Saturday, October 29, 2022

Renaissance Wisdom

 Renaissance Wisdom

"Believe in the individual
Learn to love learning
Help others achieve their potential
Be humble
Question everything
Know thyself
Believe in providence
Be courageous
Remember death (memento mori)
Seek eudaimonia, not happiness."

- Shane Sorensen, Renaissance Wisdom: How to Flourish in the Modern Day, 2022.


How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise and Respected Persons

 

Friday, October 28, 2022

Dao De Jing, Laozi, Chapter 10


Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu

Chapter 10




"Can you govern your animal soul, hold to the One and never depart from it?
 Can you throttle your breath, down to the softness of breath in a child?
 Can you purify your mystic vision and wash it until it is spotless?
 Can you love all your people, rule over the land without being known?
 Can you be like a female, and passively open and shut heaven's gates?
 Can you keep clear in your mind the four quarters of earth and not interfere?
 Quicken them, feed them;
 Quicken but do not possess them.
 Act and be independent;
 Be the chief but never the lord:
 This describes the mystic virtue."
 -  Translated by Raymond Blakney, 1955, Chapter 10 



"By husbanding the animal and spiritual souls
and embracing unity, it is possible to prevent their separation.
By undivided attention to the passion-nature,
and increasing tenderness, it is possible to be a little child.
By putting away impurity from the hidden eye of the heart,
it is possible to be without spot.
By loving the people, and so governing the nation,
it is possible to be unknown.
In opening and shutting the heavenly doors (mouth, nostrils, etc.)
it is possible to have no creaking.
One may be bright and transparent on all sides, and yet be unknown.
To produce and to nourish, to produce and have not,
to act and expect not, to enlarge and cut not off, —
this is called sublime virtue."
-  Translated by John Chalmers, 1968, Chapter 10 



"By patience the animal spirits can be disciplined.
By self-control one can unify the character.
By close attention to the will, compelling gentleness, one can become like a little child.
By purifying the subconscious desires one may be without fault.
In ruling his country, if the wise magistrate loves his people, he can avoid compulsion.
In measuring out rewards, the wise magistrate will act like a mother bird.
While sharply penetrating into every corner, he may appear to be unsuspecting.
While quickening and feeding his people, he will be producing but without pride of ownership.
He will benefit but without claim of reward.
He will persuade, but not compel by force.
This is De, the profoundest virtue."

-  Translated by Dwight Goddard and Henri Borel, 1919, Chapter 10 


"Can you hold the door of your tent
Wide to the firmament?
Can you, with the simple stature
Of a child, breathing nature,
Become, notwithstanding,
A man?
Can you continue befriending
With no prejudice, no ban?
Can you, mating with heaven,
Serve as the female part?
Can your learned head take leaven
From the wisdom of your heart?
If you can bear issue and nourish its growing,
If you can guide without claim or strife,
If you can stay in the lead of men without their knowing,
You are at the core of life."

-  Translated by Witter Bynner, 1944, Chapter 10 


"Can you keep the soul always concentrated from straying?
Can you regulate the breath and become soft and pliant like an infant?
Can you clear and get rid of the unforeseen and be free from fault?
Can you love the people and govern the state by non-action?
Can you open and shut the gates of nature like a female?
Can you become enlightened and penetrate everywhere without knowledge?"
-  Translated by Ch'u Ta-Kao, 1904, Chapter 10



"When 'carrying your soul,' embracing the One Thing, can you be undivided?
When 'concentrating ch'i', bringing about Softness, can you be like an infant?
When 'cleansing and purifying the mysterious mirror,' can you be without blemish?
When 'loving the people and caring for the kingdom,' can you be without knowledge?
When 'the Doors of Heaven open and shut,' can you remain Feminine?
When 'Clarity and bareness penetrate everywhere,' can you remain not doing?
Produce and nourish. Produce but don't possess work but don't rely on this preside but don't rule.
This is mysterious Te."
-  Translated by Michael LaFargue, 1992, Chapter 10   



