eastern & poetry

EASTERN PHILOSOPHY

“No one drinks the mud of the well; even animals do not do. If your mind is clouded by desires and attachments, friends will not come to help.” –from The I-ching

“It doesn’t matter how smart you are if you don’t have the sense to honor your teachers and cherish your responsibilities.” –from the ‘Tao Te Ching’ by Lao Tzu

“Of birds I know that they have wings to fly with, of fish that they have fins to swim with, of wild beasts that they have feet to run with. For feet there are traps, for fins nets, for wings arrows. But who knows how dragons surmount the wind and cloud into heaven? This day I have seen Lao Tzu and he is a dragon.” –account of Confucius’s meeting with Lao Tzu from the ‘Tao Te Ching’

“When praise is lavished upon the famous,

the people contend and compete with one another.

When exotic goods are traded and treasured,

the compulsion to steal is felt.

When desires are constantly stimulated,

people become disturbed and confused.

Therefore, the wise person sets an example by

emptying her mind,

opening her heart,

relaxing her ambitions,

relinquishing her desires,

cultivating her character.

Having conquered her own cunning and cravings,

she can’t be manipulated by anyone.” –from the ‘Tao Te Ching’ by Lao Tzu

“Nothing under heaven is as

soft and yielding as water.

Yet for attacking the hard and strong

nothing can compare with it.” –from the ‘Tao Te Ching’ by Lao Tzu

“When the student is ready, the master appears.” –Buddhist Proverb

“To know oneself is to study oneself in action with another person.” –from ‘Tao of Jeet Kune Do’ by Bruce Lee

“I direct the endless rhythm. Whoever hears this melody will join me.” –from Zen poem

“When the opponent moves fast, I move fast;

When the opponent moves slowly, then I follow slowly.

Although the variations are infinite,

the principle remains the same.” –from ‘Tai Chi Secrets of the Ancient‘ Masters by Dr. Yang, Jwing-Ming

“Superiority is not just a matter of secret techniques.” –from ‘The Hagakure’

POETRY

“To Risk

To laugh is to risk appearing the fool.

To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.

To reach out is to risk involvement.

To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.

To place your ideas and dreams in front of the crowd is to risk their love.

To love is to risk not being loved in return.

To live is to risk dying.

To hope is to risk despair.

To try is to risk failure.

But the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.

The one who risks nothing does nothing and has nothing - and finally is nothing.

He may avoid sufferings and sorrow, but he simply can not learn, feel, change, grow, or love.

Chained by his certitude, he is a slave; he has forfeited freedom.

Only one who risks is free.” –unknown

“The narrowest hinge of my hand puts to scorn all machinery.” –Walt Whitman, poet

“The purpose of poetry is like the purpose of sex. It’s to get it over with as slowly as possible.” –from a PBS special on poetry

“If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs, and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting, too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

And yet don’t look too good or talk too wise…

If you can dream and not make dreams your master,

If you can think, and not make thoughts your aim,

If you can meet with triumph and disaster,

And treat those two imposters just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings,

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings,

And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the will which says to them: “Hold on!”

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my Son!” –‘IF’ by Rudyard Kipling

“A man who has faith must be prepared not only to be a martyr, but to be a fool.” –G.K. Chesterton, writer and poet

“They who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.” –from ‘Eleonara’ by Edgar allan Poe

“We do not have any place in mind to go,

we are just driving. If I closed my eyes for a minute

I would be lost, yet

I could gladly lie down and sleep forever

beside this road.

… Any minute now, something will happen.” –‘Drinking While Driving’ by Raymond Carver

“Tell him I've been too fucking busy — or vice versa.” –Dorothy Parker, poet

“He who binds to himself a joy

Does the winged life destroy;

But he who kisses the joy as it flies

Lives in eternity's sunrise.” –William Blake, poet and painter

[back]