word is anvil
mind the forge
soul the wings
love the sky
we build walls and roofs
hang the anvil on our neck
put away our wings
sky your love
wing your soul
then see
then speak
mind flips the image
the eye sees things upside down
reverse the order
sky
wing
mind
sing
When you look but cannot see,
you call it invisible.
When you listen but cannot hear,
you call it inaudible.
When you touch but cannot feel,
you call it formless.
These things cannot be known
and so are blended into one.
The top is not light,
The bottom is not dark.
Infinitely infinite – it cannot be named.
Returning again to that which has no existence,
A form without form, suddenly indistinct.
Facing it, you will not see its face.
Following it, you will not see its back.
Stay with the Timeless Tao –
In order to master the here and now.
Understanding the Primal Origin –
This is the tradition of Tao.
Translation at: http://taotechingdaily.com/14-the-nameless/#sthash.peqtnqdv.dpuf
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Language forms the pathways of individual thought. And language is basically an assemblage of labels applied to things seen through our human mechanism.
But what is labeled? What exists before eye and ear and skin are formed, before the open grid of the human perceptual mechanism appears in the cosmos?
What is a tree before we see it through the mechanism of our perception? What is it before we perceive it as discrete and separate and give it a form, a shape, a taste, a sound, a sensation upon the fingertips, a label of its own, and file that label in the lexicon of mind?
It… Is.
The sage counsels us to remember this universal, whole “Is-ness” as we experience our local, separate business in it. We can master the here and now when we remain aware of the Timeless Tao, the source of all things our consciousness has derived.
Aldous Huxley, in his great work The Perennial Philosophy, referred to a “divine ground,” the source of all religions and philosophies. It’s a good expression of the root of the Timeless Tao.
First, there is the Primal Origin, inseparable and whole.
Now comes the beholder, and the act of beholding creates the Divine Ground.
The beholder then perceives – and is at once discrete, individualized. And so the forms of personal perception are created.
The sage tells us to remember what we beheld before we perceived it, to see what we saw before we “saw” it, to hear what we heard before we “heard” it, to touch what we touched before we “felt” it, to know what we knew before we labeled it.
That’s the essence of Love. To behold, and not label.
Behold and you will know the beloved. Label and you will “see” only yourself.
| Favor and disgrace are things that startle; High rank is, like one’s body, a source of great trouble. What is meant by saying favor and disgrace are things that startle? Favor when it is bestowed on a subject serves to startle as much as when it is withdrawn. What is meant by saying that high rank is, like one’s body, a source of great trouble? The reason I have great trouble is that I have a body. Hence he who values his body more than dominion over the empire can be entrusted with the empire. He who loves his body more than dominion over the empire can be given the custody of the empire. D.C. Lau |
Accept disgrace willingly. Accept misfortune as the human condition.What do you mean by “Accept disgrace willingly”?Accept being unimportant. Do not be concerned with loss or gain.This is called “accepting disgrace willingly.”What do you mean by “Accept misfortune as the human condition”?Misfortune comes from having a body. Without a body, how could there be misfortune? Surrender yourself humbly; then you can be trusted to care for all things. Love the world as your own self; then you can truly care for all things. Jane English & Gia-fu Feng |
_________________________________________
Honors and censure stun us.
Exalted status, like corporeal existence, sources troubles.
How do honors and censure stun?
Favor given enthralls the subject;
Favor withdrawn dazes and bewilders.
Agitation is the result and seeing narrows.
This is how honors and censure stun.
This bears repeating:
To be hypnotized by honor or the body is a problem.
When I focus on the body, what I see is dilated to a pinpoint.
When I am not focused on the body I see openly
I see myself entirely.
I see myself and am not troubled.
To the one who values clear vision of the whole and humble self,
To the one who values clear vision of the dominion more than dominance,
The kingdom is given.
________________________________________
I am not special.
When I see myself as worthy or unworthy,
it causes problems.
I am not merely a body.
When I see myself ruled by pain and no pain,
hunger and satisfaction,
it causes problems.