載營魄, 抱一能無離乎?
專氣致柔, 能嬰兒乎?
滌除玄覽, 能無疵乎?
愛民治國, 能無知乎?
天門開闔, 能為雌乎?
明白四達, 能無知乎?
生之畜之.
生而不有.
為而不恃.
長而不宰.
是謂玄德.
-  Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 10




"Having received, in the birth-process, a living soul, one is able, by preserving its individuality pure and uncorrupted, to prevent disunion with the pure original.
By controlling the vital force, and bringing it to the utmost degree of pliancy, one is able to become as a little child again and revert to one’s pristine state of innocence.
By washing and cleansing oneself of that which Heaven alone can see, one may become without one blemish.
By governing the Empire by love towards the people, one is able to keep them from knowing evil; and, they will live in an atmosphere of contentment and trust.
When the Door of Heaven is now open, now closed, then the Female Principle will disappear; and, all will be pure Yang.
If one’s understanding reaches in every direction, he can disregard knowledge.
What he produces, he nourishes.
Producing, he does not claim the possession of virtue.
Acting, he does not presume upon his ability.
Though he be a veteran among his fellows, he assumes no seniority over them.
This may be called Sublime Virtue, the highest development of Tao."
-  Translated by Frederic Henry Balfour, 1884, Chapter 10  




"¿Se puede mantener el espíritu y abrazar al Uno sin apartarse de ellos?
¿Se puede concentrar su fuerza vital y lograr el más alto grado de debilidadcomo un niño?
¿Se puede limpiar y purificar su visión profunda por lo que será sin mancha?
¿Se puede amar al pueblo y gobernar el Estado sin la astucia?
¿Se puede jugar el papel de la mujer en la apertura y cierre de las puertas del cielo?
¿Se puede entender todo y penetrar en todos ellos sin hacer nada?
Para producir las cosas y les trasera,
Para producirpero no para tomar posesión de ellos,
Para actuar, pero no confiar en la propia capacidad,
Para guiarlos, pero no para dominarlos.
Esto se llama la virtud profunda y secreta ".
Traducido al Inglés por Chan Wing-Tsit, 1953, Capítulo 10
 



"Bring soul and spirit into unity, they will become welded in the Inner Life.
Conquer vital force until it yields to you, you will become as a new-born child.
Purify the channels of deep perception, you will dwell safely in the Inner Life.
Govern a kingdom by loving the people, they will learn to act from the Inner Life.
Open and shut the doors of heaven, you will have repose of mind in active life.
Let your purity shine forth in all directions, men will see that you have an Inner Life.
Give it birth, nourish it,
Give it birth, but do not seek to possess.
Act but do not appropriate.
Endure but do not rule.
That is called profound Teh."
-  Translated by Isabella Mears, 1916, Chapter 10




 zai ying po, bao yi neng wu li hu?
 tuan qi zhi rou, neng ying er hu? 
 di chu xuan lan, neng wu ci hu? 
 ai min zhi guo, neng wu wei hu?
 tian men kai he, neng wei ci hu?
 ming bai si da, neng wu zhi hu?
 sheng zhi xu zhi.
 sheng er bu you.
 wei er bu shi,
 zhang er bu zai.
 shi wei xuan de.

-  Hanyu Pinyin (1982) Romanization, Daodejing, Chapter 10  




"In harmonizing your hun and p'o to embrace the One,
Can you concentrate without deviating?
In attuning your breath to induce tenderness,
Can you become like a new-born babe?
In cleansing and purifying your Mystic Mirror,
Can you make it free from all stain?
In loving the people and ruling the state,
Can you practice non-interference?
When the Heavenly Gate opens and closes,
Can you play the part of the Female?
When your light shines forth in all directions,
Can you ignore it with perfect equanimity?
To produce things and nourish them,
To produce but not to claim ownership,
To act but not to presume on the result,
To lead but not to manipulate, -
This is called Mystic Virtue."
-  Translated by Henry Wei, 1982, Chapter 10
 




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 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 10, Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu.  Complied by Mike Garofalo.  

