The mark of a moderate woman is freedom from her own ideas ~ Lao-Tzu
Who was Lao Tzu? Several sites state that Lao Tzu was a keeper of records in 6th Century China. He was an “Old Sage”, as his name denotes. Lao Tzu was said to be the creator of Tao Te Ching, ergo, the founder of Taoism.
Obviously, the “old sage” was indeed steeped in wisdom if we are to believe the quote. I considered myself a moderate woman…but, do I let go of my ideas?
Moderation has been a goal for years as I inch toward 40; trying to bury the anti-authority/rebel, to cultivate a more organic, adjusted bloom. Success depends on the day; the gentleness of the spirit.
Ideas, however, are something that I believe should be championed. One must however, truly listen with complete focus and open mind, to another’s ideas as well. If hearing an idea causes a shut down, then there is little room for growth at all.
Lao Tzu’s quote has me a bit ponderous. Perhaps I am too tired to quite grasp the wisdom of his words. Then again, maybe I am just a Western mind trying to place Eastern wisdom into a tidy box. A round lid doesn’t stretch over square corners. ~
I have a lot of anti war stuff and graphic pics but was suggested I keep it off smile blog after a few posts. I thought I’d create a second blog re politics and social issues as was suggested by a few followers as you have here but the people now associate me with cartoon humor and when you take a stand on controversial issues you lose half your audience for your other stuff. So I limit myself to participate in such discussions on the blogs of others. I will follow this blog. I am BA Rel/Hist and MA Rel so world religions is something I have studied well 40 years ago. The Tao remains a mystery for me and most westerners. I remember the account of Vietnam vets expressing their astonishment on how stoic and seemingly non plussed many Vietnamese seemed to be amid the horror of that war. Sometimes there is balance in life but some times the yin invades the space of the yang and vice versa and that creates imbalance. Too much light is as bad as too much darkness. It seemed that these suffering people got through it because they saw the war as a time of destructive imbalance and have the perseverance to weather it until balance returns. And as things are cyclical in the Eastern mind instead of linear as in the Western mind they believe things will come full circle and apparently they do as we see a prosperous Vietnam today. They have such an understanding. The Puritans, however, persevered through unfortunate times based on an abiding faith in God’s will and made no attempt to understand it as it is inscrutable to man. So it seems the Taoist retains contentedness in spite of while the Puritan retains acceptance in spite of. Many westerners have found meaning in eastern religions and traditions but as you indicate it is not for me either. We are governed by the dictatorship of the clock in the habitat of our concrete megatechnopolis. Yes, a round lid does not cover square corners.
Love this commentary, Carl. It is most interesting how different parts of the world deal with theology or philosophy. I actually didn’t know much about Lao Tzu, but came across this quote. When I ‘googled’ him, I read enough briefly to glean a few things that seemed to ring true about who he was (though, even this is contested, i.e., if he was a real person) and his philosophical thought. You are so correct. We are very much ruled by the clock, not to mention ruled by our ability to be our own person (or are we).
Not to be a pain in your backside, but after reading you comments, I do believe I shall merge my blogs. I’m a bit tired of YHC, but don’t wish to rid of it either. I’ve kept blogs for years (I’ve done ‘em all, blogspot, livejournal, tumblr) and waffle about content. Since I do not have a large audience anyway, it shouldn’t matter if I turn peeps turned off, right? Writing is one of the things I do to stay sane in a world that makes less and less sense. If I censor my own words…what’s the point of having a brain in a free world… ~
Just make sure I get notifications. As you see I do enjoy the conversation. To increase traffic if that is a goal you may care to leave likes on my blog. My subscribers will find you that way and several dozen are poets, authors and painters and you will attract each other. You will enjoy the thoughtful products of 2 poets I esp make sure to review: stullfugue and sixthsymph. Go to them from my blog roll. Jack Downing writes whimsical stuff – poems and ponderings , I think.
thanks,Carl..didn’t know if you’d be in blogland, ergo, you’re getting an email, too! Must get back over to your blog, thanks for those mentions! Oy, one thing about it, blogging takes so much time! I just realized I missed kickoff of Broncos…I shall watch with one eye!
Dolphins ain’t in it so poop. (closet Jets fan too)