THE WAY OF CHUANG TZU-THOMAS MERTON

WHEN THE SHOE FITS

Ch’ui the draftsman  Could draw more perfect circles freehand   Than with a compass.

His fingers brought forth   Spontaneous forms from nowhere. His mind   Was meanwhile free and without concern   With what he was doing.

No application was needed   His mind was perfectly simple   And knew no obstacle.

So, when the shoe fits   The foot is forgotten,   When the belt fits   The belly is forgotten,   When the heart is right   “For” and “against” are forgotten.

No drives, no compulsions,   No needs, no attractions;   Then your affairs   Are under control.   You are a free man.

Easy is right. Begin right   And you are easy.   Continue easy and you are right.   The right way to go easy   Is to forget the right way   And forget that the going is easy.

Thomas Merton The Way Of Chuang Tzu (Abbey of Gethsemane 1965).

Related Articles:

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.

Comments are closed.