Taoism
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In case you’re wondering if fewer posts is a bad thing…
To work at learning brings more each day. To work at Way brings less each day. Less and still less, until you're doing nothing yourself. And when you're doing nothing yourself, there's nothing you don't do. To grasp all beneath… Continue reading
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Reflections on an English Goalkeeper
Wow. A day after I post about the World Cup, the vagaries of Tao are revealed to the fullest. The English clearly outplayed the US on Saturday but Robert Green the English goalkeeper let through an improbable score that allowed… Continue reading
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World Cup Tao
I haven’t blogged on sports lately but the just-begun World Cup has brought athletic competition to mind… As I have noted in the past, I am a Taoist NY Yankees fan. Some might find that paradoxical (how could a Taoist… Continue reading
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Answering the Gaokao with the Daodejing and Zhuangzi
The big national college entrance exam – the dreaded gaokao – has just finished in China. Danwei has a collection of some of the various essay questions posed in different provinces. As I read through them I thought that one,… Continue reading
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Embracing the Useless
It's that time of year again. College and high school graduations come around and people start to wonder: "what use is all of this education?" The question is especially piquant for the newly unemployed college graduates, the English majors who… Continue reading
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Fate
Just let your mind wander along in the drift of things. Trust yourself to what is beyond you – let it be the nurturing center. Then you've made it. In the midst of all this, is there really any response? … Continue reading
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Mick Jagger channels Zhuangzi
Maybe it's just me, but when I saw this Jagger quote I though of Zhuangzi: "We were young, good-looking and stupid," he told the audience. "Now we're just stupid." (h/t: Sullivan) Continue reading
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Materialism in Chinese Society
Another week goes by and still I have not caught up with blogging… Oh well, all I can do to rectify the situation is: blog… Last wee Kai Pan, over at china/divide put up a short post entitled: "Is Chinese… Continue reading
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Obama is reading Sun Tzu, not the Tao Te Ching
I'm emerging from the end of semester craziness. My teaching is done for the semester (save one meeting with an independent study group this afternoon – always a pleasant meeting of minds) and the big pile of grading will not… Continue reading
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Visualizing Dao
Bloomberg reviews an exhibition of Chinese art at the Grand Palaise in Paris, focusing on Daoism, with what seems to be particular attention to its religious manifestations. I recommend going to the museum's exhibition site. Video and text are in… Continue reading
The Useless Tree 