When people see some things as beautiful,
other things become ugly.
When people see some things as good,
other things become bad.

Being and non-being create each other.
Difficult and easy support each other.
Long and short define each other.
High and low depend on each other.
Before and after follow each other.


Therefore the Master acts without doing anything and teaches without saying anything.
Things arise and she lets them come; things disappear and she lets them go.
She has but doesn't possess, acts but doesn't expect.
When her work is done, she forgets it.
That is why it lasts forever.                     Verse 2, Stephen Mitchell New English Version

The Tao that can be told
is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named
is not the eternal name.

The unnamable is the eternally real.
Naming is the origin
of all particular things.

Free from desire, you realize the mystery.
Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.

Yet mystery and manifestations
arise from the same source.
This source is called darkness.

Darkness within darkness.
The gateway to all understanding.    Verse One, Stephen Mitchell translation

To this I just want to add a little commentary from an author published in one of my favorite anthologies:  The Best Buddhist Writing (2008). Author Lin Jensen writes: "Wei Wu Wei is not a kind, passive inaction, but rather a movement in concert with circumstance. Nondoing ultimately means trusting the wisdom of the universe to show the way rather than imposing one's arbitrary will upon it. As Lao-tzu puts it: 'The Tao never does anything, yet through it all things are done.'"

It's called me taking a few days off. I'll be back with Tao Te Thursday later this week. But for now, a writer friend sent me this fascinating video and I've watched it about five times. I love it. It reaffirms my belief in evolution. It makes me want to interact with the babies - but keep the Silverback at bay. Enjoy! But in the meantime, Frosty AK has turned me on to reading Dr. Joseph Mercola's natural health newsletter every day. I am hooked! And am dying to discuss it with you all. Happy holiday and be well. I'll be back with more of The Way. And H/T to Dear Frosty!

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.      Verse 55

It's an oldie from the last campaign, but it's a goodie. Take a look and stay through the pie eating (nice manners, but what was she thinking?) and listen for the two key things here:

The Planned Parenthood connection is particularly interesting right now. Ann Romney remembers giving $100, but asks the reporter why he'd expect her to remember giving money. Why not just say that they provide so many other services to women who can't pay for private health care?

Speaking of which, I have dug high and low, but cannot find that random moment in New Hampshire last month when a woman cornered Mitt Romney on why he has turned his back on his own health care reform for Massachusetts. The interesting thing for me in that video was A) how creepy and slithery Mittens is and B) how his wife stood there staring hard (perhaps dazed?) at the woman grilling the former governor.

There are numerous videos out there of Ann Romney talking about her diagnosis and maintenance of Multiple Sclerosis. As someone who was hit very hard by autoimmune diseases a number of years ago, I sympathize with her plight. And like Mrs. Romney, I have excellent doctors who help me and the appropriate drugs to manage my issues.

But what's interesting to me now is how Ann Romney no longer mentions the DRESSAGE that she relied on as her "joy therapy" to help her manage and overcome what can be a costly and debilitating disease. For some reason, I don't think the campaign sees it in Mitt's best interest to highlight the cost of such joy. Though they will ARGUE when the facts aren't correct.

I'd like to forget what the campaign is spinning now, and take another look back at the last campaign and the idea that Mrs. Romney has no idea how many HORSES she really owns (be sure and read the dressage article above for mention of the cost of one of those horses.)

I guess they are wealthy and entitled to spend their money how they want. It's the lying that gets to me (such as calling their mansion in New Hampshire a "little house.")  And the spin. And the lack of sincerity. Perhaps the horses are payback for living the good Mormon wife life, but I want to leave with one random thought.

In another interview, Romney described the moment at Mass General Hospital in 1998 when the doctor confirmed the MS diagnosis. Mitt said that the doctor left them alone and that they "embraced."  The word left me cold and I'll tell you why. When the perinatologist left my husband and me alone in his office to absorb the news that our 20-week fetus was going to be born with a major, but operable, birth defect, my husband and I didn't "embrace."  We clung to each other and sobbed. I recall my husband's skin was the color of pewter and he sort of tipped back to the wall as I stood to grab him. We clung to one another, quite literally, and he kept telling me that it was all going to be okay.

That's how I'd describe it. Even to this day. We were devastated and we clung to each other. We didn't embrace.

And the healthy teenager we have now and the long, hard road it was to get here was made possible by the health care we can afford and the myriad doctors we had access to.

I don't want to hear about fancy ponies and the joy of riding. Nor do I want to hear Ann Romney say she can't recall why she gave $100 to a women's health care organization. I want to know why these folks want to deny to others what they themselves have. 

And I want to know what Michelle is going to wear to the next inaugural ball. I can't wait to see it.

This video with one of my favorite senators, and indeed my senator, Barbara Boxer, arrived in my inbox this morning. Take a LOOK.  I've included the senator's website with the video embedded, but you can pull out the YouTube if you wish.

Clearly, it doesn't show the entire Nancy Brinker part from the beginning, but it shows enough, and I heard enough from her yesterday on the radio, to know that I truly don't want to hear anymore from her today.

The push back was big enough that they are dialing back the story, their reasoning for halting the Planned Parenthood funding, and their definition of "political."  

Let me summarize my feelings about this, feelings that have been shared all over the World Wide Web, and that is that poor women in America get screwed every day. And it infuriates me. Super uber wealthy Nancy B. can back pedal all she wants, but she makes my skin crawl.  

Meantime, if you missed it, fave political writer Sarah Jones tells is like it is when she looks deep into the decision making involved in this latest debacle. 

So tell me, is the apology and revision of their policy enough? Or is there more dirty dancing around the corner? Not sure. What say you?