Interesting article by Sandra Trishula Das on Rati Maa - Goddess of Love and Passion
Goddess Vidya, a blog by Sandra Trishula Das
Sex Magick
Tantra
Devi Kamakhya
Thursday, June 30, 2022
Rati Maa: Goddess of Love and Passion
Interesting article by Sandra Trishula Das on Rati Maa - Goddess of Love and Passion
Goddess Vidya, a blog by Sandra Trishula Das
Sex Magick
Tantra
Devi Kamakhya
Wednesday, June 29, 2022
Morton, Washington
Karen and I spent the night at the Seasons Motel in Morton. It was a clean, quiet, and nice room for $190.00. We were tired after a busy day on Mayfield Lake on Tuesday.
We awoke early on Wednesday. We drove home from Morton. Beautiful farmland views.
Karen and I enjoyed a trip from Vancouver, WA, to Lake Mayfield, WA. It is about a 100 mile drive one way: north on Interstate 5 and east on Highway 12. The drive from Mary's Corner to Morton, Randall, or Packwood is easy on Highway 12 which goes over White Mountain Pass and then to Yakima.
Mick and April were camping (Sunday-Wednesday) at Ike Kinswa State Park near Mossyrock. We joined them in the morning on Tuesday. We both went on boat rides with Mick as the boatman driver. We crossed Mayfield Lake from the dock near the bridge at the State Park. Then we went up the Cowlitz River to below Mossyrock Dam. A wonderful sightseeing excursion. The weather was very overcast and threatening rain. We had a great dinner of dipped pork and spinach sandwiches.
Tuesday, June 28, 2022
Mayfield Lake, Washington
Karen and I enjoyed a trip from Vancouver, WA, to Lake Mayfield, WA. It is about a 100 mile drive one way: north on Interstate 5 and east on Highway 12. The drive from Mary's Corner to Morton, Randall, or Packwood is easy on Highway 12 which goes over White Mountain Pass and then to Yakima.
Mick and April were camping at Ike Kinswa State Park near Mossyrock. We joined them in the morning. We both went on boat rides with Mick as the boatman driver. We crossed Mayfield Lake from the dock near the bridge at the State Park. Then we went up the Cowlitz River to below Mossyrock Dam. A wonderful sightseeing excursion. The weather was very overcast and threatening rain.
Monday, June 27, 2022
Memories of Uncle Mike
Memories of Uncle Mike Short Poems by Michael P. Garofalo
Uncle Mike's Cellphone Poetry Series
Sunday, June 26, 2022
Fade into Emptiness: Shikantaza
"Even though your practice is not good enough, you can do it. Your breathing will gradually vanish. You will gradually vanish, fading into emptiness. Inhaling without effort you naturally come back to yourself with some color or form. Exhaling, you gradually fade into emptiness -- empty, white paper. That is shikantaza.
The important point is your exhalation. Instead of trying to feel yourself as you inhale, fade into emptiness as you exhale.
When you practice this in your last moment, you will have nothing to be afraid of. You are actually aiming at emptiness. You become one with everything after you completely exhale with this feeling. If you are still alive, naturally you will inhale again. 'Oh, I'm still alive! Fortunately or unfortunately!' Then you start to exhale and fade into emptiness.
Maybe you don't know what kind of feeling it is. But some of you know it. By some chance you must have felt this kind of feeling."
Saturday, June 25, 2022
Daodejing, Chapter 78
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Chapter 78
"Nothing on earth is so weak and yielding as water, but for breaking down the firm and strong it has no equal.
This admits of no alternative.
All the world knows that the soft can wear away the hard, and the weak can conquer the strong, but none can carry it out in practice.
Therefore the Sage says: He who bears the reproach of his country is really the lord of the land. He who bears the woes of the people is in truth their king.
The words of truth are always paradoxical."
- Translated by Walter Gorn Old, 1904, Chapter 78
This admits of no alternative.
All the world knows that the soft can wear away the hard, and the weak can conquer the strong, but none can carry it out in practice.
Therefore the Sage says: He who bears the reproach of his country is really the lord of the land. He who bears the woes of the people is in truth their king.
The words of truth are always paradoxical."
- Translated by Walter Gorn Old, 1904, Chapter 78
"remember
to be at your best
pattern yourself after water
nothing in all the world is softer or more powerful
nothing in all the world can substitute for it
nothing in all the world can stop it
in their hearts
everyone easily knows that
the soft and the weak
will always overcome the hard and strong
but they find it difficult to live this way
the secret is to
move the bodymind like water."