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



A Daoist Druid's Final Journey  

An Old Philosopher's Notebooks






Tao Te Ching
 Chapter Number Index


Standard Traditional Chapter Arrangement of the Daodejing
Chapter Order in Wang Bi's Daodejing Commentary in 246 CE
Chart by Mike Garofalo
Subject Index
 
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40
41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50
51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60
61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70
71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80
81













The Eight Immortals on a Journey Together
Early Chinese lore about a Super Hero Team

Thursday, October 27, 2022

Spring of Life in Old Age

"The enduring legacy of Taijiquan is that qi grows by the practice methodology, as a plant by tending and watering.  Along the way, the qi nutured in daily practice alleviates stress related illnesses.  In the longer term, the qi buildup invigorates and strengthens the body's constitution, and serves as a natural preventive medicine that shields against chronic ailments.  The alluring promise is that the store of qi preserves the "spring of life" in old age, as espoused in the verse of the Song of Thirteen Postues.

Yi shou yan nian bu alo chun
One gains longevity and prolongs the spring of life in old age."


-  C.P. Ong, Taijiquan: Cultivating Inner Strength, p. 156




Taijiquan: Cultivating Inner Strength  By C. P. Ong.  Bagua Press, 2013.  366 pages.  ISBN: 978-0615874074.  VSCL.  "This book diverges from traditional exposition on Taijiquan (Tai Chi Chuan) as it engages rather than shuns the role of muscles in elucidating the cryptic practice dictum of “using yi (mind) and not li (muscle force).” It centers on the core principle of Taiji balance—the balance of yin and yang, but presents the metaphysics of balance the way the body comprehends it, developmentally, through practice in the musculo-skeletal framework. In the process, the fog of mystique lifts, and the many abstruse concepts of Taijiquan become clear. Taijiquan training is physical at the initial phase, but the slow-motion exercise nurtures a meditative discipline of the mind. As it progresses, the soft methodology grows into one of building qi-energy, and then the practice becomes more internalized. The process fortifies the body with qi and cultivates a holistic balance of the organ systems. The book explains how the training methodology, in pursuing Taiji balance, leads to the development of a highly refined strength called neijin (inner strength). By incorporating the training of “silk-reeling energy” in Taiji balance, the practitioner develops the coiling power (chanrao jin) that underlies the magic of Taijiquan kungfu."  Dr. Ong has a Ph.D. in mathematics from U.C. Berkeley.  C.P. Ong is a 20th generation Chen Family Taijiquan disciple of both Chen Xiaowang and Chen Zhenglei. He has traveled with them, as well as with Zhu Tiancai, for a few years in their U.S. workshop tours.

"Think over carefully what the final purpose is: to lengthen life and maintain youth."
-  Song of 13 Postures, translated by Benjamin Lo



Thirteen Postures of Taijiquan

Cloud Hands Taijiquan



The Harvard Medical School Guide to Tai Chi: 12 Weeks to a Healthy Body, Strong Heart, and Sharp Mind.  By Peter M. Wayne, Ph.D., and Mark L. Fuerst.  Shambhala Press, 2013.  240 pages.  A Harvard Health Publication. 




Tuesday, October 25, 2022

The Buddha's Last Sermon

 

Back in 1985, I purchased a book titled “Zen Master Dōgen: An Introduction with Selected Writings.”  Translation and commentary by Yuho Yokoi with Daizen Victoria.  Weatherhill, 1984.  Later, I read Moon in a Dewdrop and other translations and commentary by Kazuaki Tanahashi about Master Dōgen, the founder of Soto Zen Buddhism in Japan.  These authors brought Dōgen to California for me ... a real Dharma treasure.    


“The quality of our life depends on what seeds we water in our consciousness.”
-  Thich Nhat Hanh 

I watered the seeds of wisdom from Dōgen for many years, tended to my garden of life, and reaped many fruits.  I maintained correct remembrance of Dōgen's contributions.  

