…about the Tao
Tao is eternal, one without a second
Simple indeed yet so subtle that no one can master it
If princes and kings could just hold it
All things would flock to their kingdom
Heaven and Earth would rejoice with the dripping of sweet dew
Everyone would live in harmony, not by official decree, but by their own inner goodness
This world is nothing but the glory of Tao expressed through different names and forms
One who sees the things of this world as being real and self-existent has lost sight of the truth
To him, every word becomes a trap
every thing becomes a prison
One who knows the truth that underlies all things lives in this world without danger
To him, every word reflects the universe
every moment brings enlightenment
Rivers and streams are born of the ocean
All creation is born of Tao
Just as all water flows back to become the ocean
All creation flows back to become Tao
…Verse 32 from “Tao Te Ching”
Lao-Tzu, translated by Jonathan Star
ISBN: 978-158542-618-8
Jin Shin Jyutsu Is - New Jersey 
Thank you for this, Debbie. Some lines tugged at the heartstrings for the same words more or less become the words that I received from my late mother. Your post said in part: “To him, every word becomes a trap, every thing becomes a prison.” Compare this to what she wrote to me once about words: “Spoken words are cages; written words, prisons.”
Thank you, Rico. Your mom is very wise (for her spirit-soul exists today). Long ago I learned there is the power of life and death in words. I think of how the Bible says that God “spoke” creation into being…except for man, who was formed by His hands. The earth is something of a cage for our spirit-soul. We grow and learn our lessons and then continue in another place when set free from this earthly cage where we experience first-hand about the power of words. So, for just today, let me be the first to write these words to you, and Merle and Rowena: Gassho, Namaste, Blessings…and I love you.