The Tao

It is not something that can be explained
Or searched for
Or achieved
It is something that one simply possesses
Without thinking or doing
It just is
It is the Tao
It has always been there
And will never cease to be there
It just is
It is the Tao
The Tao just is.

Peace

Everyone longs to find peace

From the poorest peasant to the richest business man

The prospect of wholeness drives the most wicked man to God

And the holiest man to Sin

Yet the only way to find yourself is to first find the Tao

The only way to bring about peace is

to bring about Yin and Yang

A man must travel through Hell to

march pass the pearly gates

In the same manner a wise man must walk with Yin

in order to relax with Yang

Cassie Kennedy - Poem

Becoming One with the Tao

Cassie Kennedy

Period 2

Balance. Peace. Serenity.
All characteristics of the Tao.
Chaotic. Stressed. Busy.
The state that I am in now.

I work towards the goal;
Becoming one with the Tao.
Cleanse my mind
Of stressful thoughts.
Find the Yings and Yangs of life
What to do, and what not.

It is then, and only then
That I can find peace.
I must change my way of life
And the existence of problems will cease.

Tao te ching poem

Water, which is very free 

Has shaped the earth

The Ocean is below the land

Yet rivers flow into them

The strongest buildings,

Will eventually crumble

The tallest tree will eventually fall

And a small seed will blossom in its place

Be cautious of the strong

and they shall become weak

let your weakness be your strength

Immerse yourself in the Tao 

and you will be purified 

Tao de Ching Poem Maxwell Kofman

When lies are told

Society crumbles

Society falls when the support beams break

The truth centers inside people

it is ever present, never gone

yet it is corrupted by daily use

Politicians, yet the mailman

The queen, yet the clerk

Everybody breaks it

Nobody admits it

without this we would not be

It makes us human

but we only truly become human

once we break it

We live by it

but once we break it

yin tips the scale

It keeps life moving on

it keeps the gears turning

if it halters, the gears will stutter

life will still go on when it cracks

but it will feel wrong

because it is wrong

We as a society depend on it

it is what keeps us true

We as a society

call it honesty

The Old Oak

Sarah Cliff

Period 2

9/30/15

An withered Oak, surrounded by weeds,

sleeps under the midnight moon

down to the floor of a blanketed hill.

Hushed wind invokes whispers in the weeds.

“Why so so frail, old Oak?”

“Why so gnarly, old Oak?”

“You seem sad, old Oak.

Crickets chirp a rhythm

anticipating an answer.

The old Oak scans the shimmery blades

of green, so perfectly pointed.

The moon’s silver shine reflects off of

their young tender leaves.

They stand proud.

“Frail, you say? I am neither strong nor weak

Gnarly you say? I am neither glamorous nor repulsive

Sad, you say? I am far from it.”

“I am only enlightened”

The grass whisper violently in the wind

They spend the rest of the night

trying to make sense of the wise

oak’s teachings to no prevail.

When midsummer sun scorches the hilltops the next day,

the Old Oak lies peacefully

among fields of dead grass.

Rijul Agarwal- Tao Poem

The man travels all day, looking for the Tao

Yet the man doesn’t know what he’s searching for

The man travels all day, seeking something past the roots of dissension

Yet the man can’t find anything worth stopping for

The man pauses to take a breath

And closes his eyes for a moment’s while

Let me find it, he pleads the forces of his inner self

How do I embody the way of the Tao?

A vision appears within his closed eyes

More visible than anything the man has ever seen

The man then opens his eyes

His face splitting in a grin

For, what he finds

Is himself

The Master

The Master

By Jared Lee

The Master

He sits in his tree,

Contemplating life.

How can one be at peace?

He has to thrive in the chaos.

How can one be content?

He must try to quench every thirst.

How can one feel love?

He must harness his hate.

To focus your energy,

You must fall to your knees.

Nothing can be forced.

Everything has a time and a place.

Everything is a circle.

Buckets

Many people today

resemble buckets.

They try to catch and hold onto everything within their reach.

Many people today

resemble knifes.

They cut through their enemies and conflicting ideas.

Many people today

resemble walls.

They keep out those they don’t like.

This is not the way of the Tao.

The Tao is in everything, and yet it is shut out by many.

Those who buckets must have holes in the bottom

Those who are knives must have the blades cut off

Those who are walls must have replace it with nothingness.

For the Tao is in everything,

and this is the way of the Tao.

Acceptance

Live your life without worldly goals,

and you will accomplish all you want to.

Receive, don't pour, the water,

And you will be a full cup.

Listen, don't impart all your knowledge,

and you will become a source of wisdom.

Choose not to interfere, let events take their course,

and you will be satisfied with what you've done.

Accepting your failures is the first step to success.

Accepting your mistakes is the first step to rectifying them.

Accept the bad in you and you will find the good.

Accept your dark corners and you will find the light.

In this world, live like a nomad;

Take less with you and you will have less to carry.