 

One of the sermons by Zen Master Dōgen (1200-1253 CE), was “The Eight Aspects of Enlightenment” (Hachi Dainin-gaku), written the year Dogen died.  In this lecture, Dōgen tells the story of the last sermon spoken by the Buddha Shakyamuni before he died around 400 BCE.    

Here is an abbreviated version of Dogen’s sermon:

 

“The various Buddha’s have all been enlightened persons.  Their enlightenment is designated hachi dainin-gaku because it has eight important aspects, the comprehension of which lead to Nirvana.  It was the Buddha Shakyamuni himself who, in his last sermon on the eve of his death, clarified these eight aspects.

The firs [important aspect] is freedom from greed.  This means to forsake the five desires.  Be a person of few wants.

The second is satisfaction.  This means to be satisfied with whatever one has. 

The third is to enjoy quiet.  This means to lead a solitary life, separated from all worldly disturbances.

The fourth is right speech, considered speech, avoidance of gossip and useless discussions. 

The fifth is diligence.  The means to do good single-heartedly and continuously.  If you are diligent in your practice of the Way, it will not be difficult for you to realize enlightenment. 

The sixth is correct remembrance.  This is also called the preservation of correct remembrance, the word “preservation” signifying the comprehension of the Law.

The seventh is the practice of samadhi.  Samadhi means to reside in the Truth, in an undisturbed state of mind.

The eight is the practice of Wisdom.  Wisdom stems from enlightenment, which is the result of having practiced the Law that one has heard and thought about. 

A person who possesses true Wisdom is like a stalwart ship sailing across the ocean of old age, sickness, and death; like a bright lamp dispelling the darkness of delusion; like a good medicine for all those who are sick; and like a sharp axe used to cut down the tree of illusion.  The Wisdom resulting from having heard, thought about, and practiced the Law can thus be used to increase your merit in the Way.  If a person has come into possession of the light of Wisdom, he has the power to see the Truth with his naked eyes.  Such is the nature of Wisdom.”

“These, then, are the eight important aspects of enlightenment.  Each of these aspects has eight different functions, for a total of sixty-four functions in all.  In a broader sense, however, these eight actually have an infinite number of functions, the figure sixty-four being merely an abbreviated form of the latter.  The Buddha Shakyamuni spoke the preceding, his last teaching on the essence of Mahayana, around midnight on February 15th.  Thereafter, he said nothing more, being silent until his death.” 


Eight Mindful Steps to Happiness: Walking the Buddha's Path  By Bhante Henepola Gunaratana.  Boston, Wisdom Publications, 2001.  Index, reading list, 268 pages.  ISBN: 0861711769.  VSCL, 6/2005.  A thorough explanation of Right or Skillful Understanding, Thinking, Speech, Action, Livelihood, Effort, Mindfulness, and Concentration.  A rational ethical system.  





Monday, October 24, 2022

Halloween Pumpkin Carving

 



We enjoyed a pumpkin carving party with 9 people this last Sunday.  Karen had made chili beans, cornbread, and chocolate cake for the party.  We have done this for four years in Vancouver.



Halloween, October 31st, Welsh Samhain, All Hallows Eve, Day of the Dead     
Summer's End, Hallowmas, All Saint's Day, Shadow Fest, Martinmas, Old Hallowmas, Nut Crack Night
Beginning of the Winter/Dark Season, Otherworld Borders Day, Ancestors' Night, Hallowed Evening
Winter Nights, The Last Harvest, Feast of the Apples, Great Rite, New Year's Day for Witches, Day for the Ancestors
Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) in Mexico, and in many other Hispanic and Catholic Cultures
A Day to Remember and Honor Dead Relatives and all the Ancestors and the Great Traditions 
1st Celebration in the NeoPagan Holy Day Annual Cycle or Wiccan Wheel of the Year 


