“Too much time is squandered on
What was and
What might be
Leaving only table scraps for
What Is”
Wu Hsin from the Lost Writing of Wu Hsin translated by Roy Melvyn
Table scraps have their uses… yet can’t sustain us.
Pause and take time to Find your Middle Ground.
Embrace each moment fully and nourish your very being.
Namaste
free image from Dreamstime
Sit with this a while and see what comes up for you…
Bringing our awareness to the beliefs that we hold, and usually take for granted, is the first step in our personal growth and spiritual self inquiry. When we look inwards and question our thinking and assumptions, it opens up new perspectives and gives us the opportunity to learn about what has been unknown…. or what may never be discoverable in this life.
This venture into the unknown is a courageous path because the ego-mind will be alert for any conflicting views or threats to its long held position. The ego holds on to those beliefs that have become our certainties about life. It can keep us rigid, stubborn, critical and damning, or simply safe and stuck.
The choice is ours. To embrace the new or hold on to our certainties.
To those on the path of Yoga teacher training, take courage as you embrace what is beyond belief.
Namaste
“The only difference between
A Teacher and a Student is that
The Student believes that
There is a difference whereas
The Teacher knows there is none.”
~ Wu Hsin
The best teachers in all aspects of life are perpetual students, open to learning and letting go of what they have been told is the truth.
Only the ego creates a hierarchy to uphold and defend.
It’s so freeing to step into an other realm where our conditioning doesn’t get in the way of our evolution … and we can play and learn together.
Namaste
~ Wu Hsin Translated by Roy Melvyn from “The Lost Writing of Wu Hsin”
These words brought a smile today.
Ah yes, we may want life to be flowing and “natural”, yet we tend not to accept the very nature of it.
Warts happen.
Embrace the highs and lows of life my friends.
When the innumerable searches are concluded,
The realization dawns that
The optimal place to be is
Where one already is.
It is an arrival at the place
Where there is no solid footing beneath,
The understanding of all things.
Until the conclusion,
The searcher is like
A cod asking directions to the ocean
~ Wu Hsin from “The Lost Writings” translated by Roy Melvyn
Wu Hsin’s insights into spirituality and Oneness always bring a smile.
It isn’t easy learning to go with the flow, until we stop asking for directions, and find the courage to be with no solid footing.
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One’s ideas of oneself
Change over time.
Being is constant.
Therefore, the choice is between
Attending to the changeful and
Attending to the changeless.
~ Wu Hsin, Translated by Roy Melvyn from The Lost Writings of Wu Hsin
A simple wise message about what we choose to attend to.
Let us pay attention to our being today, and let go of the perceived changes.
Namaste
“A nose kept in books
Cannot smell the dogwoods.
While the scholars are
Studying the menu,
The wise are eating the meal.”
~ Wu Hsin
What a great reminder to really tuck into life 💛
“All supposed problems are of the mind.
What is mind?
Mind is a collection of thoughts.
Where are the problems when they are not thought about?”
“The most efficient means to
destroy any problem is to
ignore the problem.
In the absence of the energy
required to sustain it,
it withers and dies.”
“When clarity is present there are no problems.
Why rely on the mind to provide the solution?
It is the mind that birthed the problem.”
Wu Hsin
These quotes from Wu Hsin really got me pondering today. I noticed how my initial thought was to dismiss the second perspective. After all, ignoring problems will not bring about solutions … It also brought up a core belief of mine that not addressing problems leads to passivity, inaction and fatalism. Now there’s a judgment for you…
It seems to be human nature to find problems and then we are driven to fix them. It is the cornerstone of most western cultures. Is this simply a habit of our thinking?
On the other hand, why would we want to efficiently destroy a problem. A problem is an obstacle that our thinking has created. Is the answer in its destruction? As the Zen proverb goes “The Obstacle is the Way”.
There is an opportunity for new kind of mindful awareness when we come across problems.
As long as we are externally focused we will come across problems and have a need to try to resolve them. When we turn our attention inwards to find clarity in the presence within, thoughts fade away.
What if we were to take Wu Hsin’s approach?
How would the world around us be different … and how we would be in it?
Just pondering 💛
“Too much time is squandered on
What was and
What might be
Leaving only table scraps for
What Is”
Wu Hsin from the Lost Writing of Wu Hsin translated by Roy Melvyn
Table scraps have their uses… yet are not enough.
“Trying to explain the unknown
Using symbols and words of
The known is like
Trying to smell one’s nose.”
Wu Hsin from The Lost Writings of Wu Hsin translated by Roy Melvyn
He has good point!
… Yet we keep trying to do so 😉
“Just as honey is not sweetness,
The words of Wu Hsin are not
The truth.
However, time spent with these words is like
The aftermath of rain.
In due course, a sprouting of
Understanding will occur and
Will bear fruit at a pace
Outside of one’s control.”
Wu Hsin from “The Lost Writings of Wu Hsin. Pointers to NonDuality in Five Volumes” translated by Roy Melvyn
I just received this compilation of writings by Wu Hsin and it resonates deeply with me.
Wu Hsin was born in China over a hundred years after Confucius. There is not much known about him, other than writings that have survived. His form of Taoist philosophy asks us to question everything. His uses few words and those he chooses are full of paradox and are sometimes provocative. They got my attention with their directness and deep knowing, delivered with some tongue in cheek!
I am really enjoying this work and its message about life and our spiritual nature…
He is a planter of seeds …
I look forward to sharing a few of these with you 🙂
I am deeply moved by these words of Wu Hsin which I came across at Superaalifragilistic.
“Dismount the pendulum of fear and desire.
The ground beneath you is the Source and Support”
Wu Hsin
For me this captures the essence of Find Your Middle Ground in a way that I have not been able to fully express with my own words.
My gratitude to you Aalif and the lost writings of Wu Hsin.
Namaste