Only love is real.
When I love my common being,
I love what is shared, and mutual.
When I am in the dominion,
when the dominion is in me,
when “me” is not the dominion,
when I am not dominated by me,
or honors or disgraces, yours or mine,
or your body, or mine –
I love.
I see myself,
I see us,
I see the dominion,
and I am not troubled.
______________________________________________
A tip of the hat to A Course In Miracles for that second reflection.
Lenore says, “I think we develop a habit of turmoil because so often we’re in turmoil about something. If we’re doing something that bothers us the answer is simple. Don’t do that. The whole idea that ‘someone is better than me, or I am better than someone else’ is bothersome. So don’t do that.”
____________________________________________
Louis Weltzer’s comment here last week wins the Big Light award. Louis, I hope the honor doesn’t stun you too much, or for too long…
Musing on his metaphor I realized that, like the game show Jeopardy, we have the answers. When we are contestants – with life, each other, ourselves, the dominion – we play this silly game of coming up with questions. And then we spend our time convincing others that our questions are the right questions, that they are the key to the right answers, that we, through the questions we have created and the answers that they have created, are the finger pointing to the Tao.
Isn’t that what we so often do? We run around in the answer, asking questions. It’s troublesome how often we look at the pointing finger instead of what it is pointing at.
We have the answers.
|
The five colors make man’s eyes blind; Riding and hunting Hence the sage is for the belly Therefore he discards the one and takes the other. D. C. Lau |
The five colors blind the eye. Racing and hunting madden the mind. Therefore the sage is guided by what he feels and not by what he sees. He lets go of that and chooses this. Jane English & Gia-fu Feng |
_____________________________
The senses can be overwhelmed and overwhelming.
The seeker in pursuit has a frantic mind.
Desire for and attachment to hard-earned, guarded treasure hinders progress.
Give up pursuit; you have what you seek.
Give up your precious treasures.
Give up pursuit of that which is outside you.
Choose what you have and know and feel in the center of you.
The sage within you knows the way.
_____________________________
Frantic minds and guarded treasure and pursuit. Give it up? Hell, no! I have pursued these treasures my whole life. I have hard-won wisdoms from hard experience, hard-won judgments, possessions, status, attainments. They’re my treasures, and if you knew any better they’d be yours too…
When I see your lack of treasure – and I will – I will give your eyes and ears and palate a load of mine. See, I will say, you can have what I have, what you do not have. Here am I, to your betterment, frantically seeking validation of the value of my tightly clenched treasures, desperately hammering me on top of you like an old flattened tin can with contents labeled “Me.”
Oops.
And from this low level of unconsciousness comes the waking moment, the sudden burst of light, the point of no return to darkness:
…From this moment on I loved you
Somewhere in between I learned
I’m just reaching out to touch you…
It’s the point of no return.
I just realized
I just realized
I just realized…
Who am I, who am I,
Who am I telling you?
JJ Cale, Who Am I Telling You
Louis W. says:What is satori, Alex?
Now I would like to try “Why does sudden enlightenment take so darn long” for $200.
No. Wait. I don’t need that any more. I think I’ll listen to more JJ Cale.
bobgriffith says:This has instantly become one of my all-time favorite replies. I’ll listen with you…
Harmony Grifith says:Oops, indeed. *goes and listens to JJ Cale as well*
bobgriffith says:How do I love it when speaking ends and listening begins?
Let me count the ways…
No, wait.
*goes to the JJ Cale neighborhood party* 
Thirty spokes share the wheel’s hub;
It is the center hole that makes it useful.
Shape clay into a vessel;
It is the space within that makes it useful.
Cut doors and windows for a room;
It is the holes which make it useful.
Therefore benefit comes from what is there;
Usefulness from what is not there.
Jane English & Gia-fu Feng 1989
“I gotta look at things as if they’re just happening, because sometimes what I see is really, really annoying…” Anon
The axle hole, the empty cup, the empty space are useful.
We use the space in the wheel, the cup, the room. We can fill the emptiness in the wheel and cup and room to our benefit.
