tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post3997578494451547720..comments2023-05-24T23:33:57.516+10:00Comments on My Unwelcome Stranger: Just one 'waffeer thin' verseDenis Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-51442035080053517012013-11-26T15:03:21.173+11:002013-11-26T15:03:21.173+11:00I'm finding with the onset of dysphasia and he...<b><i>I'm finding with the onset of dysphasia and head seizures that my concentration has fallen to near zero. At the moment at least I’ll suspend one of my most enjoyable occupations - of responding to comments - in the hope of finding a time when I’ll get some back. Please be assured that I've read every one and thank you deeply for them.</i></b>Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-646005502514576252013-11-15T16:56:57.483+11:002013-11-15T16:56:57.483+11:00A thought-provoking post as always, even more so w...A thought-provoking post as always, even more so with the stimulating comments above. The compatibility of justice and kindness? I don’t believe they are incompatible, although perhaps not often seen together. I think judgement is only just where there is complete understanding, and I’m not at all sure that is possible. Judgement without understanding merges too easily into arrogance. If we can’t have goodness, I would rather have kindness than have to depend on justice.<br />Look forward to your return, Denis.Trish Nnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-8784026101074635432013-11-12T00:17:33.623+11:002013-11-12T00:17:33.623+11:00So many worthy points to take up here. I shall ret...<b>So many worthy points to take up here. I shall return - but not tonight!</b>Denis Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786035137418348609noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-31353440337452218412013-11-11T22:05:30.120+11:002013-11-11T22:05:30.120+11:00Fascinating post - and made more so by Julie Lake&...Fascinating post - and made more so by Julie Lake's observations, which lead me to wonder whether being kind and judgmental (or discerning) are mutually exclusive. I hadn't thought they were.zmkchttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08972549292961948240noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-34972331284499469652013-11-11T13:33:30.242+11:002013-11-11T13:33:30.242+11:00I know nothing about Tao (intend to Google after t...I know nothing about Tao (intend to Google after this) but that poem resonated with me very much as I thought of that very tragic case of Thomas Kelly and Kieran Loveridge and the brouhaha surrounding the sentence. It seems so appropriate to consider how important other things are ahead of justice (and may I pop in here a sad side effect of justice - vengeance). Thanks again Denis for an insight. Now off to Google Anne PAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-12509419696900993322013-11-11T10:03:35.073+11:002013-11-11T10:03:35.073+11:00Yes, Denis, the Tao te Ching is a pivotal guide to...Yes, Denis, the Tao te Ching is a pivotal guide to living. Thank you for pulling me back to it once again. Funny thing, how we learn something, live it, and then gradually it becomes less central to our lives. I began on the Tao again, on my Kindle, over breakfast ... gave me a better start to the day than the rather sorry thriller I try to digest with porridge.<br /><br />The start to this latest blog of yours, on one verse of the Tao, was rather wonderful. The beautiful picture and introductory quote brought a feeling of peace and stillness, shifting me back to the feeling of wonder I had when – on the fringes of the hippie movement – I was first introduced to the Tao some 40 or so years ago.<br /><br />Something you have always known ... many don’t ... is that the role of an educator is to make people think, for themselves. To provide them with the background and framework within which to do so effectively, and to provide access to further knowledge as their minds expand. <br /><br />And this morning you have made me think ... about the Tao, about the limits of our understanding and, indeed, the point at which further analysis becomes counter-productive. Your comments – using a contemporary example - provided just the right balance of understanding but still left much room for individual interpretation.<br /><br />I struggle to find suitable words with which to express my ignorance but, to me, there is an indefinable, inexplicable state of stillness, immobility, mystery and timelessness about the Tao and its philosophy. Without ever really managing to precisely pin down the text, it moves me to a place where a different viewpoint of life prevails. Part of a flow, the need to accept without an obsessive need to take action; a sort of almost ‘absorptive’ position. Almost a spectator.<br /><br />I am vaguely aware that if, as individuals, we can place ourselves - in Buddhist terms - into leading the right life, with the right occupation and viewing the world and our fellow humans in the right way, then we don’t need to analyse and agonise over whether or not we are being kind, or good. It will just happen. I think every religion, somewhere, expresses similar sentiments: “Love me and do as you like”, or “This too shall pass”.<br /><br />Sorry to rabbit on at such length, Denis, but thank you. This morning you have made me think and I have both my versions of the Tao open on my desk awaiting renewed pleasure. How we all wish you had the time left to work your way through the other 89 verses ... as starters. (I have bookmarked your link to previous postings). <br /><br />I have read various translations of the Tao and still have Cleary’s in book form and Legge on my Kindle. If you were to recommend a particular translation, which would it be?<br /><br />Love to you both.<br /><br />Bobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-32280797243236190422013-11-11T09:08:59.261+11:002013-11-11T09:08:59.261+11:00There's another piece a little later (near the...There's another piece a little later (near the 'journey of a thousand miles...' so often quoted) which I've come to think you have applied exceptionally well. It goes <br /><br /><i>Deal with it before it happens.<br />Set things in order before there is confusion</i><br /><br />kvd.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5722735165669239585.post-31014066273269217802013-11-10T21:35:26.377+11:002013-11-10T21:35:26.377+11:00Read with interest. I feel that in this sense &qu...Read with interest. I feel that in this sense "kindness" is a quality which is innate. If you don't have it you can (and should)strive for it but that's not easy - not for me, anyway, who is by nature judgmental. It's hard to be kind AND discerning! Whereas justice is at least something for which we can strive and reasonably hope to attain. I wish I was kind but I know I am not - I merely try to be. I do think, however, that I am just.Julie Lakehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10268676551467882065noreply@blogger.com