Saturday, December 26, 2009

Wen Tzu - Verse 94, Part V

from Verse Ninety-Four
An insect on a swift horse travels a thousand miles without flying; it carries no provisions, yet does not get hungry.
~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~
The above sentence really jumped out at me! It tells me that, aside from some initial planning, I need to learn to let go and not to attempt to organize every facet of my life. The insect puts itself into a favorable environment (the horse) and then rides with it wherever it may go.

For me, this provides a very apt description of wu wei in application. The insect obtains all it needs without putting forth continuous effort. It goes without going.

This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.

1 comment:

  1. But being an insect, it would have no idea of where it would end up.
    Nor would it care.
    Its only interest would be in sucking the blood out of the horse.
    Somewhat like an average human, on an average planet.

    ReplyDelete

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