Twenty-Six - Stillness
The still is the master of unrest.
The practice of meditation is the training of the spirit in stillness. No matter how many times I try, I have never been able to still my mind in meditation. It’s almost as if my mind is in constant rebellion. Plato famously described the chariot horse of Passion fighting the charioteer, Reason. Though the metaphor doesn’t exactly fit the practice of meditation, it is similar in many ways. As Lao Tsu writes, the master is dispassionate, never distracted by the spectacular views on the path traveled.
Being a person of passion, I have little use for much of this chapter. I think being passionate when it is called for is no fault. That fire in the belly is the driving force by which many of the greatest accomplishments of human beings have been realized. It has also been the downfall of many a person