Howardism Musings from my Awakening Dementia
My collected thoughts flamed by hubris
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to force it is to harm it
to control it is to lose it
sometimes things lead
sometimes they follow
sometimes blow hot
sometimes blow cold
sometimes expand
sometimes collapse
the sage avoids extremes
avoids extravagance
avoids excess

—Tao Te Ching, v29
Tr. Red Pine

Thoughts on the Tao Te Ching

I scarcely remember when I first picked up a copy of the Tao Te Ching, but I fell in love with it within the first few poems. One can certainly see both the vagueness and deepness that helped to birth Zen Buddhism. However, it adds a spiritual dimension that much of Zen ignores.

My two favorite translations of this book couldn't be more different. However, they are both poetic, and I value that considerably.

  • Lao-tzu's Taoteching: with Selected Commentaries of the Past 2000 Years, by Red Pine
  • Tao Te Ching : A Book About the Way and the Power of the Way, by Ursula LeGuin

I do not claim to be a scholar of the Tao, but I have had various thoughts and commentaries inspired by one of the poems from the Tao Te Ching.
I'm in the process of updating these, so if you are interested in reading more, please see my old website.

Returning to the Root
A selection from the Tao Te Ching and how I see this poem reflected in the lives of my baby and her great, grandmother.

The Uses of Not
My interpretation of verse 11 of the Tao Te Ching.

Do Without Doing
The sage does without doing, teaches without talking.