- Translated by John Bright-Fey, 2006, Chapter 78
"What is more fluid, more yielding than water?
Yet back it comes again, wearing down the rigid strength
Which cannot yield to withstand it.
So it is that the strong are overcome by the weak,
The haughty by the humble.
This we know
But never learn,
So that when wise men tell us,
'He who bites the dust
Is owner of the earth,
He who is scapegoat
Is king,'
They seem to twist the truth."
- Translated by Witter Bynner, 1944, Chapter 78
"Nothing is more soft and yielding than water,
for cutting things hard and strong, nothing is better,
because it persists.
The weak can overcome the strong;
the supple can overcome the stiff.
Everyone knows this,
yet no one puts it into practice.
Therefore, the sage says:
who shoulders the humiliation of the people, fits to rule them,
who shoulder the country's disaster, deserves to be the king.
The truth often sounds paradoxical."
- Translated by Tienzen Gong, Chapter 78
for cutting things hard and strong, nothing is better,
because it persists.
The weak can overcome the strong;
the supple can overcome the stiff.
Everyone knows this,
yet no one puts it into practice.
Therefore, the sage says:
who shoulders the humiliation of the people, fits to rule them,
who shoulder the country's disaster, deserves to be the king.
The truth often sounds paradoxical."
- Translated by Tienzen Gong, Chapter 78
天下莫柔弱於水,
而攻堅強者, 莫之能勝,
其無以易之.
弱之勝強, 柔之勝剛, 天下莫不知, 莫能行.
是以聖人云受國之垢, 是謂社稷主;
受國不祥, 是謂天下王.
正言若反.
- Chinese characters, Chapter 78, Tao Te Ching
t'ien hsia mo jou jo yü shui,
erh kung chien ch'iang chê, mo chih nêng shêng,
ch'i wu yi yi chih.
jo chih shêng ch'iang, jou chih shêng kang, tien hsia mo pu chih, mo nêng hsing.
shih yi shêng jên yün shou kuo chih kou, shih wei shê chi chu;
shou kuo pu hsiang, shih wei t'ien hsia wang.
chêng yen jo fan.
- Wade-Giles Romanization, Chapter 78, Tao Te Ching
"There is nothing in the world
as soft and weak as water.
But to erode the hard and strong,
nothing can surpass it;
nothing can be a substitute.
The weak can overcome the strong;
the soft can overcome the hard.
There is no-one in the world who does not know this,
but there is no-one who can put it into practice.
Those who are enlightened say:
those who bear a nation's disgrace
will become lords of its shrines to earth and grain; *
those who bear a nation's misfortune
will become kings under heaven.
True words often seem a paradox."
- Translated by Tim Chilcott, 2005, Chapter 78
"Nothing in the world is as soft and yielding as water.
Yet when it attacks what is strong and firm, nothing can hold up against it.
Because there is nothing as changeable as water,
Water conquers what is firm and unyielding.
By being flexible, it can conquer what is strong.
No one in this world wouldn’t be able to understand that, yet no one has the ability to carry it out.
Therefore a wise person’s words declare:
Accepting the blame for a nation’s problems is naturally referred to as being the master of what nourishes the world;
Accepting the nation’s problems as bad signs of fate is naturally referred to as being the king of the world.
These straight-spoken words seem to be backwards."
- Translated by Nina Correa, 2005, Chapter 78
"Nada hay en el mundo más blando y suave que el agua,
pero nada puede superarla en el combate contra lo duro y resistente,
en esto nada puede sustituirla.
El agua vence a lo más duro,
lo débil vence a lo fuerte,
no hay en el mundo quien desconozca esta razón,
pero tampoco quien sea capaz de ponerla en práctica.
De ahí que el sabio diga:
'Sólo quien asume los oprobios del Estado,
merece ser llamado señor del país.
Sólo quien soporta las desgracias del Estado,
merece ser llamado rey del mundo.'
Las palabras verdaderas parecen paradójicas."
- Translated by Juan Ignacio Preciado, 1978, Capítulo 78
"There
is nothing weaker than water,
Or easier to efface,
But for attacking the
hard and the strong
Nothing can take its
place.
That the tender
conquers the rigid,
That the weak
overcomes the strong,
The whole world
knows, but in practice who
Can carry the work
along?
Who bears the sins of
his country,
We know from the sage's word,
Shall be called the
master of sacrifice,
And hailed as its
altar's lord.
