Song of No Inside, No Outside
The Tao is not hidden from view.
In wooded glades and mountain paths,
city streets or busy roads, it resides.
Nowhere being better or worse
its face appears.
What is settled is present everywhere.
Observe what does not move, it may be noticed.
Regard what is inanimate, it is revealed.
Turn towards the still for what is common appears.
A cloud is not a cloud,
a tree not a tree, yet look to trees and clouds
to read what is common.
What makes them indistinct is Tao.
Look beyond stillness
and see how moving things are settled.
Here it is revealed.
This is what is ordinary.
A tumbling river is not a tumbling river,
a flying bird, not a flying bird but gaze at birds and rivers
to notice what is ordinary.
In the ordinary the sacred is unveiled.
What makes them indifferent is Tao.
A river is Tao appearing as a river,
a bird is Tao arising as a bird.
One who knows, knows only One.
That which is outside is One.
That which is inside is One.
To notice what is common is to know inside and outside
are same. In moments of calm
your body remembers.
Observe what does not move in you,
it may be noticed.
Regard what settles within
for its face is revealed.
Its face, your face.
In your ordinariness lies the sacred.
In the holy rests what is common.
You are Tao appearing as you.
What makes you indistinct is Tao.
One who knows, knows only One.
That which is inside expresses the way.
That which is outside expresses the way.
The body that is you is the body that is not you.
Its message is clear, it never stops.
The language of Tao is stillness.
Words that are not spoken come from its lips.
The song it writes is sung by birds, clouds, trees and rivers.
To hear its call is to share the One Voice.
To perceive its name is to listen within.
Rested and tranquil nothing is known.
Here great wisdom is revealed.
The language of Tao is silence.
Words that are whispered come from its heart.
The wisdom it shares is of ancient stars and babes.
To be guided by it is to act from what is holy.
To perceive its presence in the here and now
is to be Awake.
Clouds, trees, rivers and birds know no other.
Rested and tranquil they do without realizing.
Simple and quiet they realize without doing.
Moving, flying, drifting, flowing are a single action.
Through the original movement no movement occurs.
That which appears still is Tao.
That which appears moving is Tao.
What seems to change remains unchanging.
What was before and after has not altered.
One who knows, knows only One.
One who is still notices no difference.
One who is silent hears the sacred whisper.
One who is observant notices the subtle.
Its message is clear. It never stops.
The Tao is not hidden from view.
Silent and still one begins to notice.
