dao discovery

Seize the mountain spirits, Make them divulge their secrets. Only with strength is there discovery. The scriptures say that the mountains contain the answers. Generations of seekers have gone into the wilderness and encountered spirits both benevolent and terrible. Though the possibility of great discovery is mixed with the threat of misadventure, we must all go into the mountains to seek these answers. We should understand that these mountains represent the unknown aspects of our own minds. Meditation is a process of discovery, of slowly exploring how you function as a human being. Through walking in the vastness of this land, you can resolve the problems of your psyche and seek the treasures buried in your soul. Like actual mountain exploration, this process is not without danger. Failure means falling into insanity and obsession. Success is to find treasures without comparison anywhere in the world. People ask, “Is meditation necessary?” If you want to explore the innermost parts of your mind and ascertain who you really are, there is no more ideal method. Mere introspection is not deep enough, and psychological counseling will not necessarily bring you face to face with all parts of yourself. Only the depth and solitude of meditation can help you learn everything. Discoveries are there. We need only enter the mind to find them. discovery 365 Tao daily meditations Deng Ming-Dao (author) ISBN 0-06-250223-9 Untitled ink, diptych on Kyro, 70 x 100 cm, circa 1971, signed lower right. Collection: Musée National des Arts Asiatiques-Guime Suffering from asthma, T'ang sometimes has to rest and spends long hours reading books and newspapers brought to him by one of his teachers. At home he uses the Fujian dialect but at school, he speaks French, reads basic English and even learns some Japanese by the end of the war. His teachers suggest he should be sent to France to complete his studies, but his father, who is making use of his multilingual abilities in the silk trade, expects him to take over the family business. As in every other Chinese community scattered across Asia, people in Cholon perpetuate the Confucian tradition of a social order where passion is a plague, and the unknown is a danger. Incidentally, T'ang's Nickname is Kongzi, short for Confucius, referring to his taste for studying. He is, of course, determined to honor his family, but not as a merchant. He stands out from other teenagers, being more sensitive and more secretive. He is isolated within his community and at the same time open to the outside world when he can cross its boundaries. Through books, he may have already delved deeper into the contents of the Taoist philosophy that praises the individual as a founding principle of all harmony. He comes across as eccentric: remote from the center while still attached to it. In 1946, he writes his chosen forename on the flyleaf of his dictionary. The name associates hai, the sea, to wen, writing. His family circle wants him to get married and one of his father's business partners promises a large sum of money if he accepts to work in the shop for a year. At the end of the year, he is still yearning to go to France but his father categorically refuses. As a result, T'ang goes on a hunger strike and, after ten days of fasting, is at last granted permission to leave, on the condition that he should study medicine in Paris, and afterwards return immediately to Cholon. (continued tomorrow) T A O t e C H I N G f o r t y - o n e The wise student hears of the Tao and practices it diligently. The average student hears of the Tao and gives it thought now and again. The foolish student hears of the Tao and laughs aloud. If there were no laughter, the Tao would not be what it is. Hence it is said: The bright path seems dim; Going forward seems like retreat; The easy way seems hard; The highest Virtue seems empty; Great purity seems sullied; A wealth of Virtue seems inadequate; The strength of Virtue seems frail; Real Virtue seems unreal; The perfect square has no corners; Great talents ripen late; The highest notes are hard to hear; The greatest form has no shape; The Tao is hidden and without name. The Tao alone nourishes and brings everything to fulfillment. — translated by GIA FU FENG a reading list of books and interpretations of the Daodejing is available at http://wwww.duckdaotsu.org/dao_books.html for a meditation sent to your email address each day, please write ’subscribe tao’ in the subject line and send to lisbeth at duckdaotsu

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