interesting, thanks. But I think “grasping the big, letting go of the small” is a good way to think about this. We don’t want to be bogged down by “the small”. Nor should we lose sight of “the big”, which a focus on emptiness could encourage.
The way I think about it, we need to reflect on our end goals in life (“the big”) and not let random distractions (“the small”) take over. But differentiating the big from the small is an ongoing process, not something that is fixed or transcendental. So for a concert pianist, the big might be performing Rachmaninov’s 2nd Piano Concerto at least once in her career, for a gardener, the big might be simply to maintain a public garden for visitors to enjoy. But their big could easily become small if they one day come across some other goal in life that becomes far more important - eg raising their family, bringing up a child to adulthood. But I would avoid going through life like a cloud, pushed around by the wind.
Interesting train of thought! Most things, overtime, really don't matter as much. Let me bring in another lens - What if "the big" turns out to be "small", and perhaps the "small" is actually "the big" after all with the passage of time? Personally I found this to be true, as I move through the seasons in my life.
In Japanese language, there's this distinction between purposeful doing (ために tameni) vs becoming/ where we have no full control over (ように youni). Here, the second expression ように (Youni, e.g. 失敗しないように ‘so I won’t fail’) softens agency, a bit like non-forcing of 無為, focusing on the process over absolute outcome.
Still, the choice depends on context - much like life itself, where "emptiness" of not being fixated and openness, matters as much as intention.
Thank you for the note! An obsession with emptiness can indeed make one paralyzed or discouraged in life, which may have often been interpreted this way.
閒=Moonlight (月) spilling into the room, the simple idleness of an unoccupied space. I love the notion of it, particularly relevant in our modern lives. Tao Yuan Ming did embody that! Was just reading a line by David Whyte: "Life seems to ask us to fall in love in many different ways, but none of us are ready for what we have to give up to get what we want."
There are cost and vulnerabilities in taking the path forward. We get hurt and we also receive love through that very same opening.
Thank you Peckgee. Finding our own forms of unoccupied space is often underestimated or even overlooked. It takes the open space to carve out something useful. We know it, but may lose track of it while getting busy with life.
"With constant practice in dissolving the self, we can still cultivate an inner space, inwardly unoccupied, with the heart flowing with the white clouds."
interesting, thanks. But I think “grasping the big, letting go of the small” is a good way to think about this. We don’t want to be bogged down by “the small”. Nor should we lose sight of “the big”, which a focus on emptiness could encourage.
The way I think about it, we need to reflect on our end goals in life (“the big”) and not let random distractions (“the small”) take over. But differentiating the big from the small is an ongoing process, not something that is fixed or transcendental. So for a concert pianist, the big might be performing Rachmaninov’s 2nd Piano Concerto at least once in her career, for a gardener, the big might be simply to maintain a public garden for visitors to enjoy. But their big could easily become small if they one day come across some other goal in life that becomes far more important - eg raising their family, bringing up a child to adulthood. But I would avoid going through life like a cloud, pushed around by the wind.
Interesting train of thought! Most things, overtime, really don't matter as much. Let me bring in another lens - What if "the big" turns out to be "small", and perhaps the "small" is actually "the big" after all with the passage of time? Personally I found this to be true, as I move through the seasons in my life.
In Japanese language, there's this distinction between purposeful doing (ために tameni) vs becoming/ where we have no full control over (ように youni). Here, the second expression ように (Youni, e.g. 失敗しないように ‘so I won’t fail’) softens agency, a bit like non-forcing of 無為, focusing on the process over absolute outcome.
Still, the choice depends on context - much like life itself, where "emptiness" of not being fixated and openness, matters as much as intention.
Thank you for the note! An obsession with emptiness can indeed make one paralyzed or discouraged in life, which may have often been interpreted this way.
閒=Moonlight (月) spilling into the room, the simple idleness of an unoccupied space. I love the notion of it, particularly relevant in our modern lives. Tao Yuan Ming did embody that! Was just reading a line by David Whyte: "Life seems to ask us to fall in love in many different ways, but none of us are ready for what we have to give up to get what we want."
There are cost and vulnerabilities in taking the path forward. We get hurt and we also receive love through that very same opening.
Thank you Peckgee. Finding our own forms of unoccupied space is often underestimated or even overlooked. It takes the open space to carve out something useful. We know it, but may lose track of it while getting busy with life.
With February already shaping up to be intense, time for me to wander back into the promises of unoccupied spaces :)
"With constant practice in dissolving the self, we can still cultivate an inner space, inwardly unoccupied, with the heart flowing with the white clouds."
A beautiful reminder. Thank you.
Thank you Rena. I'm really glad it's useful.