Who carries his
country's woes,
The curse of the land
who bears,
Shall be called the
king of the world; tis true,
Chapter 78, Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Chapter and Thematic Index (Concordance) to the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
English Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index
Spanish Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index
Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices
Taoism: A Selected Reading List
One Old Daoist Druid's Final Journey
Friday, June 24, 2022
Short Poems by Michael P. Garofalo
Short Poems
By Michael P. Garofalo
Summer Adventures
Short Poems by Michael P. Garofalo
Haiku, Brief Free Verse, PhotosTercets, Concrete Poems, QuartetsCinquains, Waka, Couplets, Senryu
Sonnets, Limericks, QuatrainsUnder 30 Letters Best Per Line of TextUncle Mike's Cellphone Poetry Series I
Sonnets, Limericks, Quatrains
Short Poems by Michael P. Garofalo
Uncle Mike's Cellphone Poetry Series II
Uncle Mike's Favorites: Collections of Short Poems
Compiled by Michael P. Garofalo
Uncle Mike's Favorite Short Poems Collections
Thursday, June 23, 2022
Uncle Mike's Cellphone Poetry Series - News
Uncle Mike's Cellphone Poetry Series
Uncle Mike's Short Poems Collections # 1-5
Short poems by Emily Dickinson,
Maya Angelou, Langston Hughes,
Robert Frost, e.e.cummings,
Odgen Nash, Vikram Seth,
Joyce Kilmer, Michael Burch, etc.
Uncle Mike's Cellphone Poetry Series 2
Collection 2
Short poems by Ezra Pound,
Anais Nin, Sylvia Plath,
Rita Dove, Shakespeare,
William Carlos Williams,
Issa, Mike Garofalo
Uncle Mike's Cellphone Poetry Series 2
Collection 3
Short poems by Mary Frye,
T.S. Eliot, Matsuo Basho,
Dylan Thomas, Sara Teasdale,
Edmund Spencer, etc.
Uncle Mike's Cellphone Poetry Series 2
Collection 4
Short poems by and about Uncle Mike.
By Michael P. Garofalo
Uncle Mike's Cellphone Poetry Series 2
Collection 5
Short poems by Michael P. Garofalo
Uncle Mike's Cellphone Poetry Series 1
Cuttings: Haiku and Short Poems
Pulling Onions: Over 1,000 One-Liners
Green Way Research Subject Index
Uncle Mike's Favorite Short Poems
Uncle Mike's Cellphone Poetry Series
Text, graphics, photos, and webpage design
by Michael P. Garofalo.
Updated: June 23, 2022
© Green Way Research
All Rights Reserved
Wednesday, June 22, 2022
Thinking like Alfred North Whitehead
Some Principles of Alfred North Whitehead's Thinking
1. Question the assumptions of your community, your society, your religion, your science, your educational institutions, especially those that are rarely mentioned.
2. Question the dominant media, asking who controls it and what they want you to think.
3. Recognize that a serious answer to any important question brings into view lots of other questions.
4. When people appeal to mystery, consider that it may be mystification. Push critical thought as far as you can.
5. Recognize that the wider range of influences on an event or person that you consider, the better you understand that event or person.
6. Recognize that the broader you consideration of the context and of the likely consequences of your action, the better chance that you will make the right choice.
7. Realize that all your ideas and values are influenced by your particular situation, but refuse to conclude that for this reason they can be dismissed as merely "relative."
8. Recognize that there may be no actions that are completely harmless, but do not let that prevent you for acting decisively.
9. Understand that compassion is the most basic aspect of our experience, and seek to liberate and extend your compassion to all with which you come in contact.
10. Deepen you commitments to your own immediate communities, but always remember that other communities make similar demands on their members. Let you ultimate commitment be all-inclusive."
- By John B. Cobb, Jr., What would Whitehead Think?
How to Live a Good Life: Advice From Wise Persons
Monday, June 20, 2022
What Runs But Never Gets Tired?
The annual average rainfall (AAR) in the different places I have lived is of note for me:
1946-1967 Unincorporated East Los Angeles, Bandini Neighborhood/Varrio,
City of Commerce, Southern California AAR = 15”
1948-1958 Karen grew up in Alexandria, Central Indiana AAR = 42"
1969-1973 Biloxi, Mississippi AAR = 65”
1973-1983 Bell Gardens, Southern California AAR = 15”
1983-1998 Hacienda Heights, California AAR = 15”
1998-2017 Red Bluff, Northern California AAR = 25”
2017– Vancouver, Southwestern Washington, Northwest USA AAR = 42”
Vancouver, Washington, is rated as USDA Agricultural Zone 8B.
