A Will for the Good

"Laetus in praesens animus quod ultra est oderit curare et amara lento temperet risu.  Nihil est ab omni parte beatum.
Joyful let the soul be in the present, let it disdain to trouble about what is beyond and temper bitterness with a laugh.  Nothing is blessed forever."
-  Horace

"To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means to take nothing for granted, but to always seek out and value the kind that will stand behind the action.  Nothing that is done for you is a matter of course.  Everything originates in a will for the good, which is directed at you.  Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the expression of gratitude."
-  Albert Schweitzer  

"The clearest sign of wisdom is continued cheerfulness."
-  Michel Montaigne  

"All our moments are last moments.   We abide in the forever leaving of our own coming?  We can put our hands together, palm to palm, settling here on the last leaf of our brief flight, and bow to the wonder of it."
-  Jen Jensen, Bowing to Receive the Mountain, 1997 

Ten Positive Energy Prescriptions
"1.  Awaken intuition and rejuvenate yourself.
2.  Find a nurturing spiritual path.
3.  Design an energy-aware approach to diet, fitness and health.
4.  Generate positive emotional energy to counter negativity.
5.  Develop a heart-centered sexuality.
6.  Open yourself to the flow of inspiration and creativity. 
7.  Celebrate the sacredness of laughter, pampering, and the replenishment of retreat.
8.  Attract positive people and situations.
9.  Protect yourself from energy vampires.
10.  Create abundance."
-  Judith Orloff, M.D..  
   Positive Energy, 2004 

Cheerfulness and Gratitude

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons

The Good Life: Virtues

Quintain Poetry Archives

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Quintain Poetry By Mike Garofalo

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Quintains - Research

 

Mike Garofalo 2006
Red Bluff, CA

 

 

Quintain Poetry about Time: The Tick-Tock Tractatus

Tick-Tock Tractatus

Tick-Tock Tractatus by Michael P. Garofalo, 2026-

 

Bundled Up: Quintains: Volumes 1 - 7

Months and Seasons

Quintain Sonnets

Quintain Poetry Research

Time - Quotations I

Time - Research

Time - Quotations II

Crane Frolic Chi Kung Exercise #6

6.  The Crane Opens and Closes Its Wings

Begin in the basic Crane stance with the hands at the waist.  The legs are separated with a shoulder's width.  Stretch the fingers open.  Inhale as you lift both hands up the center of the body, fingers pointing forward, arms about 24" apart.
As the hands reach the neck begin to move both hands to the side, upwards, and backwards.  Spread the arms as far apart as you can and to either side of the body as you lift both arms high above the head.  Draw the arms up and back as you gently bend backwards.
At the same time as the arms are lifted up and back, try to lift both heels off the ground, and come up on your toes.  Look up at the sky with your head drawn back. 
As you begin to exhale, gently draw the arms forward and down, straighten the back, look forward, and move the arms down to the waist. 
Repeat for 4 to 8 repetitions in a gentle, slow, calm, deliberate, and smooth manner. 
This movement is found in the Wild Goose Qigong (Dayan Chi Kung) routine.  Refer to "Wild Goose Qigong" by Hong-Chao Zhang, pp.20-21. 
Back-bending while standing with the arms lifted above the head and with the hands touching is a commonly used hatha yoga posture called Anyvittasana.   
This exercise is a hyperextension of the back, stretching of the latissimus dorsi muscles of sides of the upper back, a stretching of the upper rectus abdominis, engaging the pectoralis major, and a tensing of the trapezius muscles in the upper back and neck. 
This movement opens and fills with Qi (Chi, Energy) the Middle Dan Tien (i.e., 中丹田, Zhong Dantian, middle elixir fields, cauldron) of the esoteric body system explained in Chinese Qigong (Yoga); or, analogously, opens the Heart Chakra (Anhata) of Hatha Yoga.  Exercise of this area in the front of the body helps heal disturbed emotions, calms the spirit, strengthens the heart and lungs, and opens the Heart-Soul to the grace of light energy. 
The wide-spread arms held up high help establish a feeling of opening up, freeing oneself, and uplifting one's mood and spirit. 
You often see this ritual body posture in Christian revival meetings as a kind of "Saying Hallelujah" posture.
If the movement was done forcefully and with power and quickly it would be the flapping of the wings of a powerful bird like a Crane or wild Goose or for a human bodybuilder the performance of incline dumbbell flys. 

