The Dumpling Discourse

 The Fireplace Records, Chapter 44

The Dumpling Discourse

It was a hot day in July when Carol and Adolf met in a tea shop in Portland. They sipped iced tea and chatted about Taoism for an hour.

Adolf asked Carol, "What is beyond the Tao?" Carol answered, "Either the Dark Void or preparing hot oatmeal."

Adolf sarcastically replied, "Yunmen is direct, he says '"Dumplings.' You are caught in either/or, dualisms, and straying from the spot!" Carol said "Purported Zen Masters seldom cook."

Adolf raised his right hand, like Gutei, and gave Carol the middle finger. Carol slapped the finger of his right hand.

Adolf got up and went to the toilet. While urinating, like Master Omori Sogen, he was suddenly awakened. While he was away, Carol left for home.

She worked in her home garden. She weeded and watered. She picked two squash. Like the Tao, she grew living beings. She went indoors and cooked some hot oatmeal. She added raisins to the mush. She ate. She smiled. Her dark blue bowl was then empty. She was ordinary and clear mined. 

Comments, Sources, Observations, Koans, Poems, Quips:

Omori Sogen, "Introduction to Zen Training" Tuttle, 2001,2020.

"What is talk transcending the Buddhas and Patriarchs?", Yunmen's translated answers "Sesame Cakes", "Rice cakes", "Dumplings."
See BOS 78, ZE 42, ENT 88, WWSF 348, BCR 77

Gutei's One Finger Zen
BCR 19, BOS 84, DSMS 245, GB 30, SOH 21

If the answer can be 'the oak tree in the courtyard,' then the answer can be 'eating oatmeal with raisins.'

Irrelevant answers are a staple spontaniety of Zen tricksters. 

Some say nonsensical Zen Koan answers are free and natural poety; however, they are often just bad poetry.

Which finger was the "one finger?"

People are Makers, Imitating the Dao - The Great Maker, Doer, Creator.  Sometimes even seeming to go Beyond the Dao.

636 Riddles, Jokes, Witticisms, Humor

Refer to my Cloud Hands Blog Posts on the topic of Koans/Stories. 

Subject Index to 1,975 Zen Buddhist Koans

Zen Buddhist Koans: Indexes, Bibliography, Commentary, Information

The Daodejing by Laozi

Pulling Onions  Over 1,043 One-line Sayings, Quips, Maxims, Humor

Chinese Chan Buddhist and Taoist Stories and Koans

The Fireplace Records (Blog Version) By Michael P. Garofalo

The Spirit of Gardening

Tao Te Ching, Chapter 35

Daodejing, Laozi
Chapter 35   


"One who holds fast to the Great Symbol
Gains the whole world
Bestows purest peace
Serenity and bliss.
Yet the hasty wayfarer
Attracted only by outer characteristics
Tastes Tao and is not aware of it
Sees Tao and does not perceive it
Listens to Tao and does not hear it.
But whoever
Grasps and holds it
Amid impermanence
Is grasped by the permanent
And attains duration."
-  Translated by K. O. Schmidt, 1975, Chapter 35



"Reside in the center
where understanding does not require words or images,
and folk will come to you to be taught
how to be serene.
Where there is good music and food
people stop to rest and regain their energy.
But though the Tao seems unmelodious or even bland
it is an inexhaustible source of refreshment."
-  Translated by Crispin Starwell, Chapter 35


"To him who holds to the Great Form all the world go.
It will go and see no danger, but tranquility, equality and community.
Music and dainties will make the passing stranger stop.
But Tao when uttered in words is so pure and void of flavor
When one looks at it, one cannot see it;
When one listens to it, one cannot hear it.
However, when one uses it, it is inexhaustible."
-  Translated by Ch'u Ta-Kao, 1904, Chapter 35 


"The owner of the biggest image attracts the whole world.
When all who come have been safely settled,
The world will then be peaceful.
Melodious music and delicious food
Can only attract passers-by.
But the Way is, when put into one's mouth, tasteless,
When looked at, colorless,
When listened to, uninteresting,
And, when used, limitlessly bountiful."
-  Translated by Liu Qixuan, Chapter 35 


