uncarved
Once a statue is finished,
It is too late to change the arms.
Only with a virgin block
Are there possibilities.
It’s not easy to raise a child. You have to set an
example all the time. Sometimes it is important for both child and
guardian to understand that a child should not do certain things that
the adult does. This is not hypocrisy. It is wisdom.
There was once a child who responded to his father’s admonitions by
saying, “You do the same things.” The father took his son to a carver
of temple figures. In the yard were great blocks of camphor and
rosewood. Inside the studios were deities in various stages of
completion, from gods still with fresh chisel marks to brightly painted
and gilded masterpieces.
“I am older than you,” said the father. “So I am more like this one of
these finished statues. I have my accomplishments, and I have my
faults. Once this figure has been carved, we cannot change the position
of its arms.
“But you, my son, are like the pieces of wood in the yard, still to
take shape. I do not want you to have the same faults as I do, so I do
not let you do certain things. Look at me. Yes, you say I still do
certain things, but doesn't that show how hard it is to undo a mistake
once it is carved into you? Don't copy me, and don't make the same
mistakes that I did. Only then will you become more beautiful than I.”
uncarved
365 Tao
daily meditations
Deng Ming-Dao (author)
ISBN 0-06-250223-9
XUE LIANG
BOXES OF BIRDS ABSTRACT
http://www.chinafinearts.com/
this artist seldom gives
titles for their work
and I miss working on my calligraphy,
so I am creating titles to suit the day
(with apologies to XUE LIANG!)
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