Countless words _x000D_ count less _x000D_ than the silent balance _x000D_ between yin and yang
Interpretation
Words may be abundant, but true understanding often lies in the silence and balance of opposing forces.
This quote by Laozi emphasizes the significance of silence and balance over mere verbal expression. It suggests that while countless words can be spoken or written, they often fail to convey the deeper understanding that exists in the harmonious interplay of opposite forces, represented in this context by the concepts of yin and yang, which symbolize duality and balance in life.
In practice
In a meditation workshop, one might reflect on Laozi's words to stress the importance of inner peace and balance.
If you understand others you are smart._x000D_ If you understand yourself you are illuminated._x000D_ If you overcome others you are powerful._x000D_ If you overcome yourself you have strength._x000D_ If you know how to be satisfied you are rich._x000D_ If you can act with vigor, you have a will._x000D_ If you don't lose your objectives you can be long-lasting._x000D_ If you die without loss, you are eternal.
When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.
A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.
Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment.
In the world there is nothing more submissive and weak than water. Yet for attacking that which is hard and strong nothing can surpass it.
Rule your mind with serenity rather than with force and manipulation.
For the butterfly, mating and propagation involve the sacrifice of life, for the human being, the sacrifice of beauty.
What I'm concerned with is what I would call the missing history - the invisible imprint of our stay on Earth and in time.
Where there is no property there is no injustice.
There are manifold tones of mental life, or, in other words, our psychic life may be lived at different heights, now nearer to action, now further removed from it, according to the degree of our attention to life.
One has to reach to the absolute state of awareness: that is Zen. You cannot do it every morning for a few minutes or for half an hour and then forget all about it. It has to become like your heartbeat. You have to sit in it, you have to walk in it. Yes, you have even to sleep in it.
There is something in animals beside the power of motion. They are not machines; they feel.
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