Sit in Silence (Tao Te Ching 56)

56.

The wise aren’t preachy.

The preachy aren’t wise.

Sit in silence.

Practice temperance.

Smooth jagged edges.

Release entanglements.

Soften your gaze.

Embrace oneness with the earth.

This is called mystical union.

You can neither move closer

nor farther from it.

You can neither add to it

nor detract from it.

You can neither magnify it

nor dishonor it.

So, there is nothing more valuable 

in the whole world.

WRITTEN REFLECTION

The Soto Zen masters talk as if enlightenment is as simple as sitting in silence, eyes softly open, cast down at a 45 degree angle, and attending to the moment. That’s an interesting idea.

Or course, they would probably say that my problem is that I think of such things in terms of ideas rather than practices. I like to think about the profound beauty of meditating, and I love imagining what it would be like to be aware of blowing grass in a balmy meadow. But I too often am too overwhelmed by life’s duties to reset and actually meditate.

This reminds me of probably the grooviest answer to the famous Koan: “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” Some pretty good students just hold out a palm. Well done. But the ones who really get it just sit and mimic the noises of the rain and the birds around them.

Maybe I could have thought of that brilliant response myself had I actually sat and meditated on the Koan as it was meant to be used. Instead, I treated it like an exotic intellectual collectible. Mea culpa.

But a dude can change.

[Jeff]