Zone 8b means that the average minimum winter temperature is 15 to 20 °F.
"Ancient traditions have long associated holy wells and springs as very special places of the Goddess or anima mundi: symbolic of the Great Mother and associated with birth, the feminine principle, the universal womb, the prima materia, the waters of fertility and refreshment and the fountain of life. The dreaming sites, as they are called, have also been associated with visions, healing, and other paranormal experiences. In ancient Greece, for example, there were more than three-hundred medical centers placed at water sources, where patients experienced healing."
- Christopher and Tricia McDowell, The Sanctuary Garden, 1998, p. 62
"Day after day we looked for rain, and day after day we saw nothing but the sun. Lavender that we had planted in the spring died. The patch of grass in front of the house abandoned its ambitions to become a lawn and turned into the dirty yellow of poor straw. The earth shrank, revealing its knuckles and bones, rocks and roots that had been invisible before."
- Peter Mayle
"Water is the driver of Nature."
- Leonardo da Vinci
1946-1967 Unincorporated East Los Angeles, Bandini Neighborhood/Varrio,
City of Commerce, Southern California AAR = 15”
1948-1958 Karen grew up in Alexandria, Central Indiana AAR = 42"
1969-1973 Biloxi, Mississippi AAR = 65”
1973-1983 Bell Gardens, Southern California AAR = 15”
1983-1998 Hacienda Heights, California AAR = 15”
1998-2017 Red Bluff, Northern California AAR = 25”
2017– Vancouver, Southwestern Washington, Northwest USA AAR = 42”
Vancouver, Washington, is rated as USDA Agricultural Zone 8B.
Zone 8b means that the average minimum winter temperature is 15 to 20 °F.
"Ancient traditions have long associated holy wells and springs as very special places of the Goddess or anima mundi: symbolic of the Great Mother and associated with birth, the feminine principle, the universal womb, the prima materia, the waters of fertility and refreshment and the fountain of life. The dreaming sites, as they are called, have also been associated with visions, healing, and other paranormal experiences. In ancient Greece, for example, there were more than three-hundred medical centers placed at water sources, where patients experienced healing."
- Christopher and Tricia McDowell, The Sanctuary Garden, 1998, p. 62
- Peter Mayle
What runs but never gets tired?
Water
Water
- Leonardo da Vinci
Interstate 5 Highway Bridge from Vancouver, Washington to Portland, Oregon.
This bridge crosses the Columbia River.
Columbia River Valley
Mt. Hood and Hood River Valley, Oregon
The Hood River flows into the Columbia River.
Astoria, Oregon, where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean.
The Hood River flows into the Columbia River.
Sunday, June 19, 2022
Uncle Mike's Cellphone Poetry Series - Announcements
Uncle Mike's
Cellphone Poetry Series I
Short Poems
By Michael P. Garofalo
Short Poems by Michael P. Garofalo
Haiku, Brief Free Verse, PhotosTercets, Concrete Poems, QuartetsCinquains, Waka, Couplets, Senryu
Sonnets, Limericks, Quatrains30 Letters per Line of TextUncle Mike's Cellphone Poetry Series
Sonnets, Limericks, Quatrains
Short Poems by Michael P. Garofalo
Uncle Mike's Cellphone Poetry Series II
Uncle Mike's Favorites: Collections of Short Poems
Compiled by Michael P. Garofalo
Happy Father's Day, Michael James Garofalo
My paternal grandfather, Anthony Garofalo (1881-1931), and his father Demetrio came to Los Angeles from a town in Sicily called Pino dei Greci. They were in the LA fruit and produce transportation and wholesale business. Since my grandfather Anthony died of cancer when my dad was 15, my dad never experienced an adult relationship with his father.
My father grew up in Los Angeles during the Great Depression of the 1930's and World War II. He lived and worked during the economic boom years from 1950-1980 in Los Angeles County.
My mother, Bertha June Garofalo (1921-1994), and my dad were married in 1942. He was then a University of Southern California student and civilian draftsman employed by the U. S. Army Air Corps.
My dad and I were born in the same hospital: The White Memorial Hospital in Los Angeles. We both attended The University of Southern California.
He worked his entire professional career for the Flour Corporation. He retired in 1978 as the Chief Piping Engineer at Flour. Flour designed and built oil refineries and chemical plants all around the world.
My dad's Flour office was near the corner of the Washington and Atlantic Blouveards, less than a half mile from our small home in Bandini, unincorporated East Los Angeles, just another ELA barrio adjacent to industrial, manafacturing, retail, railroads, and slaughterhouses. This area later became the incorporated City of Commerce.