"The eve of the New Year or Oidhche Shamhna was a gap in time. Thus, the spirits from the Otherworld could enter into our world. Rituals on Oidhche Shamhna include providing hospitality to the dead ancestors. They welcomed the dead with food and drink and left the windows and doors of their homes open for the dead to enter. But all spirits from the Otherworld were not good; there were evil spirits too. To keep evil spirits away from their home, they carved images of spirit-guardians onto turnips and placed them at the doors of their homes. As part of the festivities young people wore strange costumes and moved around the village, pretending to be dead spirits visiting from the Otherworld. The Celts believed that on the eve of New Year not only did the boundary between this world and the Otherworld dissolve, but the structure of society dissolved too. Boys and girls would dress up as members of the opposite sex and play pranks on the elders."
-   Celtic New Year  


"Perhaps the most famous icon of the holiday is the jack-o-lantern.  Various authorities attribute it to either Scottish or Irish origin.  However, it seems clear that it was used as a lantern by people who traveled the road this night, the scary face to frighten away spirits or faeries who might otherwise lead one astray.  Set on porches and in windows, they cast the same spell of protection over the household.  (The American pumpkin seems to have forever superseded the European gourd as the jack-o-lantern of choice.)  Bobbing for apples may well represent the remnants of a Pagan 'baptism' rite called a 'seining', according to some writers.  The water-filled tub is a latter-day Cauldron of Regeneration, into which the novice's head is immersed.  The fact that the participant in this folk game was usually blindfolded with hands tied behind the back also puts one in mind of a traditional Craft initiation ceremony."
-   Mike Nichols, All Hallow's Eve

 


Sunday, October 23, 2022

Temporary Down Time: Cold/Flu

I did not feel well this past week.  Tired, coughing, mild temperature, achy, upset stomach, cranky, depressed.  I did not read or write much the past few days.  Hopefully, better this coming week.  

Sunday, October 16, 2022

Cultivating Taste

I have been reading books by and about John Dewey (1859-1952).  I favor many of the positions of the American Pragmatist philosophers.  

The mind-Body arts and disciplines I practice and write about are useful for maintaining fitness and good health, helping with self-defense at a number of levels, encouraging oneself and others to be peaceful and calm, reducing anxieties and tension, balancing internal forces, opening one up to interesting cultural and philosophical Eastern traditions, and having a dignity and beauty associated with their practice.  I judge them to be "good," and exemplars of "good taste."  They seem right and noble to me, based on broader judgments as to value, and not just my personal preferences or habits.       

"Well, a vast number of our moral perceptions also are certainly of this secondary and brain‑born kind. They deal with directly felt fitnesses between things, and often fly in the teeth of all the prepossessions of habit and presumptions of utility. The moment you get beyond the coarser and more commonplace moral maxims, the Decalogues and Poor Richard's Almanacs, you fall into schemes and positions which to the eye of common‑sense are fantastic and overstrained. The sense for abstract justice which some persons have is as eccentric a variation, from the natural-history point of view, as is the passion for music or for the higher philosophical consistencies which consumes the soul of others. The feeling of the inward dignity of certain spiritual attitudes, as peace, serenity, simplicity, veracity; and of the essential vulgarity of others, as querulousness, anxiety, egoistic fussiness, etc‑-are quite inexplicable except by an innate preference of the more ideal attitude for its own pure sake. The nobler thing tastes better, and that is all that we can say. “Experience” of consequences  may truly teach us what things are wicked, but what have consequences to do with what is mean and vulgar?"  ....


