Forty-two

The Tao begot one.
One begot two.
Two begot three.
And three begot the ten thousand things.

The ten thousand things carry yin and embrace yang.
They achieve harmony by combining these forces.

Men hate to be "orphaned," "widowed," or "worthless,"
But this is how kings and lords describe themselves.

For one gains by losing
And loses by gaining.

What others teach, I also teach; that is:
"A violent man will die a violent death!"
This will be the essence of my teaching.
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Forty-three

The softest thing in the universe
Overcomes the hardest thing in the universe.
That without substance can enter where there is no room.
Hence I know the value of non-action.

Teaching without words and work without doing
Are understood by very few.
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Tao Te Ching
by Lao Tzu
Translated by Gia-Fu Feng

Earth, mountains, rivers
Hidden in this nothingness.
In the nothingness
Earth, mountains, rivers revealed.
Spring flowers, winter snows:
There’s no being nor non-being,
Nor denial itself.

Saisho (15th c.)

Some never participate. Life happens to them.
They get by on little more than dumb persistence and resist with anger or violence all things that might lift them out of resentment-filled illusions of security.

-Alma Mavis Taraza

To be resolute in the way means
from the beginning never to
lose sight of it, whether in a
place of calm or in a place of strife;
to not cling to quiet places nor
shun places where there is disturbance.

Daikaku (1213-1279)

“We're all going to die, all of us, what a circus! That alone should make us love each other but it doesn't. We are terrorized and flattened by trivialities, we are eaten up by nothing.”
― Charles Bukowski

“what matters most is how well you walk through the fire”
― Charles Bukowski

it could be said
there is no special light
it could be said
there is no special point of view

it seems that people
are full of dreams
it seems that people
are full of thoughts and plans

it's fine to be full of clouds
isn't that just what happens?
no need to clear the clouds
just filling out the quatrain

The Way of heaven is silent,
It has no appearance, no pattern.
It is so vast that its
Limit cannot be reached;
It is so deep that it
Cannot be fathomed.
It is always evolving
Along with people,
But knowledge cannot grasp it.
It turns like a wheel,
Beginninglessly and endlessly,
Effective as a spirit.
Open and empty,
It goes along with the flow,
Always coming afterward
And never in the forefront.

~ Lao-tzu

Though night after night
The moon is stream-reflected,
Try to find where it has touched,
Point even to a shadow.

~ Takuan (1573–1645)

Utter emptiness has no image
Upright independence does not rely on anything
Just expand and illuminate the original truth
Unconcerned by external conditions

~ Hongzhi Zhengjue (1091–1157)

When I walk with you, there is just we two
And the world goes by but I just don't care
And I know that one day, I'll find the way
To be safe and sound within your heart

Bay City Rollers

Wherever and whenever
The mind is found
Attached to anything,
Make haste to detach
Yourself from it.
When you tarry for
Any length of time
It will turn again into
Your old home town.

~ Daito Kokushi (1282-1334)

@rookie54 said
Utter emptiness has no image
Upright independence does not rely on anything
Just expand and illuminate the original truth
Unconcerned by external conditions

~ Hongzhi Zhengjue (1091–1157)

Ada yang ingat tawa?

Robert Tanaman

South and north, sharing
A single mountain gate,
Above and below, two temples
Both named T’ien-chu.
Dwelling therein is
An old dharma master,
Built tall and skinny
Like a stork or swan.
I do not know what
Practice he engages in,
But his green eyes
Reflect the mountain valleys.
Just looking into them
Makes one feel fresh and pure,
As if all one’s baneful vexations had been cleansed.

~ Su Shih (1073)