My Eyes Wide Open

My eyes wide open,

I see the tangle of my mind 

reflected in nature.

With humility

I clear the way.

When we turn toward the things in our garden that repel us, we turn toward those tangles in ourselves that we often neglect and ignore. We look mindfully to see if the roots spread out, or if they go deep. Our garden’s weeds show us where we are stuck and where we hold on too tightly in our lives. As we begin to truly see the tangle of our mind reflected in our garden, our grasp becomes wise and compassionate. With humility we begin to clear the way.

~ by Zachiah Murray: Excerpt from Mindfulness In The Garden: Zen Tools For Digging In The Dirt

The Tao of Walt Whitman: Daily Insights and Actions To Achieve a Balanced Life: Book Review

Authors Connie Shaw and Ike Allen

Just like the Tao Te Ching, The Tao of Walt Whitman offers down-to-earth pointers to living life peacefully and joyfully, connected and aligned with nature and the universe.

As you contemplate the verses of Walt Whitman, immediately after, you will find that authors Connie Shaw and Ike Allen have also provided reflections and insights that you can further contemplate, as well as actions that you can take. Altogether, these tools can be used to help you cultivate your daily life into a more peaceful and joyful one.

Through simplicity and being fully present in each day, through inquiry into the nature of things, taking time to reflect upon and cultivate your life, helps you to maintain balance, where you are fully connected to life—to nature and to the universe.

In this day and age, we are overloaded with and bombarded by technology and living a fast-paced life, which has cut us off from nature and the simplicity of life, creating more stress in our daily lives, so we have to make a conscious effort to reconnect to source, at least until it becomes effortless and a natural way—Tao of life. The Tao of Walt Whitman helps us to reconnect and remember our true nature, providing us with tools that we can use to rediscover the Tao of life that is the most fulfilling, connected, all-embracing, body and soul, where we are living a balanced, peaceful and joyful existence.

—Pamela J. Wells (Selfless Being)

Available on Amazon at: The Tao of Walt Whitman: Daily Insights and Actions To Achieve a Balanced Life

Publisher: Sentient Publications

PBS American Experience series: Walt Whitman video: (condensed version with Spanish subtitles): Abridged Walt Whitman

Opening Dao: A Documentary Film on Taoism and Martial Arts (Video)

Watch the full movie for free here http://www.lifeartsmedia.com/opening-dao-taoism-martial-arts-documentary

Opening Dao is a short documentary film on Taoism and martial arts filmed in China in 2009. Scholars, top martial artists and monks explain the principles of the way, a treasure of wisdom that survived thousands of years. The film highlights the interconnectedness between the philosophy and the natural world and how its principles manifest in certain martial arts and meditative arts.

The film contains exclusive interviews with Prof. Chad Hansen and Prof. Chris Fraser from the University of Hong Kong, Dr Wang Daoke from Wudang Taoist Association, Master Yuan Xiu Gang (Wudang Gong Fu Academy) and martial arts performances from Master Heng Wei (Tang Long Kung Fu), Master Yongxing Guan and the students of the Wudang Taoist Kung Fu Academy in Wudang Shan, China.

The documentary also features a master narrative of the Dao De Ching by Edward Petherbridge, former leading actor of the Royal Shakespeare Company.