BOOK REVIEWs, PAGES

Book Review

“Yes! Poems and Paintings by Michael Robbins”

By Thomas Hubl, author, Healing Collective Trauma This book is a transmission of a consciousness that seamlessly holds both the deep stillness of luminous emptiness and the fully embodied vitality of a unique and colorful life. In words and images, Michael takes us from the arms of the Divine Beloved to the finite joys and difficulties of loving real people and places. A compelling celebration of the journey of Being and Becoming filled with wisdom, compassion and presence.

PUBLISHER: Art Book Bindery PRICE: $40 ISBN: 978-0-9963818-0-2

Tao Heart Mind

Above: Blue Joy; Right: Country Road prices upon request

Above: Light Upon a Light; Below: Peaceful. Email author to order art & books

Michael Robbins

M.A., L.M.H.C.

Artist - Author - Therapist

Where head, heart and art converge with the Tao Visual and Verbal healing Qi Gong Classes michaelrobbinstherapy.com

Book Review

The Divine Feminine Tao Invites Us to Act

By Rosemarie Anderson

The Lao-Tzu’s Tao Te Ching portrays the Tao as “mother,” “virgin,” and “womb.” She is the “immortal void” who endlessly “returns to source” to renew life again and again. Quoting from my own translation of Poem 6, the Tao is

The immortal void Called the dark womb, the dark womb’s gate From her Creation takes root An unbroken gossamer That prevails without effort.

From her “dark womb,” all life flows. To align with the Tao as mother, virgin, and womb is to discover her path to peace and wellbeing with ourselves, each other, the earth, and the natural world. At a time in history when human greed and aggression are out of control and threatening life as we know it, her message to us is also a warning.

The great message of the Tao Te Ching is the ordinariness of peace and wellbeing that arises from spontaneous action that seeks no gain for the self. This is to enact the path of wei wu wei, meaning to act without acting or do without doing. Wei wu wei does not mean doing nothing, not thinking, not traveling, not initiating projects, not cooking dinner, not planting a garden in the spring, and so on. To the contrary, in leaving self-gain aside, our actions arise naturally and spontaneously to meet concrete situations and events without plotting or maneuvering in advance or expecting to be liked, appreciated, or rewarded for what we do. Aligning with the Tao is to seek what is lowest and most needy, like a mother might act naturally and spontaneously on behalf of a child in danger. Quoting from my translation of Poem 8:

The highest good is like water Bringing goodness to all things without struggle In seeking low places spurned by others The Tao resembles water.

In so doing, we attend to what matters most—not tomorrow but right now. Per the situation, our actions may be swift or slow, but they will in time resolve obstacles at their source in the same way that water carves out canyons and moves mountains. What matters most will vary for each of us. This is wei wu wei in action. Over time, enacting this feminine path to peace will impact all our relations with others, including animals and other species, each other, our families and communities, the conduct of governments, relationships between nations and peoples, and with planet Earth.

The wisdoms of the Divine Feminine Tao may be applied to our personal initiatives and our response to personal and modern crises, including meeting the challenges of the current coronavirus pandemic. Wei wu wei invites us to act spontaneously and naturally like water, determining its own course and leaving selfgain aside.

Rosemarie Anderson, Ph.D. is an author, artist, Professor Emerita of Psychology, and an Episcopal priest. Contact her at https://rosemarieanderson.com.

PUBLISHER: Inner Traditions / Bear & Company PRICE: $16.99 ISBN: 978-1644112465 TO PURCHASE: bookshop.org/shop/DaoDog