Writing as the Finger Pointing to the Moon

by Carol Bindel

Gleaned from Lao Tzu:

Non-being-- The Way-- that which cannot be described
gives birth to Unity
gives birth to Duality
gives birth to Trinity
gives birth to The Ten Thousand Things

The intuition of Non-being that we can experience-- most directly through our bodies (my body carries my life) or the arts-- is mostly the experience of paradox. And isn't paradox everywhere? But all our art of every form is the finger pointing to the moon, and the finger pointing to the moon is not the moon.

Wu Wei (pronounced woo way) is the state of being in action / of no wasted motion / of effortless effort. Water moves by the principle of wu wei. It represents actions that produce harmony, actions that seem so right they are effortless, yet nothing remains undone. The work is done and then forgotten and then it lasts forever.

Three precious things:
gentleness that gives rise to boldness;
frugality that gives rise to generosity;
humility that gives rise to leadership.

We write The Ten Thousand Things. We, too, are the finger pointing to the moon.