Who can be still while the mud settles?
Who can remain quiet until the moment of action?
The contemplative life is not poverty of spirit
but the wealth of an unhurried mind —
find the infinite in a square of sunlight,
the eternal in a single breath.
. . .
I have fallen a little behind in these posts in the last couple of weeks I know. Lots has been going on behind the scenes. Lots of painting experiments, lots of different versions of this post and of the book that will emerge out of this work:
A Tao Te Ching Journaling Practice:
Art and Taoist wisdom for seekers of inner quietThe primary issue in this work is how succinct versus how much depth to include. Ultimately, I’ve decided to keep it bare bones. The Tao teChing is mysterious and beautiful. Its mystery comes, in part, from its vagueness, its repetition — the author, or more likely authors, who wrote it repeated key concepts over and over in order to emphasize them. Their process has helped me decide what to emphasize, and I’m reducing the 81 chapters into 46 key concepts, and accompanying those with journal reflections to inspire thought among those of you interested in incorporating these concepts into a journaling practice.
Here’s an example from today’s post:
We humans are, by nature, emotional beings. We think we operate on logic. We think we are rational. In reality we bounce from emotion to emotion. We all experience frustration, agitation and even anger. We all experience feelings of insecurity and insufficiency. We return to our quiet center in stillness.
How much room do you make for stillness, for quiet time – no cell phone, no computer, no TV — in your life? If you made more room for quiet, would your mind become clearer, your life more purposeful and centered?
How would you like to see your life evolve from here? Would more time in stillness help you live that life you envision for yourself?
. . .
To view this post on the Heron Dance website, including mockups of the journal pages, visit here.
To support this work, which is important if it resonates with you, visit here.
If I left my electronics on the shelf and let that noise remain behind me I might find the peace I seek in my days.
This pocket computer snatches the stillness I need.
Your title, "The Peace Found in Stillness" says it all for me tonight, this first of the new year.
Oh, may we all enter softly, surely into this Peace found in Stillness.
Sending much love and blessing to you and Zen Mountain Journal...
In me, "nurturing inner quiet, the song within sings beautifully in all..."
I'm so grateful. Deep thanks.