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Qing dynasty, 19th century Ink rubbing; ink on paper 133 x 56 cm |
sieve
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Qing dynasty, 19th century Ink rubbing; ink on paper 133 x 56 cm |
A coarse sieve catches little.
A fine mesh catches more.
If you want the subtle, be refined,
But prepare to deal with the coarse.
The irony of spiritual living is that you become more sensitive and
more subtle. Therefore, you become intolerant of the coarse
There is not much choice on this. you want to catch the subtle things
in life, then you must become refined yourself. A coarse sieve in
a rushing stream will hold back only debris and large rocks.
A fine mesh will catch smaller things, but it will also retain the large.Some people attempt to cope with this by becoming multi-layered.
They set up a series of screens to their personalities, from the coarse
to the subtle so that they can deal with all that life has to offer.
This is quite laudible from an ordinary point of view, but from the
point of view of Tao, it is a great deal of bother.What do we do? If we remain coarse, then only the coarse comes
to us. If we become subtle, then we gain the refined but are plagued
with the coarse as well. If we become multi-layered, then we create a complexity that isolates us from Tao.The solution lies in floating on the current of Tao, uniting with it.
That way we no longer seek to hold or to reject.
sieve
365 Tao
Deng Ming-Dao
Daily Meditations