Pointing at the Moon

"...the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."

~John F. Kennedy

A true warrior has responsibilities that extend beyond his/her relationship with the Way.  Loyalty to the Way as a set of principles is noble, but it is merely smoke and mirrors unless that loyalty compels you to live by the same principles and not just possess the words. 

It is insufficient to know the path.  You must walk it.

I know this.  I acknowledge this.  I hold myself responsible for this.  As I reflect on each day, I find myself asking: "How is this related to the Way?  Have I acted in a way that brings me closer to my goals? How am I now better today than I was before?"

I am constantly self-evaluating, measuring whether what I said, wrote, thought, or did was "enough", whether I meet my own personal standards, and whether or not what I did could have been better or was as good as it could have been at that moment.  After reviewing, I immerse myself in setting new targets, creating new goals - always wanting to be better.

And then something happens.

Sometimes my screen lights up and a student is there, reaching out for guidance and I am needed...

Sometimes it's the brush of my dog's nose nuzzling against my calf, her sign of affection calling me to sit with her and be in a dog's world for a few minutes...

Sometimes it's the delicate touch of a hand on my shoulder and the sweet scent of my girlfriend's perfume, drawing me away from my self-imposed solitude and into a comforting embrace...

...all reminders that self-mastery is not about losing myself to myself.  That's a critical mistake.

I cannot ignore the present and the role that I play in it, nor can I allow myself to lapse into cycles of reflection and prediction that are unhealthy to the point of being afraid to act - a state of "paralysis by analysis".  I just need to trust who I am, then act in accordance with how I'd like to be.

Thinking about walking is overrated, much like obsessing about the Way.  Besides, even the first couplet of the Daodejing mentions: "The Dao that can be spoken is not the eternal Dao.  The name that can be named is not the eternal name."

The power of the Way comes from living it.

(P.S.  Happy belated 70th birthday Sijo Bruce Lee.)