02.10.10
Posted in Teachings at 12:23 am by roshihogan
One of the benefits of studying the Tao is that nothing rocks you anymore. You are aware of yin and yang and all the ramifications thereof. To be able to see the black and the white, the yes and the no, the truth and the false is priceless wisdom. You can expect the unexpected and when the unexpected comes, you are expecting it. This way, you are not thrown off balance, you are not rocked. Indeed, you are the beat that remains steady, the mountain that remains standing, the waterfall that continues to run clear with pure, white cascading waters.
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02.09.10
Posted in Teachings at 12:17 am by roshihogan
Years ago, United Airlines ran a commercial which paraphrasing said the world was a beautiful place but it is people that make it great. I respectfully disagree. The world is beautiful but it is people who are slowly destroying it as they destroy themselves. How much damage have we as people done to the earth? It is the earth that gives us what we need to live, yet we mistreat it and take it for granted. One day the bottom will fall out. Only by becoming intimately close to the Tao can we avert further and total destruction. It is not too late, but time is running out. Rain forests disappearing, glaciers melting away, the snows of the Himalayas melting, more and more people choking the planet. Let us hope that there is some kind of reversal.
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02.08.10
Posted in Teachings at 12:01 am by roshihogan
These days, the Tao has come to mean generally just linked with being hip or riding with the tide. There are a great deal of “Tao of this…or Tao of that…. Usually one has to dig to find any actual Taoist teachings. Tao has become a homogenized word to many that can mean doing something a particular way that may or may not actually be in line with Taoist teachings. Even though it has been said that any publicity is good publicity, having the word Tao misused can be frustrating to actual followers. However, it is probably best that we do not spend much time worrying about such matters.
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02.07.10
Posted in Teachings at 12:59 am by roshihogan
Do not let little things turn into big things either in reality or in the mind. Tao Te Ching verse 63 says:
Deal with the difficult while it is yet easy;
Deal with the great while it is yet small;
The difficult develops naturally from the easy,
And the great from the small;
So the sage, by dealing with the small,
Achieves the great.
…therefore by dealing with the small things, we avoid the great things that cause us strife. So many things we imagine as great troubles are little or even insignificant troubles. Do not get up tight over loose ends that can be tied. One leaf falling to the ground does not make it autumn. Please remember the lyrics from an old Hawaiian song…
Ain’t no big thing bruddah
when there aint no coffee to fill the cup.
Good times comin’ let’em roll…..”.
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02.06.10
Posted in Teachings at 12:02 am by roshihogan
If you could custom make your own fortune cookie, what would it say? By making your own karma, you basically are writing your own fortune. Those things from the past shape today, today shapes tomorrow. You have the ability to shape the future as the potter shapes the clay. 10,000 things are born from this moment. Endless possibilities, endless fates. Endless paths to endless destinies. The universe is yours for the taking. Take it and become one with it. Seek your path and unite with the Tao.
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02.05.10
Posted in Teachings at 12:06 am by roshihogan
In order to have inner peace, you must be able to touch stillness. Touching stillness is the ability to sit down, sit still, and empty your mind. The mind, body, and brain work as a team. If one is overly taxed, it burdens the others. If you sit still, your mind is likely to follow your body into stillness. If your mind is still, it signals the brain to relax and stop sending out messages. The mind is full of messages and emotions. The right kinds are healthy, but it often gets clouded with negative ones. That is when we can sit in stillness and empty our mind like we pull a plug and let water go down the drain. Stillness is not formal meditation, it is often done with five minutes here, ten minutes there. Seek out a quiet place where you can be still with both body and mind and do so as many times as practical. You will notice a profound change and a more relaxed state.
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02.04.10
Posted in Teachings at 12:03 am by roshihogan
Anger, let it go. Grudges, let them go. Disappointment, let it go. Fear, let it go. Let it all go. What will happen will happen and we do not need these negative emotions to trouble your mind. To let go, you must care enough to let go of these things, but not care enough to remain connected. Stop riding the thirty foot wave of emotions. Remain detached yet passionate, be the gentle current flowing in the river of tranquility. Give your mind its freedom and let it all go. When the mind has freedom, the possibilities are limitless. Closed doors become open, arid land gives way to forests and the mind untouched by sunlight becomes a warm, bright tropical playground.
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02.03.10
Posted in Teachings at 12:08 am by roshihogan
Life should be wonderful. Full of beauty, peace, and joy. Who decided that our lives should be stressed out, exhausted exercises in futility? Yet so many of us live like that as though it was some kind of law. There is a good deal of money to be made by people in keeping others plugged in to that trip. However, you can unplug yourself. Perhaps you remember the old MTV show Unplugged. For those unfamiliar, it was a program where musical artists performed their songs acoustically. That is what we need to do, unplug. Become one with the Tao and let it happen. This existence can be smooth and gentle like a tranquil pond. That is where it is at, not drowning in some churning waters stirred up by somebody else.
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02.02.10
Posted in Teachings at 12:12 am by roshihogan
Years ago, I thought about buying a motorcycle. I liked the Suzuki 750cc. When I told a few of my friends, they were disappointed. They owned Harley-Davidsons and felt I should get one too. I believe the reason primarily was that they were somehow superior and there was the underlying current of being patriotic and buying an American bike. Being a contrarian, I did not want a Harley. I did not like the elitist nature of many of its owners and I railed against the whole Harley corporate mentality. Harley hats, jackets, shirts, baby items, and so many other Harley items. A large steamship of American consumerism at its best (or worst). Such pressure exists everyday in our lives. There is the so-called mainstream and its demands and expectations. To be one with the Tao requires one to live beyond the mainstream and its petty values. It requires being a contrarian to popular thought when appropriate. As it turns out, I did not buy a motorcycle after considering how many of my friends had been seriously hurt riding a bike, but there was a valuable lesson that came out of it.
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02.01.10
Posted in Teachings at 12:05 am by roshihogan
One of the things I find attractive about the Tao besides its obvious wisdom, is that there is a less reverential treatment of its founders. No big kahuna, no king of the hill. Even Lao Tzu who has had tremendous influence and in a sense power wrote in Tao Te Ching Verse 62 that one should not honor a man with power…
Fine words are often borrowed,
And great deeds are often appropriated;
Therefore, when a man falls, do not abandon him,
And when a man gains power, do not honor him;
Only remain impartial and show him the Way.
No one bowing or worshiping. Many followers of the Tao even doubt whether Lao was an actual person. Some believe the Tao Te Ching was written by a collection of writers, not just one man. This puts the focus squarely on the wisdom of its teachings and does not put a large reverence on any one person. In fact, one could say the universe is the ultimate teacher and all of us are its students.
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