The rest of what I initially wrote here has been removed because the following question appeared after I had written much about this chapter:
“What would the open places fill with if I did not fill them with myself? “
Louis W. says:Hmmm. Last night I did read what you originally wrote, and I frankly needed some time to process it. It seems that you certainly did have a full plate (or cup). It was quite perceptive of you to step back to see what portion was filled with your friend’s unfortunate situation and what portion was your own emotions.
Jumping way ahead to Chapter 67, Lao Tzu tells us that he has three treasures, or three things to teach. The first of those is translated by many as compassion or love. That treasure is presaged here, and by the question you pose above. It is through detaching from our own egos that we open the space necessary to actually show compassion to others.
That same space helps to answer the question posed in Chapter 10 about how we can lead or help others without imposing our will or control.
bobgriffith says:“It is through detaching from our own egos that we open the space necessary to actually show compassion to others.” There you go. The simple question I left intact is a distillation of what you see as well. If we are not “there” with our selfish agendas there’s suddenly a lot of room. Then compassion and love come to fill the open places and don’t find the place already fully occupied with a lot of judgments and all other types of egocentric crap. The trick is to consciously catch my ego when it’s filled up the opening spaces with whatever that small, sly, selfish, stubborn space-hog has managed to slip by my conscious mind. I swear sometimes it seems like my ego is an on-board alien that just needs to go back to its own planet, you know? Been getting it out of the way for over thirty years now in favor of making room for love, and still the little bastard thinks he’s got a chance… It is to laugh.
Louis W. says:One more comment that seems appropriate:
When this chapter talks about rooms, it refers to the doors and windows rather than the space in the room. Old Lao Tzu recognized that you come and go to and from the emptiness. You don’t stay there all the time. Sometimes it is necessary go out and have a drink with your ego – spend a little time together; perhaps open up some compassion for that “on-board alien.” After all, it was there to protect your personality and even your spirit as you were growing, changing, evolving.
Can you nurture your life energy to achieve the softness of a newborn?
Can you polish the mirror of your deepest reflections until you are without flaws?
Can you care lovingly for your kingdom while remaining unknown?
Can you stay receptive to the life and death of all beings?
Can you remain innocent in the light of pure awareness?
The sage nourishes and develops all things, yet makes no claims;
Leads, yet does not control.
This is the profound mystery of Tao.
_________________________________
Who we are here and now and what we are doing is perfect.
_________________________________
Good questions. Can I? Can you?
We can develop, we can nourish, we can be humble and make no claims, we can walk our path and be followed or not, we can share our experience freely, without expectation of personal validation or conversion of others to our path.
Yet there is a mystery spoken of here. And a mirror. Is the presence of a mirror the mystery? Why is there a mirror at all, since it appears to create a separation between being and doing, and that which is?
Are mysteries to be solved? Or accepted? In our time, particularly since the development of scientific method, there is the assumption mysteries can be solved with reasoning, with the mind. There’s a lot to be said for reason, and it has been said in western thought for millenia.
Yet there’s also much said about mysteries which, in the course of the application of reason, prove to be mysteries which reason is not able to solve. The highest point of reason is reflected in the conclusions it ascertains about its own limitations.
We have doing and being on one side of the mirror, and all that simply is on the other. It’s a mystery that the mirror is there at all. Why all the polishing, why all the reasoning, and development, and nourishing? Why is there achievement and care and receptivity and maintenance?
When the mirror disappears do being and doing then achieve oneness with all that is? Do polishing, reasoning, development, nourishing, achievement, care, receptivity, maintenance, and mystery and being – and all that exists truly, and not as a reflection in our personal mirror – does it all become One?
What’s going on here, now? Just this: we are here, now, doing and being that which is.
In the mirror we can be comfortable in our own skin, warts and all. We can be aware of the imperfect reflection in the mirror of our personal perception and unique experience, and simultaneously aware of our perfection, knowing that we exist and live and breathe and do and be in a universe where even mirrors exist without contradiction, a place where everything belongs just as it is – even us.
