CenterTao.org – Page 24 – taoism, taoist thought, buddha, yoga, tai chi, shakuhachi

The Cost of Compassion

I was hitchhiking through West Africa with my future, now ex, wife, when I came down with hepatitis. That knocked the wind out of my sails enough to return to California to see my folks, after seven years abroad. Happily, I recovered within a few months, but sadly, my girl friend and I broke up […]

Can you say what you think?

Can you say what you think, or even think what you know? Honestly, I have found it impossible to say, write, or think about what I intuitively know. What I end up with is a hodgepodge summary of the waves of intuition that ebb and flow through my mind. There are too many caveats to […]

Grinding Out Correlations

After I finished grinding out Correlations to my satisfaction, I stood back and judged the process by the results, not by the process itself. (See Tools of Taoist Thought: Correlations, p.565.) This was akin to judging a book by its cover. In this delusion, I naively thought this process would shred other people’s preconceptions just […]

“Do you believe in angels?”

“Yes” said the little four year old girl when asked if she believed in angels. “Why?” asked the reporter. “I don’t know”, she said. The ABC news segment went on to say how 68% of America believes in angels. For background, google [Are Angels Real? Live Science]. Why do people not only believe in angels, […]

The Amazonian ‘Taoists’

The Piraha people, a tribe in the Amazon, gives insight into how innate a Taoist approach to life may actually be, and that the human mind has just become a little sidetracked of late. Of late, meaning the last 10,000 years or so. For an overview, google [Don’t Sleep, There Are Snakes: Life and Language […]

Is Enlightenment Something or ???

Enlightenment is an interesting illusion. Just as chapter 2’s Something and Nothing produce each other, so do ignorance and enlightenment. The question is, what does enlightenment Correlate to, Something or Nothing? (See Tools of Taoist Thought: Correlations, p.565.) If enlightenment is Something, it correlates to obvious, bright, light, life, full, sudden, special, etc. If enlightenment […]

Family Life

Watch this CBS video on the Cattoor family (/wp-content/uploads/family.mp4) if you can. The final comment stands out, “Giving your kids what they need is always harder than giving them what they want. Only when you’re older can you appreciate those fences”. This hints at how the American family dynamic evolved. Sure, “fences” are essential, but […]

Who’s a Sage?

Some people have accused me of being a sage. Granted, I am a lao tzu (i.e., 老子 – father, old man), but a sage? While this may feel flattering at first, further pondering shatters that. Besides, it actually takes a real sage to know a real sage. What we see ‘out there’ is simply a reflection […]

The Gifts Given – Paid In Full

Most of us accept that each person is born with a God given gift—a talent of sorts. What may be less known is that such talent is not actually a gift at all… talent is paid for in full at birth. I’ve come to know a few people extremely well. Each person, as far as […]

King Kiwi

Kiwi is king of all the fruits. Over the years, I’ve compared all the fruits with each other and the kiwi always comes out supreme. Even so, fruit has nowhere near the overall nutritional value of veggies. Mostly, I see fruit as a healthy candy. Although, it’s true that each variety usually wins high honors […]

Blowing with the sea

I am blowing shakuhachi at the beach. Don’t try this on your beach in the beginning for it will likely feel pretty discouraging (in fact, playing outside was a pain for quite awhile, personally). Rather, pick a good echoing space like your bathroom. Look in the mirror to get a clear sense of your lip […]

In praise of kale

Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone”. Still, as my observations chew mostly on non-bread matters, I thought I’d put in a good word for food today. I grow and harvest kale all year around here in California. As far as I know, this is the most nutritious veggie on the planet. Kale […]