"The word "taste" has perhaps got too completely associated with arbitrary liking to express the nature of judgments of value. But if the word be used in the sense of an appreciation at once cultivated and active, one may say that the  formation of taste is the chief matter wherever values enter in, whether intellectual, aesthetic or moral.  Relatively immediate judgments, which we call tact or to which we give the name of intuition, do not precede reflective inquiry, but are the funded products of much thoughtful experience. Expertness of taste is at once the result and the reward of constant exercise of thinking.  Instead of there being no disputing about tastes, they are the one thing worth disputing about, if by "dispute" is signified discussion involving reflective inquiry.  Taste, if we use the word in its best sense, is the outcome of experience brought cumulatively to bear on the intelligent appreciation of the real worth of likings and enjoyments.  There is nothing in which a person so completely reveals himself as in the things which he judges enjoyable and desirable, Such judgments are the sole alternative to the domination of belief by impulse, chance, blind habit and self-interest. The formation of a cultivated and effectively operative good judgment or taste with respect to what is aesthetically admirable, intellectually acceptable and morally approvable is the supreme task set to human beings by the incidents of experience."
-  John Dewey, The Construction of Good in the Quest for Certainty, 1929




Saturday, October 15, 2022

October Lore

 "Leaves fall,
the days grow cold.
The Goddess pulls her mantle of Earth around Her
as You, O Great Sun God, sail toward the West
to the land of eternal enchantment,
wrapped in the coolness of night.

Fruits ripen,
seeds drip,
the hours of day and night are balanced."
-   Mabon Sabbat and Lore    


"A year of beauty. A year of plenty.
A year of planting. A year of harvest.
A year of forests. A year of healing.
A year of vision. A year of passion.
A year of rebirth.

This year may we renew the earth.
This year may we renew the earth.

Let it begin with each step we take.
And let it begin with each change we make.
And let it begin with each chain we break.
And let it begin every time we awake."
-  Starhwak, Reclaiming Samhain


Halloween (Samhain): Bibliography, Quotes, Poems, Links, Lore
October 31, 2020







Friday, October 14, 2022

Tao Te Ching, Chapter 9


Daodejing, Laozi
Chapter 9



"It is better to leave a vessel unfilled, than to attempt to carry it when it is full.
If you keep feeling a point that has been sharpened, the point cannot long preserve its sharpness.
When gold and jade fill the hall, their possessor cannot keep them safe.
When wealth and honors lead to arrogance, this brings its evil on itself.
When the work is done, and one's name is becoming distinguished,
To withdraw into obscurity is the way of Heaven."
-  Translated by James Legge, 1891, Chapter 9 




"Holding to fullness
Is not as good as stopping in time.
Sharpness that probes
Cannot protect for long.
A house filled with riches
Cannot be defended.
Pride in wealth and position
Is overlooking one's collapse.
Withdrawing when success is achieved
Is the Tao in Nature."
-  Translated by R. L. Wing, 1986, Chapter 9  



 
"You hold to fullness, and it is better to stop in time!
You keep on beating and sharpening a sword, and the edge cannot be preserved   for long.
You fill your house with gold and jade, and it can no longer be guarded.
You put on airs by your riches and honor, and you will only reap a crop of calamities.
Here is the Way of Heaven: When you have done your work, retire."
-  Translated by Tran Tien Cong, Chapter 9 



 

  "Do not concentrate one's wealth in abundance.
It is far better for one to know where to stop.
Do not beat one's sword sharp, one can never keep its edge for ever.
If their houses are full of gold and jade, they have no way to keep them forever.
If they are proud of having great riches and honors, they just make more troubles for themselves.
When merits have been achieved, fame has been completed - one may withdraw himself.
That is to follow the law of Nature."
-  Translated by Tang Zi-Chang, Chapter 9




"It is advisable to refrain from continual reaching after wealth.
Continual handling and sharpening wears away the most durable thing.
If the house be full of jewels, who shall protect it?
Wealth and glory bring care along with pride.
To stop when good work is done and honour advancing is the way of Heaven."
-  Translated by Walter Gorn Old, 1904, Chapter 9  




"Continuing to fill a pail after it is full the water will be wasted.
Continuing to grind an axe after it is sharp will soon wear it away.
Who can protect a public hall crowded with gold and jewels?
The pride of wealth and position brings about their own misfortune.
To win true merit, to preserve just fame, the personality must be retiring.
This is the heavenly Dao."
-  Translated by Dwight Goddard and Henri Borel, 1919, Chapter 9 