I worked for the City of Commerce Public Library from 1963-1969. I was attending California State University at Los Angeles at the time, paid for by my dad. My dad worked at Flour back then, and we were moving to the new house that my dad and my two brothers had built in Hacienda Heights. I worked hard at the "Ranch" most weekends building the garage, house, pool, and landscaping from the age of 10 to 21. My dad taught us the building trades.
My dad was a Catholic. He paid for me to attend Catholic School at St. Alphonsus Grammer School (K-8) and Cantwell Catholic High School (9-12), both in East Los Angeles. He supported the Catholic Church, its outlook on life, their schools, and their sacraments. My mom was the quiet Lutheran, acting like a Catholic.
My dad was a Republican. He was a professional engineer in a non-union workplace. He would not be thought of by others as a progressive, liberal, or libertarian. He liked the Moral Majority attitude. A prim and proper attitude, hard working, clean cut, Catholic, bourgeois, conservative, mainstream, married ... Ronald Reagan was his favorite President.
My dad was a savy investor, very hardworking, and frugal. He left me with an inheritance that enabled me to move to Northern California in 1998. I worked part-time from 1998-2017, and enjoyed life as an educator, fitness instructor, and semi-retired bohemian gentleman gardener on 5 acres in a rural area.
I can't say my Dad and I were good friends. It was probably somewhat my own fault, but he frequently was, for me, not a likeable sort of fellow in some ways. He tended towards an authoritarian and bossy manner. We did not share the same opinions about many issues of our adjacent generations or about different outlooks on life.
I could always count on him for help and guidance, and tried to reciprocate in kind over our lifetimes. I respected him in many ways. I admired his accomplishments. I thought of him as a strong, decent, hard working man. I wished him well for him for 52 years.
He told me many times, "You are a good son." He choose Karen and I as his caregivers and personal managers after he had a stroke in 1992 and my mom died of cancer in 1994; and, choose me as the Executor of his estate. We honored all his last wishes.
We both enjoyed traveling in the Southwest from 1950-1993. He took our family on many trips in the West from 1948-1966. My dad and mom owned a Ford 350 truck and a 20" travel trailer. He drove that rig across the USA and down to Mexico City.
So I tip my hat to my Dad, Big Mike, my Father, Michael James Garofalo, and my good memories.
Happy Birthday, Dad
Saturday, June 18, 2022
Before and After in the Garden
[A repost from the Cloud Hands Blog on June 25th, 2014.]
Our "Sunny Vegetable Garden" changes dramatically from spring to summer.
June Gardening: Quotes, Poems, Sayings, Lore
Gardening and the Seasons: Quotes, Poems, Sayings, Lore
Our dog, Bruno, always likes to join us for gardening activities. He is skilled at digging for gophers and snakes.
This photo was taken in 2005.
The two photos below were taken by looking south. The first photo was taken in early April, and the second in late June. The "winter garden," where Karen was standing in April, has been cleared and all the onions and garlic harvested.
The two photos below were taken by looking north. The first photo was taken in early April, and the second in late June. Whatever we don't water is dried and brown by June
June Gardening: Quotes, Poems, Sayings, Lore
Gardening and the Seasons: Quotes, Poems, Sayings, Lore
Our dog, Bruno, always likes to join us for gardening activities. He is skilled at digging for gophers and snakes.
This photo was taken in 2005.
Thursday, June 16, 2022
Honesty: The Secret to Transformation
"In my life, the world has constantly changed around me, whether I liked it or not. Carpets were pulled out from under me and sometimes, blankets wrapped around my shoulders. Change in the world is inevitable, but there is no power in experiencing it. Flowing with change is simply enjoying what comes our way or weathering a storm. It’s about being an observer and reacting (or not reacting) to the unrelenting ebbs and flows of life.
There is a difference between change and transformation. Transformation is where the power is. I have transformed many things in my life as well, and any time I want it to last, there is always one key ingredient- honesty.
Transformation can begin only with brutal honesty. We have to be unafraid to get raw, get dirty and get real. We have to close the gap between who we want to be and who we really are in order to evolve.
What happens when we try to transform without being honest about where and who we are in life? Well, it falls flat, it fades away and we are back to the same lies we were telling ourselves before to get through the day. When we start facing the truth, then and only then, can we begin to create the life for ourselves that we imagine possible.
Transformation isn’t easy, but I can promise you, it’s possible. You can be the person you always wanted to be. You can have the relationship you have always wanted. You can be healthy, fit and happy. You can transform your life into the one in your dreams. First, you just have to be honest. When you can do that, no one will or could stand in your way, not even you."
