Chapter 10, Tao Te Ching

 "Can you coax your mind from its wandering

Can you coax your mind from its wandering and keep to the original oneness?   

Can you let your body become 

supple as a newborn child's?

Can you cleanse your inner vision 

until you see nothing but the light? 

Can you love people and lead them

without imposing your will?  

Can you deal with the most vital matters

by letting events take their course?

Can you step back from your own mind 

and thus understand all things?     

  

Giving birth and nourishing, 

having without possessing, 

acting with no expectation, 

leading and not trying to control: 

this is the supreme virtue."  

 

Chapter 10, Tao Te Ching 

Stephen Mitchell       

   

Here, I interpret suppleness as how we respond to the world.  Yesterday, Tyler and I went to Santa Cruz to spend some time with friends who had rented a small beach house for the holiday.  Yes, we wore masks all day and that got  tedious, but it was wonderful to be able to walk along the beach together and share a couple of meals.   Towards the end of the day we  stood  on a cliff  and watched close to one hundred, maybe even more, pelicans glide and  dive among the relatively gentle waves for their supper.  I felt such gratitude that those magnificent creatures  seemed to have been able to feast  abundantly.  We also watched two very  young children run as fast as their  short  legs could carry them as they dashed back and forth between  the water's edge and  their parents. They, too, were feasting abundantly in  the joy of play and adventure.  I believe all of us were responding with suppleness.  While my friends and I  are no longer young, and none of us are without some health issues,  our suppleness came in the guise of  gratitude. 

Today,  I have a deeper understanding of what it means to be supple.   

I took no pictures yesterday, but here is a photograph, taken on a previous year,  of the cliff where we were standing.  Yesterday, I was in the presence of another old friend, Villa Maria del Mar.  I was delighted to discover that my friends had rented a house that was one block away from that retreat house that I love.