FEATURED POEM

TO BE WHOLE

 

To be whole, let yourself break.

To be straight, let yourself bend.

To be full, let yourself be empty.

To be new, let yourself wear out.

To have everything, give everything up.

 

Knowing others is a kind of knowledge;

knowing yourself is wisdom.

Conquering others requires strength;

conquering yourself is true power.

To realise that you have enough is true wealth.

Pushing ahead may succeed,

but staying put brings endurance.

Die without perishing, and find the eternal.

 

To know that you do not know is strength.

Not knowing that you do not know is a sickness.

The cure begins with the recognition of the sickness.

 

Knowing what is permanent: enlightenment.

Not knowing what is permanent: disaster.

Knowing what is permanent opens the mind.

Open mind, open heart.

Open heart, magnanimity.

 

From: Laozi’s Tao Te Ching

 

 About The Tao Te Ching

The Tao Te Ching was written in China roughly 2,500 years ago at about the same time when Buddha expounded the Dharma in India and Pythagoras taught in Greece.  The Tao Te Ching is probably the most influential Chinese book of all times.  Its 81 chapters have been translated into English more times than any other Chinese document. The Tao Te Ching provides the basis for the philosophical school of Taoism, which is an important pillar of Chinese thought.  Taoism teaches that there is one undivided truth at the root of all things.  It literally means:

 Tao (the way)

Te (strength/virtue)

Ching (scripture)

 

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‘Til next month – Everyting Bless