- Angie Cherry, Yoga Teacher, Vancouver, Washington
What happens when we try to transform without being honest about where and who we are in life? Well, it falls flat, it fades away and we are back to the same lies we were telling ourselves before to get through the day. When we start facing the truth, then and only then, can we begin to create the life for ourselves that we imagine possible.
Transformation isn’t easy, but I can promise you, it’s possible. You can be the person you always wanted to be. You can have the relationship you have always wanted. You can be healthy, fit and happy. You can transform your life into the one in your dreams. First, you just have to be honest. When you can do that, no one will or could stand in your way, not even you."
- Angie Cherry, Yoga Teacher, Vancouver, Washington
Uncle Mike's Cellphone Poetry Series
Uncle Mike's
Cellphone Poetry Series
By Michael P. Garofalo
Short Poems by Michael P. Garofalo
Haiku, Brief Free Verse, PhotosTercets, Concrete Poems, QuartetsCinquains, Waka, Couplets, Senryu30 Letters Max per Line of TextUncle Mike's Cellphone Poetry Series
Wednesday, June 15, 2022
Chapter 76, Daodejing, Laozi
Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Chapter 76
"A man living is yielding and receptive.
Dying, he is rigid and inflexible.
All Things, the grass and trees:
Living, they are yielding and fragile;
Dying, they are dry and withered.
Thus those who are firm and inflexible
Are in harmony with dying.
Those who are yielding and receptive
Are in harmony with living.
Therefore an inflexible strategy will not triumph;
An inflexible tree will be attacked.
The position of the highly inflexible will descend;
The position of the yielding and receptive will ascend."
- Translated by R. L. Wing, 1986, Chapter 76
"The living are soft and yielding;
the dead are rigid and stiff.
Living plants are flexible and tender;
the dead are brittle and dry.
Those who are stiff and rigid
are the disciple of death.
Those who are soft and yielding
are the disciples of life.
The rigid and stiff will be broken.
The soft and yielding will overcome."
- Translated by John H. McDonald, 1996, Chapter 76
"When a person is living they are soft and easy to bend.
When they are dead, they become hard and stiff.
When a plant is living, it is soft and tender.
When it is dead, it becomes withered and dry.
The hard and stiff belongs to the company of the dead.
The soft and easy to bend belongs to the company of the living.
A mighty army can to fall by its own weight,
Just as dry wood is ready for the ax.
The mighty and great will be put low;
The humble and weak will be raised high."
- Translated by J. L. Trottier, 1994, Chapter 76
人之生也柔弱.
其死也堅強.
萬物草木之生也柔脆.
其死也枯槁.
故堅強者死之徒.
柔弱者生之徒.
是以兵強則不勝.
木強則共.
強大處下.
柔弱處上.
- Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 76
jên chih shêng yeh jou jo.
ch'i ssu yeh chien ch'iang.
wan wu ts'ao mu chih shêng yeh jou ts'ui.
ch'i ssu yeh k'u kao.
ku chien ch'iang chê ssu chih t'u.
jou jo chê shêng chih t'u.
shih yi ping ch'iang tsê pu shêng.
mu ch'iang tsê ping.
ch'iang ta ch'u hsia.
jou jo ch'u shang.
- Wade-Giles Romanization (1892), Tao Te Ching, Chapter 76
"When people are born, they are soft and yielding.
When people die, they are stiff and unyielding.
Ten-thousand things (everything) like grass and trees, when they are born, they are soft and supple.
When they die, they are rigid and dry.
Stiffness and unyielding are death’s companions.
Softness and yielding are life’s companions.
Unyielding armies will not win.
Unyielding trees become weapons.
Great strength dwells below.
Weakness dwells above."
- Translated by Alan Sheets, 2002, Chapter 76
"Abstain from Hardness
Chieh Ch'iang
Man is soft and weak at birth;
At death he is hard and rigid.
The ten thousand things, herbs and trees,
Are soft and delicate when growing up;
In dying, they wither and look haggard.
Thus hardness and rigidity are companions of death;
Softness and weakness are companions of life.
Therefore armies, having become rigid, will not win;
Trees, having become rigid, will break asunder.
The big and rigid will be laid low;
The soft and weak will be lifted up."
- Translated by Henry Wei, 1982, Chapter 76
"El hombre al nacer es blando y débil;
cuando muere, rígido, firme y duro.