Unsolvable mysteries defy solution, can not be summed in the reason-conveying medium of words.
Who we are here and now and what we are doing is perfect.
Amy Putkonen says:This is so cool, Bob. You have a completely different take on what the mirror represents! I had not even considered it like that at all. I love that. Just like two snowflakes are never the same, two perceptions of a beautiful ancient text are never the same either. Neither are meant to be cast in stone, but more like sand to the wind. Changing and dissolving through time.
bobgriffith says:Exactly! If we each look at the same thing and see something different, does the thing itself change? Or is it constant? Will that which is seen assign a value of “correctness” to each viewpoint, or will it simply continue to be what it is? We are all arrayed like prisms illuminated by a single source, reflecting our refracted light to one another, and we say, “Yes, I see that,” or “No, I see something different.” And yet aren’t we always inspired to our perceptions by the same thing? And if we take one step back, and see ourselves and the inspiring thing which is, are we not all part of a single thing which includes all beholders and the thing which is beheld, and all the myriad reflections?
Practically speaking, for me, life is perfect and imperfect simultaneously. I will wake up to the day and thoughts and feelings and the experiences of the day will come. I will by turns perhaps be happy, sad, celebratory, depressed, peaceful, angry, accepting, judgmental, fearful and/or unfearing. I will encounter what I see as low levels of consciousness, people hurting themselves or others, I will be aware of better options for them which they do not see, and are moving toward, and I will wish to help them on their way, and I will forget their way is their own, and they have not asked me for anything. I will have opportunities to reflect many energies into myself or back out to those I encounter. I will be a fool, I will make mistakes, I will curse myself for it, I will heal my self-inflicted feelings of insufficiency, I will walk down through the long trail of learned remedies and coping skills and tools acquired on my path and return to sanity and clarity, but not before tumbling and wrestling with it all in my mind, with my words, my reason, my perception, my experience.
It’s all part of that which is. We have knowledge of good and evil, we see both, they are real to us. There are things to stand for, things to stand against, better ways and worse ways, places of light and places of darkness. There is love and hate, acceptance and resistance, and there are steps from darkness into light. There are fragments in a thing which is absolutely and eternally whole. It’s all a part of that which is.
The path tells us we must “rise” if we are to become realized, that essentially we must divorce or separate ourselves from some things in order to have others. This is the way of being and doing, and it works.
The “destination” to me has always been the same. In times beyond my own resources, when I have used all the tools acquired on my path and they have not been sufficient to the task and I have not been able to discover a point of peace and understanding and have not been able to reconcile myself with the presence of something in myself which I do not want and has become unbearable – for instance the sudden loss of loved ones – I go to the mystery. I seek the answer in prayer, turn the job over to that within me which is not reason and thought, that Source.
Ever notice how the answer is always the same, there?
“It is what it is. Let it be.”
|
Holding a cup and overfilling it Gold and jade fill up the room When achievement is completed, This is the Tao of Heaven Derek Lin, Translator |
Grabbing and stuffing? Sharpen a blade too much Fill a house with gold and jade Puff yourself with honor and pride Complete the task at hand Jonathan Star, Translator |
Materialism is ingrained deeply into perception. Livelihood becomes equated with acquisition, and the practice of meeting our basic material needs with simple, daily, graceful effort becomes infused with egocentric wants and fears. We become manic, fueled by anxiety, driven by desires and feelings of lack. Daily work is never done, we never withdraw from seeking achievement and fame. We chase it all our lives and measure ourselves accordingly. Our measure becomes more important than our being, and so we cease being and become merely a measure. We lose the freedom of humble being, and become enslaved by pride in our measure.
It’s not about achieving and fame and THEN, years later, quietly withdrawing. It’s about being done with achieving and fame, done chasing them, done being chased by them… today.
Oh, I got plenty of nothing, and nothing`s plenty for me…
…folks with plenty of plenty
they got a lock on the door
Afraid somebody`s gonna rob them
While they’re out making more…
I got no lock on the door,
that`s no way to be,
they can steal the rug from the floor,
that`s OK with me.
