Ebb and Flow (August 2024 Newsletter)

Our life flows on without stopping for a single moment much like water which cannot stand still and instead is always looking for a new outlet. That is natural for all liquids and for all of us. It is nature. We are filled with moving flows within us - water, breath, nerves and energy. All those moving parts left untrained and uncontrolled make us crazed and anxious. In the Tao Te Ching it says, “There is nothing in the world more soft and weak than water, yet for attacking things that are hard and strong there is nothing that surpasses it, nothing that can take its place”. Be soft, be gentle, be flowing. Allow all these energies to move you. As it is, with power and strength and allowing our thoughts to lead us, the reckless mind constantly directs us all the time, even in our dreams. What shall we do about it? Do nothing. Learn to allow for silence and stillness. Meditate with no thoughts of achievement or gain. Sit silently, walk silently. Look around at the splendor of the world that surrounds us. Allow your thoughts to come and go. Pay no attention to them. Put away the device for a part of each day. It is as insidious as the wayward mind. From the Tao again, "Activity conquers cold, but stillness conquers heat. Purity and stillness are the correct principles for mankind."

Namaste,

sipra

Photo Credit: Diane Sorensen

In sipra's backyard is this little statue of Buddha covered in moss and vines, sitting placidly through all kinds of weather.