Mysterious Power

Tao Te Ching

Chapter 10

Can you keep your soul in its body,

hold fast to the one,

and so learn to be whole?

Can you center your energy,

be soft, tender,

and so learn to be a baby?

Can you keep the deep water still and clear,

so it reflects without blurring?

Can you love people and run things,

and do so by not doing?

Opening, closing the Gate of Heaven,

can you be like a bird with her nestlings?

Piercing bright through the cosmos,

can you know by not knowing?

To give birth, to nourish,

to bear and not to own,

to act and not lay claim,

to lead and not to rule:

this is mysterious power.

There is something about the Tao Te Ching that not only captures my attention, but also brings a deep sense of peace. When I first read it over forty years ago, I was such a neophyte in all things spiritual. This ancient, sacred text was so exotic and incomprehensible. But I was drawn to it again and again. Each time I opened it, a new way of seeing came to me. 

It still happens that way. Maybe that is just one more reason staying in the present moment is so important. The present moment just is ~ pure and simple ~ joy, peace, compassion, kindness for self and all others. "Can you love people and run things, and do so by not doing?"

Text from: 'Tao Te Ching - A book about the way and the power of the way'

Ursula K. Le Guin
Photo from: The Wisdom of the Sacred Feminine