執大象, 天下往.
往而不害, 安平大.
樂與餌, 過客止.
道之出口, 淡乎其無味.
視之不足見.
聽之不足聞.
用之不足既. 
-  Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 35


zhi da xiang, tian xia wang.
wang er bu hai, an ping tai.
le yu er, guo ke zhi.
dao zhi chu kou, dan hu qi wu wei.
shi zhi bu zu jian.
ting zhi bu zu wen.
yong zhi bu zu ji.
-  Pinyin Romanization, Daodejing, Chapter 35 

"Hold the Great Symbol
and all the world follows,
Follows without meeting harm,
And lives in health, peace, commonwealth.
Offer good things to eat
And the wayfarer stays.
But Tao is mild to the taste.
Looked at, it cannot be seen;
Listened to, it cannot be heard;
Applied, its supply never fails."
-  Translated by Lin Yutang, 1955, Chapter 35 

"Apprehend the inimitable conception, you attract the world;
coming it receives no harm, but it tranquil, peaceful, satisfied.
Like transient guests, music and dainties pass away.
The Tao entering the mouth is insipid and without flavour;
when looked at it evades sight;
when listened for it escapes the ear.
Yet, its operations are interminable."
-  Translated by C. Spurgeon Medhurst, 1905, Chapter 35 


"The owner of the biggest image attracts the whole world.
When all who come have been safely settled,
The world will then be peaceful.
Melodious music and delicious food
Can only attract passers-by.
But the Way is, when put into one's mouth, tasteless,
When looked at, colorless,
When listened to, uninteresting,
And, when used, limitlessly bountiful."
-  Translated by Liu Qixuan, Chapter 35 

"El Tao carece de forma y aroma;
No puede ser visto ni oido,
Y su aplicación no puede ser agotada.
Si ofreces música y comida
Los extraños se detienen a tu lado;
Pero si estás de acuerdo con el Tao
La gente del Mundo te mantendrá
En seguridad, salud, compañía y paz."

-  Translated by Antonio Rivas Gonzálvez, 1998, Capítulo 35 


"If you offer music and food
Strangers may stop with you;
But if you accord with the Way
All the people of the world will keep you
In safety, health, community and peace.
The Way lacks art and flavor;
It can neither be seen or heard,
But its benefits cannot be exhausted."
-  Translated by Peter Merel, 1992, Chapter 35

"Hold fast the idea of "The Great,"
Then all men will be drawn to you.  
They will come to you and receive no hurt,
But rest, peace and great calm.
When you provide music and exquisite food
The traveller will stay with you gladly.
When the Tao flows out from you to him
By his palate he does not detect its savour,
By his eye he cannot perceive it,
By his ears he cannot hear it,
But in using it he finds it to be inexhaustible." 

- Translated by Isabella Mears, 1916, Chapter 35 

Chapter 35, 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


A Philosopher's Notebooks 

The Green God Fell to His Knees

"There lies within
A hidden glen
An altar made of stone.
Creeping vine
And moss entwine
To hide this ancient throne.
Tangled thorn
Grows thick to scorn
Those who seek to enter.
For though they strive
No man alive
Shall ever reach its center.
Known as Pan,
To some Green Man,
This glen is his sacred place.
He dons his hood
Of wildwood
To hide his leafy face.
The roving clans
That raped the lands,
Cut down his beloved trees.
And so, alas
As time did pass
The Green God fell to his knees. ..."
- Kristina Peters Moone, The Green Man


"The force that through the green fuse drives the flower
Drives my green age; that blasts the roots of trees
Is my destroyer.
And I am dumb to tell the crooked rose
My youth is bent by the same wintry fever.
The force that drives the water through the rocks
Drives my red blood; that dries the mouthing streams
Turns mine to wax.
And I am dumb to mouth unto my veins
How at the mountain spring the same mouth sucks."
-   Dylan Thomas, The Force That Through the Green Fuse Drives the Flower

The Green Man

Lore, Legends, Tales, Celebrations, Springtime Symbols, Folk Stories and Plays
From the hypertext research notebooks of Mike Garofalo

This cabbage, these carrots, these potatoes,
these onions ... will soon become me.
Such a tasty fact!
- Mike Garofalo, Cuttings

Portrait of the Emperor Rudolph II as Autumn.By Arcimboldo, 1591, Held at the Museo Civico, Brescia. 

Warmed by the Kitchen Fire

The Fireplace Records, Chapter 43

Warmed by the Kitchen Fire

The Ladies gathered around the kitchen hearth. They were in a happy mood, laughing, smiling, working together. They were all making cookies and goodies for the holiday celebration. The kitchen smelled of wheat flour, butter, fruits, sugar, spices, and warm people. The children and men congregated nearby, sharing the warmth of the kitchen fire.  

