Lao Tzu Archives - The Dewdrop

Lao Tzu

Book Bits, Chinese Texts, The Masters

‘Simply Be Aware of the Oneness of Things’ – Lao Tzu’s Lost Teachings from the Hua Hu Ching

June 22, 2021June 22, 2021 Vanessa Able

It is thought that in addition to the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu authored another text called the Hua Hu Ching whose full title translates as 'Lao Tzu's Conversion of the Barbarians.'

Counting Cats in Zanzibar: Why We Should Travel

July 1, 2019July 1, 2019 Vanessa Able

Lao Tzu said, 'The further one travels, the less one knows,' a sentiment echoed by Stephen Dunn in his poem Tangier: that there is no salvation in elsewhere but rather in the immediacy of our very own doorsteps. However, could the depletion of knowledge also be a kind of positive opening to the world in which… Continue reading Counting Cats in Zanzibar: Why We Should Travel

Chinese Texts, Texts, The Masters

In the Beginning was the Tao

March 20, 2019December 19, 2019 Vanessa Able

The Tao Te Ching - whose name translates as something like The Book of the Way - was written in China at about the same time as Buddha was teaching in India. The tenets of Taoism were deeply ingrained in Chinese life by the time Buddhism spread there centuries later, and when the two world… Continue reading In the Beginning was the Tao

The Expression of a Better World – Anaïs Nin on Transience and the Painful, Familiar Beauty of Music
Anaïs Nin on music, mortality, and what it is to glimpse a joyful vision of a land from which we came and which we have forgotten.
Outer and Inner Ecologies: Activist Satish Kumar on the Importance of Seeing Our Own Divinity
If we cannot see the fact of our own divinity and nurture that most immediate light, we can break down and burn out before we are able to effect any change.
Chris Abani on the Balance and Patience of West African Beauty
In West African thought, beauty surpasses the principles of symmetry and perspective and instead goes deep into the balance of being itself.
Letting the Old Thrills Die: C.S. Lewis on Being Alive to New Joy
Holding on to what is thrilling to us can be stifling and prevent us from paving the way for new experiences.
Working With the Soul Nerve – Resmaa Menakem on Grounding Our Bodies
Starting with the damage done by racism to human bodies, Resmaa Menakem presents a pragmatic approach to healing through the body.

Marie Howe – Death, the last visit
Marie Howe's different, highly sexual vision of transitioning out of life through a double-take on 'la petite morte,' the experience of orgasm as 'a little death.'
John O’Donohue – Beannacht / Blessing
This beautiful poem by John O'Donohue, whose title means 'Goodbye', is addressed as a blessing for his mother, Josie.
Emily Dickinson – I Died for Beauty, But Was Scarce…
Emily Dickinson's allegorical reflection on the relationship between beauty and truth.
Tishani Doshi – Hope is the Thing
Tishani Doshi's poem pays homage to a twelve-year-old girl who died of exhaustion last year during the Covid-19 lockdown.
Anne Hillman – We Look With Uncertainty
Hillman's poem about uncertainty and regeneration acknowledges the vulnerability of human existence 'which is every moment / at the brink of death', standing, waiting, 'learning to love.'