integrate mind body and spirit in all

bernadett becei

 
In ancient times, people lived holistic lives. They didn’t overemphasize the intellect, but integrated mind, body, and spirit in all things. This allowed them to become masters of knowledge rather than victims of concepts.

If a new invention appeared, they looked for the troubles it might cause as well as the shortcuts it offered. They valued old ways that had been proven effective, and they valued new ways if they could be proven effective.

If you want to stop being confused, then emulate these ancient folk: join your body, mind, and spirit in all you do. Choose food, clothing, and shelter that accords with nature. Rely on your own body for transportation. Allow your work and your recreation to be one and the same. Do exercise that develops your whole being and not just your body. Listen to music that bridges the three spheres of your being. Choose leaders for their virtue rather than their wealth or power. Serve others and cultivate yourself simultaneously.

Understand that true growth comes from meeting and solving the problems of life in a way that is harmonizing to yourself and to others. If you can follow these simple old ways, you will be continually renewed.
 

from Hua hu Ching, Chapter 43

 

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patiently bear with inferior elements

married to the sea

 

SECOND LINE
You are wise to bear
with inferior elements patiently and
kindly. The best way to have an influence now
is to cultivate inner strength and
outer calm.

 

SIXTH LINE
A determined fool
has to be punished, but should not
be executed. If you are the fool, accept the lesson
and go on in correctness. If the fool is another,
let him go and leave the punishment
to the Sage.

 

from The I Ching, or Book of Changes

Hexagram 4, Mêng / Youthful Folly

 

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let us know our aims

Our task

as humans is to find

the few principles that will calm the

infinite anguish of free souls. We must mend

what has been torn apart, make justice imaginable

again in a world so obviously unjust, give happiness

a meaning once more to peoples poisoned by

the misery of the century. Naturally, it is

a superhuman task. But superhuman

is the term for tasks we take

a long time to accomplish,

that’s all.

 

Let us

know our aims then,

holding fast to the mind, even if

force puts on a thoughtful or a comfortable

face in order to seduce us. The first thing is not to

despair. Let us not listen too much to those who proclaim

that the world is at an end. Civilizations do not die so easily,

and even if our world were to collapse, it would not have

been the first. It is indeed true that we live in tragic

times. But too many people confuse tragedy with

despair. “Tragedy,” D.H. Lawrence said,

“ought to be a great kick at misery.”

This is a healthy and immediately

applicable thought. There are

many things today

deserving such

a kick.

 

If we are

to save the mind we must

ignore its gloomy virtues and celebrate

its strength and wonder. Our world is poisoned

by its misery, and seems to wallow in it. It has utterly

surrendered to that evil which Nietzsche called

the spirit of heaviness. Let us not add to this.

It is futile to weep over the mind,

it is enough to labor

for it. 

 

But where

are the conquering virtues

of the mind? The same Nietzsche listed

them as mortal enemies to heaviness of the spirit.

For him, they are strength of character, taste, the “world,”

classical happiness, severe pride, the cold frugality of

the wise. More than ever, these virtues are

necessary today, and each of us can

choose the one that suits

him best.

 

Before the

vastness of the undertaking,

let no one forget strength of character.

I don’t mean the theatrical kind on political

platforms, complete with frowns and threatening

gestures. But the kind that through the virtue of its purity

and its sap, stands up to all the winds that blow in

from the sea. Such is the strength of character

that in the winter of the world

will prepare the

fruit.

 

Albert Camus 

 

weapons are tools of evil


 

Weapons are tools of evil,

shunned and avoided by everything

in nature. Because people of tao follow

nature, they want nothing to

do with weapons.

 

Un-evolved people are eager

to act out of strength, but a person of tao

values peace and quiet. He knows that every being

is born of the womb of tao. This means that his

enemies are his enemies second, his own

brothers and sisters first.

 

Thus he resorts to weapons

only in the direst necessity, and then uses

them with utmost restraint. He takes no pleasure in victory,

because to rejoice in victory is to delight in killing.

Whoever delights in killing will not

find success in this world.

 

Observe victories as

you observe a death in the

family: with sorrow and mourning.

Every victory is a funeral

for kin.

 

Tao te Ching of Lao Tzu,

Chapter 31


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be done with knowing

the wonders

 

Be done

with knowing and

your worries will disappear.

How much difference is there between

yes and no? How much distinction between

good and evil? Fearing what others fear,

admiring what they admire —

nonsense.

 

Conventional

people are jolly and reckless,

feasting on worldly things and carrying on

as though every day were the beginning of spring.

I alone remain uncommitted, like an infant

who hasn’t yet smiled: lost, quietly

drifting, unattached to ideas

and places and

things.

 

Conventional

people hoard more than

they need, but I possess nothing

at all, know nothing at all,

understand nothing

at all.

 

They

are sharp; I am dull.

Like the sea, I am calm and

indifferent. Like the wind I

have no particular

direction.

 

Everyone

else takes his place and

does his job; I alone remain wild

and natural and free. I am different

from the others; I drink

directly from the

Mother.

 

Tao te Ching of Lao Tzu,

Chapter 20

 

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