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He who is in harmony with the Tao
is like a newborn child.
Its bones are soft, its muscles are weak,
but its grip is powerful.
It doesn't know about the union
of male and female,
yet its penis can stand erect,
so intense is its vital power.
It can scream its head off all day,
yet it never becomes hoarse,
so complete is its harmony.
The Master's power is like this.
He lets all things come and go
effortlessly, without desire.
He never expects results;
thus he is never disappointed.
He is never disappointed;
thus his spirit never grows old.
55
Tao Te Ching, a New English Version, copyright ©️ 1988 by Stephen Mitchell, published by HarperCollins. All rights reserved.
After years of playing in the so-called “advanced” category, I finally built up the nerve to sign up for a tennis tournament. I was fourteen years old and my first opponent perhaps scratched eight. “There is no way I’m gonna lose to this little boy.” I thought before my first serve.
It was a disaster. The blow of defeat was so hard on me I quit Tennis and didn’t touch a racket for 10 years.
At last, about a year ago I took up the sport once again. I played every now and then and eventually became, if not an “Ok” player then at least not an embarrassment.
A decade since my last competitive game I signed up for the national ranking championship (In the lowest category) and guess what… My first opponent: a 10-year-old girl.
And yes… she destroyed me.
But something amazing happened. I didn’t seem to care. Not an ounce of disappointment.
Objectively the situation was even worse than before, so what changed? Was it thanks to a decade of practicing Taoism? I don’t know. But here’s what I think: My identity these days is so loose and the range of my interests so wide, it would be impossible to feel threatened by losing a single tennis match.
“Its bones are soft, its muscles are weak, but its grip is powerful.”
Maybe the bones are our identities and they should be softer, not more defined. Maybe the muscles are beliefs, and they should be weaker, not stronger. Soft identities and weak beliefs make a bad breading ground for desire.
Desire is the path to the dark side… Desire leads to expectations… Expectations lead to Disappointment… Disappointment leads to fragility.
Quote of the Week
“Some people say, How can you live without knowing? I do not know what they mean. I always live without knowing. That is easy. How you get to know is what I want to know.”
― Richard Feynman, The Meaning of It All: Thoughts of a Citizen-Scientis
Song Picks of the Week (Official TTT Playlist here)
So I agree that If I add classical music into the official playlist mix it might be a bit of a buzzkill for some. So for that reason, Classical picks won’t be in the official playlist but in the Classic Good playlist.
Hématome - L’Imperatrice (Indie-Rock)
Bach was a genius. And I hate that word. This piece has three independent voices (even though it’s only one piano) It’s a textbook example of polyphony. If you dare to click on this one you have to listen to it four times. One listening to the highest melody, one for the one in the middle, one for the lowest, and a final time to take in the three voices at once. Enjoy.
You might recognize this one from the movie Mr. Nobody (which is highly recommended). Simply beautiful.
Thank you very much!
Until next Tuesday.
Daniel