It was cold and damp outside, with little patches of melting snow covering the fallen late autumn leaves. Doors and windows were closed tight to prevent heat from escaping and cold air from seeping into the kitchen. Cozy was the watchword.

This family scene had been repeated for twenty centuries in farming communities. Sharing food. Sharing cooking. Sharing companionship. Sharing warmth. Sharing peace and good will. Sharing the home.

A man brought in some extra firewood from the storage area under a roof cover alongside the house. A couple of the other men smoked pipes and sipped whiskey. All smiled. All laughed. All were content. All were secure.

Read about the significance and history of fireplaces, stoves, hearths, kitchens, campfires, survival, warmth, etc. I constantly look for quotations about this topic as part of my research for the Fireplace Records.

Campfires Smoking

I sit by my simple yurt by the sea,
and light a campfire at dawn,
against the cold,
and just be.

Sitka Spruce Forest
all around—
smoking campfire
on cold wet ground.

Do the pines daydream?
  feeding logs
  into the campfire flames.

    Splitting dry kindling,
    damp December day—
      wind chimes tinkling.

    Wet pine logs—
      campfire smoke
      in our eyes

Gathered around
the campfire's light—
very chilly night.

Crackling campfire
pops and sparks—
    keeping ghosts away

    Campfire embers,
    fading reds—
    time for bed.

 

Comments, Sources, Observations, Koans, Poems, Quips:

Fire in the our bellies move us forward.
The fire in his eyes showed his determination.
The team was fired up.
Air, Earth, Fire, and Water.
Our sun is an immense ball of fire.
Without firewood we die.
They all shivered beside the campground fire.

How many sides has a campfire ring?
The inside and the outside.

Fire

History of Fireplaces, Campfires, Stoves

Trees

Trees: Magick, Lore, Myths

Who Gathers and Chops Firewood for the Cook's Kitchen

727 Riddles, Jokes, Witticisms, Puns, Humor

Refer to my Cloud Hands Blog Posts on the topic of Koans/Stories. 

Subject Index to 1,975 Zen Buddhist Koans

Zen Buddhist Koans: Indexes, Bibliography, Commentary, Information

The Daodejing by Laozi

Pulling Onions  Over 1,043 One-line Sayings, Quips, Maxims, Humor

Chinese Chan Buddhist and Taoist Stories and Koans

The Fireplace Records (Blog Version) By Michael P. Garofalo

History of Fireplaces, Campfires, Stoves

Home Again, Home Again ... Yes!!

I returned home on last Thursday afternoon from my solo yurt camping trip to Bullards Beach State Park near Bandon, Oregon.  A yurt is round and 16 feet in diameter.  No cooking or no bathroom in a yurt.  

Now, Saturday, I am back to the comforts and pleasures of the nice company of my wife, Karen.  She is an excellent cook, so no more hohum campground foods or eating out at a local cafe in Bandon.  At home, unlike the yurt, there is more space, my interesting books, large padded chairs, a large nice bed, full private bathroom, and a big screen television set (and prerecorded sports and documentaries).  I had not watched television for four days.  

We live in a 50 year old suburban house in a quiet neighborhood of many seniors in Vancouver, Washington.  We live in the northeast part of unincorporated Vancouver, called "The Orchards."  There are four large Douglas firs in our backyard and many around in our neighbor's houses.

Here are some photos of our main living room looking to the north .  Here I enjoy reading and studying, chatting with Karen, and watching TV.  I read in a big green chair.  Karen took these photos on a dark, windy, and rainy day.  Bruno, our dog, hangs around and likes the warm indoors like us.  I can easily do a compact Yang Style Taijiquan in this room by moving a few chairs.  

Each season provides new views looking north into the back yard.
The maple trees are all leafless in January.
Many branches and limbs fell during a 45 mile windstorm.
A great view from our reading chairs.

Looking to the west.  Our fireplace is quite nice and large.
Yes, the Northwest has lots of dark clouds, fog, mist and rain.  
Karen's big black chair.

I 

I converted one small bedroom into my computer room, office, library, meditation room, floor yoga and standing Qigong practice area, and reading room.  The window in this room faces south.  I have a small Taoist altar set up. 

Looking south.

