30
Sep
In times of reflection I sometimes turn to the Tao Te Ching (the book of The Way), written by Lao-Tzu, for guidance. Over these past several days my thinking has taken several synchronistic turns and I realize that the path I chose to walk several years ago is still the path I am on. It seems though that over the past 10 months I haven’t been walking the path, that I had rejected that which I had once embraced. But this morning I realized that I have just been taking a break, that I had only momentarily set my backpack aside to rest for a moment on the trail. And now I feel ready to continue on with a clearer sense of purpose and thought.
I opened the book of The Way and the passage I settled on was this:
He who stands on tiptoe
doesn’t stand firm.
He who rushes ahead
doesn’t go far.
He who tries to shine
dims his own light.
He who defines himself
can’t know who he really is.
He who has power over others
can’t empower himself.
He who clings to his work
will create nothing that endures.
If you want to accord with the Tao,
just do your job, then let go.
And even as I reflect on these words I can feel the weight of my pack settle on my shoulders, hips and back, and it feels good and right.
(This translation of the Tao Te Ching was taken from Stephen Mitchell.)
28
Sep
I am not a teacher only a fellow-traveller of whom you asked the way. I pointed ahead – ahead of myself as well as you. – George Benard Shaw
24
Sep
20
Sep
(picture, created in photoshop, click here to see a larger view)
“Reason is a whore, the greatest enemy that faith has.” – Martin Luther
Martin Luther didn’t have much good to say about reason. He likened reason to the Devil’s bride, a “pretty whore” that comes in and thinks she’s wise in what she says and that her words come from Providence. And indeed we treat reason like a whore using her to support our twisted logic and bolster our world view.
(Picture, thanks to the Flying Kiwi)
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, design a building, conn a ship, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve an equation, analyse a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly…specialization is for insects. – Robert A. Heinlein
Create some space right here right now that you can step into right now and be who you want to be and do what that person would be doing right now…let go of any mind made pressures or obstacles…
Who would you be? And what would you be doing?
Who you are is who you are right now. And in accordance with Nietzsche’s eternal recurrence thought experiment, would you be happy to repeat this moment for all of eternity?