right-thing.jpg

The Right Thing

Hop on and hold tight. Don't let yourself get left behind.

Save your energy and relax. Let yourself be a newborn child.

Wash away your darkest thoughts. Don't let yourself get upset.

Love your neighbour and lend a hand. Don't let yourself judge.

The universe shifts and slides. Let yourself take it all in.

Clear and bright in every direction, don't even let yourself think about how we're created and compelled to give birth but not own, to motivate but not mother, to parent but not punish.

This one's called Xuande, the strange case of doing the right thing.

Notes

This is probably a pithy primer on the process and epiphany of Daoist meditation.

has something mystical to do with, "Cosmic gates opening and closing," and is, "Letting yourself be made female."

evokes for me a passage in Wenzi that every corner is lit when superiors defer to subordinates. I'm thinking of it as the clarity of purpose of a common effort.

vs is just unbelievably flexible. If I were to apply its lesson in Dao De natural law to Laozi's water buffalo, he raised her but doesn't own her, he guides her but she doesn't need him, he fattens her but not for slaughter.

Vocabulary

zài
車 159 + 6
load; carry; transport, convey
yíng
火 86 + 13
encampment, barracks; manage
鬼 194 + 5
vigor; body; dark part of moon
bào
手 64 + 5
embrace, hold in arms, enfold
一 1 + 0
one; a, an; alone
néng
肉 130 + 6
to be able; can, permitted to; ability
火 86 + 8
negative, no, not; lack, have no
隹 172 + 11
leave, depart; go away; separate
丿 4 + 4
interrogative or exclamatory final particle
zhuān
寸 41 + 8
monopolize, take sole possession
气 84 + 6
air, gas, steam, vapor; spirit
zhì
至 133 + 3
send, deliver, present; cause
róu
木 75 + 5
soft; gentle, pliant
yīng
女 38 + 14
baby, infant; bother
ér
儿 10 + 6
son, child, oneself; final part
水 85 + 11
wash, cleanse, purify; sweep
chú
阜 170 + 7
eliminate, remove, except
xuán
玄 95 + 0
deep, profound, abstruse; KangXi radical 95
lǎn
見 147 + 14
look at, inspect; perceive
疒 104 + 5
flaw, fault, defect; disease
ài
心 61 + 9
love, be fond of, like
mín
氏 83 + 1
people, subjects, citizens
zhì
水 85 + 5
govern, regulate, administer
guó
囗 31 + 8
nation, country, nation-state
zhī
矢 111 + 3
know, perceive, comprehend
tiān
大 37 + 1
sky, heaven; god, celestial
mén
門 169 + 0
gate, door, entrance, opening
kāi
門 169 + 4
open; initiate, begin, start
門 169 + 10
close; whole, entire; all; leaf
wèi
火 86 + 5
do, handle, govern, act; be
隹 172 + 5
female; feminine; gentle, soft
míng
日 72 + 4
bright, light, brilliant; clear
bái
白 106 + 0
white; pure, unblemished; bright
囗 31 + 2
four
辵 162 + 9
arrive at, reach; intelligent
shēng
生 100 + 0
life, living, lifetime; birth
zhī
丿 4 + 3
marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
chù
田 102 + 5
livestock, domestic animals
ér
而 126 + 0
and; and then; and yet; but
一 1 + 3
no, not; un-; negative prefix
yǒu
月 74 + 2
have, own, possess; exist
shì
心 61 + 6
rely on, presume on, trust to
zhǎng
長 168 + 0
long; length; excel in; leader
zǎi
宀 40 + 7
to slaughter; to rule
shì
日 72 + 5
indeed, yes, right; to be; demonstrative pronoun, this, that
wèi
言 149 + 9
say, tell; call, name; be called
彳 60 + 12
ethics, morality, virtue