|
Today's
quotation:
In this world there is nothing softer
or thinner than water.
But to compel the hard and unyielding, it has no
equal. That
the weak overcomes the strong, that the hard gives way to
the gentle-- this everyone knows, yet no one acts
accordingly.
Lao-Tzu
|
|
Today's
Meditation:
One
of the most powerful drills in the world consists of water
being shot out of a small hole at extremely high
pressure. This drill can penetrate materials that
regular drill bits made out of metal couldn't come close to
getting through. And it's just water-- the same stuff
that we swim through and bathe in. Yet it can go
straight through a foot of cast iron; it can pierce
granite and other types of stone.
|
|
Our
vision of water has to do with the limitations of our
perspective. Lao-Tzu wasn't talking about water
drills, of course, for they hadn't yet been invented when
he was alive. Rather, he was talking about the
ability of water to carve out Grand Canyons, to change
boulders into grains of sand, to change coastlines, all
through its great perseverance. Water in rivers and
seas just keeps doing what it does, without thought of
results or whether or not it's able to do what it's
doing-- it just keeps on keeping on, and there may be no
visible results of its work for years or decades, but it
is very effective at what it does. |
If
we know what's right, we can continue to do that, no
matter whether or not we see any visible results of our
work. As long as we're doing what we do with a clear
conscience and the knowledge that we're doing good works,
we can continue to do them without worrying about the end
product of our efforts. Even if our efforts seem to
be overshadowed or overwhelmed by the negative efforts of
others, we can be sure that we're contributing to the
long-term efforts that eventually will ensure that the
effects of good acts will be seen in this world of ours.
|
