Another year has passed. Same time last
year, I had published my blog post titled “New Year, Old Wisdom”.
This previous year brought with it
seven revelations..Have I applied them? Initially, the
revelations touch us in a very profound way. But do we
truly understand them? And what is understanding anyway? If we
understand mentally, do we really?
I know that ancients didn't have
access to as much information as we do. They had just one
teaching/book at hand. They would read each sentence/teaching over
and over again and the understanding would constantly change, become
deeper. I can relate to this with my Sumi-e and Tai Chi
practice. Same moves, strokes, over and over again, day after day,
and each stroke/move, each time bringing deeper understanding and
connection. Can I say that I know Sumi-e or Tai Chi now, after
so many years of practice?
Right after that post, I made a decision to interpret 600 BC Chinese philosopher and poet Lao Tzu's “Tao Te Ching” from an artist's point of view. In its obscure, yet fascinating philosophies, I am finding more understanding of the life process and myself. It comes to me more experientially, which makes the writing even more challenging. This is when the intelligence doesn't serve but hinders the understanding.
What am I taking with me into the next year?
1) To, as they say, “go with the flow”, be flexible.
2) To accept everything that comes my way (without labeling).
3) To try not to understand everything... things are clearer without the understanding....when the mind is empty.
4) To trust my own feelings, as they are much more intelligent than my mind ….
5) There is much more in nothingness, than one can imagine.
6) The less has more....the simple is rich.
7) We come to this world with all the real knowledge, which we lose in the process of “growing up”, with supervision from those who have forgotten as well....to remember.
Just like in Sumi-e painting, by working with contrasts, I am trying to create harmony on the paper of my life.....
Right after that post, I made a decision to interpret 600 BC Chinese philosopher and poet Lao Tzu's “Tao Te Ching” from an artist's point of view. In its obscure, yet fascinating philosophies, I am finding more understanding of the life process and myself. It comes to me more experientially, which makes the writing even more challenging. This is when the intelligence doesn't serve but hinders the understanding.
What am I taking with me into the next year?
1) To, as they say, “go with the flow”, be flexible.
2) To accept everything that comes my way (without labeling).
3) To try not to understand everything... things are clearer without the understanding....when the mind is empty.
4) To trust my own feelings, as they are much more intelligent than my mind ….
5) There is much more in nothingness, than one can imagine.
6) The less has more....the simple is rich.
7) We come to this world with all the real knowledge, which we lose in the process of “growing up”, with supervision from those who have forgotten as well....to remember.
Just like in Sumi-e painting, by working with contrasts, I am trying to create harmony on the paper of my life.....
Old Wisdom ...indeed.
Happy New Year!
Wow--"seven revelations"--that's a lot! If it is a "revelation" then it must be some new understanding of the thing I would think. It is magnificent when this happens--when we see what we didn't see--what we knew but didn't know. You ride the line between subconscious and conscious revelation, and I guess you would say it eventually becomes a conscious one.
ReplyDeleteYes, there are different levels of understanding. This post is about that as well. When we think we had a revelation, did we really have it? How much of it we have applied into our lives?
DeleteI wish there were a way to keep that feeling of revelation. Time
ReplyDeleteseems to make it fade.
Maybe because we try too hard to "keep" them :) Besides once we manage to apply them into our lives, they are no longer revelations. I think that's how we grow.
Delete