Tuesday, February 7, 2012

man born in tao





Fishes are born in water
Man is born in Tao.
If fishes, born in water,
Seek the deep shadow
Of pond and pool,
All their needs 
Are satisfied.
If man, born in Tao,
Sinks into the deep shadow
Of non-action
To forget aggression and concern,
He lacks nothing
His life is secure.

Moral: "All the fish needs
Is to get lost in water.
All man needs is to get lost
In Tao."







~ Chuang Tzu
translation by Thomas Merton
art by Bada Shanren 
who lived during the beginning of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911)



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