I am reminded now of my long ago research and study in Oriental philosophy. I read many of the classics texts when I was a much younger woman and one in particular brings back wonderful memories, the Tao Te Ching, a beautiful book on the natural world and our place in it.
I am grateful to have been able to read this book in my youth. It has all the beauty of springtime in it and all the wonders and natural beauty of our world. Of course, the book can be appreciated at any time, at any age but to read this book in youth gives to the reader something special, something extra. The beauty contained in the words of the Tao Te Ching can be more vividly recalled later in life when after time has brought to bear so many thing that are other than beautiful, situations and circumstances, painful episodes in life, such as loss and or sorrow.
As it is, I owe quite a bit to Eastern philosophy and the classical texts I studied many, many years ago. Reading the Tao Te Ching and other great philosophical texts again and even just being reminded of the book, after time and the tide of circumstances has passed is wonderful. It is as if an oasis exists in some quadrant of the mind, of memory that is uplifting and sustaining and at the same time in my case, a direct connection to my youth takes place.
When we return to the Tao Te Ching or I-Ching or other such philosophical work, it is as if to an old friend or relative for that matter. It is as if a return again to a long ago beauty and the many beautiful concepts of nature and our human place in the natural world these classical texts point us toward.
I am grateful to have been able to read this book in my youth. It has all the beauty of springtime in it and all the wonders and natural beauty of our world. Of course, the book can be appreciated at any time, at any age but to read this book in youth gives to the reader something special, something extra. The beauty contained in the words of the Tao Te Ching can be more vividly recalled later in life when after time has brought to bear so many thing that are other than beautiful, situations and circumstances, painful episodes in life, such as loss and or sorrow.
As it is, I owe quite a bit to Eastern philosophy and the classical texts I studied many, many years ago. Reading the Tao Te Ching and other great philosophical texts again and even just being reminded of the book, after time and the tide of circumstances has passed is wonderful. It is as if an oasis exists in some quadrant of the mind, of memory that is uplifting and sustaining and at the same time in my case, a direct connection to my youth takes place.
When we return to the Tao Te Ching or I-Ching or other such philosophical work, it is as if to an old friend or relative for that matter. It is as if a return again to a long ago beauty and the many beautiful concepts of nature and our human place in the natural world these classical texts point us toward.
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