Month: March 2013

• March 30, 2013

  Split wood, light breathing

  The Dao has nothing to say not because it is mute, not because it is coy but because it communicates in its own way. Best, therefore, not to ask it anything but to rest–anywhere–in the light of its presence. On  this second spring, the mountains will serve that end. The Daoist Sage does everything lightly,…
• March 29, 2013

  Wake up! An admonition

  I have observed of late with a frown that many people too soon adapt to events that have the potential of being world-sundering. I have had reason to revisit the claim I made in 2011 about ‘strategies of retention’: Understanding the reasons why a practice is causing somebody disquietude will involve more than helping her…
• March 28, 2013

  Episodes 13-19 of radiant living

  Episodes 13-19 of radiant living can now be viewed on my YouTube Channel. Each episode is made to run about 5-8 minutes. An update: in this space, I have no plans to post more embedded videos on this project whose aim is to show how the good is connected with the beautiful. However, you can…
• March 26, 2013

  Facing up to life

  We had fallen for the lure. A day before the Vernal Equinox, there were plenty of inklings of spring. The robins, even before this, had grown plump and plentiful and were everywhere seeking and pulling plump worms clean from the earth. The Pileated Woodpeckers were bashing their heads against the locust trees and, in the…
• March 25, 2013

  The worst sort of parents…

  Excluding monsters, the worst sort of parents are those who do not raise their children to be capable of being parents themselves. For Kant, the enlightened person is one who is no longer under the thumb of a ‘guardian’–in this case, a parent upon whom he is dependent–but has learned to think for himself and…