  

持而盈之, 不如其已.
揣而銳之, 不可長保.
金玉滿堂莫之能守富貴而驕, 自遺其咎.
功遂身退天之道.
-  Chinese characters, Chapter 9, Tao Te Ching




"Let Heavenly Love fill you and overflow in you,
Not according to your measure of fullness.
Prove it, probe deeply into it,
It shall not long withstand you.
You may fill a place with gold and precious stones,
You will not be able to guard them.
You may be weighted with honors and become proud.
Misfortune then will come to your Self.
You may accomplish great deeds and acquire fame,
Retire yourself;
This is Heavenly Tao."
-  Translated by Isabella Mears, 1916, Chapter 9 



"Stretch a bow to the very full,
And you will wish you had stopped in time;
Temper a sword-edge to its very sharpest,
And you will find it soon grows dull.
When bronze and jade fill your hall.
It can no longer be guarded.
Wealth and place breed insolence.
That brings ruin in its train.
When your work is done, then withdraw!
Such is Heaven's Way."
-  Translated by Arthur Waley, 1934, Chapter 9  



"Asir fuertemente y colmar
 Vale menos que dejar de hacerlo.
 Calcular y afilar las armas
 No significa que se prolongue su cuidado.
 Atiborrar la gran sala de oro y jade
 Y no habrá quien pueda custodiarlos.
 Ser rico y orgulloso.
 Quizás perderse a sí mismo sea la desgracia.
 Cuando la obra se completa y la persona se retira,
 Ése es el Tao del Cielo."
 -  Translated by Álex Ferrara, 2003, Capítulo 9



"Going to extremes is never best.
For if you make a blade too sharp, it will become dull too quickly
And if you hoard all the wealth, you are bound to be attacked.
If you become proud and arrogant regarding your good fortune, you will naturally beget enemies who jealously despise you.
The way to success is this: having achieved your goal, be satisfied not to go further. For this is the way Nature operates."
-  Translated by Archie J. Balm, 1958, Chapter 9 




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 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 9, Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu.  Complied by Mike Garofalo.  

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



Thursday, October 13, 2022

Tillamook to Portland

In downtown Tillamook a road sign says "Portland 72 miles"

This is a pleasant drive from Tillamook to Hillsborough via Roads 6 and 26.  Road 6 follows the forested Wilson River Canyon up to the 1,586 foot road summit, then down many hills into the Willamette Valley.  A good part of this "Trees to the Sea" scenic highway is through the Tillamook State Forest lands.  

The 40+ mile drive on Oregon Road 26 from Banks, North Plains, Hillsborough, into downtown Portland, then onto to Interstate 5 North and over the Columbia River Bridge into Vancouver and home requires a driver's full attention, good breaking skills, and driving very carefully in multi-lane heavy traffic conditions.  Home again in Vancouver around 12:30.  

I came home.  Unloaded my Ford Escape vehicle.  Filled the Ford with gas.  Stopped at the new, all glass, Cannabis store by the Shell gas station and Home Depot.  Sprayed off the car with water.  Took a shower.  Relaxed in my backyard garden for two hours.  Smoked 4 puffs of cannabis.  Safe and smiling.  

The following text is a repeat of my Cloud Hands Blog post on Thursday, February 10, 2022:

Up early at 4 am.  Reading, laptop writing and looking at images, sipping hot coffee.  Time to pack my camping gear up and return to my nice home in Vancouver.  At 8 am I started loading up my camping gear in my Ford Escape.  You need to vacate the Yurt campsite by 10 am, however you can stay in the Park until 9 pm.  I leave around 10 am.  

Today, I drove from Cape Lookout State Park to Tillamook.  Take out breakfast from McDonalds.  Gas up my car at Chevron. Then, I took Oregon Road 6 back to Banks, and then Road 26 back into Portland, and then home to Vancouver. It was a relatively easy 100 mile drive.  Lovely driving weather: dry and clear.  Some grand views driving up Wilson River Canyon.  

