Tao Tuesdays: Chapter 5

I got this great photo at www.hetemeel.com!
I got this great photo at www.hetemeel.com!

Who needs Taco Tuesdays when you can have Tao Tuesdays?

I am sure that Einstein would have really loved this…

Here is How it Works

I will post a chapter of the Tao Te Ching each Tuesday.  (My version – you can see all of the chapters on my List of Chapters page if you want to work ahead!) I will put a Mr. Linky entry form with it so that you can write your OWN commentary to the chapter on your own blog and then come back here after you post and add your link! Simple! (Please add the DIRECT link to your post about that particular chapter to make it easy for our readers!)

I am so excited to read what you wrote! It has been so fun for me to work with this material and I really got the depth when I started writing about it. It is my wish that you will find the same! (Plus some extra traffic to your blog!)

Don’t worry if you miss a week. Don’t worry if you just join us now and again. It is totally open. You can even go back to a previous chapter and post there. I will add each Tao Tuesday entry post to the List of Chapters page so you can read the other entries as you are reviewing all of the chapters.

We are all sages.

Chapter 5

Heaven and Earth are without bias,
Treating the Ten Thousand Things
As precious meaningless straw dogs.

The sage lives without bias,
Regarding humankind
as precious straw dogs.

The space between Heaven and Earth
is like a bellows…
Empty and yet, providing a never-ending supply
of words and meaning,
exhausting itself.

Better to chose moderation
and pay attention to the Silence within.

 If you haven’t participated yet, why not join us next week? We will be looking at Chapter 6 next week. Or, you can always start at the beginning and do the earlier ones. They are all linked up on the List of All Chapters page so they do get looked at later on by people stopping by.

 

Read my full essay on Chapter 5

 

 

 

 

The Study of Humility: Part 4

Young Couple Walking Together in Nature

This is part 4 of a series on Humility. To read the other parts, please visit our Humility Page. We have also have a series on Awareness , Stillness and Discipline so please check those out as well if you are interested.

This series on humility is the fourth series in our Tao Te Ching Exploration Project. Throughout this project, we will be discussing some of the basic principles brought up throughout the Tao Te Ching. The principles we will cover are Awareness, Stillness, Discipline, Humility, Flexibility, Consistency, Connection, Service and Leadership. I am sure that there are many other principles that have been discussed throughout the text, but these are the nine topics that I am choosing to focus on over the next several months.

What is Your Spiritual Practice?

full_moon_ocean

 

A spiritual practice is something that you come back to, time and time again.

It is not something where you go through a phase. Anything can be a practice like this – you can do meditation, you can read the Tao, you can go for regular walks in nature,  you can read a certain spiritual book like A Course in Miracles or the Bible, whatever you want.  A practice has you come back and it never fades. You never let go of it, you continually practice it and refine it.

Tao smoothes your rough edges,
untangles the knots in our lives
and blends our brilliance with our dust.

         ~Tao Te Ching, Chapter 4

As we practice be-ing, the Tao does soften us. It is really important to have some kind of practice in your life that does that for you. How you do that is up to you. Some people change what that is, but there is a depth that comes with the continuity.

Tao Tuesdays: Chapter 4

I got this great photo at www.hetemeel.com!

I got this great photo at www.hetemeel.com!

Who needs Taco Tuesdays when you can have Tao Tuesdays?

I am sure that Einstein would have really loved this…

Here is How it Works

I will post a chapter of the Tao Te Ching each Tuesday.  (My version – you can see all of the chapters on my List of Chapters page if you want to work ahead!) I will put a Mr. Linky entry form with it so that you can write your OWN commentary to the chapter on your own blog and then come back here after you post and add your link! Simple! (Please add the DIRECT link to your post about that particular chapter to make it easy for our readers!)

I am so excited to read what you wrote! It has been so fun for me to work with this material and I really got the depth when I started writing about it. It is my wish that you will find the same! (Plus some extra traffic to your blog!)

Don’t worry if you miss a week. Don’t worry if you just join us now and again. It is totally open. You can even go back to a previous chapter and post there. I will add each Tao Tuesday entry post to the List of Chapters page so you can read the other entries as you are reviewing all of the chapters.

 

We are all sages.

Chapter 4

Tao is like an empty cup
that cannot be filled,
Although we drink of it continuously.
It is the deep source
of the Ten Thousand Things.

Tao smoothes our sharp edges,
Untangles the knots in our lives,
And blends our brilliance with our dust.

Its depth is eternal.

The Original Divinity.

 

NEXT TUESDAY IS CHAPTER 5… will you join us in writing your own translation and come and post it next week?


Read my full essay on Chapter 4

 

 

The Study of Humility: Part 3

Reflecting on Mountain

This is part 3 of a series on Humility. To read the other parts, please visit our Humility Page. We have also have a series on Awareness , Stillness and Discipline so please check those out as well if you are interested.

This series on humility is the fourth series in our Tao Te Ching Exploration Project. Throughout this project, we will be discussing some of the basic principles brought up throughout the Tao Te Ching. The principles we will cover are Awareness, Stillness, Discipline, Humility, Flexibility, Consistency, Connection, Service and Leadership. I am sure that there are many other principles that have been discussed throughout the text, but these are the nine topics that I am choosing to focus on over the next several months.

Do You Have Latent Superpowers? I Do…

power_up_buttonWhoa.

I have superpowers? Really?

YES. I do.

I know I do because I read this post and immediately realized the truth of what he was saying. How cool. I could not help but think about this as I went about my day. What powers would I like to possess? I think that I would be with him in developing the power of consciousness. This would include an uncanny ability to stop and smell the flowers whenever they are present. Go read this post.  It’s a good one.

Bird Meditation

tree_meditation_sm

 

Find a nice spot outside to sit comfortably.

Close your eyes and just listen to the birds.

Don’t get caught up on any one bird. If one bird takes up too much attention, just say “moving on” and focus on the next bird. Do this for as long as you want.

Are Your Spiritually Competitive?

group of cyclist at professional race

 

Humankind is a competitive group.

Even when we are behaving in a seemingly spiritual way, we still can’t help ourselves from comparing with each other. It is part of human existence. We can try and push it down, but it comes up in other ways. I think it is not so much about getting rid of competition, as it is to recognize it and let it go, recognize it and let it go, recognize it and let it go. It is our human nature to be more of something. I think as we accept this part of ourselves, it gives us the space to just recognize it and laugh.

Tao Tuesdays: Chapter 3

I got this great photo at www.hetemeel.com!

I got this great photo at www.hetemeel.com!

Who needs Taco Tuesdays when you can have Tao Tuesdays?

I am sure that Einstein would have really loved this…

Here is How it Works

I will post a chapter of the Tao Te Ching each Tuesday.  (My version – you can see all of the chapters on my List of Chapters page if you want to work ahead!) I will put a Mr. Linky entry form with it so that you can write your OWN commentary to the chapter on your own blog and then come back here after you post and add your link! Simple! (Please add the DIRECT link to your post about that particular chapter to make it easy for our readers!)

Tao Tuesdays: Chapter 2

I got this great photo at www.hetemeel.com!

I got this great photo at www.hetemeel.com!

Who needs Taco Tuesdays when you can have Tao Tuesdays?

I am sure that Einstein would have really loved this…

Here is How it Works

I will post a chapter of the Tao Te Ching each Tuesday.  (My version – you can see all of the chapters on my List of Chapters page if you want to work ahead!) I will put a Mr. Linky entry form with it so that you can write your OWN commentary to the chapter on your own blog and then come back here after you post and add your link! Simple! (Please add the DIRECT link to your post about that particular chapter to make it easy for our readers!)

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