engagement
    Chinese for "engagement"
figure of a lady, three colors, tang dynasty

Chinese characters for "figure of a lady, tang dynasty"


Prey passes the tiger who
Sometimes merely looks,
Sometimes pounces without hesitation,
But never fails to act.
Life is a constant series of opportunities. If we don’t reach out for things, if we don’t take advantage of what comes our way, then we cannot be in harmony with the essential nature of life.
The tiger is the same way, He conforms to every situation that comes. If he spots prey and is not ready to hunt, he will let it go. But he has not failed to act. He has knowingly let the prey escape, and this is much different from someone who loses a situation through slow reflexes or inability. When the tiger wants his prey, he pounces upon it without any thought or hesitation. There are no morals, no guilt, no psychological problems, no ideologies to interfere with the purity of his action. This undiminished grace in action is called nonaction.
This is engagement. Whatever comes to you, you must engage it somehow. You receive it, you may later the circumstances and let it go, you may interject something of your own into it, or you may knowingly let it pass. Whatever you do, there is no need to be apathetic toward life. Instead, full participation in all things is the surest way to happiness, vitality, success, and a deep knowledge of Tao.
engagement
365 Tao
daily meditations
Deng Ming-Dao (author)
ISBN 0-06-250223-9
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    for Susan and her path toward healing: may it be short and your days be long   

detail: statue head

Chinese characters for " figure of lady, tang dynasty"

Figure of a lady
Excavated from the tomb of Xianyutinghui, Xiían, Shaanxi Province, in 1957
Tang dynasty, 618-906 CE
Earthenware with blue three-color, sancai, glaze
 height 44.5 cm
<>In the early Tang dynasty, figurines reflect the slender ideal form. In the middle Tang period the full-figured body and round-cheeked face became the fashion. This matronly woman with her delicate features wears a loose robe with low neckline and a loose jacket with wide sleeves. Her hair is gathered in a loose topknot.
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National Museum of Chinese History, Beijing

T A O  t e  C H I N G
hand drawn calligraphy of the word dao
t h r e e
daozang verse three

 Not praising the worthy prevents contention,
 Not esteeming the valuable prevents theft,
 Not displaying the beautiful prevents desire.

 In this manner the sage governs people:
 Emptying their minds,
 Filling their bellies,
 Weakening their ambitions,
 And strengthening their bones.

 If people lack knowledge and desire
 Then they can not act;
 If no action is taken
 Harmony remains.

Kai Shu calligraphy style of the character Tao.
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