Today we celebrate the late Jerry Barsha's birthday with Martha and Deborah Barsha reading #23 and #80 with them respectively. I also talked with Kelly Swenson about #76.
#23 "Speaking from Tao"
When you speak, say what is to be said but no more.
Neither wind, nor storms last all day
nature expresses itself completely,
no matter how wild it may get,
Then it returns to stillness.
When you open yourself to Tao
You say what is to be said.
Everyone will agree because
When you speak from Tao only Tao can be heard.
He who aligns with Tao will only hear Tao.
He who aligns with manifestation will only hear manifestation.
He who aligns with failure will only hear failure.
How it is heard is not your concern.
Trust what is to be said
And everything will fall into place.
#76
When we are born,
We are soft and tender.
After we die,
We become rigid and brittle.
A living tree can sway,
A living blade of grass can bend,
For suppleness is the strength of life.
Only in death is flexibility stilled.
Tough and taut is the body of death;
Gently moving is the way of life.
Powerful forces crush themselves
Because they cannot move or yield.
A stiff and heavy tree will soon be broken
By wind or by axe.
Thus does rigid power always crumble,
While the supple and the humble
Gently endure.
#80
If a country is governed wisely,
its inhabitants will be content.
They enjoy the labor of their hands
and don't waste time inventing
labor-saving machines.
Since they dearly love their homes,
they aren't interested in travel.
There may be a few wagons and boats,
but these don't go anywhere.
There may be an arsenal of weapons,
but nobody ever uses them.
People enjoy their food,
take pleasure in being with their families,
spend weekends working in their gardens,
delight in the doings of the neighborhood.
And even though the next country is so close
that people can hear its roosters crowing and its dogs barking,
they are content to die of old age
without ever having gone to see it.
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