Day 244 FARMERS Plain country folk with rounded bodies, Skin turning to bronze in the valley heat. Why talk to them about Tao? They eat when they are hungry, ...
I do appreciate the simplicity of farmers. and I hope I can some day be like them. however, please note that in china, the farmers are among the poorest ...
Day 245 GARDEN Blinding heat divides day from night, Brands short shadows into fecund soil. Green tendrils, heavy with beans, Coil around rustic bamboo racks. ...
... deservingness. ... Seems to be a warning against extremes and/or exclusivism, both of which are immoderate and attempt to divide us from Tao.......
Understandable. But in Taoism, part of rearing a child is to teach them how to be healthy through appropriate nutrition and herbology. Farming provides...
Day 246 TREE Did you measure to attain your height? Did you use geometry to radiate your limbs? Did you lament storm-torn branches? Did you inventory your...
Chapter 25 25.1.1 There is a state formed (from primordial) chaos. Born before Heaven-and-earth. 25.1.2 Silent and boundless. Standing alone without...
Day 247 DOVE A dove got caught in the rafters last night. I had quite a time trying to get her out. She hit her head several times in panic. Only when she was...
Chapter 26 26.1 Heaviness is the root of lightness. Silence is the ruler of rashness. 26.2.1 That is why the gentlemen (may) travel all day, (but will)...
Day 248 RECEPTIVITY I want to make myself an empty room: Quiet whitewashed walls with slant sunshine And a fresh breeze through open windows. Some days are...
Chapter 27 27.1.1 A good traveler (will) not (leave) tracks (to show where he) goes. A good speechmaker (has) no flaw (in his speech). A good counter does...
Day 249 OUTLOOK Spawned from a mountain cataract, The long river surges to the sea. Its torrents savage its igneous bed, Yet one blade of rock twists it...
Day 250 REVERENCE An ocean of ink in a single drop, Trembling at the tip of my brush, Poised above stark white paper, A universe waits for existence. ...
Chapter 29 29.1.1 Desiring to take the world and do it (as you desire), my view (is that) this can not be (done). 29.1.2 The world (is) a form of the...
Day 251 VITALITY Snail, tiny spiral in calcified membrane; Inchworm, a hairpin dragon; Bumblebee, blob of velvet black and yellow; White butterfly, syncopated...
Chapter 30 30.1.1 He who assists the master (of the) people with Tao, does not desire to force the world with arms. 30.1.x {Where the military division...
Day 252 DESERVING Prostrate before the altar. Are you worthy of your deity? Can you eliminate profanity, And strive for constant adoration? It is not easy to...
Day 253 PATIENCE This apple is like a jewel, With every shade of red and green And a perfect shape. What a miraculous fruit. The owner of an orchard came to...
Day 254 CONUNDRUM Which came first, Experience or meaning? When we were children, a favorite riddle used to be, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?"...
Chapter 33 33.1.1 He who knows others is wise, (but) he who knows oneself is (truly) knowing. 33.1.2 He who overcomes others has strength, (but) he who...
Day 255 INDEFINITE Spring was a time of swaggering declarations. Reaching autumn, one finds few absolutes. Life is mystery and ambiguity, Toward winter, that...
Chapter 34 34.1.1 Tao floods (over all things)! It can (go) left (or) right (not able to be blocked). 34.1.2 (It) succeeds and achieves (but) does not...
Day 256 ARBITRARY Meaning in life is arbitrary. Why ruin the universe with rigidity? Why do we make the choices we do? After all, we do not have unlimited ...
Chapter 35 35.1.1 Holding to a phenomenon of the Great, (then) the whole world goes for (it). 35.1.2 (They) go for (it) without harm, (and) settle (in)...
