TEXT
大道汜兮，其可左右
万物恃之以生而不辞，
功成而不有。
衣养万物而不为主，
常无欲，可名于小；
万物归焉而不为主，可名为大。
以其终不自为大，
故能成其大。
TRANSLATION
Great Tao is a stream that divides and reforms, now left, now right.
All living things rely upon it to grow and thrive and it is there for them.
Good work accomplis
In Karma 1, I introduced the common idea of karma as a moral profit and loss account in which good is rewarded and bad reaps its corresponding negative effects. However, there are deeper ideas of karma that we can explore that can be useful to conte
TEXT
知人者智，自知者明。
胜人者有力，自胜者强。
知足者富，强行者有志，
不失其所者久，死而不亡者寿。
TRANSLATION
To understand others is wise, but to know oneself is radiant.
One who wins victories is powerful, but one who conquers himself is stronger.
The contented are rich.
Those who use force are
The layperson to the sage
The sage shows love to the layperson by
A common way of explaining karma is by using the idea of bija. A bija is a “karmic seed”. We can think of karmic seeds as planted in the ground of the mind. A seed can stay in the ground for a long time before the conditions arrive that enable it to
Read more…Translation, notes and metrical explanation copyright 1997 Elizabeth Vandiver; all rights reserved.
Iridescent-throned Aphrodite, deathless
Child of Zeus, wile-weaver, I now implore you,
Don't--I beg you, Lady--with pains and torments
Crush down m
TEXT
道常无名，朴。
虽小，天下莫能臣。
候王若能守之，万物将自宾。
天地相合，以降甘露，
民莫之令而自均。
始制有名，
名亦既有，夫亦将知止，
知止可以不殆。
譬道之在天下，
犹川谷之于江海
TRANSLATION
The constant Tao has no name; it just is.
Although unassuming, there is none in the land under Heaven who can subject it.
When leaders regard it, all
A DIFFERENT PARADIGM
In Western philosophy we have been much concerned with ideas of free will and determinism, guilt and responsibility. rights and laws, and these debates have taken place against the background of religions dominated by the idea of
Read more…TEXT
夫兵者，不祥之器，
物或恶之，故有道者不处。
君子居则贵左，
用兵则贵右。
兵者不祥之器，
非君子之器，
不得已而用之，
恬淡为上，
胜而不美，
而美之者，
是乐杀人。
夫乐杀人者，
则不可得志于天下矣。
吉事尚左，凶事尚右。
偏将军居左，上将军居右。
言以丧礼处之。
杀人之众，以悲哀莅之，
战胜以丧礼处之。
TRANSLATION
The implements of the soldiering man are inauspicious;
such things are harmful,
therefore the
Anapanasati is a central teaching of Buddhism but it is commonly misunderstood. Literally the term means “breathe-in-breathe-out-mindfulness”. It is commonly taken to refer to a meditation exercise in which the attention is focussed upon the breathe
Read more…
TEXT
以道佐人主者，
不以兵强天下，
其事好还。
师之所处，
荆棘生焉。
大军之后，
必有凶年。
善有果而已，
不敢以取强。
果而勿矜，
果而勿伐，
果而勿骄，
果而不得已，
果而勿强。
物壮则老，
是谓不道，
不道早已。
TRANSLATION
Use Tao to assist the rulers of the people.
Don’t use armies upon the land under Heaven,
that kind of thing rebounds.
Where armies camp
tho
THE IN BETWEEN
The word bardo refers to the state between lives. It is a gap or transition period. More generally, we experience many such periods, not merely after actual death but also after every ending before a new beginning has taken form. Mahay
Read more…
Not everything is impermanent. In Buddhism we sometimes say nirvana, sometimes shunyata, we talk of No-birth and of the Deathless, and sometimes we say the unconditioned. These are all implications. When the passion for impermanent things is no longe
TEXT
将欲取天下而为之，
吾见其不得已。
天下神器，
不可为也，
不可执也。
为者败之，
执者失之。
是以圣人无为，
故无败，
故无失。
夫物或行或随；
或觑或吹；
或强或羸；
或载或隳。
是以圣人去甚、去奢、去泰
TRANSLATION
I see that if somebody acts desiring to possess the land under Heaven, he will never arrive at his goal.
It is the contrivance of
TEXT
知其雄，守其雌，为天下溪。
为天下溪，常德不离，复归于婴儿。
知其白，守其黑，为天下式，
为天下式，常德不忒，复归于无极。
知其荣，守其辱，为天下谷。
为天下谷，常德乃足，
复归于朴。
朴散则为器，圣人用之，
则为官长，故大制不割
TRANSLATION
Know the masculine, keep to the feminine,
Here under Heaven, be as a ravine.
Being as a ravine here under Heaven,
do
Shakespeare asked this question, commenting “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” This is spoken by Juliet in the play Romeo and Juliet. Juliet is lamenting the fact that the Romeo she loves is a Montague, the family that her own Capulet f
I am. I am what I am. A walnut tree grows walnuts. It does not grow tulips. The tulip plant is no less than the walnut tree. The walnut tree is no less than the tulip. Yet the tulip grows no nuts. I am living my life. You are living your life. That’s
Read more…TAOISM IN HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Taoism is one of the three great religions of China, along with Buddhism and Confucianism. It is a religion and philosophy that grew up in the warring States period that preceded the first unification of Chine under the Q
Read more…