Where there is music and good food,
people will stop to enjoy it.
But words spoken of the Tao
seem to them boring and stale.
When looked at, there is nothing for them to see.
When listened for, there is nothing for them to hear.
Yet if they put it to use, it would never be exhausted.
The people of old would often pen their thoughts in a poetic form or even short stories. Tao seems as though it speaks best this way and perhaps that it is only natural to be penned in this manner. Tao can’t be learned academically and only through verses can we seem to understand in a way that intellectualizing misses. The words of the academics and poets are not even the same to explain a thought.
My post from yesterday was on the gifts of Tao and utilizing them. I think Tao most frequently gifts people the skills of art, music, and poetry. Applying these gifts help people to understand themselves and the experiences happening in their life. The art seems to remove intellectual for a short while and allow true nature to show through. When this happens a broader understanding becomes clearer.
I was amazed, when first searching for blogs on Tao a vast portion seemed to be written with poetry. At the time (hard to believe that was only about 4 months ago, time seems longer) I wanted to learn Tao through writing. The poems just seemed so silly. Looking back and reexamining I can’t help but see the seriousness.
2 comments:
In examining the classic Taoist texts, only the TTC reads like poetry. The Hua Hu Ching and Wen Tzu are more like expositions. The Chuang Tzu & Leih-Tzu are storybooks containing parables and fables.
I like the fact that the authors chose different vehicles to explain the philosophy because different people respond to different styles.
There was a time of course when mankind, in his early days, communicated in song and verse . . not unlike bird song . . but modern man knows nothing of this :)
The word Universe may be a clue to us that we are all 'One Verse ' or 'Song'; the One-Song of life perhaps?
A very enjoyable and insightful post and a great comment from the Rambling Taoist as well.
I would very much like to say 'Hello' to both of you!
Doug '1Yogi2Many'.
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