from Verse One Hundred Sixty-ThreeSo the boughs cannot be larger than the trunk, the branches cannot be stronger than the root. This means that there is a way in which the light and the heavy, the large and the small, regulate one another.~ Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries ~
Balance. That's the name of the game.
When things in life are in balance, the opportunities for success are myriad. When things in life are out of balance, the opportunities for failure are numerous and widespread.
This is a simple and elemental concept. It's one that quantum physicists are discovering more and more in their studies of life and motion.
Unfortunately, while the concept itself is fundamental to the life force, each of us finds it difficult to translate its properties into the fabric of our lives. Even when we achieve a perfect balance in one moment, it can easily evaporate in the next. Consequently, it is not a static state we seek at all; it's the ability to maintain internal harmony while everything within us and beyond us changes.
Hence the great difficulty!
This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.
When things in life are in balance, the opportunities for success are myriad. When things in life are out of balance, the opportunities for failure are numerous and widespread.
This is a simple and elemental concept. It's one that quantum physicists are discovering more and more in their studies of life and motion.
Unfortunately, while the concept itself is fundamental to the life force, each of us finds it difficult to translate its properties into the fabric of our lives. Even when we achieve a perfect balance in one moment, it can easily evaporate in the next. Consequently, it is not a static state we seek at all; it's the ability to maintain internal harmony while everything within us and beyond us changes.
Hence the great difficulty!
This post is part of a series. For an introduction, go here.
This is a concept that is stressed over and over by my Chinese painting teacher. And the need to go "slowly, slowly" to capture that moving energy in a static mode like a painting.
ReplyDeleteWelcome back, glad your new OS is working. (But I hope you win a lottery and can get a Mac someday! My operating system is like the Tao, not seen or spoken of.)
so, if balance is one side of the coin, and unbalance is the other side, then for TRUE balance to occur there must be both balance and unbalance! >:)
ReplyDeleteand if one desires to be truly inconsistent, then one must be inconsistent, and also occasionally consistent, because one can't achieve inconsistency by consistent inconsistency, only inconsistent inconsistency! >:)
the world is what it is, and human terms like 'balance' are fallible. balance is a worthy goal, but you can actually take 'balance' to an extreme too! by becoming too detached, uncommitted, and indecisive.
Failure is nonexistent
ReplyDeleteand i like ikotmi's perspective, i agree :)
ReplyDelete