Taoist altar

Taoism

Here is how my former Druid altar (ancient Roman themed) 

looked in our old home in rural Red Bluff.  This room was my
reading room with a huge green chair that I still use. 
We lived and worked in Red Bluff from 1989 to 2017.

One Old Daoist Druids Final Journey

Portland City Dining: Fogo de Chão

We celebrated April's 41st Birthday by seven of us going to downtown Portland to the Fogo de Chao Brazilian Steakhouse.  Our quality table was adjacent to the huge barbeque kitchen.  It was a dramatic and dynamic scene.  

Dozens of specialized grilled meats were brought to our table.  I enjoyed one cut of lamb and top sirloin the most.  The buffet offered some enticing items, some new to me.  Vegetarians could find plenty of delicious foods to eat.  The many drink and pastry choices were excellent.  

The many lovely ladies, including our own, with such nice clothes were a beautiful sight to behold.  Some young lovies wore scanty revealing clothing.  A few folks were in costumes.  

Every table was filled, and even people with reservations were waiting over a half hour to be seated.  It was drizzling and quite cold outside and people were crammed inside the bar and waiting area.  I could not hear well amid all the cross-conversations.  

Figure on $85-$100 a person for this extravagant, unique, and meat-lovers dining experience.  

There are many tall buildings surrounding this restaurant.  Sheer glass faces, 20 stories high, in all directions.  

Dramatic Downtown Portland!!!  May this delight go on for centuries more!

Happy Birthday, April

Feathered Friends, Shell-Fish, and Epidemics

"The feathered tribe are numerous, and during the season flock hither in clouds: white and black swans, white geese, Canada geese, brant, sheldrake, cormorants, loon, mallard, ducks, red-head, gray and canvas back ducks, teal, curlew, snipe, plover, pheasant, quail, pigeons, crows, and robins. During the summer months pelicans are plenty, and go sailing round in the heavy, lazy flight, occasionally dashing down into the water in the most clumsy manner to catch a fish, and at all times an easy prey and an acceptable banquet to the Indians, who swallow their coarse, fishy, oily flesh with the greatest avidity. Innumerable flocks of gulls of various species are constantly to be seen, and at times, when attracted by any quantities of food, appear like clouds. These birds, also, are readily eaten by the Indians, who never are at a loss to find means to appease their appetite."

- James Gilcrest Swan, 1852, Willapa (Shoalwater) Bay, Southwestern Washington, from his book "The Northwest Coast: Or, Three Year's in Residence in Washington Territory, 1957."

Willapa Bay  A Hyper-text Notebook by Mike Garofalo

Brown Pelicans

In 2022, I will be Yurt camping at Grayland Beach State Park twice and Pacific Beach State Park once during the spring bird migration fly-by. Millions of birds rest and eat in the shallow bays, wetlands, marshes, sloughs, sandy islands, and rivers in Grays Harbor Bay and Willapa Bay.  Looking forward to visiting Bottle Beach and other bird watching locations.  



A Birder's Guide to Coastal Washington. By Bob Morse, 2001. Featuring Ocean Shores, Long Beach Peninsula, Forks, Westport, Tokeland, and 160 Birding Hot Spots. Detailed coverage of birding locations near Westport and how to get there. Excellent resource!  RWMorse, 2001, 270 pages, ring-bound. VSCL. FVRL.  First Choice!!

Coastal Washington Shorebirds and Waterbirds. By Ruth McCausland. 116 pages.

Birds of Washington Field Guide. By Stan Tekiela. Adventure Pubs., 2001, 332 pages.

American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of Washington. By Dennis Paulson and Brian Small. Scott and Nix, 2020, 368 pages.

Birds of the Pacific Northwest. By John Shewey and Tim Blount. Timber, 2017, 560 pages.

Birds of Washington State. By Brian Bell and Gregory Kennedy. Partners, 2017, 284 pages.




"The shoals are covered with shell-fish, among which the oyster is the most abundant, and constitutes the primary article of export. Several species of clams, crabs of the largest size, and of a most delicious flavor, shrimps, mussels, and a small species of sand-lobster, are in the greatest abundance, and furnish nutritious food, not only to the different tribes of Indians who resort to the bay at different seasons to procure supplies, but also the white settler, who is this enabled to greatly reduce the expenses of living when compared with those settlements on the Columbia River and interior where provision of all kinds are usually scarce and high."
- James Gilcrest Swan, 1852, Willapa (Shoalwater) Bay, Southwestern Washington

Fort Vancouver (1824-1845) and Portland (1845-) were the settlements inland on the Columbia River.  

