The Tao Te Ching(sounds like Dow Deh Jing) as you may be well aware, is an ancient Chinese text well read and loved among Buddhist, Taoist, and lovers of Eastern philosophy. I'll be using the translation of scholar Stephen Mitchell in this blog.
It is credited to Lu-Tzu (551-479 B.C.E) According to Mitchell, Lu-Tzu may have been an archive keeper in one of the petty kingdoms during the time of Confucius. But he left behind no solid clues to his identity other than this beautiful work of poetry that I feel really captures the heart and rhythm of life.
The legend goes that at the end of his life an aged, weary traveler made the journey up to the temple of the great Budddha in order to talk with him before he passed from this life. At the gate of the temple the young monks keeping vigil barred the way asking the old man to stay and write down his wisdom for them before entering to see the Buddha. So he sat down and wrote for two days before entering the temple and from those two days of writing we have passed down to us from times of old- The Tao Te Ching or "The Immanence of the Way" or "Book of the Way, how it manifest itself in the World".
I have chosen this work for my first series in this blog because I see it as a sacred translation of the human soul - its hope, desires, and anxieties, and accomplishments- into the immortal cage of transient form we call words. I read this with my coffee when I first wake up and it helps center me for the day ahead. It helps me reign in my thoughts however blurred or negative the may have been when I went to bed. I read the Tao Te Ching and I am refreshed. I'm not sure how spiritual it is and I'm not a Buddhist. But clear wisdom is hard to come by on this planet so when I see it I am drawn to it like a thirsty soul to living water. I see it not as "scripture" or a replacement for the Bible which I grew up centering myself around. No, instead when read it I see myself as merely a later mortal engaging the wisdom left to me from an earlier mortal, one who walked this same planet in all its beauty and horror, one who dared to venture down his own harrowing path to enlightenment and fulfillment and had the balls to leave behind what he felt was his souls bounty- simple wisdom of how to live a fulfilling life.
I hope in reading this with me you will let your soul be nourished and your mind refreshed. I hope you too will let yourself hear the music of life pulsing in time to the rhythms of the verses and be inspired to live your life more fully, even more fully than you ever have. I will be posting one chapter at time and giving a short commentary from my own musings on the text. I do not present myself here as an expert on the text or Taoist philosophy. I am simply relaying the inspiration it brings me. Feel free to post your thoughts in the comment box along with mine. I will enjoy hearing how the Tao inspires you.
-Anna Marie
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