My fitbit #Fitstats for 12/29/2013: 2,395 steps and 1.1 miles traveled. http://www.fitbit.com/user/28KDGG
Daily Tao / 364 – Morning
Morning.
New day.
Joy of birth.
All we need is the morning. As long as there is sunrise, then there is the possibility that we can face all our misfortunes, celebrate all our blessings, and live all our endeavors as human beings. Spirituality is something that has become necessary in these troubled times. Yet it is inherently superfluous. We need it to remind ourselves, to bolster ourselves, to integrate ourselves, to fulfill ourselves. If we could simply acknowledge the mystery of night and the glory of morning, we would need neither civilization nor spirituality.
At its simplest, life begins with dawn. That is blessing enough. That is happiness enough. All else becomes fullness immeasurable. At dawn, kneel down and give thanks to this wonderful event. We may think mornings are so common that they are unworthy of veneration, but do you realize most places in the cosmos do not have mornings? This daily event is our supreme goodness.
Greet the dawn. That is your miracle to witness. That is the ultimate beauty. That is sacredness. That is your gift from heaven. That is your omen of prophesy. That is knowledge that life is not futile. That is enlightenment. That is your meaning in life. That is your directive. That is your comfort. That is the solemnity of duty. That is inspiration for compassion. That is the light of the ultimate.
( not ) One Word Movie Review –
my vote for the most wrongly-maligned movie of 2013 is …
Daily Tao / 363 – Night
In night’s vast ocean,
Sun, moon, and earth align,
Pulling the earth out of roundness
And making tides rage.
Such is the power of night.
Night. You are mother of all. You existed before all. You are the background, the fabric, the whole underpinning of the universe.
In you is abstruse mystery, darker than the deepest water, blacker than the sleep of sleeps. You are an inconceivable fertility, a wild and uncontrollable realm from which strangeness and power and creativity and mutation and life spring. The miracle of birth comes from you. And the horror of death. That is why you both comfort and frighten us.
Stars and planets are scattered through you like luminescent pearls. You string them on your current effortlessly, and the pull of syzygy is so tremendous that the birth shape of the earth is pulled out of roundness, the seas exceed their brims, and the heads and hearts of all the creatures on this planet are made to pound and wonder in dazzled confusion.
When stars and novas burst, energy untold is unleashed — explosions of such magnitude that human intellect and instruments could never hope to measure even if made superior by a hundredfold — and yet these flames burn out, sputter, become mere dim coals in the supreme expanse that is night.
Night. You are mother without a mother. You are mystery and power and ruler of all time.
Daily Fitbit stats
My fitbit #Fitstats for 12/28/2013: 6,029 steps and 2.6 miles traveled. http://www.fitbit.com/user/28KDGG
Daily Fitbit stats
My fitbit #Fitstats for 12/27/2013: 3,531 steps and 1.5 miles traveled. http://www.fitbit.com/user/28KDGG
Daily Tao / 361 – Purity
Purity is light.
We forget purity too much. We make compromises with our hygiene in the name of expediency. We allow our mountains and seashores to be polluted for the sake of the marketplace. We allow our minds to be sullied with frivolous entertainment. War is thought to be a viable option, principle is considered a negotiable quality, our children are victimized by strangers, and obscenity is considered a valid subject for art.
Where is the purity in our lives?
We marry. We divorce. We don’t care whom we hurt in life. We think loyalty is a charming but meaningless virtue. We sacrifice the values of our youth to purchase the glory of our later years.
Where is the purity in our lives?
We think that if we can triumph in one golden moment, that will dissolve all the other filth we preoccupy ourselves with. We uphold the greatness of athletes who want to have that one moment of triumph. We laud the battlefield hero as the redeemer of our guilt over the horror of war. We have fostered madmen who think that shooting a gun, hunting down animals, committing suicide, or slashing prostitutes in the street is their means of purity.
Where is the purity in our lives?
Seek purity. It may not be easy. It may not be common. But it is the one state that we can attain that is without compromise.
Daily Fitbit stats
My fitbit #Fitstats for 12/26/2013: 4,841 steps and 2.1 miles traveled. http://www.fitbit.com/user/28KDGG
Daily Tao / 360 – Ending
A shadow edge is never on the edge.
The time to contemplate the ending is before the ending.
Five days left to this year. There will be an ending. And there will be a new beginning. That is Tao.
If you look at a vase by a window and examine what makes it appear round, you will see a shadow on it. That is the shadow edge. It is the darkest shadow on that face. It is never on the edge : The main light source strikes the vase on one side, and reflected light comes from the other.
In the same way that the shadow edge, which establishes the roundness of an object to our eyes, is never at the edge, so too should we consider limits and endings before we reach them. We cannot do without limits and endings. They bring definition to our endeavors. But if we are to use them to our advantage, we have to plan how to meet them. For those who follow Tao, those who can accommodate endings gracefully are among the most admired.
In the past, emperors, scholars, holy people, or others who were fully in touch with themselves could know the moment of their deaths. While they were still vital, they wrote farewell poems. Such people knew how to consider endings before they reached them. Therefore, there were no regrets or lingering ramifications once they passed. The purity of the next cycle was ensured.
Daily Fitbit stats
My fitbit #Fitstats for 12/25/2013: 6,095 steps and 2.7 miles traveled. http://www.fitbit.com/user/28KDGG