By 1851, epidemics of disease (1795-1845) had decimated the Chinook and Chelais Indian tribes on the Shoalwater (Willapa) Bay coastal area. In 1856, for example, a large tribe of Chelais Indians were camping in Westport and digging clams. A smallpox epidemic erupted and killed hundreds of Chelais Indians of all ages, and the Indians never returned to Westport.

In 2022, tens of thousands of people go to dig razor clams on fixed approved days on the sandy beaches of Twin Harbors and the Long Beach Peninsula.  My son and his wife are expert razor clam diggers.  And, we all have been challenged by our own COVID flu pandemic in America the past three years.  

Most of us enjoy finding ways and means to appease our appetites, despite any obstacles.  

Willapa Bay 

Grayland Beach

Four Days in Grayland

Travel Notebooks by Mike Garofalo

Happy Thanksgiving Day

(This Post was made in November of 2017.  Families enjoy gathering in the warm kitchen area on cold November days in North America. We look forward to Thanksgiving Day.)

Happy Thanksgiving Day!!

T   hanks for time to be together, turkey, talk, and tangy weather.
H  for harvest stored away, home, and hearth, and holiday.
A  for autumn's frosty art, and abundance in the heart.
N  for neighbors, and November, nice things, new things to remember.
K  for kitchen, kettles' croon, kith and kin expected soon.
S  for sizzles, sights, and sounds, and something special that about.
    That spells THANKS for joy in living and a jolly good Thanksgiving.       
-   Aileen Fisher, All in a Word

"They began now to gather in the small harvest they had, and to fit up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health and strength and had all things in good plenty.  For as some were thus employed in affairs abroad, others were exercising in fishing, about cod and bass and other fish, of which they took good store, of which every family had their portion.  All the summer there was no want; and now began to come in store of fowl, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees).  And besides waterfowl there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, besides venison, etc.  Besides they had about a peck of meal a week to a person, or now since harvest, Indian corn to that proportion.  Which made many afterwards write so largely of their plenty here to their friends in England, which were not feigned but true reports.”-   William Bradford, 1621 

In 1863, Abraham Lincoln, declared the last Thursday of November to be a National Day of Thanksgiving.

November: Quotations, Saying, Poetry

Months and Seasons

Neo-Pagan Holidays

The first photo shows part of our family in 2012, at our home in Red Bluff, on Thanksgiving Day.

Photos of families enjoying a Thanksgiving Day together.  

Palouse Region, Southeastern Washington

We spent some time last month in the rolling hills and wheat fields of the Palouse Region of Southeastern Washington. We drove from Walla Walla on State Road 12 through Dayton, Pomeroy, to Lewiston. Then, north, up a steep grade overlooking Lewiston, on State Road 195 to Pullman, then Colfax.

She prefers and likes being the pilot driver, I am a very content passenger and occasional navigator.  She safely pilots our 2018 Ford Escape, Titanium, on a 2.5 liter engine, at 30 mpg.  We quietly rolled across the Palouse in beautiful summer warm weather and clear skies.  Brown wheat fields in four directions.  No irrigation systems visible in most cases.  

Since I was not driving that fine day, I slowly smoked a gram of potent sativa cannabis during the many hours of quiet staring out the car window and occasional map reading.  Mind tripping potent pot for road tripping trips.  I am sure that cannabis is grown in the heavily irrigated Yakima Valley, and indoors anywhere in Washington where cannabis for recreational use has been legal since 2012, and 25% of every purchase of pot is taxed.  The Palouse appears to be primarily wheat and beans, and largely not irrigated.  A primary rule is "where is the water, and how much can you use." Therefore, you could grow marihuana in the Palouse with drip irrigation methods.  

We stopped at a rest stop in the Palouse.  Stretched our legs and bodies.  Used the vault pit toilet.  We enjoyed looking at the immense fields of wheat.  I held and closely studied some wheat plants.  

Wheat food products have kept me alive for 75 years.  

