Monday, 22. October 2007, 17:54:50
One day, while walking through the wilderness, a man encountered a vicious tiger. He ran for his life, and the tiger gave chase.
The man came to the edge of a cliff, and the tiger was almost upon him. Having no choice, he held on to a vine with both hands and climbed down.
Halfway down the cliff, the man looked up and saw the tiger at the top, baring its fangs. He looked down and saw another tiger at the bottom, waiting for his arrival and roaring at him. He was caught between the two.
Two rats, one white and one black, showed up on the vine above him. As if he didn't have enough to worry about, they started gnawing on the vine.
He knew that as the rats kept gnawing, they would reach a point when the vine would no longer be able to support his weight. It would break and he would fall. He tried to shoo the rats away, but they kept coming back.
At that moment, he noticed a strawberry growing on the face of the cliff, not far away from him. It looked plump and ripe. Holding onto the vine with one hand and reaching out with the other, he plucked it.
With a tiger above, another below, and two rats continuing to gnaw on his vine, the man tasted the strawberry and found it absolutely delicious.Living in the Moment ~ story translation and article by Derek LinTo me this story is all about the state of harmonious balance and all that brings. Or rather the discovery of said state.
If we take for example Dao De Jing chapter 71 ...Chapter 71
To know that you do not know is highest
To not know but think you know is flawed
Only when one recognizes the fault as a fault
can one be without fault
The sages are without fault
Because they recognize the fault as a fault
That is why they are without fault Sages are without fault not because they never make mistakes but because they recognise faults for faults. So we take this and can say we can live without attachments by seeing attachments as attachments, without suffering by seeing suffering for suffering, pleasure for pleasure. The key being not holding on to any of them, just as we can not catch the wind ....
This seems to me to be an illustration of the yin-yang, not yin and yang or yin or yang but yin-yang as a fluid ever changing process of harmonic/dynamic balance.
peace to you
beccaxx
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 TaoPerhaps 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.
Sunday, 26. August 2007, 21:00:04
Which is the way to Dao?
Let's ask which is the best way for a plant to grow?
There are certain things every common plant needs, nourishment, water and light. Other than that they all devleope different and follow slightly differing ways. They all grow and flourish according to natures rules.
So which is the way to dao? We can say most spiritual ways of cultivation have commpassion, humility, moderation and self knowledge other than that there is a diversity according to culture and era. Read the works of the sages, live life according to the guiding principles of Dao and that my friends is the path to Dao. Chapter 67
Everyone in the world calls my Tao great
As if it is beyond compare
It is only because of its greatness
That it seems beyond compare
If it can be compared
It would already be insignificant long ago!
I have three treasures
I hold on to them and protect them
The first is called compassion
The second is called conservation
The third is called not daring to be ahead in the world
Compassionate, thus able to have courage
Conserving, thus able to reach widely
Not daring to be ahead in the world
Thus able to assume leadership
Now if one has courage but discards compassion
Reaches widely but discards conservation
Goes ahead but discards being behind
Then death!
If one fights with compassion, then victory
With defense, then security
Heaven shall save them
And with compassion guard them
peace to you
beccaxx
Tuesday, 21. August 2007, 14:28:31
In Spring when all the
Flowers are in bloom,
The evening river appears
Smooth and motionless.
Suddenly the tidewater
Comes with the reflection
Of glittering stars;
The ebbing waves carry away
The image of the moon.
- Yang Kwang
peace to you
beccaxx
Tuesday, 14. August 2007, 02:20:16
See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' 32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Bible Gateway ~ Sermon on the mountHow does this relate to Tao lessons and practices? Well a brief examination of the Dao De Jing/Tao Te Ching shows for me these chapters which relate and expand on this idea.Chapter 25
There is something formlessly created
Born before Heaven and Earth
So silent! So ethereal!
