Bit by Bit - Chapter 17, Part 3

Trey Smith

"Of all the waters of the world, none is as great as the sea. Ten thousand streams flow into it - I have never heard of a time when they stopped - and yet it is never full. The water leaks away at Wei-lu - I have never heard of a time when it didn't - and yet the sea is never empty. Spring or autumn, it never changes. Flood or drought, it takes no notice. It is so much greater than the streams of the Yangtze or the Yellow River that it is impossible to measure the difference. But I have never for this reason prided myself on it. I take my place with heaven and earth and receive breath from the yin and yang. I sit here between heaven and earth as a little stone or a little tree sits on a huge mountain. Since I can see my own smallness, what reason would I have to pride myself?
~ Burton Watson translation ~

Existence itself is like the great sea. Life pours into it and yet it is never full or empty. It is never coming or going, but it is always moving. And yet, while it is always moving, it doesn't move at all.

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