"The Palouse is the most serene and pastoral of the seven wonders of Washington State. It is a region in south eastern Washington characterized by gentle rolling hills covered with wheat fields. The hills were formed over tens of thousands of years from wind blown dust and silt, called "loess", from dry regions to the south west. Seen from the summit of 3,612 foot high Steptoe Butte, they look like giant sand dunes because they were formed in much the same way. In the spring they are lush shades of green when the wheat and barley are young, and in the summer they are dry shades of brown when the crops are ready for harvest. The Palouse hills are not only a landscape unique in the world, but they are beautiful to behold, making them my favorite of the seven wonders of Washington State."

The Palouse

Peaches of Immortality

This peach, these peppers,
These grapes, these tomatoes
Will all soon become me.
Such a tasty fact.
I am That and That is Me.
Bless the gardens!
Bless the gardeners!
Bless the kitchens!
Bless the cooks!  
Bless the food!
-  Mike Garofalo, Pulling Onions

Peach trees and peaches have a special place in my heart.  I carefully tend the peach trees in our orchard, but a bountiful crop is often just a gift, grace, luck. 

"In China, the peach was said to be consumed by the immortals due to its mystic virtue of conferring longevity on all who ate them. The divinity Yu Huang, also called the Jade Emperor, and his mother called Xi Wangmu also known as Queen Mother of the West, ensured the gods' everlasting existence by feeding them the peaches of immortality. The immortals residing in the palace of Xi Wangmu were said to celebrate an extravagant banquet called the Pantao Hui or "The Feast of Peaches". The immortals waited six thousand years before gathering for this magnificent feast; the peach tree put forth leaves once every thousand years and it required another three thousand years for the fruit to ripen. Ivory statues depicting Xi Wangmu's attendants often held three peaches. The peach often plays an important part in Chinese tradition and is symbolic of long life. One example is in the peach-gathering story of Zhang Daoling, who many say is the true founder of Taoism. Elder Zhang Guo, one of the Chinese Eight Immortals, is often depicted carrying a Peach of Immortality." - Wikipedia

Peaches are native to China and introduced to Persia via the Silk Road before Christian times.

Xi Wang Mu, Queen Mother of the West, keeps the Immortals fed with the Sacred Peaches.  "No one knows Her beginning, no one knows Her end."

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices

Xi Wangmu, Braham, the Divine, the Supreme Universal Spirit, the Unmanifested and Manifested, the Absolute, the Everlasting, the Shining, Everything, Food for Life, God ...

Jen Miller sent me her summary of the benefits of eating peaches.

Karen also enjoys our crop of peaches in the summer months in Red Bluff.

Ah, Such a tasty peach!!  

To get peaches in the summer, you must plant bare root peach trees in the winter.  Karen and I have planted nearly 100 trees in our orchard in Red Bluff, California.  We will miss these trees when we move to Vancouver, Washington, in April of 2017.  Someone else will enjoy them for decades.

Bowls of Cherries Coming On

Wise is the person who sees the cherry trees in bloom and does not say "life is not a bowl of cherries."

- Mike Garofalo, Pulling Onions

Thanksgiving Day Celebration

Happy Thanksgiving Day!!

T   hanks for time to be together, turkey, talk, and tangy weather.
H  for harvest stored away, home, and hearth, and holiday.
A  for autumn's frosty art, and abundance in the heart.
N  for neighbors, and November, nice things, new things to remember.
K  for kitchen, kettles' croon, kith and kin expected soon.
S  for sizzles, sights, and sounds, and something special that about.
    That spells THANKS for joy in living and a jolly good Thanksgiving.           
-   Aileen Fisher, All in a Word

"They began now to gather in the small harvest they had, and to fit up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health and strength and had all things in good plenty.  For as some were thus employed in affairs abroad, others were exercising in fishing, about cod and bass and other fish, of which they took good store, of which every family had their portion.  All the summer there was no want; and now began to come in store of fowl, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they came first (but afterward decreased by degrees).  And besides waterfowl there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, besides venison, etc.  Besides they had about a peck of meal a week to a person, or now since harvest, Indian corn to that proportion.  Which made many afterwards write so largely of their plenty here to their friends in England, which were not feigned but true reports.”
-   William Bradford, 1621 

In 1863, Abraham Lincoln, declared the last Thursday of November to be a National Day of Thanksgiving.

November: Quotations, Saying, Poetry

Months and Seasons

Neo-Pagan Holidays

The first photo shows part of our family in 2012, at our home in Red Bluff, on Thanksgiving Day.

Photos of families enjoying a Thanksgiving Day together.  

