The true masters of ancient times cultivated the art of the deep understanding of the subtle essence.
So deep as to be unrecognizable, we can only describe their demeanor.
Deliberate, as if crossing a frozen stream in winter.
Alert, as if faced on all sides by enemies.
Dignified, as if an honored guest in someone’s home.
Dissolving, as ice when melted.
As solid and simple as an uncarved block of wood.
Open, like a valley.
Obscured, like a muddy pool when you cannot see the bottom.
Who has enough stillness to let muddy water settle?
Who is able to stay at rest while generating the movement of everyday life?
On this path of Tao, one avoids the fullness of things in order to be truly empty.
Therefore, one is able to continually be refreshed.
– See more at: http://taotechingdaily.com/15-the-true-masters/
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This week I choose to focus boldly, as above and below, on the last two lines of this chapter.
You will find fewer words here than usual unless you count the pictures as a thousand words apiece, in which case I have become downright garrulous.
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Avoid being filled with things.
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Be continually refreshed.
It’s always good to let things come in and pass through and go out, like these wisdoms and our commentaries and replies, or the stream of input and reactions we experience moment by moment in our minds, feelings, selves, family, friends, our cultural context, our planet, our Life.
That way we are always filling, always able to breathe in the next thing, let it pass through us, let it go out, and so always be ready for what the next moment, the next breath, brings.
Further fun can be found in the reply following the good food for thought served at: http://ralstoncreekreview.com/chapter-15-bodhisattva/#comment-5858
The Cascadian Wanderer 
One Response to Tao Te Ching Chapter 15
I felt relaxed just reading your words and looking at that beautiful stream. I love how you linked over to Louis too. Nachos as big as your ass? Hilarious.