`Cause the things that I prize,
Like the stars in the skies,
Are all free. All free!
I got my gal, got my song,
got heaven the whole day long…
Got my gal, got my Lord, got my song,
I got the sun, got the moon, got the deep blue sea.
Oh, I got plenty of nothing, and nothing`s plenty for me…
The folks with plenty of plenty,
Got to pray all the day.
Seems with plenty you sure got to worry
How to keep the devil away, away.
I ain`t fretting about hell,
never worry when my time will arrive,
never worry long as I`m well,
Never one to strive
to be good, to be bad…
What the hell, I’m glad I’m alive!
Oh, I got plenty of nothing,
And nothing`s plenty for me. 
I got my gal, got my song,
Got heaven the whole day long!
No use complaining,
I got my gal,
I got my (Tao),
I got my song!
Got heaven the whole day long!
Paraphrase of “I Got Plenty of Nothin’ ” byDuBose Heyward
Amy Putkonen says:Jonathan Star. One of my favorites, for sure! His copy of the Tao Te Ching is partly responsible for my entire blog actually existing.
I have been thinking about what you said a lot these last few days (before reading your post) so this is very timely. My husband and I are planning out where we will live in a few years. Right now, my daughter is still in school so we want to stay put but once she is done with school we want to move to a warmer spot.
So we are always working on downsizing. We live in a tiny house already so whenever I bring something into the house I think to myself that I need to get busy bringing stuff OUT. Simplify. As the years go by, I care less and less about bringing in more stuff. I hardly ever even shop anymore.
I love that poem. Yes, the stars are what is valuable. For sure. Speaking of, I must go and sit out on my deck this morning and listen to the birds instead of typing on this computer. Have a great week, Bob.
bobgriffith says:Hi Amy,
Downsizing and simplifying felt good when we did it in 2009. We moved, too, when the time came, and we still feel appreciative of how “lucky” we were to land where we have. We exercised the usual amount of planning and investigation, drove to a lot of places and did what we could to identify what we wanted, and where – yet in the end it came down to going with the flow, trusting, and then blooming where we found ourselves planted.
There’s a lot of serendipitous synergy on the path which takes us to the place and condition we really want so long as we stay willing to flow with the process rather than control it. At least that was our experience. When you ride the river into a new place it’s really cool to look and see the blessings there. It’s easy to see what’s missing anywhere from the mind’s projected perspective. Lenore (my wife) and I learned to see what is present and so our days slowly fill with new wonders and awareness of what we have here.
Our “measure” in the context of the above post is quite humble. We live comfortably in a snug home and meet our basic needs. Our wealth is certainly not measured in terms of money. In that light our circumstances would alarm, if not horrify, most industrious citizens working diligently toward financial security.
My wife and I chose to live a certain way many years ago. Our priority was right livelihood rather than devotion to the ways and means of acquisition. We worked and served others, took time for ourselves to be together and grow in awareness of what life is all about really, and earned our daily bread and satisfactions. And that was it. No jewels, no treasure, no lock on the door. Even now times come when we are invited to consider how precarious our condition is in terms of money, but we’ve learned to quickly decline that particular invitation and move on. We walked our Tao the best we knew how and we chose correctly for us.
The freedom of humble being is truly immeasurable. It ain’t perfect – yet – but “what the hell, we’re just glad to be alive!” It’s good, being two who are One, flowing the best we can, knowing that sufficient unto the day are the evils thereof, meeting them early, dispensing with them as they appear, and moving out into the treasures of the day.
One last thing about writing. It’s reflected in the song above. When you write, don’t worry or fret about being good or bad, don’t strive. Just be glad you’re writing, and being alive. When the day’s work is done, it’s done. Let the writing be what it is, release it, let it go where it will and do what it would, and don’t fear what anyone might think. Remember, “what somebody else thinks of me (or my writing) is none of my business.”