Go where you're taken and you will find the beauty.

Underneath the Surface

The great waterfall of the universe

flows throughout the land.

Nourishing the sprouts and seedlings,

unchanging in its path.

The course of the water is undetermined.

Some days it surges forward,

others days it pulls back.

Traveling without a destination,

yet always going somewhere.

Individual droplets unite

creating a powerful swell.

Churning and tumultuous

yet underneath the surface,

there is tranquility and stillness.

Only within the darkness of its depths

can you find the light.

To learn the way of the Tao

To learn the way of the Tao,

 You must not study hard, or practice rituals. 

To learn the way of the Tao, 

You must observe all, and understand the flow of yin and yang

To learn the way of the Tao, 

You must be rooted and flexible as a willow, and flow in the wind

To learn the way of the Tao, 

You must be supple as a river, and let life take you where it takes you

To learn the way of the Tao, 

You must be accepting, that is the way it is

To learn the way of the Tao, 

You must let go of your goals and ambitions, for once you achieve them you will only begin again

To learn the way of the Tao, 

You must learn to let go,

To learn the way of the Tao.

Not with the Wind

The Wind pushes you

Pushes you to want to impress

The Wind is a cycle 

A cycle where one will always try to be not just great
but the best 

Who is the best? 

The best someone is one who follows not the Wind
but Tao 

Lives simply and peacefully

 Not trying to be correct like life is a test

One who follows Tao..

Lets the Wind blow through their hair

Lets the earth rotate slow

Lets the leaves fall as seasons change 

Let's the universe flow

To flow with Tao and not with the Wind... you will be the one who truly glows

The Brilliance in Ignorance

The Brilliance in Ignorance

You are fed with ideas,

with morals, with knowledge,

They provide you the answers,

before even mentioning the questions.

A mind, 

packed with information,

adopted as an all-powerful device

On the other hand,

an empty mind full of

harmony, serenity

darkness, and brightness;

A silky, delicate curtain,

its modest, yet intricate designs

flowing with limitless comfort.

You are blind but can still see

the faint glow of the successful path.

You are deaf but can still hear

the hum of the reassuring silence.

You have nothing to fear.

Let the Tao take over,

Let it guide you.

Embrace the Tao,

and it will embrace you.

Because the flow in your life,

it is vulnerable, it is weak 

Like how one pebble can ruin

the stillness of a serene lake

The rhythmic sensation of the Tao

can easily be interrupted.  

So don’t listen to them, be different.

Accept the gift of ignorance.

Listen to the Tao.

Listen to yourself.

Free Yourself

The Tao.
To embrace the Tao
is to be like the Tao.

To be like the Tao
is to allow it to flow through you.

You must free
your mind from thoughts
your heart from chaos
your soul from desires

And go back to the origin,
the roots, the Tao.
Complete yourself by emptying your world.
Allow yourself to let go of all,
in order to grasp the Tao.

Lose everything, and the Tao will be your path.
You will see the clarity within the darkness.
Return to the source to enlightened.

Only Through the Tao

Only when you let go of who you are,
of your innermost desires,
and your ambitions and goals,
can you truly be yourself.

Only through acceptance
of the world around you,
of the good and the bad,
can you truly understand.

Only through being lost,
through wandering in the dark,
through following the sound of silence,
can you truly find your way.

Only through the way,
through balance and acceptance;
only through the Tao
can you truly be at peace.

Many Names

What is a name
To a place that has lasted forever?
What is a name
To an ideal beyond comprehension?
The names change with time,
Floating like all does in the Tao

Even though one can say a name,
A true name comes from within
Only in the Tao can one truly learn your own name
And what it truly means

Belong Together

Why yin
Why yang
Well who knows

The yin is the dark
The yang is the light
They're stuck together like the moon and the night sky
They're inseparable,

but why
who knows, that's just life
They're better together then they are apart

The yin
The yang
belong together no matter what

Unravel

Unravel the shell that surrounds you;

Break free of the cage you have built.

Release your intuition to the void

And imbibe the essence of existence.

Unravel all impossibly entangled thoughts;

Remove all illusions you have compiled.

Suspend the continuous process of thinking.

And revel in the ensuing silence.

Unravel the senses, one by one.

Relinquish the need for sight, touch, or sound.

Rid the body of any form of resistance

And gradually surrender all emotions. 

Immerse yourself in the ways of the Tao;

Not taking nor giving,

Not benefiting nor harming.

Reflect its understanding of balance

And only then will it live within you,

Returning you to your origin, honored for eternity.

The Good and The Bad

The Good and The Bad

There is no shadow without light

no day without night

no sweet without sour

or even life without death.

Representing darkness and light

negativity or positivity

the complementary forces combine.

One compliments the other

a negative and a positive

One needs the other to be complete.

Forces of energy gradually change

yin to yang and yang to yin

the balance of life.

A constant chase

seeking a new balance between the two

The Good and The Bad.