Next Up

Now that I've finished the first reading of Siroj's book (I'm certain I will read it again), I am moving to the next book in my pile, Do Nothing and Do Everything: An Illustrated New Taoism by Qiguang Zhao. The author is a Professor of Chinese at Carleton College, a small -- but environmentally aware -- school in Minnesota.

I'm going to share a paragraph from the Preface without comment. Does this speak to you?

A life of reaction is a life of bondage. I believe that one must strive for a life of nonaction or action, not one of reaction. Doing nothing leads to courageous liberation. We should act effortlessly, without anxiety or hesitation. Sitting on the beach quietly is doing nothing. Swimming in the ocean bravely is doing everything. There are no forbidden walls between doing nothing and doing everything. We are free, as long as we cross between the two without anxiety or hesitation.