I touched on guilt and shame in the post, I am foolish of human mind also? (p.276). Nevertheless, I feel our practice of naming such emotional experiences deserves its own post, so here goes, beginning with a personal example… Up until thirty years ago, I had never experienced depression… or so I didn’t think. Following […]
Continue reading…The Secret to Happiness!
I’ve long realized that much of life’s pleasures appear to occur in the anticipation of them… in the desire more than in satisfying the desire. The conclusion of a desire or goal — the sated phase — is ultra fleeting, almost to the point of being anticlimactic. If you’re interested in this, begin by watching […]
Continue reading…It Began Now
The Science News book review, Games Primates Play, is worth reading. It is short so I’ll paste the whole review below first, and then add my tangential two cents. Games Primates Play: An Undercover Investigation of the Evolution and Economics of Human Relationships Even decked out in cultural finery, people make monkeys of themselves. Maestripieri, […]
Continue reading…I am foolish of human mind also?
I am foolish of human mind also? is one of my favorite lines in chapter 20. The more literal the translation, the more peculiar it can read. If it helps, D.C. Lau interprets this line more poetically as, My mind is that of a fool – how blank. I do feel the literal phrasing of […]
Continue reading…Seat of Consciousness
I recently received a kind email from someone who ended with this: Lastly, from reading Lau Tzu and Chuang Tzu, do you agree that it would seem that they would likely favor vegetarianism? I am becoming vegetarian myself, but it seems that eating clams and mussels might be possible, because they have no brain, and […]
Continue reading…What Follows Loss of the Way?
Knowing what was, what is, and what will be is virtually impossible because our own biases shape what we think we know. Chapter 38’s descending order can help evade the trap of preconceptions when pondering the whys and wherefores of life. Hence, virtue follows loss of the way. Benevolence follows loss of virtue. Justice follow […]
Continue reading…Placebo Effect
Google [Treating Depression: Is there a placebo effect? – CBS News] for an interview with Irving Kirsch, a scientist at the Placebo Studies Program at Harvard Medical School. Kirsch, who’s been studying placebos for 36 years, says “sugar pills” can work miracles. He has found that the drugs used to treat depression for most people […]
Continue reading…Imagining a Better Way
Human imagination is both a valuable survival asset and the source of lingering anxieties. Ironically, imagination also promises us ways to quell these anxieties. I say promises because fulfillment can’t truly be possible. This peculiar dynamic reminds me of the Möbius like geometry of Escher’s Waterfall. We can imagine a better something and so we […]
Continue reading…Who or What Do You Trust?
The ‘small “t” taoist’ (p.154) within us can find it difficult deciding who to trust, especially if we feel both the advocate and the critic make credible cases. Conversely, the partisan within us seldom hesitates before favoring one side or the other. Sincere advocacy for anything is a projection of one’s own beliefs. Importantly, sincere […]
Continue reading…Giving Your Life a Gift
It’s been 50+ years since I first began doing yoga. This, along with my daily reflection of Buddha’s Noble Truths (p.604), has been the best thing I’ve done in my life for my life. Admittedly, a lot of living had to pass under the bridge of life before I truly realized this. For decades, conviction, […]
Continue reading…The Only Safe Escape
The only way I’ve found to escape life without unintended consequences is to give myself to life. It is a bit ironic… as chapter 78 says, Straight and honest words seem inside out, or as D.C. Lau put it, straightforward words seem paradoxical. At times, I can lose myself in the flowing moment by utter […]
Continue reading…Use Non-Responsibility
A key character in chapter 57 (事 shì) can translate as responsibility. As such, lines 3 and 12 in Chapter 57 read as Use non-responsibility when seeking all under heaven and I am without responsibility and the people thrive themselves. Suggesting a virtue of non-responsibility defies common sense and seems to threaten the very fabric […]
Continue reading…Be Careful What You Wish
“Be careful what you wish for”, followed by “it might just come true” is an ironic maxim concerning the perils of wishing without grasping unintended consequences. First, we need to stipulate that wishing for something is relatively synonymous with desiring, expecting, hoping and praying for something. Next, is there a fundamental source for all these […]
Continue reading…Jack of All Trades, Master of None?
Is there any true difference between a generalist “jack of all trades” and a master? After all, isn’t a “jack of all trades” simply a master generalist? I’ve been doing several activities for many years: yoga (~55 years), tai chi (~45 years), shakuhachi sui Zen (~40 years), gardening (~35 years) and, I have various other […]
Continue reading…We only understand what we know
Chapter 56’s, One who speaks does not know has intrigued me for a long time. I came across this D.C. Lao translation in Vietnam in the early 60’s. I’ve referred to it often over the decades in various ways, and it launches the overview of CenterTao.org. (See What are the roots of thought?, p.602.) My […]
Continue reading…Chapter 56
Picking up where “Chapter of the Week” left off, I plan to start posting chapters from my Word for Word translation here regularly. I encourage you to contribute—corrections, questions, comments, or even rewording the chapter. If anything comes to mind, please post it in the Leave a Reply box (below). With your help, a much […]
Continue reading…Two Paths
There are two main approaches to life. The most common one is striving to conform to your culture’s ideals of how to live. This typically amounts to expecting yourself and others to conform to your culture’s code of ethics… religious, political, and what not. I call this approach ‘small conformity’. Chapter 65 hints at the […]
Continue reading…The Trans Tribal Tao
Much in the Taoist worldview marches to the beat of a different drummer. So much so that if one has to ask “How so?”, one may not be genuinely ready to know how so. Anyway… Marching to the beat of a different drummer often boils down to feeling, acting and/or thinking outside-the-box, which can at […]
Continue reading…Resistance is Futile
This Science News article, Fighting willpower’s catch-22, (google the title) reports on how resisting desires makes following desires more tempting. I certainly have experienced this to be true, although it took me decades to recognize this and begin to manage it. Like maintaining balance, applying this always requires continuous re-realization. Why did it take so […]
Continue reading…A Brother is a Brother
I love how science is chipping away at our species-centric sense of superiority. This time it is a Science News report He’s no rat, he’s my brother. (Google [Rodents exhibit empathy by setting trapped friends free].) This bit of research speaks for itself. Of course, I can’t leave without reiterating my wonder at the peculiar […]
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