Sublime

For the heart/mind (xinxue) or Wang Yangming school of neo-Confucianism, the Ultimate can only be realized through the self, which has a fundamental, though often unrealized, unity with the universe. Self-realization takes place through the purification of the egotistic desires and moral resolve of the inner subject to act upon the world.

Lao Zi was a qigong practitioner, a sage, a philosopher, and a teacher

CHIAO HUNG says, “The previous 5,000 words all explain ‘the Tao of not accumulating,’ what Buddhists call ‘nonattachment.’ Those who empty their mind on the last two lines will grasp most of Lao-tzu’s text.

Taoist

There are no grown-ups In front of me is a wall of erect, compact backs, motionless under the blue, conical blankets that fall around them like tepees. What’s going on underneath? What’s going on in their bodies? In their minds? I look at the backs, I look at the necks. I wonder who’s in pain like me, who’s bored, who’s daydreaming, who’s freaking

Of course, this begs the question asked by Bodhidharma, “You talk about non-realization. But how do you realize non-realization?” Thus, Lao-tzu says, “Those who seek learning gain every day / those who seek the Way lose every day / they lose and they lose / until they find nothing to do / nothing to do means nothing not done.” (Taoteching: 48)

A famous Zen master, while weighing flax on a scale, was once asked the meaning of Zen by a student. Without taking his concentrated eyes off the scale, he adjusted the weights and said, “Three pounds of flax.”