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Posts Tagged ‘Lao Tzu’

Building Treasures

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on January 2, 2025| 4 Comments »

Hermitage— At the West End Gallery

I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.
—Lao Tzu

Trying to get the new year kicked off in the right way with the words above from Lao Tzu, the Chinese philosopher and father of Taoism. I am not a big fan of resolutions but do believe in reminders. It never hurts to be nudged to the fact that those three things– simplicity, patience and compassion— are the basis for a satisfying and peaceful life. All three are critical in maintaining our balance amidst the machinations of the outer world.

I tend to believe that the three are inextricably connected, each providing sustenance and direction for the other two.

But like all great treasures, they are sometimes difficult to obtain and keep. I know that I sometimes feel like I am close to that mother lode of all three virtues, only to find that I have lost most of it.

Lost my patience with everything and everyone.

Lost any sense of simplicity through overthinking and overcomplicating things.

And worst of all, lost most of my compassion for others.

In such moments, I am penniless in the spiritual sense. And I can feel the darkness of this. 

But if even a tiny iota of these three things remains, if my pocketbook for them is not totally empty, then there is hope. It seems that this is a treasure that builds quickly through an odd quirk: not through hoarding but through being generous in sharing this wealth with others.

Expending all three compounds their value in a way that would make the greediest hedge fund manager envious. 

Well, maybe not that guy.

Anyway, after what felt like a bleak end to the last year, I find myself a bit short on all three things. A bit spiritually impoverished. What better time to begin to rebuild one’s treasure with the clean slate of a new year?

I’m game. What do I have to lose?

Here’s song that feels like it might fit the theme here. It’s about seeking simplicity, about cutting out all the detritus and clutter and finding one’s own little nirvana. This has been a favorite for over 50 years. Here’s the late John Prine and his Spanish Pipedream.

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Take Five

Posted in Advice, Biographical, Current Events, Music, tagged , , , on July 28, 2020| 13 Comments »

“Trinity Isle”- Now at the West End Gallery

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I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.

—Lao Tzu

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Too tired today. It’s been a combo fatigue, both physical and mental, that has been building and really hit this morning. That just woke up but want to take a nap fatigue.

I think I am going to take a short break, a few days off to not think about stuff, to not worry about things that are out of my control. To not push. To not write.

Catch up on some reading. Listen to some music. Maybe focus on the words of Lao Tzu.

Simplicity. Patience. Compassion.

Or is it Simplicity- Patience-Compassion-Camera-TV?

See? I need a few days off.

We’ll see how it goes.

Stay cool and take five, okay? Here’s Dave Brubeck with his always cool Take Five. See you in a few days.

 

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In Matters of Expediency

Posted in Current Events, Opinion, tagged , on October 3, 2018| Leave a Comment »

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We have become a nation of expediency.

Virtue, benevolence, and doing what is right has been set aside in favor of choosing to do what is easiest in the short term, even if that very thing is known to be harmful in the long run.

Theft. Corruption. Lying. Intolerance. Ignorance. Injustice. Inequality. Cruelty. Selfishness.

I think most of us agree that all of these things are bad. Except when it serves our expediency.

We are normalizing these things, accepting them because they somehow address some short term concerns. But once accepted, these things are hard to shake off. They become part of who we are, become identifying markers by which we are known to the rest of the world.

We are soon– if not already– going to be widely known for our cruelty, our selfishness, our injustice and intolerance. We soon shall be seen as a nation of corruption, where our promises no longer hold any weight and we are not to be trusted. Soon to be known as the nation that ignores facts and science. A nation that turns it back on the suffering of our neighbors and mistreats those who seek our help.

And all this lost for mere expedience. We have known what is right through the years and have generally moved forward with the promise of a more perfect union, as our Constitution describes it, as a goal.

But we stand at the crossroads now. We can either move straight ahead as a nation of virtues or continue on our current detour that is leading us to corruption, ignorance and intolerance. That path may look rosy now but the final destination may very well break our souls.

The current ruling party has become the party of expedience. They are displaying that they only care for what is right for them for the next election cycle. Every day, they normalize behavior that chips away at our national identity and show that they are willing to sacrifice all virtue for their own selfish, short term purposes.

We still have an opportunity to get back on that higher road on which we once traveled but only if we all band together and demand a return to virtues like truth, equality and justice. Like education, the rule of law, benevolence and righteousness.

But it will take a mighty effort. No expedience here, folks. No excuses. You can’t take a pass this time unless you are willing to admit your complicity when the whole thing burns down. And if history teaches anything, that is the where the current road leads.

So, just vote. And like Willie says: Vote ’em Out.

 

 

 

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The Lesson Learned

Posted in Painting, Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , , , on October 19, 2016| Leave a Comment »

GC Myers- The Lesson LearnedI have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures.
—Lao Tzu

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I am putting the finishing touches on my new show, Part of the Plan, that opens next Saturday, October 29, at the Kada Gallery, in Erie, PA.  I have been showing my work at the Kada Gallery for over twenty years now and this will be, I believe, my eighth solo show there.  Owners Kathy and Joe DeAngelo, along with their staff, do an absolutely wonderful job in representing my work and this is always an enjoyable show for me.

One of the new paintings for this show is the piece above, a 12″ by 16″ canvas titled The Lesson Learned.  The title is taken from the words of Lao Tzu, the Chinese  philosopher and father of Taoism, that are at the top of this page.  I believe that those three things– simplicity, patience and compassion— are the basis for a satisfying and peaceful life.  All three are critical in interacting with the outer world and with our understanding of that outer world and our place in it.

I see all three of those attributes in the Red Tree in this painting.  It stands placidly, taking in the simple pleasure of the scene before it.  It patiently waits for the light of the new day that approaches.  And it perches protectively and compassionately above the homes below it.

When I look at this painting I am instantly reminded of those three things simply by the feeling it instantly evokes in me.  This meshing of feeling and meaning is something I look for in my work because that takes the work to a level that is beyond my own limitations.  It gives it its own life that will move beyond me.  And that is all I can hope for my work…

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