Friday, July 23, 2010

Spinning Top or a Dreidel

The tapestry that is the Tao has a peculiar characteristic. Its threads are always moving, adjusting, and changing their relationships. Change is the only constant in the Tao. But in all this ceaseless change, the harmony of the threads is maintained.
~ from Chapter 1 of The Spirit of Tai-Chi: Essential Principles ~
If not for the advent of constant change, walking the middle path would be a cinch for those committed to it. All we would need do is to figure out the lay of the land and draw a line straight down the center. We could then skip merrily along the line and not have to worry if we strayed a little to the left or right.

Of course, the chief problem with this idyllic picture is that the "lay of the land" is not stationary in the least. It more resembles an earthquake! The ground always is shifting beneath our feet. What represents the center at this precise moment may be far off center in the next.

So, how do we stay centered in an ever changing world?
I feel like a spinning top or a Dreidel
The spinning don't stop when you leave the cradle
You just slow down
Round and around this world you go
Spinning through the lives of the people you know
We all slow down
How you gonna keep on turning from day to day?
How you gonna keep from turning your life away?
~from Dreidel by Don McLean ~

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