Oh, and be on the lookout for what I call “collateral enrichment.” To paraphrase John Lennon, collateral enrichment is what happens while you’re writing with other plans in mind…
Carry on! Our love to you and yours, Amy.
Oh Bob,
Your life sounds wonderful. Tell Lenore I said hello to her. I see a movement afoot. The “tiny house” movement is a piece of that. Sustainability is a piece of that. We crave naturalness because we have drifted so far from it in our urban cultures. Congratulations on choosing consciously how you want to live. That is wonderful.
bobgriffith says:Thanks, Amy. Our life is pretty wonderful. But not without its challenges, too. We’ve managed, for the most part, to overcome that sense that the nattering muzzle of materialism’s voice is crouched in the weeds and ready to pounce on us with judgments of failure to acquire. It comes up once in awhile. Then we remind ourselves we made the choices, accept responsibility for the manifested consequences, and together count all the blessings and graces of those manifested consequences. We never can tally them all up. Before we get anywhere near the end of that list we are good with it all over again.
| The highest goodness resembles water Water greatly benefits myriad things without contention It stays in places that people dislike Therefore it is similar to the TaoDwelling with the right location Feeling with great depth Giving with great kindness Speaking with great integrity Governing with great administration Handling with great capability Moving with great timingBecause it does not contend It is therefore beyond reproach Derek Lin, Translator |
The best way to life is to be like water For water benefits all things and goes against none of them It provides for all people and even cleanses those places a man is loath to go In this way it is just like Tao Live in accordance with the nature of things Build your house on solid ground Keep your mind still When giving, be kind When speaking, be truthful When ruling, be just When working, be one-pointed When acting, remember, timing is everything One who lives in accordance with nature does not go against the way of things He moves in harmony with the present moment always knowing the truth of just what to do Jonathan Star, Translator |
Right mind, right place, right feeling, right speech, right rule, right work, right movement – all are already known, we know it all. Each of us knows it already. The path is not to know it, everybody knows it, it’s reflected in thousands of seeker websites, millennia of stories, poems, songs, philosophies. Remember, every word is a metaphor, every real thing is the truth.
The path is to do it, to get in it, to be with it where you are. Now, not later, not when it’s safe or best or earned. Do it. Now. Get in it, be with it where you are. No need to quit your job or relationships or relocate or make a new plan. Bloom where you’re planted. Get in it, be with it where you are.
Enough said. Conversely, here’s what happens when we cut ourselves off from the flow. Every word’s a metaphor…
Stone river, water ain’t runnin’ no more
Man he done cut if off and moved it all around
There ain’t no river runnin’, no water can be found
Stone river, water ain’t runnin’ no more.
Fish ain’t swimmin’, ain’t no fish around nowhere
Fish ain’t swimmin’, ain’t nobody seem to care
They bottled up and dammed it, choked it up and jammed it, killed the life around it
And stole it like a bandit
Stone river, water ain’t runnin’ no more
What used to be a river now is just an empty site
Ain’t no vegetation, it’s just an agitation, it don’t seem right
There ain’t no trees a growin’, no animals are showin’, what used to be a stream
Now is just a dream
Stone river, water ain’t runnin’ nowhere.
What used to be a stream is now just a dream
Stone river, water ain’t runnin’ no more.
JJ Cale, Stone River
LouisW says:It has been quite a few years since I last saw JJ Cale in concert. He was dresssed in black; sitting at the back of the band rather than strutting in front like a rock star. He quietly played exquisite guitar lines that no one else may have ever tried. Like the Tao, he settled into the right location and acted what I thought was perfectly in accord with the nature of his music.
“Stone River,” “Magnolia,” “Cocaine,” “Crazy Mama” – so many great songs. A very good choice for this post.
Louis W. says:“We always knew those days would forever last
And all those friends we had would never pass
But they did and the numbers grow small
For a time we had it all
Like to see you again sometime.
I’ll try to call, my old friend.
“May your backside catch the wind,
May you have many more days to spend,
I could see you again,
My old friend.”