Independent and changeless
Circulating and ceaseless
It can be regarded as the mother of the world
I do not know its name
Identifying it, I call it "Tao"
Forced to describe it, I call it great
Great means passing
Passing means receding
Receding means returning
Therefore the Tao is great
Heaven is great
Earth is great
The sovereign is also great
There are four greats in the universe
And the sovereign occupies one of them
Humans follow the laws of Earth
Earth follows the laws of Heaven
Heaven follows the laws of Tao
Tao follows the laws of nature Chapter 27
Good traveling does not leave tracks
Good speech does not seek faults
Good reckoning does not use counters
Good closure needs no bar and yet cannot be opened
Good knot needs no rope and yet cannot be untied
Therefore sages often save others
And so do not abandon anyone
They often save things
And so do not abandon anything
This is called following enlightenment
Therefore the good person is the teacher of the bad person
The bad person is the resource of the good person
Those who do not value their teachers
And do not love their resources
Although intelligent, they are greatly confused
This is called the essential wonderChapter 29
Those who wish to take the world and control it
I see that they cannot succeed
The world is a sacred instrument
One cannot control it
The one who controls it will fail
The one who grasps it will lose
Because all things:
Either lead or follow
Either blow hot or cold
Either have strength or weakness
Either have ownership or take by force
Therefore the sage:
Eliminates extremes
Eliminates excess
Eliminates arroganceChapter 33
Those who understand others are intelligent
Those who understand themselves are enlightened
Those who overcome others have strength
Those who overcome themselves are powerful
Those who know contentment are wealthy
Those who proceed vigorously have willpower
Those who do not lose their base endure
Those who die but do not perish have longevityOne who studies the teachings of the ancient sages can see the links the same messages being passed down in many ways for all cultures to find and explore and travel the path.
peace to you
beccaxx
Thursday, 26. July 2007, 13:15:08
Every thing,
Every place is real,
Each particle makes
Up the Original Person.
Still, the absolutely real
Is voiceless,
The true body’s
Majestically out of sight.
- Chosha (9th century)Chapter 1
The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao
The name that can be named is not the eternal name
The nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth
The named is the mother of myriad things
Thus, constantly without desire, one observes its essence
Constantly with desire, one observes its manifestations
These two emerge together but differ in name
The unity is said to be the mystery
Mystery of mysteries, the door to all wondersChapter 4
The Tao is empty
When utilized, it is not filled up
So deep! It seems to be the source of all things
It blunts the sharpness
Unravels the knots
Dims the glare
Mixes the dusts
So indistinct! It seems to exist
I do not know whose offspring it is
Its image is the predecessor of GodWhen you know yin-yang you will see the universe.
peace to you
beccaxx
Sunday, 15. July 2007, 13:50:11
In the realm of True Purity
there is no such thing as
“I” or “he” or “she;”
nor can “friend” and “foe”
be found.
The slightest confusion of mind
and innumerable differences
and complications arise.
- Muso (1275-1351)Chapter 2
When the world knows beauty as beauty, ugliness arises
When it knows good as good, evil arises
Thus being and non-being produce each other
Difficult and easy bring about each other
Long and short reveal each other
High and low support each other
Music and voice harmonize each other
Front and back follow each other
Therefore the sages:
Manage the work of detached actions
Conduct the teaching of no words
They work with myriad things but do not control
They create but do not possess
They act but do not presume
They succeed but do not dwell on success
It is because they do not dwell on success
That it never goes awayHow do we find this place of harmony? Meditation, cultivation, practice, applying Dao/Zen to all aspects of our lives.
This harmonic balance is here for all of us to find, if we can cultivate a mind as clear as a polished mirror.
peace to you
beccaxx
Saturday, 14. July 2007, 15:49:00
The river of Zen is quiet,
Even in the waves;
The water of stability is clear,
Even in the waves.
- Xuedou
Monday, 9. July 2007, 19:38:06
Inside the sacred fence
Before which I bow
There must be a pond
Filled with clear water;
As my mind-moon becomes bright
I see its shadow reflected in the water.
- Daito KokushiDaily Zen Quotes
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