1 "The Vast Mind Empty of Meaning" -Second Book of The Tao Sunrise/Afternoon June 20, 2015

This is #1 in a Series of Posts that will eventually include all the main aspects
  of
Stephen Mitchell's Auspicious book
The Second Book of The Tao
so Perfectly Timely !
See Read More at end for further information.

1
What is bestowed on us at birth
is called human nature.
The fulfillment of human nature
is called the Tao.

The cultivation of the Tao
is the deepest form of learning.

The Tao is the way things are,
which you can’t depart from
even for one instant.

If you could depart from it,
it wouldn’t be the Tao.

Therefore the Master
looks into her own heart
and respects what is unseen and unheard.

Nothing is more manifest than the hidden;
nothing is more obvious than the unseen.

Therefore the Master
pays attention to what is happening
within her innermost self.

∞
Stephen Mitchell
The Second Book of The Tao
#1

∞

SILENT’S SONG OF VAST INNER CORE SILENCE
POSSESSES
<
THE GREATEST FREEDOM
<
ORIGINAL BEING
ew
4:22 AM - 6/20/15

∞

Above:  View from bottom of sand dunes path to the ocean beach.
Below:  First gaze of the ocean from top of sand dunes path.

COMMENTARY
for #1 Tao
Stephen Mitchell

We think that we know what human nature is,
but what if our most cherished assumptions are wrong? 
What if all suffering is the result of confused thoughts? 
That would change our paradigm a bit.

We’re born into the open, into the vast mind empty of meaning. 
Beyond thought, beyond things, reality just is. 
Human nature doesn’t need to be fulfilled,
nor do we need to cultivate what is already perfect. 
Once we recognize this, we return to the origin of all things. 
There is never a movement toward or away. 
We remain where we have always been,
but now we know it,
as if for the first time.

Departing from the Tao can happen only in the mind;
it’s an illusion that becomes our reality. 
Though we actually live in what is,
we think ourselves into what isn’t.  
Though every apparent detour is the path,
we get lost in our imagined wanderings. 
That’s why, if we’re interested in freedom,
there is nothing sweeter than to cultivate, cultivate: 
to get down, with trowel and hoe,
into the thought-rich soil of the mind.

It’s all about paying attention to what is happening within our innermost self,
until the unseen, the unquestioned,
is as obvious as the seen. 

When the mind is free of its thoughts,
it becomes its own fulfillment.

The Second Book of The Tao
Compiled and adapted from the
Chuang-tze and the Chung Yung
with commentaries
by
Stephen Mitchell

Rest in peace.
You are the unchangeable
Awareness in which all activity takes place.
Always rest in peace. 

You are eternal
Being, unbounded and undivided.
Just keep
Quiet.
All is well.
Keep Quiet
Here and Now. 

You are Happiness, you are
Peace,  you are
Freedom.
Do not entertain any
notions that you are in trouble. 

Be kind to yourself.
Open to your Heart and simply
Be.

Those who know
This know
Everything. 
If not,
even the most learned know nothing at all.


–Papaji


See Read More below

Stephen Mitchell
The Second Book of The Tao

Compiled and adapted from the
Chuang-tze and the Chung Yung,
with commentaries
by
Stephen Mitchell

SERIES for OceanSpeak
begins:
Saturday, June 20, 2015

1

What is bestowed on us at birth
is called human nature.
The fulfillment of human nature
is called the Tao.

The cultivation of the Tao
is the deepest form of learning.
The Tao is the way things are,
which you can’t depart from
even for one instant.

If you could depart from it,
it wouldn’t be the Tao.
Therefore the Master
looks into her own heart
and respects what is unseen and unheard.

Nothing is more manifest than the hidden;
nothing is more obvious than the unseen.
Therefore the Master
pays attention to what is happening
within her innermost self.
p.2
Stephen Mitchell
The Second Book of The Tao
Compiled and adapted from the
Chuang-tze and the Chung Yung,
with commentaries
by
Stephen Mitchell

∞∞∞∞

COMMENTARY
Stephen Mitchell

We think that we know what human nature is,
but what if our most cherished assumptions are wrong?
  What if all suffering is the result of confused thoughts? 
That would change our paradigm a bit.

We’re born into the open, into the vast mind empty of meaning. 
Beyond thought, beyond things, reality just is. 
Human nature doesn’t need to be fulfilled,
nor do we need to cultivate what is already perfect. 
Once we recognize this, we return to the origin of all things. 
There is never a movement toward or away. 
We remain where we have always been,
but now we know it,
as if for the first time.

Departing from the Tao can happen only in the mind;
it’s an illusion that becomes our reality. 
Though we actually live in what is,
we think ourselves into what isn’t.

 Though every apparent detour is the path, we get lost in our imagined wanderings. 
That’s why, if we’re interested in freedom,
there is nothing sweeter than to cultivate, cultivate:
  to get down, with trowel and hoe, into the thought-rich soil of the mind.

It’s all about paying attention to what is happening within our innermost self,
until the unseen, the unquestioned,
is as obvious as the seen. 

When the mind is free of its thoughts,
it becomes its own fulfillment.

The Second Book of The Tao
Compiled and adapted from the
Chuang-tze and the Chung Yung,
with commentaries
by
Stephen Mitchell

Saturday, June 20, 2015  OceanSpeak

Rest in peace.
You are the unchangeable
Awareness in which all activity takes place.
Always rest in peace. 

You are eternal
Being, unbounded and undivided.
Just keep
Quiet.
All is well.
Keep Quiet
Here and Now. 

You are Happiness,you are
Peace,  you are
Freedom.
Do not entertain any
notions that you are in trouble. 

Be kind to yourself.
Open to your Heart and simply
Be.
Those who know
This know
Everything. 
If not,
even the most learned know nothing at all.


–Papaji