by Hani’a Abrams
For the past few months I’ve been revisiting various translations of one of my favorite wisdom books, the Tao Te Ching, because of a gentle but persistent impulse to relate (not translate!) in my own words the first book, the book of Tao.
I do not know what caused
this impulse to arise as it did, sneaking itself in here and there between my daily doings, and I paused whenever I could in my daily doings took out my iphone to read and feel and contemplate and write and contemplate some more, and feel something else, go back to reading, wonder, ponder, write some more, furl my brow, grunt, sigh, raise an eyebrow, make myself find another translation, exasperate over contradictions of translations, flip a coin to see which translation to go with, make something up, if I didn’t like it replace with something else, (also made up) indulge in feeling clever, doubt my intelligence, throw away the temptation to be clever (kind of), marvel at my ableness to connect to wisdom’s guidance (is that what is was?) and so on and so forth, mostly in that order, but also every which way but loose!
It was a challenging and enjoyable experience, very much like a jazz musician (I imagine) searching through improvisation the ‘right notes and phrases’ to give a fresh and personal take on a classic piece of music while keeping true to something essential. It took a while and I cannot claim success but I like what resulted and am sharing with you.
There is something in us that recognizes music without our ever having to ‘learn’ what music is. This experience has shown me perhaps the same can be said of wisdom! Hopefully in my ‘improvising’ here and there, I did not stray too far from what the Old Sage intended!
Love, Hani’a
P.S. in the photo, for those who can’t tell the difference, I’m imbibing oolong tea, not rice wine!
Story #1
The Way, hasn’t a story.
The Story, hasn’t a title.
That which is without story is the Origin of Heaven and Earth.
The Story is the Infinite Dance of the Myriad Appearances.
One who is ‘desireless’, may come to know ‘The Storyless’;
One full of desire ought learn well how to dance!
‘The Storyless’ and ‘The Dance’ …are they not one?
Gentle contemplation of this question is a Gateway to the Mystery of Mysteries.