The Power of Five~

Whilst Flipping through the Tao, I was brought to the 14th page

in our book, the section of the Tao labelled "Twelve". After reading this section and being amused by the fact that it mentions

five three times, which just happens to be my favorite number, I was taken by the words written there.

For those of us who are without their book, this is what it said -

" The Five Colors Blind The Eye.

The Five Tones Deafen the Ear.

The Five Flavors Dull The Taste.

Racing and Hunting Madden The Mind.

Precious Things Lead One Astray.

Therefore The Sage Is Guided By What He Feels And Not By What He Sees.

He Lets Go Of That And Chooses This. "

These words struck me as ironic because this passage speaks to being overwhelmed by things that lead to a person being disabled in three area's of sense. It was ironic to me because people today typically spice EVERYTHING, and lose the essence of the singular flavor of what we are experiencing. The part that I found ironic is that it says that" precious things lead one astray" , five is my favorite number, and typically good things happen when five is associated, so to an extent I value what five can represent for me , thus making it "precious" so I wondered, where and or if I have gone astray.

I can relate to the last portion of this passage because for me I have tried to do things based upon how I feel rather then what I see both literally and metaphorically. The best example I have of me following a feeling is like when I traipse around in our woodlot here on campus, I don't follow a specific route always and sometimes I just let myself be lead somewhere, on two occasions without actually having been to a place in the woods, I was told of two separate trees that I had never seen before, Both times shortly after having been told about these tree's without trying to follow thoughts about where they could be or following directions I was lead right to them. It was both entertaining to find myself at these places I had never been before and ending up at them on a feeling, but the fact that I was lead to them after hearing about them, they are gorgeous by the way and hold strong presences in our woodlot. I find myself at peace during these times when I let myself be lead by this feeling of something drawing me,and also enjoy the placid slow paced joy that comes from walking without purpose in the woods. sss

So Now that I am done rambling about how I feel I relate to this Verse, I feel like it is saying that for anyone to truly find the path or the way they need to let go of their attachment to what they can hear, or see, or taste, and follow where they are lead, because focusing to intensely on anything or being overwhelmed by to many things can lead you to missing out in life and in the world itself.

Fun Video by the Way - Mike

Picture Courtesy of - http://www.easytaichi.co.uk/images/five_elements.gif

Video Courtesy of -http://www.youtube.com/v/-fZEZSqHIqc&hl=en_US&fs=1&amp