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What does the daily life os a taoist consist of?
Each week we address one chapter of the Tao Te Ching. The Tao Te Ching can be obscure, especially if you think you're supposed to understand what it's saying! We find it easier and more instructive to simply contemplate how the chapter resonates with your personal experience. Becoming more aware at this fundamental level simplifies life. This approach conforms to the view that true knowing lies within ourselves. Thus, when a passage in the scripture resonates, you've found your inner truth. The same applies for when it evokes a question; questions are the grist for self realization.
Chapter 73
He who is fearless in being bold will meet with his death;
He who is fearless in being timid will stay alive.
Of the two, one leads to good, the other to harm.
Heaven hates what it hates,
Who knows the reason why?
Therefore even the sage treats some things as difficult.
The way of heaven
Excels in overcoming though it does not contend,
In responding though it does not speak,
In attracting though it does not summon,
In laying plans though it appears slack.
The net of heaven is cast wide. Though the mesh is not fine, yet nothing ever
slips through.
Read commentary previously posted for this chapter.
Read notes on translations
Now, do it too at Wengu!
Chapter 73
He who is fearless in being bold will meet with his death;
He who is fearless in being timid will stay alive.
Of the two, one leads to good, the other to harm.
Heaven hates what it hates,
Who knows the reason why?
Therefore even the sage treats some things as difficult.
The way of heaven
Excels in overcoming though it does not contend,
In responding though it does not speak,
In attracting though it does not summon,
In laying plans though it appears slack.
The net of heaven is cast wide. Though the mesh is not fine, yet nothing ever
slips through.
Read commentary previously posted for this chapter.
Read notes on translations
Now, do it too at Wengu!
Comments
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
PM
1
2
3
4
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9
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12
Oh, just the mundane things of life everyone does. For some particulars you can go to our family’s blog.
Beyond that I’d say that 1 AM through 12 PM pretty amounts to :?:
Now, I’m not trying to be cute. As I see it, the following describes the situation we all find ourselves in to one degree or another. Perhaps a 'taoist' is someone who accepts this state of affairs as part of the [chref=1]mystery upon mystery[/chref] of life. And perhaps a 'pre-taoist' is someone who doesn't yet.
[chref=15]Of old he who was well versed in the way
Was minutely subtle, mysteriously comprehending,
And too profound to be known.
It is because he could not be known
That he can only be given a makeshift description:
Tentative, as if fording a river in winter,
Hesitant, as if in fear of his neighbors;
Formal like a guest;
Falling apart like thawing ice;
Thick like the uncarved block;
Vacant like a valley;
Murky like muddy water. [/chref]