-”Old Friend,” by JJ Cale (1938-2013)
I just heard that we lost JJ Cale to a heart attack yesterday (7-26-13). Thanks for making me think of him a couple of weeks ago. I have been listening to more of his songs the past few days and they still sound really good.
I suppose they will keep sounding good here, and that he can bring some great music to wherever comes next.
bobgriffith says:I learned he had died today. What a good quote to think of in the moment of his completion here. It touches me deeply. Thank you for that…
My recollections of him are like yours, a humble person, an exquisite talent, and when I saw him play it was remarkable how symbiotically linked he was to the energy of his fellow players as well as their style and what they were doing in the moment. He flowed with it, always alert to what was going on, always relaxed.
I’ve been hearing the plaintive wail and easy slide of JJ’s guitar all day long. He could bend his instrument across dimensions, and today it seems he is playing easily in them all, sliding and flowing from here to there and back again in easy grace.
Amy Putkonen says:I agree with Louis. Cool. I loved your juxtaposition of the poem with the chapter. We know what we need to do, now do it before we choke! lol…
Heaven is ancient
Earth is long-lasting
Why is this so? Because they have no claims to life
By having no claims to life they cannot be claimed by death
The Sage puts his own views behind so ends up ahead
He stays a witness to life so he endures
What could he grab for that he does not already have?
What could he do for himself that the universe itself has not already done?
Jonathan Star, Translator
it’s the end of a perfect day
for surfer boys and girls
the sun’s dropping down in the bay
and falling off the world
there’s a diamond in the sky
our evening star
in our Shangri-La
get that fire burning strong
right here and right now
it’s here and then it’s gone
there’s no secret, anyhow
we may never love again
to the music of guitars
in our Shangri-La
tonight your beauty burns
into my memory
the wheel of heaven turns
above us endlessly
this is all the heaven we’ve got
right here where we are
in our Shangri-La
this is all the heaven we’ve got
right here where we are
in our Shangri-La
Our Shangri-La, Mark Knopfler
Chapter 7 of the Tao Te Ching speaks of that which has removed its own selfishness from the view and so witnesses impersonally; it has no desire to grab what it already has, it has no desire to do for the self what has already been done. We all have that witness in us.
The witness to life knows we can bloom where we’re planted, accept what we have, and be aware of, and content with, our own being as a graceful, integral part of creation.
We all experience separation in what appears to be the irreconcilable difference of being a separate self. The moment we put that view behind us, we see what is in front of us. We witness life as it is, join it, and because “heaven is ancient and earth is long lasting,” we endure, here, in the heaven we’ve got right here where we are.
The Valley of the Spirit
is immortal and nourishing.
It is called the Mysterious Female,
our Creative Power.
This Creative Power is our passageway,
Revealing the Creation
of Heaven and Earth itself.
Like a babbling stream,
It flows endlessly through our lives –
Quietly supporting us always.
– See more at: http://taotechingdaily.com/6-valley-of-the-spirit/#sthash.N3SN7nlw.dpuf
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The Valley Spirit… The abundance and fertility of the creative energy in the Tao. The profound imagination which everywhere visualizes and brings forth life.
The spirit of the valley is inexhaustible, it brings forth new life forever. A river, always changing, ever filled with fresh water, flows through it eternally. In the night above, the moon phases round the stars in wane and flux, and ebb and flow pulse in the waters of the world.
Generations of trees and the lush, verdant forest cycle ever-new down through the seasons of time without end.
The ancient rocks rest there, birds fly, fish swim, the worm becomes the cocoon chrysalis and it cracks open and out of its heart delicate color flutters up and floats on the valley breeze like a dancing ribbon.
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The Cascadian Wanderer 
2 Responses to Tao Te Ching Chapter 13
This reflection’s my favorite that you’ve posted so far. I don’t even have words for why – which is probably a good thing. Words gum up the works of Being, anyway. ❤
Yeah, mine too. It’s sort of like putting on a pair of high-tech sound-cancellation earphones and listening to the talk in your head contract into a pinpoint and the last thing you hear is a burp and then you’re happy.