For five years, I have kept this book at my work desk, always intending to open it for some meditation, but rarely remembering. Today, the Tao makes my soul sing.
There is a thing confusedly formed,
Born before heaven and earth.
Silent and void
It stands alone and does not change,
Goes round and does not weary.
It is capable of being the mother of the world.
I know not its name
So I style it "the way."
I give it the makeshift name of "the great."
Being great, it is further described as receding,
Receding, it is described as far away,
Being far away, it is described as turning back.
Hence the way is great, heaven is great, earth is great, and we are also great.
Within the realm there are four things that are great, and we count as one.
We model ourselves on earth,
Earth on heaven,
Heaven on the way,
And the way on that which is naturally so.
4 comments:
Would you recommend it to someone like me? I've never read any eastern philosophy at all. It sounds interesting, though I don't know if I always manage to see the same kinds of things in books that you are able to see.
(By the way - Jaqui Christensen is PT at BYU as well, I ran into her not so long ago, she remembers you and being in Brandie's class together. Remember Phenomenology, I am doing it, my phenomenology" :) )
Yeah! I would recommend the Tao te Ching to anyone! That's the original text. So cool.
There's also the Tao of Pooh as in (Winnie the) which is very easy to read/understand.
Yes! Phenomenology. I just remember Brandie saying, "You don't know Heidegger?! You don't know performativity?!" And then talking about the phenomenology of baptism and the endowment. That was a funny time.
Maybe when I get time I'll try the Tao of Pooh first... lol. I think that's about on my level! Yeah, I totally remember Brandie being shocked at everything we didn't know. I don't think my brain has ever recovered from that class. :-D
Hey, glad you're doing all right.
Tao brings wisdom just as Christ does
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