Chapter 15.1: The Ancient Exemplars of the Way

 

Of old, those who excelled at the Way,

Were subtle, amazing, mysterious, and interconnective,

Their depths were unfathomable.

The ancient Exemplars of the Way – those Wayfinders and Waymakers – had unique characteristics.  They were subtle, they focused on little things, started small, determined first steps, and were detail-oriented.  They worked behind the scenes and out of the limelight.  Nothing is too small or insignificant for their attention.  By starting small, nurturing seeds, and encouraging unseen potential, they made incremental progress and ultimately worked wonders. 

 They were also amazing, in its original sense of the word – a maze!  While most people get lost in their own lives, thoughts, and feelings, the ancient Exemplars recognized that life is a maze – and they made their Way through it.  They wove their Way through their own limiting labels and beliefs, untangled their own internal issues, and worked their Way out of their external circumstances, finding solutions that remained hidden from most people who went around and around in never-ending circles, making the same mistakes over and over again in their lives – stuck in their cycles. 

They were also mysterious – the things they did often seemed counterintuitive.  They perplexed and confused those around them – they were unconventional, unorthodox, extreme disruptors, out-of-the-box thinkers – and yet they got results.  How?  They embraced their own place in the universe and the mystery inherent in all things.  The world is full of wonder and awe!  The ancient Exemplars of the Way were curious and inquisitive like a child, always wondering, always asking, always appreciating the beauty and majesty of the world and people around them. They saw everyone and everything around them as a rare treasure!

Lastly, the ancient Exemplars possessed the power of connection – the ability to make and draw connections between themselves and others, between causes and effects, and between roots and fruits.  Interconnectedness is the ability to build bridges instead of craters, to find common ground instead of clinging to moot differences, to see options and opportunities instead of obstacles. This interconnectedness is a skill that brings people together in powerful ways.

As we walk on the Way, we can likewise develop these four skills – the insight of subtlety, the attribute of amazingness, the mindset of mystery, and the power of connection.  We can start small, right where we are.  We can take a first step toward something we want or who we want to become.  We can do the little things in our lives to take care of ourselves and others.  We can choose to be amazing and embrace the fact that we already are.  We can choose to move forward with confidence and face our challenges, no matter how daunting they may seem, believing that we will make our Way through them – because there is ALWAYS a Way – and we can leave a string behind to help others find their own Way out of the maze too.  We can also get curious – about ourselves, our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs.  We can withhold self-judgment and get inquisitive asking ourselves why we do the things we do and if we are getting the results we want from them in our lives.  Then we can go discover!  We can turn over a new leaf, start fresh, wipe the slate clean, move in a new direction, and redefine ourselves.  We can also get curious about the world around us.  It is full of wonder, majesty, and mystery.  We can choose to look at it with childlike eyes of interest.  Then we can give that same gift of wonder, mystery, and curiosity to all those around us. ~ DCB

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Chapter 19: On Simplicity and Unlimited Potential

Image
  Cut off prevailing wisdom, discard discrimination,  and the people will benefit a hundredfold. Cut off craftiness, discard profiteering,  and thieves and bandits will cease to exist. Cut off hypocrisy, discard deception,  and the people will return to filial piety and parental care. These three sayings are insufficient in their message,  perhaps to these should be added: Look to the simplicity of undyed cloth,  embrace the potential of an uncarved block, reduce selfishness, and cut out insatiable appetites. When we institutionalize and popularize wisdom and outsmarting knowledge – what has worked for some people (usually celebrities) in certain circumstances in the past – we run the risk of quashing individual intuition and innovation.   One example: How many people have bounced from fad diet to fad diet or one workout routine to the next feeling without getting the results they want?   How many then give up feeling like a failure ...
Read more

Chapter 28.1: Un-Conditioning Ourselves: Returning Home to Our Newborn State

Image
If we understands the masculine and safeguards the feminine, Then we can be a valley stream to all under the heavens, abiding in our personal power and virtue. and not departing from it. As a valley stream to all under the heavens, abiding in our personal power and virtue and not departing from it,  like a bird from a net, returning home again and again to the state of a precious newborn babe. Regardless of gender, each of us has masculine and feminine energies within us, one displaying and manifesting, one reflective and receptive; one active and ambitious, one passive and peaceful, one passionately pursuing its purpose and desires, one open to embracing the unknown opportunities of the universe, one exuberant and one enduring.  Understanding our masculine sides while preserving and safeguarding our feminine sides brings balance .  Far too often, we embrace one side as our identity while rejecting or suppressing the other.  Just as both masculine and feminine are r...
Read more

Chapter 28.4: Becoming Authentic Vessels of Transformation

Image
When our infinite potential is disseminated, then we become vessels, And wise people utilize our infinite capabilities to serve as officials and leaders. Therefore, the greatest controlled carving – self-control – does not sever us from ourselves. When we return to our unconditioned , unshaped , and unlimited state of infinite potential and possibility, when we embrace our place in the universe as rare, unique, and precious treasures , practice true authenticity of self, and when we put that version of ourselves out there into the world, we become a vessel of transformation to nurture and nourish that in others.  The appearance of perfection is not required – only purposeful presence.  As we give ourselves permission to shine  where we are, as we are, we simultaneously give everyone around us permission to do likewise – even if they are not dancing identically to us. Wise people will see the transformation in us and the capacity as a vessel for change and will gi...
Read more