Friday, April 1, 2011

Empty Boat (Purple Swamphen)


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http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Porphyrio_porphyrio_poliocephalus_-_Bueng_Boraphet.jpg

Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), subsp. poliocephalus, Bueng Boraphet, Nakhon Sawan, Thailand: photo by J.J.Harrison, 4 February 2011



If you can empty your own boat crossing the river of the world,
no one will oppose you, no one will seek to harm you....

Who can free himself from achievement, and from fame, descend and be lost amid the masses of men?
He will flow like Tao, unseen, he will go about like Life itself with no name and no home.
Simple is he, without distinction. To all appearances he is a fool.
His steps leave no trace. He has no power. He achieves nothing, has no reputation.

Since he judges no one, no one judges him.
Such is the perfect man:
His boat is empty.



File:Purple Moore Hen.jpg

Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), Singallanur Tank, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India:: photo by K. Mohan Raj, 2009

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/Purple_Swamphen_%28Porphyrio_porphyrio%29_near_Hodal_W_IMG_6626.jpg

Purple Swamphens (Porphyrio porphyrio), near Hodal, Faridabad, Haryana, India: photo by J.M. Garg, 2009

File:Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio) near Hyderabad W IMG 4788.jpg

Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), near Hyderabad, India: photo by J.M. Garg, 2009

File:Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio) near Hodal W IMG 6559.jpg

Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), near Hodal, Faridabad, Haryana, India: photo by J.M. Garg, 2009

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/db/Purple_Swamphen_%28Porphyrio_porphyrio%29_near_Hodal_W3_IMG_6606.jpg

Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), near Hodal, Faridabad, Haryana, India: photo by J.M. Garg, 2009

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Purpurhuhn_%28Pophyrio_porphyrio%29.jpg

Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), Mallorca: photo by J.Dietrich, 2009

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Purplemoorhen.jpg

Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), Thol Sanctuary, Gujarat: photo by Ravi Vaidyanathan, 2007J

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2f/Purple_Swamphen_Porphyrio_porphyrio_National_Aviary_1600px.jpg

Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), National Aviary, Pittsburgh: photo by Derek Ramsey, 2007

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Purple_Swamphen_Porphyrio_porphyrio.jpg

Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio), in flight: photo by Dhuvaraj S, 2009

The Book of Chuang Tzu (Zhuangzi), c. 4th c. BC, xx.2,4 (excerpt), translated by Thomas Merton as The Empty Boat in The Way of Chuang Tzu, 1965