I figure the cost of gas at $80.00 for this trip.  The Yurt campsite at Cape Lookout for three nights cost me around $240.  

Karen and I have stayed in motels in Tillmook four times in the past two decades.  We have driven through and visited the area many times.  

On my next Yurt camping trip to Cape Lookout, I plan to: 1) Explore side stops in the Tillamook State Forest along Road 6.  2) Explore the sand dunes at Sand Lake north of Pacific City.  3) Hike on the Cape Lookout Ridge Trail.  4) Visit the Tillamook Pioneer Museum in downtown Tillamook.  5) Eat at the Tori Sushi Lounge, and the Fern Restaurant in Tillamook, and Schooner's in Netarts.  There are two breweries/pubs in Tillamook: Pelican and Werners; and I'll purchase a Pelican beer when I get back home in Vancouver.  

Another one of my fine adventures during  Four Days in Grayland.  


7th Yurt Camp:  2022  February

Reports   24a    24b    25    26    27
Yurt Campsite at Cape Lookout State Park, Oregon, for 3 nights   
Tillamook, Tillamook Bay, Netarts Bay, Netarts, Oceanside, Bayocean, Sand Lake, Pacific City, Tillamook State Forest
Photos, Notes, Links, Information, Travel, Activities, Guides


Here are some photographs by me from this Cape Lookout Trip:





























Here are some images from the Internet of this Beautiful Agricultural Area:






 

Tillamook valley and hills




Tillamook State Forest







Here is some information about Tillamook, Oregon:

Tillamook City   Population 5,300    Images    On US 101 and Junction with Oregon Road 6 leading back east to Portland.  

Motels, restaurants, cafes, gift shops, grocery, banks, museums, dairy farms, lumber industry, hospital, gas, stores, services, supplies. 
The Tillamook area has many dairy farms on green flat land east of the bay. 

Tillamook Coast Visitors Guide

Tillamook History

Tillamook Travel Guide 1

Tillamook Library   Tillamook County Library System 

Tillamook County   Population 25,300   The City of Tillamook is the County Seat. 

Tillamook Travel Guide 2

Tillamook Heritage Route

Tillamook Restaurants

Tillamook Shopping    Images

Tillamook Creamery   Tours 

Tillamook Air Museum

Tillamook County Pioneer Museum

Blue Heron French Cheese Company

Northwest Coastal Oregon Travel Guide: Astoria to Cape Lookout.  By Mike Garofalo. 

Tillamook Chamber of Commerce

 

Tillamook Bay

Tillamook Bay Inlet

Tillamook Bay History

Bayocean Development Failure Story

Tillamook Bay Shellfishing   Clams and Crabs

Tillamook Bay Fishing

Barview Jetty County Park    Campground, picnic, hiking.  At the north jetty to Tillamook Bay. 

Oyster Farming in Tillamook Bay - A History

Tillamook Bay Environmental History

Port of Tillamook Bay  Information, History

"The bay is protected from the open ocean by shoals and a 3 mi (5 km) sandbar called the Bayocean Peninsula. It is surrounded closely by the Coastal Range except at its southeast end, where the town of Tillamook sits near the mouths of the KilchisWilsonTrask and Tillamook rivers, which flow quickly down from the surrounding timber-producing regions of the Coastal Range to converge at the bay. The short Miami River enters the north end of the bay. The small fishing village of Garibaldi sits near the cliffs opening of the bay in the ocean. The rivers that feed the bay are known for their prolific steelhead and salmon runs. The mixing of freshwater from the rivers with the ocean's saltwater makes the bay an estuary.

The name "Tillamook" is Coast Salish word meaning "Land of Many Waters", probably referring to the rivers that enter the bay. At the time of the arrival of Europeans, the area along the coast was inhabited by the Tillamook and other related Coast Salish tribes. Historians believe they entered the area around the year 1400 and Lewis and Clark estimated the population south of the Columbia River along the coast at approximately 2,200."
Tillamook Bay