes an argument. Failure has been hastened.
Anonymous # 10. October 2007, 01:34
Hi, Becca. Nice to see you back. :)
Munchkin97 # 13. October 2007, 00:01
beccaxx
Munchkin97 # 13. October 2007, 00:02
beccaxx
Anonymous # 17. October 2007, 07:45
Hello. Thought you might enjoy this song on "Tao" from the City of 10,000 Buddhas website: http://www.cttbusa.org/audio.asp
Please click on the link above and scroll down till you see the word "Tao" and then click on it to hear the song. Enjoy. You might like the other songs on the list too. All the Best to you.
Munchkin97 # 19. October 2007, 21:24
peace to you
beccaxx