Wednesday, November 02, 2022
Sit Quietly: Focus and Forget
Teach us to sit still."
- T.S. Eliot
"You are sitting on the earth and you realize that this earth deserves you and you deserve this earth. You are there - fully, personally, genuinely."
- Chogyam Trungpa
"Remain sitting at your table and listen.
Do not even listen, simply wait,
be quiet still and solitary.
The world will freely offer itself
to you to be unmasked,
it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy
at your feet."
- Franz Kafka
"Sit quietly
focus and forget
rest with the great achievement.
The ancient child asks
"what is the great achievement?"
It is beyond description in any language
it can only be felt intuitively
it can only be expressed intuitively.
Engage a loose, alert, and aware
body, mind, and sound
then look into the formless
and perceive no thing.
See yourself as a sphere
small at first
growing to encompass
the vastness of infinite space.
Sit quietly
focus and forget then
in a state of ease and rest
secure the truth of the great achievement.
Employing the truth will not exhaust its power
when it seems exhausted it is really abundant
and while human art will die at the hands of utility
the great achievement is beyond being useful.
Great straightness is curved and crooked
great intelligence is raw and silly
great words are simple and naturally awkward.
Engaged movement drives out the frozen cold
mindful stillness subdues the frenzied heart.
Sit quietly
focusing
forgetting
summon order from the void
that guides the ordering of the universe."
- Tao Te Ching, Chapter 45, Translated by John Bright-Fey, 2006
"There are many matters and many circumstances in which consciousness is undesirable and silence is golden, so that secrecy can be used as a marker to tell us that we are approaching the holy."
- Gregory Bateson, Angels Fear
Sitting in the Garden
Zuowang Meditation
Spirituality and Nature
Friday, March 26, 2021
Dao De Jing Chapter 35 Tao Te Ching
Tao Te Ching Chapter 35 Dao De Jing
"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
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
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 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
Wednesday, June 05, 2013
Calm Mind, Kind Heart, Being Present
Watch the turmoil of things, but contemplate their return.
Each separate being in the universe returns to the common source.
Returning to the source is serenity.
If you don't realize the source, you stumble in confusion and sorrow.
When you realize where you come from,
you naturally become tolerant,
disinterested, amused,
kindhearted as a grandmother,
dignified as a king.
Immersed in the wonder of the Tao,
you can deal with whatever life brings you,
and when death comes, you are ready."
- Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 16, Translated by Stephen Mitchell
Next, feel your heart, literally placing your hand on your chest if you find that helpful. This is a way of accepting yourself just as you are in that moment, a way of saying, “This is my experience right now, and it’s okay.”
Then go into the next moment without any agenda."
- Pema Chodron, 2012



