{"id":1176,"date":"2011-03-14T12:38:06","date_gmt":"2011-03-14T16:38:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/yang-sheng.com\/?p=1176"},"modified":"2012-01-01T19:36:22","modified_gmt":"2012-01-02T00:36:22","slug":"selected-poetry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yang-sheng.com\/?p=1176","title":{"rendered":"Echoes of Emptiness (\u865a\u4e4b\u97ff)-Cultivate Strength"},"content":{"rendered":"

Selected Poetry<\/strong><\/h2>\n

by\u00a9 Jacob Newell <\/strong>(Daoshi Gu Shen Yu)<\/span><\/p>\n

Since ancient times, Daoists have used poetry and other art forms to express mystical experience, convey teaching, and transmit energy. A Daoist poem arises naturally out of the stillness of an empty mind, like fresh grasses in the springtime.\u00a0 Embracing both wuji and taiji, Daoist poetry can clear the mind and reveal the Dao.<\/p>\n

I started experiencing poetic inspirations during my priest training in the American Dragon Gate Lineage from 2007-2010.\u00a0 They were born out of my qi-cultivation practice and were particularly influenced by the combined practice of studying the Daozang (Daoist Canon) and practicing Zuowang meditation (Sitting & Forgetting).<\/p>\n

Discovering the poetic process has exposed me to the creative process that many artists experience \u2013 without any deliberate intention to create something, we spontaneously find ourselves channeling inspiration from mysterious places.\u00a0 I consider this to be an example of the spontaneous arising (ziran) which appears out of wuwei practice.<\/p>\n

Poems:\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

1.<\/p>\n

Cultivate strength
\nEnd up weak<\/p>\n

Cultivate weakness
\nEnd up strong<\/p>\n

When strength appears
\nOnly return to weakness<\/p>\n

Not using strength
\nThis is called true strength<\/p>\n

2.<\/p>\n

Blade of grass
\nSoft, weak
\nFresh, rising
\nWatching the sunrise
\nGreen tiger<\/p>\n

3.<\/p>\n

Complete perfection
\nOur natural endowment<\/p>\n

Moment, by moment
\nAct very carefully<\/p>\n

4.<\/p>\n

Chamber empty
\nFire burning hot
\nPurple smoke rising
\nSweet dew seeping
\nWild birds riding on the wind<\/p>\n

5.<\/p>\n

Compressing essence
\nElixir rises on its own
\nPenetrating the passes
\nGolden sprout in full bloom<\/p>\n

6.<\/p>\n

Relaxing everything into a stable base
\nA powerful geyser wells up from deep inside
\nLifting me beyond my senses
\nWithout excitement, I ride the rising mists<\/p>\n


\n<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/address>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Gu Shen Yu<\/p><\/div>\n

Jacob Newell (Daoshi Gu Shen Yu) <\/em>is an ordained Daoist priest and founder of Old Oak School of Dao.\u00a0 He practices and teaches Taijiquan <\/em>and Daoist cultivation in Sonoma County, California.\u00a0 His book of poetry, These Daoist Bones, is available from his website, www.oldoakdao.org<\/a>.<\/em> <\/em><\/p>\n

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