Don't pursue actions that can be repudiated, but don't
resent it if people repudiate you. Cultivate virtues worthy of praise, but
don't expect people to praise you.
You cannot cause calamity not to occur, but trust in
yourself not to beckon it. You cannot cause fortune to arrive, but trust in
yourself not to reject it. When calamity occurs, since it is not your doing you
do not grieve when in straits. When fortune comes, since it is not your
achievement you are not conceited when successful.
In this way you live at ease and enjoy effortlessness, yet
there is order.
- Lao Tzu
[from 'Wen-Tzu : Understanding the Mysteries', translated by
Thomas Cleary]. via Zen Poems, haiku and writings.
Photo: Ornamental plants and wild poinsettia by Alma P. Gamil
taken in Bulusan, Sorsogon
Philippines
