nathanlovestreesFeb 24, 2024

"In thought we distinguish alternatives, joy and sorrow, life and death, liking and dislike, and we mistake the principles which guide us to the preferred alternative for the Way itself. But the alternation of joy and sorrow, life and death, is itself the Way, and we run counter to it when we strive to perpetuate joy and life."

A.C. Graham (from the introduction to the Liezi)

#Daoism #Taoism

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"Your own body is not your possession... It is the shape lent to you by heaven and earth. Your life is not your possession; it is harmony between your forces, granted for a time by heaven and earth. Your nature and destiny are not your possessions; they are the course laid down for you by heaven and earth. Your children and grandchildren are not your possessions; heaven and earth lend them to you to cast off from your body as an insect sheds its skin.
Feb 24, 2024 at 2:51pmWeb
Show threadnathanlovestreesFeb 24, 2024

Therefore you travel without knowing where you go, stay without knowing what you cling to, are fed without knowing how. You are the breath of heaven and earth which goes to and fro; how can you ever possess it?"

#Liezi (A.C. Graham translation)

#Daoism #Taoism