         
 


Crane Frolic Qigong Exercise Set

Eight Animals Frolics Mind/Body Fitness Practices (Chi Kung) by Mike Garofalo
 
The webpages for the eight specific animals will also have photographs of me or others doing these exercises.  There are also five, eight or twelve animals in Shaolin Kung Fu, Ba Gua Zhang, Taijiquan, and Xing Yi Quan.  Movements or postures called a "crane" or "hawk" or "rooster" are found in most of these mind-body internal arts.   

Chinese exercises recommended for improving fitness, maintaining good health, overcoming diseases, increasing energy and vitality, contributing to good mental health, and improving one's chances for longevity have a very long documented history going back to as early as 160 BCE in the Daoyin Tu.    

Quintain Poetry: Bundled Up, Volumes 1 - 7

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Quintains, Tankas, Pentastichs, and Onions
Quintain Sonnets, TextArt
Gogyohkas, Limericks, Wakas, Quintets
Remarks, Epigrams, Commonplaces, Seeings
Ad Free Webpages, Translation Menu

Quintain Poetry By Mike Garofalo

Bundled Up, Volume 1
Wakas, Quintillas, Tankas, Quintets
Quintain Poems 1 - 1,000

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Gogyohkas, Limericks, Wakas
Rhymes, Remarks, Listenings, Insights
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Quintain Poems 3,000 - 3,500

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Quintains, Delight, Nature, Remarks, Tankas
Quintain Poems 3,500 - 4,000

Quintains - Research

 

Daodejing, Laozi, Chapter 65

Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu
Chapter 65 

"Those who, in ancient times, were eminent for the practice of Tao, abstained from enlightening the people, and kept them simple.
The difficulty of governing the people arises from their excess of shrewdness.
He who employs shrewdness in governing a State, becomes a robber of the State;
he who does not do so, is a blessing to it.
The man who knows both these things presents an ideal of good government, and a knowledge of this ideal
constitutes Sublime Virtue.
Sublime Virtue is deep and far-reaching, and is in direct opposition to all objects of desire;
thus it is able to bring about universal accordance with the Tao."
-  Translated by Frederic Henry Balfour, 1884, Chapter 65    

"In days gone by, those who knew how to follow the Dao did not seem enlightened but ignorant.
The reason why people are hard to govern is because they know too much.
And so to use knowledge to govern a country is to be its curse.
Not to use knowledge to govern a country is to be its blessing. 
There are two primal principles, and to understand them always brings the deepest virtue (De).
How hidden, deep and far-reaching virtue (De) is.
It makes all things return to their source and so attain oneness."
-  Translated by Tim Chilcott, 2005, Chapter 65  

"The ancient Masters
who understood the way of the Tao,
did not educate people, but made them forget.
Smart people are difficult to guide,
because they think they are too clever.
To use cleverness to rule a country,
is to lead the country to ruin.
To avoid cleverness in ruling a country,
is to lead the country to prosperity.
Knowing the two alternatives is a pattern.
Remaining aware of the pattern is a virtue.
This dark and mysterious virtue is profound.
It is opposite our natural inclination,
but leads to harmony with the heavens."
-  Translated by John H. McDonald, 1996, Chapter 65  

古之善為道者, 非以明民, 將以愚之.
民之難治, 以其智多.
故以智治國, 國之賊.
不以智治國, 國之福.
知此兩者亦  式.
常知  式, 是謂玄德.
玄德深矣遠矣.
與物反矣.
然後乃至大順.
-  Chinese characters, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 65 

ku chih shan wei tao chê, fei yi ming min, chiang yi yü chih.
min chih nan chih, yi ch'i chih to.
ku yi chih chih kuo, kuo chih tsê.
pu yi chih chih kuo, kuo chih fu.
chih tz'u liang chê yi chi shih.
ch'ang chih chi shih, shih wei hsüan tê.
hsüan tê shên yi yüan yi.
yü wu fan yi.
jan hou nai chih ta shun.
-  Wade-Giles Romanization, Tao Te Ching, Chapter 65  