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, Chapter 35

Daodejing, Laozi
Chapter 35   


"One who holds fast to the Great Symbol
Gains the whole world
Bestows purest peace
Serenity and bliss.
Yet the hasty wayfarer
Attracted only by outer chars
Tastes Tao and is not aware of it
Sees Tao and does not perceive it
Listens to Tao and does not hear it.
But whoever
Grasps and holds it
Amid impermanence
Is grasped by the permanent
And attains duration."
-  Translated by K. O. Schmidt, 1975, Chapter 35



"Reside in the center
where understanding does not require words or images,
and folk will come to you to be taught
how to be serene.
Where there is good music and food
people stop to rest and regain their energy.
But though the Tao seems unmelodious or even bland
it is an inexhaustible source of refreshment."
-  Translated by Crispin Starwell, Chapter 35


"To him who holds to the Great Form all the world go.
It will go and see no danger, but tranquility, equality and community.
Music and dainties will make the passing stranger stop.
But Tao when uttered in words is so pure and void of flavor
When one looks at it, one cannot see it;
When one listens to it, one cannot hear it.
However, when one uses it, it is inexhaustible."
-  Translated by Ch'u Ta-Kao, 1904, Chapter 35 


"The owner of the biggest image attracts the whole world.
When all who come have been safely settled,
The world will then be peaceful.
Melodious music and delicious food
Can only attract passers-by.
But the Way is, when put into one's mouth, tasteless,
When looked at, colorless,
When listened to, uninteresting,
And, when used, limitlessly bountiful."
-  Translated by Liu Qixuan, Chapter 35 


執大象, 天下往. 
往而不害, 安平大. 
樂與餌, 過客止. 
道之出口, 淡乎其無味.
視之不足見.
聽之不足聞.
用之不足既. 
-  Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 35


zhi da xiang, tian xia wang.
wang er bu hai, an ping tai.
le yu er, guo ke zhi.
dao zhi chu kou, dan hu qi wu wei.
shi zhi bu zu jian.
ting zhi bu zu wen.
yong zhi bu zu ji.
-  Pinyin Romanization, Daodejing, Chapter 35 

"Hold the Great Symbol
and all the world follows,
Follows without meeting harm,
And lives in health, peace, commonwealth.
Offer good things to eat
And the wayfarer stays.
But Tao is mild to the taste.
Looked at, it cannot be seen;
Listened to, it cannot be heard;
Applied, its supply never fails."
-  Translated by Lin Yutang, 1955, Chapter 35 

"Apprehend the inimitable conception, you attract the world;
coming it receives no harm, but it tranquil, peaceful, satisfied.
Like transient guests, music and dainties pass away.
The Tao entering the mouth is insipid and without flavour;
when looked at it evades sight;
when listened for it escapes the ear.
Yet, its operations are interminable."
-  Translated by C. Spurgeon Medhurst, 1905, Chapter 35 


"The owner of the biggest image attracts the whole world.
When all who come have been safely settled,
The world will then be peaceful.
Melodious music and delicious food
Can only attract passers-by.
But the Way is, when put into one's mouth, tasteless,
When looked at, colorless,
When listened to, uninteresting,
And, when used, limitlessly bountiful."
-  Translated by Liu Qixuan, Chapter 35 

"El Tao carece de forma y aroma;
No puede ser visto ni oido,
Y su aplicación no puede ser agotada.
Si ofreces música y comida
Los extraños se detienen a tu lado;
Pero si estás de acuerdo con el Tao
La gente del Mundo te mantendrá
En seguridad, salud, compañía y paz."

-  Translated by Antonio Rivas Gonzálvez, 1998, Capítulo 35 


"If you offer music and food
Strangers may stop with you;
But if you accord with the Way
All the people of the world will keep you
In safety, health, community and peace.
The Way lacks art and flavor;
It can neither be seen or heard,
But its benefits cannot be exhausted."
-  Translated by Peter Merel, 1992, Chapter 35

"Hold fast the idea of "The Great,"
Then all men will be drawn to you.  
They will come to you and receive no hurt,
But rest, peace and great calm.
When you provide music and exquisite food
The traveller will stay with you gladly.
When the Tao flows out from you to him
By his palate he does not detect its savour,
By his eye he cannot perceive it,
By his ears he cannot hear it,
But in using it he finds it to be inexhaustible." 

- Translated by Isabella Mears, 1916, Chapter 35 

Chapter 35, 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



A Philosopher's Notebooks