The Tao of Earth Day

By Dianefergurson
A heightened awareness of our earth and environment has gained a (much needed) critical boost over the last 10 to 15 years.  To the Taoists however, the celebration of earth (and heaven) has always been present, as it should be...and always will be.
The wonderful excerpt below is from a favorite book of mine,  "Everyday Tao:  Living With Balance and Harmony" by Deng Ming-Dao.
It is under the section, "Earth".
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 ~ "what is bountiful?"  the ancients asked.  True bounty was not the treasury of the emperor, but the generosity of the earth.  The golden hills provided home, country, belonging.  The rich, black, fertile-smelling soil gave grain, vegetables, and fruit.  The blue-shadowed mountains gave shelter from the wind and storm.  And the seemingly endless plains and deserts provided ample room for exploration and adventure.  Why worry about the abstruse, the ancients asked, when everything we require has already been given to us?
If you want to follow the Tao, the ancients said, first understand the perfection of heaven and earth.  Wind, rain, and sun come to us through the sky.  The earth gives us our home, our nourishment, jewels for our adornment, minerals for our use, places to travel.  As the old saying goes, "Why look far away for what is close at hand?"  You, like the students of the ancients, may want to study the Tao.  Doing so may be as simple as bending down to pick up a clump of earth.
 So many of us look and look for the Tao.  The masters, it seems, are still pointing one hand to the sky and the other to the earth. ~
 Enjoy "all" your Earth Days
  ~ diane fergurson
"Colorado Rocky Mountain National Park" courtesy of Julie Magers Soulen
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