"In olden times the best practitioners of Tao did not use it to awaken people to knowledge,
But used it to restore them to simplicity.
People are difficult to govern because they have much knowledge.
Therefore to govern the country by increasing the people's knowledge is to be the destroyer of the country;
To govern the country by decreasing knowledge is to be the blesser of the country.
To be acquainted with these two ways is to know the standard;
To keep the standard always in mind is to have sublime virtue.
Sublime virtue is infinitely deep and wide.
It goes to reverse all things;
And so it attains perfect peace."
-  Translated by Ch'u Ta-Kao, 1904, Chapter 65  

"Los antiguos que seguían el Tao
no necesitaban esclarecer con ello al pueblo,
ya que lo conservaban en su sencillez natural.
El pueblo se volvió dificil de gobernar
cuando recibió el adoctrinamiento.
Quien gobierna adoctrinando
arruina el Estado.
Quien gobierna sin servirse de la astucia
enriquece el Estado.
Conocer estas dos cosas
es conocer la verdadera norma.
Conocer esta norma
es poseer la Misteriosa Virtud.
La Misteriosa Virtud es profunda y extensa;
es lo inverso a todas las cosas,
pero por ella todo se armoniza."
-  Translation from Wikisource, 2013, Tao Te Ching, Capitulo 66

"Sound old rulers, it is said,
Left people to themselves, instead
Of wanting to teach everything
And start the people arguing.
With mere instruction in command,
So that people understand
Less than they know, woe is the land;
But happy the land that is ordered so
That they understand more than they know.
For everyone's good this double key
Locks and unlocks equally.
If modern man would use it, he
Could find old wisdom in his heart
And clear his vision enough to see
From start to finish and finish to start
The circle rounding perfectly."
-  Translated by Witter Bynner, 1944, Chapter 65 

Chapter 65 of the Tao Te Ching

Chapter and Thematic Index (Concordance) to the Tao Te Ching

English Language Translators' Index

Ripening Peaches: Taoist Studies and Practices

Taoism: A Selected Reading List 

Crane Frolic, Exercise #2

Crane Frolics Qigong Exercises

2.  The Red-Headed Crane Delights in Seeing Its Mate  

Lift both arms up to the sides until they are both above shoulder level.  The hands take the shape of the Crane's Hand they move above shoulder height.  (The ladies in the pictures below exemplify the posture desired when hands and knees are raised to the highest levels.) 
As the arms raise up, lift the left knee up until it is about at hip level.  Breathe in as you lift both arms up.  Pause for a moment at the highest point and look forward as if recognizing your mate or sweet-heart in a group.  Then lower the left leg and arms simultaneously as you exhale.  As the hands come down to the sides of your thighs, bend the knees slightly and dip down a little.  Then raise the arms up again as you lift the right knee up to hip height.  Inhale as you rise, exhale as you lower down.  Alternate the raising of arms and one leg for 4 to 10 repetitions.   
The height to which you will raise your knee depends upon your balancing skills, coordination, strength, confidence, and degree of skill.  Do try your best to raise the knee upward and draw your foot off of the floor. 
Folklore favors the idea that Cranes mate for life.  Some scientific research indicates that they do mate monogamously for long periods, but may change mates after a long period of time - serial monogamy.   Keeping the same mate means that their partner is special, recognizable, identifiable, and can be spotted in a group of Cranes feeding in a marsh or flying in formation during migration.  

 

Time Travel to the Outskirts of Words

9.5 Tick-Tock Tractatus

Time Travel to the Outskirts of Words

     Objects are Intertwined:
Inter-breeding like space and time
Inter-acting like brain and mind
Inter-relating like the drummer and the band
Inter-locking like fingers and hand

     Time is Objectified:
Counted, tallied, recorded, traded;
     Clock hands moving, telling time;
     Carrion bells singing hours at nine---
Time eats everything; Objects dissolve.

