A Valentine's Day Tao kicked off with a story from Susan's story about Miss Kitty and chose #48. Julie joined us to talk about her expereince and we went of #36 after which Melissa came up for #78 and Cool Beans wanted to go over a few things in that verse before selecting #19.
#19 "Real Education"
Don't aspire to be holy or smart,
You will finally find happiness.
Don't inquire about morality or justice,
You will finally be perfect.
Don't create things in order to profit,
You will finally be secure.
If all that fails to inspire you
Stay as humble and simple as possible
And at least you won't be selfish
#36 "Going about your Business"
If you want to take a deep breathe
You must first empty your lungs.
If you want to make something weak
Then observe it first as powerful.
If you want something destroyed,
Then see it first glorified.
Identify your rigid desires,
Meet them with flexibility.
The soft overcomes the hard,
The slow overtakes the fast.
Just quietly go about your business,
The results will speak for themselves.
#48 "The More you Know"
Pursuing knowledge, you accumulate daily,
Turning your true nature into a commodity.
Pursuing Tao, you unburden daily,
Allowing your true nature to guide you.
The Master unburdens herself again and again
Diminishing, releasing, and deprogramming,
Until finally there is nothing left to be.
When there is nothing to be, there is nothing to do
And everything gets accomplished regardless.
#78 "Living in a Damaged State"
Air and water are the softest things we know,
Causing no damage to those that live within them
Yet both erode the hard or rigid in their path.
The soft and flexible will always overcome.
While the hard and rigid eventually collapse.
Ordinary men are well aware of this
However, they prefer conspicuous outcomes.
Thus they align with rigid hardness,
It stands firm for a time, but does not last.
Therefore, the Master teaches us that
We can live amongst things that damage
Without being damaged by them.