Las diez mil plantas y árboles son tiernos y frágilesal nacer;
cuando mueren están secos y consumidos.
De ahí el dicho:
'La firmeza y la dureza,
son atributos de la muerte;
la blandura y la debilidad,
son atributos de la vida.'
Por esta razón las armas fuertes no vencen,
el árbol vigoroso muere.
Lo firme y lo grande ocupan el lugar inferior;
lo blando y lo débil, el superior."
- Translated by Juan Ignacio Preciado, 1978, Capítulo 76
"A living person is gentle and tender, while a dying person is rigid and hard.
A living plant is gentle and tender, while a dying plant is dry and withered.
Thus, one who is rigid and hard is on the way to die.
One who is gentle and tender is on the way to live.
Thus, a strong army will soon be annihilated.
A hard stick of wood will soon be broken.
A piece of hard leather will soon be split.
Teeth are stronger than lips, yet the teeth decay first.
Therefore, hardness and strength are inferior, gentleness and tenderness are superior."
- Translated by Tang Zi-Chang, Chapter 76
"Alive, a man is supple, soft;
In death, unbending, rigorous.
All creatures, grass and trees, alive
Are plastic but are pliant too,
And dead, are friable and dry.
Unbending rigor is the mate of death,
And wielding softness, company of life:
Unbending soldiers get no victories;
The stiffest tree is readiest for the axe.
The strong and mighty topple from their place;
The soft and yielding rise above them all."
- Translated by Raymond Blakney, 1955, Chapter 76
A typical webpage created by Mike Garofalo for each one of the 81 Chapters (Verses, Sections) of the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing) by Lao Tzu (Laozi) includes over 25 different English language translations or interpolations for that Chapter, 5 Spanish language translations for that Chapter, the Chinese characters for that Chapter, the Wade-Giles and Hanyu Pinyin transliterations (Romanization) of the Mandarin Chinese words for that Chapter, and 2 German and 1 French translation of that Chapter. Each webpage for each one of the 81 Chapters of the Tao Te Ching includes extensive indexing by key words, phrases, and terms for that Chapter in English, Spanish, and the Wade-Giles Romanization. Each webpage on a Chapter of the Daodejing includes recommended reading in books and websites, a detailed bibliography, some commentary, research leads, translation sources, a Google Translate drop down menu, and other resources for that Chapter.
Chapter 76, Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Chapter and Thematic Index (Concordance) to the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
English Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index
Spanish Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index
Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices
Taoism: A Selected Reading List
One Old Daoist Druid's Final Journey
Chapter 76
"A man living is yielding and receptive.
Dying, he is rigid and inflexible.
All Things, the grass and trees:
Living, they are yielding and fragile;
Dying, they are dry and withered.
Thus those who are firm and inflexible
Are in harmony with dying.
Those who are yielding and receptive
Are in harmony with living.
Therefore an inflexible strategy will not triumph;
An inflexible tree will be attacked.
The position of the highly inflexible will descend;
The position of the yielding and receptive will ascend."
- Translated by R. L. Wing, 1986, Chapter 76
"Human beings are
soft and supple when alive,
stiff and straight when dead.
soft and supple when alive,
stiff and straight when dead.
The
myriad creatures, grasses and trees are
soft and supple when alive,
dry and withered when dead.
soft and supple when alive,
dry and withered when dead.
Therefore
it is said:
the rigid person is a disciple of death;
the soft, supple and delicate are lovers of life.
the rigid person is a disciple of death;
the soft, supple and delicate are lovers of life.
The
army that is inflexible will not conquer;
the tree that cannot bend will snap!
the tree that cannot bend will snap!
The
unyielding and mighty will be brought low;
the soft, supple and delicate will rise above them."
- Translated by Jerry C. Welch, 1998, Chapter 76
the soft, supple and delicate will rise above them."
- Translated by Jerry C. Welch, 1998, Chapter 76
the dead are rigid and stiff.
Living plants are flexible and tender;
the dead are brittle and dry.
Those who are stiff and rigid
are the disciple of death.
Those who are soft and yielding
are the disciples of life.
The rigid and stiff will be broken.
The soft and yielding will overcome."
- Translated by John H. McDonald, 1996, Chapter 76
"When a person is living they are soft and easy to bend.
When they are dead, they become hard and stiff.
When a plant is living, it is soft and tender.
When it is dead, it becomes withered and dry.
The hard and stiff belongs to the company of the dead.
The soft and easy to bend belongs to the company of the living.
A mighty army can to fall by its own weight,
Just as dry wood is ready for the ax.
