We join spokes together in a wheel, but it is the center hole that makes the wagon move. (Tao Te Ching 11)
*
We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want. (Tao Te Ching 11)
*
We hammer wood for a house, but it is the inner space that makes it livable. (Tao Te Ching 11)
*
We work with being, but non-being is what we use. (Tao Te Ching 11)
***
*Source: Tao Te Ching by Stephen Mitchell, Harper Perennial. Based on the work of Lao-Tzu. In the introduction, the author warns that Tao Te Ching should be pronounced “Dow Deh Jing.” Couldn’t “dey” have written it “dat” way from “de” beginning? ( I do have difficulties with the “modern” Chinese-to-Latin alphabet. But since I don’t speak Mandarin or Cantonese or Hokkien… It doesn’t really matter does it?)
A possible translation of Tao Te Ching is “The book of the Way”, Tao or Dao meaning the Way. Lao-Tzu (or Lao-Tseu as I first heard about him), (551-479BC) could have been a contemporary of Confucius… (Don’t ask me the PC spelling of Confucius.) He wrote at a time when the western world was barely shaking Barbary. Rome was founded around 750BC. Alexander the Great was born in 356BC. Cesar’s war on Gaul ends in 52BC. (And barabry is back. Stronger than ever.)
2,500 years after, the Tao is still worth meditating. (I’m only starting…)
I bought the book on Dalo’s recommendation. (He speaks Mandarin). Visit his wonderful blog at:
Any thoughts about the four sentences above? Pray tell. Look forward to your thoughts.
Equinoxio 
You are the most interesting blogger, Brieuc. I love how you mix and match and make them into a theme. Wonderful!
Aw! You’re only too nice, my dear Dale. By now, you probably know I like variety.
Now, when you think of it, what’s most important is not the post, but the people and comments AROUND the post… 😉
(La semaine avec ton chum s’est bien passée j’imagine?)
Joyeuses Pâques.
That I do!
Yes, I do agree with you. What’s the point of blogging if there is no exchange?
Super belle semaine, merci!
Joyeuses Pâques à toi aussi!
🙏🏻
😊
The Tao is the only thing I think makes any sense. I love it. Lovely post, as always.
It is isn’t it? Not always easy to understand… But I’m working on it… 😉
Thank you. Looking for the illustrations to the text was fun.
May the Tao be with you… 🙏🏻
Je peux certainement recommander “La Voie et sa vertu : Tao-tê-king” de Lao-Tzeu traduit par François Houang. J’ai quelque-chose qui ressemble au tableau de Magritte dans mes cartons. Publication après le 6 avril. Je m’inspirais du symbole de Tao.
Une belle journée à toi, Brieuc.
Je vois que tu as la même “orthographe” que moi dans ma tête. “King”, pas “ching” ou jing.
Il serait intéressant de comparer les deux traductions, en anglais, celle que j’ai, et en Français…
J’attends avec intérêt le “Magritte” du non-être…
A+ Gilles
I can imagine that Lao-Tzu when using the word emptyness, perhaps meaning non existence, he is talking about the not visible but powerful ‘soul’ or ‘thought’ or ‘spirit’. Not the material world is important but the immaterial world of the ‘idea’. Plato spend some time pondering about that concept as well. The eastern thinkers at some time in history were way ahead of the rest of the world. But, granted, we had the Neanderthalers. 🙂 Interesting post Brian, and the images above are very well chosen, espcially the Magritte one. Tot ziens!
Very good thought Peter. Maybe that gives a clue to what he calls the “non-being”, I like the parallel with Plato’s “idea”, or the “cavern”. Hmmm.
Now speaking of Neanderthalers, It would seem they’re back… 😉
The Magritte was a sheer stroke of luck. I still don’t quite understand the “non-being.” Magritte’s work might be a “way” towards understanding.
Dank je wel meen heer.
Happy easter.
The quote about the house in particular speaks to me. I find it oddly comforting.
It does doesn’t it? Speak to one? A different way to “look” at the house. (And that one is quite comforting, trust me…)
Happy Easter Liz.
Happy Easter, Brian.
Bonne méditation 🙂
Om Mani Padme Om… 😉🙏🏻
I love this post. And the quotes are so very true. But then, I’ve always been drawn to the Dao.
