Meditation
Intimate relationships ought to be "too deep for words." -- Thelma Hall, r.c.
Reading
1.1 A way can be a guide, but not a fixed path; names can be given, but not permanent labels.
1.2 Nonbeing is called the beginning of heaven and earth; being is called the mother of all things.
1.3 Always passionless, thereby observe the subtle; ever intent, thereby observe the apparent.
1.4 These two come from the same source but differ in name;
1.5 both are considered mysteries. The mystery of mysteries is the gateway of marvels
.
Tao Teh Ching - Cleary Translation
Meditation:
I stand at the edge of the Cloud of Unknowing armed with forceps and centrifuge. while Wendell Berry warns me that i cannot enter therein with any "six day" baggage. I must go in naked and, as near as possible, empty. The trick is to do this right because to have a desire for emptiness is a desire, and it is "baggage."
The Tao Te Ching reminds me that being and non-being are one; this is part of the mystery. Therefore to be "passionless" and to have "intent." may also be the same thing, so that my passion to be passionless may (must?) serve for now in the place of passionlessness. The emptiness will come slowly, but i am promised that it will come.
And when i am full of emptiness, i will be fully full. I am also promised that i can do the "necessary stuff" better with an empty mind than with one full of distractions.
Prauer:
I ask the higher power to accept my fevered attempts to attain serenity,
my craven efforts to be courageous,
my stupid stabs at wisdom,
my noisy clamor for silence, and
my selfish striving for love
as the beginning of serenity, courage, wisdom, emptiness and Love.
Amen.
Contemplation:
Reading
1.1 A way can be a guide, but not a fixed path; names can be given, but not permanent labels.
1.2 Nonbeing is called the beginning of heaven and earth; being is called the mother of all things.
1.3 Always passionless, thereby observe the subtle; ever intent, thereby observe the apparent.
1.4 These two come from the same source but differ in name;
1.5 both are considered mysteries. The mystery of mysteries is the gateway of marvels
.
Tao Teh Ching - Cleary Translation
Meditation:
I stand at the edge of the Cloud of Unknowing armed with forceps and centrifuge. while Wendell Berry warns me that i cannot enter therein with any "six day" baggage. I must go in naked and, as near as possible, empty. The trick is to do this right because to have a desire for emptiness is a desire, and it is "baggage."
The Tao Te Ching reminds me that being and non-being are one; this is part of the mystery. Therefore to be "passionless" and to have "intent." may also be the same thing, so that my passion to be passionless may (must?) serve for now in the place of passionlessness. The emptiness will come slowly, but i am promised that it will come.
And when i am full of emptiness, i will be fully full. I am also promised that i can do the "necessary stuff" better with an empty mind than with one full of distractions.
Prauer:
I ask the higher power to accept my fevered attempts to attain serenity,
my craven efforts to be courageous,
my stupid stabs at wisdom,
my noisy clamor for silence, and
my selfish striving for love
as the beginning of serenity, courage, wisdom, emptiness and Love.
Amen.
Contemplation: