清楚的發音

Rain dripping from eaves
Sounds nature’s poetry.
We speak and write to
Explain to ourselves.

Knowledge of Tao lodges in the same part of the mind as poetry. That is why the ancients expressed themselves in verse: There is the same quick perception.

When we are in touch with Tao, it is not our academic learning that is speaking, but the spirit of Tao itself. The old texts are very specific about this. That is why there is such a vast difference between the words of scholars and the words of a practitioner, just as the words of academics differ from the words of poets.

At the elementary stages of study, we need to articulate our experiences and let Tao flow through us. Followers of Tao frequently use writing, art, and even poetry as tools for self-discovery. By articulating their experiences, it helps them to understand the stages they are going through. Once they can do this, it satisfies and neutralizes their rational minds. The process clears away intellectualism and leaves the true Tao, which is not subject to words or images.

articulation
365 Tao
daily meditations
Deng Ming-Dao (author)
ISBN 0-06-250223-9

TIBET:
TREASURES FROM
THE ROOF OF THE WORLD

Necklace with Gold Amulet Box
(Gau)
Tibet, 1930s
Tibet Museum
Photo Courtesy of Bowers Museum

Festive occasions — like the New Year’s celebration— required formal jewelry.

This necklace, made of gold, silver, turquoise and coral, was worn by a nobleman. It includes an amulet box, or gau, which held a Buddhist charm thought to protect the wearer.

Photo taken by Peter Keller, Ph.D

T A O t e C H I N G
hand drawn calligraphy of the word dao

t h i r t y - t w o

tao 32

The Tao can't be perceived.
Smaller than an electron,
it contains uncountable galaxies.

If powerful men and women
could remain centered in the Tao,
all things would be in harmony.
The world would become a paradise.
All people would be at peace,
and the law would be written in their hearts.

When you have names and forms,
know that they are provisional.
When you have institutions,
know where their functions should end.
Knowing when to stop,
you can avoid any danger.

All things end in the Tao
as rivers flow into the sea.

— translation is by Steven Mitchell

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