The mighty and great will be put low;
The humble and weak will be raised high."
- Translated by J. L. Trottier, 1994, Chapter 76
人之生也柔弱.
其死也堅強.
萬物草木之生也柔脆.
其死也枯槁.
故堅強者死之徒.
柔弱者生之徒.
是以兵強則不勝.
木強則共.
強大處下.
柔弱處上.
- Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 76
jên chih shêng yeh jou jo.
ch'i ssu yeh chien ch'iang.
wan wu ts'ao mu chih shêng yeh jou ts'ui.
ch'i ssu yeh k'u kao.
ku chien ch'iang chê ssu chih t'u.
jou jo chê shêng chih t'u.
shih yi ping ch'iang tsê pu shêng.
mu ch'iang tsê ping.
ch'iang ta ch'u hsia.
jou jo ch'u shang.
- Wade-Giles Romanization (1892), Tao Te Ching, Chapter 76
"When people are born, they are soft and yielding.
When people die, they are stiff and unyielding.
Ten-thousand things (everything) like grass and trees, when they are born, they are soft and supple.
When they die, they are rigid and dry.
Stiffness and unyielding are death’s companions.
Softness and yielding are life’s companions.
Unyielding armies will not win.
Unyielding trees become weapons.
Great strength dwells below.
Weakness dwells above."
- Translated by Alan Sheets, 2002, Chapter 76
"Abstain from Hardness
Chieh Ch'iang
Man is soft and weak at birth;
At death he is hard and rigid.
The ten thousand things, herbs and trees,
Are soft and delicate when growing up;
In dying, they wither and look haggard.
Thus hardness and rigidity are companions of death;
Softness and weakness are companions of life.
Therefore armies, having become rigid, will not win;
Trees, having become rigid, will break asunder.
The big and rigid will be laid low;
The soft and weak will be lifted up."
- Translated by Henry Wei, 1982, Chapter 76
"El hombre al nacer es blando y débil;
cuando muere, rígido, firme y duro.
Las diez mil plantas y árboles son tiernos y frágilesal nacer;
cuando mueren están secos y consumidos.
De ahí el dicho:
'La firmeza y la dureza,
son atributos de la muerte;
la blandura y la debilidad,
son atributos de la vida.'
Por esta razón las armas fuertes no vencen,
el árbol vigoroso muere.
Lo firme y lo grande ocupan el lugar inferior;
lo blando y lo débil, el superior."
- Translated by Juan Ignacio Preciado, 1978, Capítulo 76
"A living person is gentle and tender, while a dying person is rigid and hard.
A living plant is gentle and tender, while a dying plant is dry and withered.
Thus, one who is rigid and hard is on the way to die.
One who is gentle and tender is on the way to live.
Thus, a strong army will soon be annihilated.
A hard stick of wood will soon be broken.
A piece of hard leather will soon be split.
Teeth are stronger than lips, yet the teeth decay first.
Therefore, hardness and strength are inferior, gentleness and tenderness are superior."
- Translated by Tang Zi-Chang, Chapter 76
"Alive, a man is supple, soft;
In death, unbending, rigorous.
All creatures, grass and trees, alive
Are plastic but are pliant too,
And dead, are friable and dry.
Unbending rigor is the mate of death,
And wielding softness, company of life:
Unbending soldiers get no victories;
The stiffest tree is readiest for the axe.
The strong and mighty topple from their place;
The soft and yielding rise above them all."
- Translated by Raymond Blakney, 1955, Chapter 76
A typical webpage created by Mike Garofalo for each one of the 81 Chapters (Verses, Sections) of the Tao Te Ching (Daodejing) by Lao Tzu (Laozi) includes over 25 different English language translations or interpolations for that Chapter, 5 Spanish language translations for that Chapter, the Chinese characters for that Chapter, the Wade-Giles and Hanyu Pinyin transliterations (Romanization) of the Mandarin Chinese words for that Chapter, and 2 German and 1 French translation of that Chapter. Each webpage for each one of the 81 Chapters of the Tao Te Ching includes extensive indexing by key words, phrases, and terms for that Chapter in English, Spanish, and the Wade-Giles Romanization. Each webpage on a Chapter of the Daodejing includes recommended reading in books and websites, a detailed bibliography, some commentary, research leads, translation sources, a Google Translate drop down menu, and other resources for that Chapter.
Chapter 76, Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Chapter and Thematic Index (Concordance) to the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
English Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index
Spanish Language Daodejing Translators' Source Index
Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices
Taoism: A Selected Reading List
One Old Daoist Druid's Final Journey
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