     Time is Personified:
Grim Reaper, Stork Baby, Dorian Gray;
     Talking Time Machines, Killer Shark AI;
Old man with a crooked gray cane;
     Eternal Goddess in a perfectly lazy Sky.

     We travel via Time:
All the time, consistently, logically,
Relentlessly, unavoidably, inexorably...
     But, realistically--- Entropy ---
     Closes the Past with a slap!

^^ We Only Travel in Time in the Now ^^

Words, thankfully, are Free
To thumb their noses at reality
To toss time-places-people randomly a'round
To invent a Supreme Fiction for us to See---
To create a timeless Heaven for Eternity.

BU629, BU2783

Time - Quotations

 

Dao De Jing, Chapter 8

Tao Te Ching, by Lao Tzu
Chapter 8

"The seer flows like water
Lying low along the way
Nourishing whatever comes
To be held on display

The seer keeps to simple ways
And therefore is content
When joy or sorrow manifests
To give complete assent

If you can clearly be yourself

And never rise to interfere
Everyone will cherish you
And always hold you dear"
-  Translated by Jim Clatfelder, 2000, Chapter 8

"A person with superior goodness (shan) is like water,
Water is good in benefiting (li) all beings,
Without contending (cheng) with any.
Situated in places shunned (o) by many others,
Thereby it is near (chi) Tao.
(Such a person's) dwelling is the good earth,
(His/her) mind (hsin) is the good deep water (yuan),
(His/her) associates are good kind people (jen),
(His/her) speech shows good trust (hsin),
(His/her) governing is the good order,
(His/her) projects (shih) are carried out by good talents (neng),
(His/her) activities (tung) are good in timing.
Because he does not contend (pu cheng) with any,
He commits no wrong."
-  Translated by Ellen Marie Chen, 1989, Chapter 8

"The highest good is like water.
Water give life to the ten thousand things and does not strive.
It flows in places men reject and so is like the Tao.
In dwelling, be close to the land.
In meditation, go deep in the heart.
In dealing with others, be gentle and kind.
In speech, be true.
In ruling, be just.
In daily life, be competent.
In action, be aware of the time and the season.
No fight: No blame."
-  Translated by Gai-fu Feng and Jane English, 1989, Chapter 8 

"The highest goodness that we know has water for its type,

It benefits all things, yet ever flows

To the spot which men disdain, the gutter and the plain,

And so is near the Tao, its archetype.

A residence is excellent according to its place,

A heart for eddies passion never knows,

Generosity for kindness, words for faithfulness,

A government for order, business for its gain,

And movements for their timeliness and grace.

As the man of excellence does not quarrel for his place,

There are none to find fault with him for the places which remain."
-  Translated by Isaac Winter Heysinger, 1903, Chapter 8

"Perfect excellence is like gentle water.
Gentle water benefits all things and yet it does not struggle.
Do away with what all people hate.
Thus this is approaching Dao.
Give to what is of perfect personnel.
Stay in a perfect place,
think in a perfect way,
cooperate with perfect people,
speak perfect truth,
govern in perfect order,
work for perfect potentiality,
move when the time is perfect.
Because of non-struggle, therefore, there is no blame."
-  Translated by Tang Zi-Chang, Chapter 8

上善若水.
水善利萬物而不爭.
處衆人之所惡.
故幾於道.
居善地心善淵.
與善仁.
言善信.
正善治.
事善能.
動善時.
夫唯不爭, 故無尤.-  Chinese characters, Chapter 8, Tao Te Ching 

 shang shan ruo shui.
 shui shan li wan wu er bu zheng.
 chu zhong ren zhi suo wu.
 gu ji yu dao.
 ju shan di xin shan yuan.
 yu shan ren.
 yan shan xin.
 zheng shan zhi.
 shi shan neng.
 dong shan shi.
 fu wei bu zheng, gu wu you.
 -  Pinyin Romanization, Chapter 8, Daodejing
  

