This Topic is intended to be about thoughts on flow, on stepping off the raft, and perhaps discovering heaven beneath our feet.

The raft carries us across the river of striving, but once we reach the shore, we no longer need to cling to it. What matters is not belief in the raft, but the lived crossing and embodiment of arrival. And when we step onto solid ground, we find that heaven is not a distant promise above, but the constancy beneath each step, the stillness of the earth itself. To walk here with awareness is to know that the Tao is already present, not as something to believe, but as something to experience directly.

Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, Chapter 16, as interpreted by Ursula K. Le Guin:

“Become totally empty.
Quiet the restlessness of the mind.
The ten thousand things arise together;
In their arising is their return.
Now they flower,
and flowering,
sink homeward,
returning to the root.

The return to the root is peace.
Peace: to accept what must be,
to know what endures.
In that knowledge is wisdom.
Without it, renin, disorder.

To know what endures
is to be openhearted,
magnanimous, regal, blessed,
following the Tao,
The way that endures forever.
The body comes to its ending,
but their is nothing to fear.

In a world of constant notifications, deadlines, and noise, Lao Tzu’s call to “become totally empty” is more relevant than ever. Mindfulness is not about escaping life but about returning to the root… finding stillness beneath the swirl of activity. When we pause, breathe, and observe without clinging, we see that everything rises and falls naturally.

Constancy, as Le Guin interprets, is the quiet rhythm of life that doesn’t change: the breath, the turning of seasons, the pulse of the present moment. By recognizing this constancy, we cultivate openness. An openness that leads to compassion, and compassion shapes how we act, with dignity, patience, and presence.

Mindfulness, then, is not a trendy practice but a timeless way of living, flowing with the Tao. It teaches us that while our bodies and circumstances shift, the deeper awareness, the Tao—remains. In that awareness, we may find resilience, clarity, and peace.