“The ideal society of the Taoists was….”

“The ideal society of the Taoists was cooperative, not acquisitive.”
- Joseph Needham

Number thirty-four

Today the corresponding Tao Te Ching reading is #34:
The Great Tao flows everywhere, both to the left and to the right.
The ten thousand things depend upon it, it holds nothing back.
It fulfills its purpose silently and makes no claim.
It nourishes the ten thousand things,
And yet is not their lord.
It has no aim; it is very [...]

“Little progress can be made…”

“Little progress can be
made by merely attempting
to repress what is evil;
our great hope lies in
developing what is good.”

– Calvin Coolidge

“It’s better to…”

“It’s better to light a candle
than to curse the darkness.”

– Chinese proverb

“Whenever we touch nature we get clean….”

“Whenever we touch nature we get clean. People who have got dirty through too much civilization take a walk in the woods, or a bath in the sea. They shake off the fetters and allow nature to touch them. It can be done within or without. Entering the unconscious, entering yourself through dreams, is touching [...]

“We need a renaissance….”

We need a renaissance of wonder. We need to renew, in our hearts and in our souls, the deathless dream, the eternal poetry, the perennial sense that life is miracle and magic.
– E. Merrill Root (1895-1973) American Writer

“Live from your heart…”

Teabags are so informative. Yesterday my lemon ginger teabag tag said “Live from your heart, you will be most effective.”
This teabag fortune was right on, especially after taking a 2 weekend class with Pat Allen, a well known art therapist. Having a clear enough heart to “live from” is important. I spent much of my time in the [...]

“Apathy can be overcome…”

Apathy can be overcome by enthusiasm, and enthusiasm can be aroused
by two things: first, an idea which takes the imagination by storm;
and second, a definite, intelligible plan for carrying that idea into
action.” — Arnold Toynbee (1889-1975)
Sometimes I feel frozen. This advice is helpful for today! I am balancing a new way, which makes room for [...]

“A childlike man is not a man…

“A childlike man is not a man whose development has been arrested; on
the contrary, he is a man who has given himself a chance of
continuing to develop long after most adults have muffled themselves
in the cocoon of middle aged habit and convention.”– Aldous Huxley
I had a reaction to this quote when I first read it. [...]

“we all get report cards…”

We all get report cards in many different ways, but the real
excitement of what you’re doing is in the doing of it.
It’s not what you’re gonna get in the end - it’s not the final curtain - it’s really in the doing it, and loving what I’m doing.”  
– Designer Ralph Lauren