Be like water

I found a page called The Simple Tao. I like these tenets a lot. (The last three makes it all a bit too much Real.)

• Tao
  "the way", "the path". it is often represented by water because water always seeks the path of least resistance, yet is strong enough to demolish even stone when no other recourse is available. everything below flows from this.

1. Make your goal effortless action
   avoid unnecessary action or action that is not spontaneous.
   
2. Treasure simplicity
   eliminate whatever is unnecessary and artificial and appreciate the simple and the apparently ordinary.
   
3. Cultivate stillness
   only stillness will clear muddy waters and enable you to see the truth.
   
4. Be patient
   can you remain unmoving until the right action arises?
   
5. Be gentle
   love peace and restraint and avoid all unnecessary violence. "do not regard weapons as lovely things. for to think them lovely means to delight in them, and to delight in them means to delight in the slaughter of men."
   
6. See beauty
   in the mundane and the normal. Apreciate the beauty around you and in yourself.
   
7. Be true
   dedicate your life only to that which you find beautiful or fascinating, and thus be true to yourself.
   

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Re: "only stillness will clear muddy waters and enable you to see the truth. "

... This is something I have come to intuitively in recent years.

Many years ago a friend and I was interviewing a photographer on the radio. He shot cityscapes at night. We asked, why at night? He said that when the city is quiet, you can see deeper into it, like into water when its surface is calm. Both of us was so stunned by the aptness of this that we couldn't think of a new question for many seconds of Dead Air.

It's funny actually, I often have a great craving for action. But more and more often,  I also find that I have a craving  for stillness. There's an odd power and depth...

Eolake

Enjoy the water remember the river

I love the iPad (I swear there's more to it than meets the eye, it's like I can feel part of the future impact of this hand-held communications medium), and I've just ordered the new gen-5 "iPad Air" (smaller, lighter, yet faster). As I do traditionally (since early iPods), I had my email address (on gmail I'm eolake) engraved on it. And I had another line to fill.
It would be nice if it would inspire a finder to return it. But it should be a bit more than that.
I remembered an old saying, apparently Chinese: "When drinking the water, remember the river". I tried, but of course there was not space enough. So I shortened and shortened, and it turned out that I couldn't even have the comma, but there was just space for:

 Enjoy the water remember the river 

I actually really liked that. I think it has a poetic simplicity, but still says it.

It's also one of the wisest sayings I know. It can be employed on a practical level: if you enjoyed your meal, thank your cook. If you enjoyed having food and shelter when growing up, think of your parents. And so on.

But also on the metaphysical level:

Think of Source

I think it's one of the most basic takeaways from The Course and other teachings, is that Source is everything (literally), and the more we can have attention and desire for Source, instead of this apparent World and its details, the happier we will be.