Tao Te Ching: English translation by Stephen Mitchell
63
“Act without doing;
work without effort.
Think of the small as large
and the few as many.
Confront the difficult
while it is still easy;
accomplish the great task
by a series of small acts.”

 

Many years ago, back in the 1990’s in fact, when i first met my dear friend, Julie Harris, she gave me a copy of the Tao Te Ching translated into English by Stephen Mitchell. I sat on a beach that summer on the Côte D’Azur and read it. It was an amazing read! I realized that i was awakening from a long sleep, and that the Tao Te Ching helped to wake me up. It clarified my thoughts and and helped me understand the undercurrents of Life.

Since that time i have explored other mystical texts and religious traditions. In 2004 or 2005 i attended some of the seminars of Kashmiri Shivaist & Chan Master, Daniel Odier, here in Paris. I then learned about the meditative Dance of Shiva – ‘Tandava’.   Also, i found out about the Kashmiri Poetess, Lalla.

Since then i purchased a wonderful copy of poetry called; The Element Book of Mystical Verse, edited by Alan Jacobs at Barnes&Nobles. I dip into this book for inspiration. Lalla is in there, translated by Coleman Barks. This book includes another Eastern favorite, Rabindranath Tagore.

My luv of mystical poetry feeds me as i live my life…This blog is dedicated to my work here in Paris to sing and luv Life. With some dancing thrown in…

Here is Lalla, translated by Coleman Barks;

“Dance, Lalla, with nothing on but air. Sing, Lalla, wearing the sky.”