"The best way to life is to be like water
For water benefits all things and goes against none of them
It provides for all people and even cleanses those places a man is loath to go
In this way it is just like Tao
Live in accordance with the nature of things
Build your house on solid ground
Keep your mind still
When giving, be kind
When speaking, be truthful
When ruling, be just
When working, be one-pointed
When acting, remember, timing is everything
One who lives in accordance with nature does not go against the way of things
He moves in harmony with the present moment always knowing the truth of just what to do"
-  Translated by Johathan Star, 2001, Chapter 8 

"The highest form of goodness is like water.
Water knows how to benefit all things without striving with them.
It stays in places loathed by all men.
Therefore, it comes near the Tao.
In choosing your dwelling, know how to keep to  the ground.
In cultivating your mind, know how to dive in  the hidden deeps.
In dealing with others, know how to be gentle and kind.
In speaking, know how to keep your words.
In governing, know how to maintain order.
In transacting business, know how to be efficient.
In making a move, know how to choose the right  moment.
If you do not strive with others,
You will be free from blame."
-  Translated by John C. H. Wu, 1961, Chapter 8 

"El hombre de bondad superior es como el agua.
 El agua en su quietud favorece a todas las cosas,
 ocupa el lugar despreciado por los hombres,
 y así está cerca del dao.
 Su lugar es favorable;
 su corazón, sereno;
 su don, del agrado del cielo;
 su palabra, leal;
 su gobierno, en orden;
 en sus empresas, capaz;
 sus movimientos, oportunos.
 Sólo la falta de quietud
 impide la superación."
 -  Translated by Juan Ignacio Preciado, 1978, Tao Te Ching, Capítulo 8  

"Heavenly Love is like water.
Water blesses all things,
It does not hurt them.
It loves the lowly place that men dislike,
Therefore it comes very near to Tao.
The Master loves to dwell upon the earth.
In his heart he loves Infinity,
In his benevolence he loves giving,
In his words he loves sincerity,
In his government he loves peace,
In his business affairs he loves ability,
In his movements he loves punctuality.
The Master, indeed, does not fight,
Therefore his Inner Life increases."
-  Translated by Isabella Mears, 1916, Chapter 8 

"Highest good is like water.
Because water excels in benefiting the myriad creatures
    without contending with them and settles where none would like to be,
    it comes close to the way.
In a home it is the site that matters;
In quality of mind it is depth that matters;
In an ally it is benevolence that matters;
In speech it is good faith that matters;
In government it is order that matters;
In affairs it is ability that matters;
In action it is timeliness that matters.
It is because it does not contend that it is never at fault."

-  Translated by D. C. Lau, 1963, Chapter 8  

"The highest excellence is like that of water.
 The excellence of water appears in its benefiting all things, and in its occupying,
 Without striving to the contrary, the low place which all men dislike.
 Hence its way is near to that of the Tao.
 The excellence of a residence is in the suitability of the place;
 That of the mind is in abysmal stillness;
 That of associations is in their being with the virtuous;
 That of government is in its securing good order;
 That of the conduct of affairs is in its ability; and,
 That of the initiation of any movement is in its timeliness.
 And when one with the highest excellence does not wrangle about his low position,
 No one finds fault with him."

 -  Translated by James Legge, 1891, Chapter 8

"The foremost goodness is like water.
Water is good at benefiting all living things,
even though there are arguments about how it could reside
in places that most people hate.
In that way it is very close to being like Dao.
It is good at residing in the earth; the mind sees that goodness as bottomless.
It is good at giving through nature; words express that goodness with sincerity.
It is good at showing the right course of governing.
It is good at enabling all work to be completed;
through motion goodness adjusts to the time.
Well then, there is really no reason for arguments.
Because there is nothing that is at fault."

-  Translated by Nina Correa, 2005, Chapter 8  

  

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.  These are hypertext documents, and available online under Creative Commons 4.

  

Chapter 8, 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

How to Live a Good Life: Advice from Wise Persons

“The Path: What Chinese Philosophers Can Teach Us About the Good Life,” 2017, by Michael Puett and Christine Gross-Loh.

“Tao: The Watercourse Way,” 1977, by Alan Watts and Al Chung-liang Huang.  Illustrated by Lee Chih-chang.  

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