Glad you liked it. The Tao or Dao does make one wonder doesn’t it?
A Ferris wheel in the Tuileries somehow doesn’t seem right. But I guess they’re all over the place. I love that picture of the house in Mexico.
I sooo agree with you about the wheel in the Tuileries. Just another example of greed. Politicos get paid…
I think we are being encouraged to look within the obvious
Absolutely right. Inside. Outside… The European/western version would be “think outside the box”. (Or get rid of the box, as a client once told me. Good client)
All well Derrick?
Yes, thanks, Brian
It is timeless wisdom. The inside cannot exist without the outside in the world of matter, of duality.
The middle of the wheel makes it go round, but the middle itself, the axle, does not move. I think that is from Gautama Buddha …
Very true. When one digs a bit into “Asian” thought, one realises that there has been a lot of “cross-fertilisation”. Just as is Europe.
Buddha lived around the same time as Lao-Zu.
I’ll need to think more about those sentences, especially the last one (the others are clearer to me). Meanwhile I enjoyed the accompanying photos and your thoughts on them. ‘Mother car and her baby car’ made me smile 🙂
Agreed. The “non-being” still eludes me.
That car, I’ve seen around a few times. Very cute…
I do love the work of Magritte. The hydrant brought a memory of an old Buster Keaton – where they kept picking the hydrant up and moving it, but wherever they put it it still worked.
Magritte was a definite master. This art of his was the only thing I could find in my archives to possibly illustrate the non-being.
Keaton… That was a long time ago. I think I remember that movie… Makes a lot of sense. Or non-sense?
I love how Magritte can say so much.
He did. You’re quite right. Looking back, he might have been one of the best surrealists… (Dali was good for a while, but Magritte was more consistent till the end…)
Yes, I think Dali became lost in himself later on.
He did. I think his “moustache” outgrew him. 😉
Lol
PS. If you like Magritte, you must go to Brussels. His museum is unbelievable.
I have it on my list 🙂
That’s a good list. Do you go “back” to the UK once in a while?
No, never. I had planned to go in the late 80s but I fell in love. 🙂
Perfect reason. Now, going back now might be a shock…
I think so, the current deterioration of culture and nature is uninviting for me, plus most of the people I knew have long gone.
Very aptly put. Both nature AND culture are under fire…
And also the people one knew have gone…
Love Magritte’s La décalcomanie and many artists have “appropriated” the style since.
I used to read a lot of Lao-Tzu when I was in high school. Guess I needed more inspiration and to understand the purpose of everyday life – a repetition day in, day out or more…
You did? It was not really in the French programme. Not much English lit. either. Actually practically none except short extracts in English.
Yes, but it wasn’t a programme at high school. I was reading Lao-Tzu after school.
Okay. All the better.
You paint a perfect description of the Dao with your words, and the photos flow with what you say. I’d like to say the saying you have included, “We shape clay into a pot, but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we want.” is one of my favorites of the Dao, but all the verses hold thoughts that get the creative and spiritual side moving. I love how you put it all into action with this post. Very happy to read your take on Lao Zi (yet another spelling 😂), and are enjoying the challenges of the read – but most importantly finding the wisdom of his writing. Cheers to another creative piece, and this is the one thing I love about your blog… you also get the reader to think and escape into another world 😊. Cheers, my friend, and a toast across the oceans until the day comes when we do meet up and enjoy a beer and share the fascinating tales life has given us. Take care ~
Xie xie Peng Yu. I’ll always be grateful for your recommendation of the book. Reading it from time to time. Some sayings are relatively “easy” to capt. Others, such as non-being, not so much. I guess it’s all a matter of time.
To illustrate was also a challenge. But that’s what makes blogging interesting, right?
Cheers to you back. Looking forward to that beer.
Kwaheri sassa. (See you soon in Swahili which you might have heard when you were there…)
🙏🏻
Hi Brian, I hope you had a lovely long weekend. I really enjoyed this post. The way you put it together is fabulous. I like the silhouette and non- silhouette particularly.
Dag Robbie. We had. Thank you. I hope you did too.
It was fun to put together. “Non-being is hard to illustrate (or even to conceptualize) (I haven’t yet). Though Magritte probably helps a long way to understand…
Totsiens…
Thank you, holidays are generally nice 🐰