Sky and earth reflect eternal values. Inferior concepts fall away like ashes. The wind ebbs and flows under the sky and across the land dissolving words into dust. Don’t talk. Breathe life in. (Tao Te Ching, Chapter Five, Interpreted by Terry Chitwood) Eternal values, like the sun, illumine the land. Words as […]
Tao Te Ching for Writers: Soften the Sun
The Tao is an empty vessel, always full, the source of all. Still the storm. Soften the sun. Melt into the earth. The Tao’s beginnings are shrouded in mystery. (Tao Te Ching, Chapter Four, Interpreted by Terry Chitwood) Bright light blinds the eye, making focusing impossible. In order to see deeply into things, […]
Tao Te Ching for Writers: Peace Flows In
Not exalting oneself cultivates humility. Not accumulating possessions furthers nonattachment. Not being exposed to riches reduces temptation. Let go of the mind and strengthen the body. Let go of striving and strengthen compassion. Grasping nothing, peace arrives unbidden. (Tao Te Ching, Chapter Three, Interpreted by Terry Chitwood) Like peace, stories arrive unbidden. Characters emerge out […]
Tao Te Ching for Writers: Winds of Change
One begets two Opposites emerge Earth and sky The silence of a still lake The hiss of fire burning The sage teaches like the wind moving unseen through the mind Change happens effortlessly (Tao Te Ching, Chapter Two, Interpreted by Terry Chitwood) Observing the interplay of opposites, we discover that we are watching the […]