Last week I hiked down a steep dirt trail in Vermont, admiring the wildflowers and ferns. A small stream sparkled in the sun as it trickled downhill, next to the path. It reminded me of a line from the classic Taoist poem, the Tao Te Ching:
The supreme good is like water, which nourishes all things without trying to. It is content with the low places that people distain.
(Verse 8, Tao Te Ching, Stephen Mitchell trans.)
The early Taoist sages spent time isolated in the forested mountains of China, observing the rhythms and flow of nature.Their collected wisdom, thought by scholars to have been compiled into the Tao Te Ching, was full of suggestions to yield, not force, just like water flowing downhill, and to “return to the source,” the earth: the stability and power of the present moment. There, on my morning hike, was an example of Taoist wisdom from 500 years ago. That little stream nourished the flowers and plants by flowing, descending, sinking deep into the earth: all key concepts in Taoist inner cultivation lineages.
“All streams flow to the sea because it is lower than they are. Humility gives it its power.” (Verse 66, ibid)
Now, that word “humility” used to bother me. It sounded too much like “humiliate.” But that was an ignorant reading of the word, whose roots go back to the Latin “humilitas” which can mean “humble,” but also “grounded,” or “from the earth”.
In Qigong, we learn to embrace and nourish our own energetic “roots” by becoming grounded, literally feeling our feet on the earth. As we do, we relax our breathing and feel the richness of the present moment. Becoming present is a sure way to counter the corrosive forces of speediness and over-thinking, over-efforting, over-needing, over-doing in general. “Decreasing and decreasing again” (Verse 48, ibid) is a very non-Western concept from the Tao Te Ching, especially helpful on days when the complexity and hustle of the 21st century start to feel like just too much.
Have I captured your curiosity about this wise and cryptic poem? I hope so! On Saturday, July 12, Kate Kerin, landscape curator of Innisfree Gardens in Millbrook, NY, and I will be leading a walk through that beautiful, 185-acre garden. I’ll share passages from the Tao Te Ching reflected by the spaces around us, as well as Qigong movements inspired by the passages. Kate will contribute perspective and knowledge about the design and deeper significance of the gardens, and the history and impressive effort that went into the construction of these lovely and energy-restoring, Chinese style gardens. I can’t wait to share this very special experience with you, and hope you can join us! (More information below.)
