A Taoist journaling practice for those who seek to connect with inner worlds, with the silence and peace within.
Yielding is the way of the Tao.
The softest thing in the universe
Overcomes the hardest.
- Verse Forty, The Tao Te Ching
Lao Tzu (~4th century BCE):
Be still like a mountain and flow like a great river. . .
The anxious person is always looking for a foundation outside themselves. But the sage rests in the foundation that is inside.
. . .
According to the Taoist way, you need to nourish your vital spirit. To do so, you need to be silent...Conserving one’s inner energy is the essence of Taoism.
- From an interview of a hermit nun in the Zhongnan mountains of China by Bill Porter.
Zen Mountain Journal is inspired by the ancient poetry of Taoist mountain hermits of China and Zen monks of old Japan. It is shaped by time alone in wilderness, and by a creative life lived on the fringes of our culture.
Meditation in combination with journaling can help us understand the hidden but profound patterns that shape our lives, often without us knowing it.
Emptiness, stillness, tranquillity, tastelessness,
Silence, non-action: this is the level of heaven and earth.
From the sage’s emptiness, stillness arises;
From stillness, action.
- Zhuangzi, (aka Chuang-tzu) 4th century BCE
I never get lost because I don't know where I'm going.
- Zen master Ikkyū, 15th century Buddhist monk
