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The tao that can be told
is not the eternal Tao...[1]
Taoism has been a vital part of my life, even before I knew about Taoism. After getting seriously injured in an accident
when I was a kid (highway pile-up; death, destruction, the whole shee-bang) I carried a story comparing the strength of an
oak tree and the flexibility of a reed in a hurricane. Right now I'm rehabing from my 20th major operation (my family lost
count long ago). Wu Wei, in mind, heart and body, is helping me grow stronger than ever before.
UPDATE: December 2nd, 2009. No longer swim AT ALL for safety reasons and my own fears. A big drag. Mrre
later.
UPDATE: May 20th, 2006, To be honest, I no longer swim 3 hours 6x a week. This page was built 9/17/02. I sure wish I
did! Well, we'll give it a go as they say.......
I swim three hours daily in a pool: sometimes I just kick or stand and stretch my hamstrings, most of that time is spent
doing laps from one edge to the other. I begin in the shallow end with my Zen walk as far as possible, then plunge under
and do various strokes for the remainder of the lap. I've learned more about happiness and inner balance in that swimming
pool than in my international travels or encounters with VIP's.
Wu Wei translates from Chinese as literally 'no action'. This isn't what it means though as no action while swimming
leads to drowning. Rather it speaks to the way one can best get to the other side of the pool without getting water in one's
nose, crashing into everyone else's lane and without panicking about realizing one's feet don't touch the bottom.
The human body is comprised of mostly water, so while swimming, synergy with water literally means synergy with one's
body and actions.
There are many more informative Taoism sites; check out my links for some...I can only say...go surfing & find your
own way to surf...and if other people tell you that you look like you're drowning while you're learning, think of the jewel
that Lao Zi gave us:
If you want to become whole,
let yourself be partial.
If you want to become straight,
let yourself be crooked.
If you want to become full,
let yourself be empty.
If you want to be reborn,
let yourself die.
If you want to be given everything,
give everything up.... [22]
Happy Swimming!
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