Odilia Carmen Chirica

"One day the villagers thought they would play a joke on Nasrudin. As he was supposed to be a holy man of some indefinable sort, they went to him and asked him to preach a sermon in their mosque. He agreed. When the day came, Nasrudin mounted the pulpit and spoke: ‘O people! Do you know what I am going to tell you?’ ‘No, we do not know,’ they cried. ‘Until you know, I cannot say. You are too ignorant to make a start on,’ said the Mulla, overcome with indignation that such ignorant people should waste his time. He descended from the pulpit and went home. Slightly chagrined, a deputation went to his house again, and asked him to preach the following Friday, the day of prayer. Nasrudin started his sermon with the same question as before. This time the congregation answered, as one man: ‘Yes, we know.’ ‘In that case,’ said the Mulla, ‘there is no need for me to detain you longer. You may go.’ And he returned home. Having been prevailed upon to preach for the third Fridayin su

"Although there are many diverse arts flowing from the wellspring of Taoism, all of these different arts are grounded in the same set of principles, what Taoists see as the fundamental laws of Nature applying to all things, high and low. These principles form the core of Taoist "general systems theory." By developing a working knowledge of these natural principles, you will have the master key to open the mysterious portals of the Tao. Wu Ji In the beginning, nothing existed. In Chinese this is called Wu Ji (meaning absolute nothingness). Wu Ji is synonymous with the Buddhist word sunyata, meaning emptiness, the void, pure openness, no boundary. Wu Ji is also sometimes referred to as  the mystery, the nameless, the great mother, the source. Thus Lao Tzu says, "That which can be named is not the eternal name." Words cannot describe Wu Ji; it is beyond any thought, idea or concept, yet it can be directly experienced. Conscious realization of Wu Ji i

"The philosophers, logicians and doctors of law were drawn up at Court to examine Nasrudin. This was a serious case, because he had admitted going from village to village saying: ‘The so-called wise men are ignorant, irresolute and confused.’ He was charged with undermining the security of the State. ‘You may speak first,’ said the King. ‘Have paper and pens brought,’ said the Mulla. Paper and pens were brought. ‘Give some to each of the first seven savants.’ They were distributed. ‘Have them separately write an answer to this question: “What is bread?”’ This was done. The papers were handed to the King, who read them out: The first said: ‘Bread is a food.’ The second: ‘It is flour and water.’ The third: ‘A gift of God.’ The fourth: ‘Baked dough.’ The fifth: ‘Changeable, according to how you mean “bread”.’ The sixth: ‘A nutritious substance.’ The seventh: ‘Nobody really knows.’ ‘When they decide what bread is,’ said Nasrudin, ‘it will be possible for them to decide other thi