When I wrote my first post in this series on October 29 of last year, I had no clue what a labor of love it would become! It took me nearly 6 months, a computer crash and 340 posts to go from beginning to end. Now, with the last verse in the can, I have mixed feelings.
On the one hand, I'm sad to see my friend go. We've become very close during this period. Rarely a day has gone by when I wasn't reading or writing something related to the Wen Tzu. It has forced me to reexamine many of my long held beliefs and opinions. It has encouraged me to expand on my philosophic horizons. And it has taught me many valuable lessons, ones that I have begun to incorporate into my life.
Another important thing that the Wen Tzu has provided is a connection. This has not been a solitary journey as many of you have walked arm-and-arm with me every step of the way. Your insights, comments and contributions have enriched the experience more than I ever would have imagined possible.
On the other hand, however, it feels kind of nice to remove this yoke I've had around my neck. Of course, the yoke is borne of internal expectations and that's not very Taoist, is it? As the sort of person who values completing what I start, I have doggedly pursued the task of writing this series come hell or high water. I've written posts on days that I didn't feel like it. I've pondered deep thoughts on days I would have preferred to wolf down potato chips while watching mindless television. Even when my computer crashed, I fretted because I felt as if I was behind my appointed schedule.
But all that has been left in the dust because this represents the final post in this series.
I do want to note that the method I utilized in going through the Wen Tzu will most definitely be used again when I launch the series on the Chuang Tzu. As I'm certain many of you noticed, I didn't quote entire verses like I did with the Tao Te Ching; what I featured were only snippets.
Th reason for this tack is threefold. Reason number one should be readily obvious -- the text itself is so darn long. I might have needed another 300 or so entries to do the whole thing justice. Besides, as a one-fingered typist, the amount of text I copied was long enough!! :-)
Reason number two is less obvious. Thomas Cleary, the translator of Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries wants people like you to buy his book. If I featured the entirety of the text, you would get to read the whole enchilada for free. I'm not sure if Mr. Cleary would appreciate that!
And reason number three may be even less obvious. I simply don't wish to blemish the entire text for those of you who do buy the book to read it for yourselves. I want to leave a lot of unexplored territory for you to discover on your own.
I hope you enjoyed reading, contemplating and commenting on the Wen Tzu as much as I have. Starting today, I will focus more of my writings using 365 Tao: Daily Meditations as my springboard.
At some point later in the year, I will launch my grandest project to date: a series on the Chuang Tzu. But don't expect it to commence for AT LEAST one month or more. I need some time to read it again and take notes. I also need some time to digest the lessons learned from the Wen Tzu.
On the one hand, I'm sad to see my friend go. We've become very close during this period. Rarely a day has gone by when I wasn't reading or writing something related to the Wen Tzu. It has forced me to reexamine many of my long held beliefs and opinions. It has encouraged me to expand on my philosophic horizons. And it has taught me many valuable lessons, ones that I have begun to incorporate into my life.
Another important thing that the Wen Tzu has provided is a connection. This has not been a solitary journey as many of you have walked arm-and-arm with me every step of the way. Your insights, comments and contributions have enriched the experience more than I ever would have imagined possible.
On the other hand, however, it feels kind of nice to remove this yoke I've had around my neck. Of course, the yoke is borne of internal expectations and that's not very Taoist, is it? As the sort of person who values completing what I start, I have doggedly pursued the task of writing this series come hell or high water. I've written posts on days that I didn't feel like it. I've pondered deep thoughts on days I would have preferred to wolf down potato chips while watching mindless television. Even when my computer crashed, I fretted because I felt as if I was behind my appointed schedule.
But all that has been left in the dust because this represents the final post in this series.
I do want to note that the method I utilized in going through the Wen Tzu will most definitely be used again when I launch the series on the Chuang Tzu. As I'm certain many of you noticed, I didn't quote entire verses like I did with the Tao Te Ching; what I featured were only snippets.
Th reason for this tack is threefold. Reason number one should be readily obvious -- the text itself is so darn long. I might have needed another 300 or so entries to do the whole thing justice. Besides, as a one-fingered typist, the amount of text I copied was long enough!! :-)
Reason number two is less obvious. Thomas Cleary, the translator of Wen-tzu: Understanding the Mysteries wants people like you to buy his book. If I featured the entirety of the text, you would get to read the whole enchilada for free. I'm not sure if Mr. Cleary would appreciate that!
And reason number three may be even less obvious. I simply don't wish to blemish the entire text for those of you who do buy the book to read it for yourselves. I want to leave a lot of unexplored territory for you to discover on your own.
I hope you enjoyed reading, contemplating and commenting on the Wen Tzu as much as I have. Starting today, I will focus more of my writings using 365 Tao: Daily Meditations as my springboard.
At some point later in the year, I will launch my grandest project to date: a series on the Chuang Tzu. But don't expect it to commence for AT LEAST one month or more. I need some time to read it again and take notes. I also need some time to digest the lessons learned from the Wen Tzu.
A journey of 300 posts ends with a .
ReplyDeleteWell done ;)
The 365 Tao will REALLY change your life -- it did mine. Feel free to read through my archives on it, if you like. They aren't organized, but you can search on my blog. (You can snag the text so you don't have to type it all in.) ;^)
ReplyDeleteHI R T
ReplyDeleteyour commitment to complete is admirable and inspiring. It was quite an endeavor. Bravo!!
Love Gail
peace.....
you type with one finger??? sheesh, now that takes dedication! i wouldn't leave half as many comments as i do if i could only type with one finger (sometimes only one hand though if i'm holding my babe in the other). :)
ReplyDeleteanyway i'm glad you posted the wen tzu, it was very delicious and filling food for my thoughts. :)
read gospel of mathew, marc,luke,john and main gnostic scriptures : gospel of thomas, the apocryphon of john, sophia of jesus christ you will find identical and complement each other with taoist scriptures. El is Tao. Father/Father of the universe/the Creator is The One/King of heaven/the Creator. the First Man/The first Androgynous Man/God of gods/king of kings /holy spiritis The Two/The great Yin&Yang/the womb of everything. The son of Man/the son of God/Lord jesus is the theThree. In taoism the One/Father is pictured as an old man with pearl of creation because He is the creator. The Two/The great yin & yang/holy spirit is pictured as an old man with rod of authority. The Three/Lord Jesus/Love is pictured as an old man with fan because He is the one who spread the knowledge of Tao. these three are pure manifestation of Tao/El. from these three everything else come from. they are called three pure ones/the three pure pellucid ones/three clarities. remember El/Tao is one not many as jesus said. jesus also said worship El, and El is spirit. jesus also said i'm not looking for respect but Father is. Remember Taoism is totaly against paganism. Taoism is not confusius. if you read book of chuang tzu you will understand. he attack confucius for confusing people with rituals etc. free yourself from any form of paganism. worship only El/Tao, He is your Way, your Father, Your God and your Lover. The one/Father is El/Tao's virtue He shines everything whether he is bad or good read tao the ching no.39 for explanation. you will understand what lord jesus said about father that you must be like faher.
ReplyDelete