Monday, November 21, 2011

How to sniff air and navigate life

Ta-Wan

  • Put Tao into words, put it in a book. While you are there be sure to pack some wind and waves in your bag for the journey.

  • Align with Tao, follow a method. Be sure also to teach Tai Chi to a sparrow and a cow.

  • Listen to the words of others, take what they say as truth. Also note down the wind speed so that next month on this day you'll be a step ahead.

  • Carry out exercises to make you more spiritual. Watch the dog spin in circles before he takes a shit, for this he gains great merit!

  • Exercise daily to gain longevity. The turtle was a jogger in a past life.
I hope it is clear that no word written here is serious one bit. The point raised, if it were missed, is that you cannot do anything to make yourself better than a dung beetle and you can't be any more in with Tao than the ebola virus.

Being normal with no pretensions, no effort, no trying to be anything with fixed identity, idea or principals.

You can check out Ta-Wan's other musings here.

3 comments:

  1. If this were shorter I would tweet it to all my friends in Wudang so they could stop wasting their time in self-cultivation.

    As for me, I have principles (not principals) through which I aspire to be something other than a dung beetle or deadly virus--to be fully human. If that means I am not Taoist (or even Ta-ist), so be it.

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  2. As long as you're not trying to be a dung beetle or you're not a dung beetle attempting to be human-all is still ok.
    The only issue with cultivators is that they try to be what they're not.

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  3. I'd like to say the only issue with cultivators is WHEN they try to be what they're not. Genuineness is the issue.

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