 24 Apr 2010 @ 00:20
ACCEPTANCE
Drought burns basins to dust,
Light rain is a dew of mockery.
Receive without complaint,
Work with fate.
When the countryside is gripped in drought, it is useless to
complain. Even when light rains fail to moisten the parched landscape,
we should accept what happens. This is the way of Tao, and one who
follows Tao accepts what comes.
We may have ambitions to move in one direction, but Tao will decide
otherwise. We may have plans for the future, but Tao will bend time
differently. There are those who will cry out in anger and frustration,
but the follower of Tao remains silent and goes about the business of
preparation.
Acceptance does not mean fatalism. It does not mean capitulation to
some slaughtering predestination. Those who follow Tao do not believe in
being helpless. They believe in acting within the framework of
circumstance. For example, in a drought, they will prepare by storing
what water is available. That is sensible action. They will not plant a
garden of flowers that requires a great deal of water. That is ignorance
and egotism.
Acceptance is a dynamic act. It should not signal inertness,
stagnation, or inactivity. One should simply ascertain what the
situation requires and then implement what one thinks is best. As long
as one's deeds are in accord with the time and one leaves no sloppy
traces, then the action is correct.
365 Tao: Daily Meditations
Deng Ming-Dao
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