●○ Colectiva Magazine :: Issue 008 ●○ | Flodesk

You're reading Issue 008 of Colectiva Magazine, a monthly publication on self-exploration themes and tools.

If this was forwarded to you, get your own subscription here ☻

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“There is something formless and

perfect before the universe was born.

It is serene. Empty. Solitary.

Unchanging. Infinite.

Eternally present.

It is the mother of the universe.

For lack of a better name, I call it the Tao.”

:: Simplicity, patience, compassion ::

A deep dive into an ancient Chinese philosophy that teaches how to exist in harmony with the universe.
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May you loose and find yourself within the passages of this precious book on the art of simple living.

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Hola from 3000 meters up the Himalayas! First month in Nepal has been like looking out of a Kaleidoscope ☻

(To keep it in one sentence)

My lil western idea of individualism has been shaken around and my mind has been blown away by eastern philosophies.

I hope I can infuse this months issue with one that has changed my life in such a short period of time: Taoism.

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On this issue, we’ll go through some of the principles found on the Tao Te Ching (The Way and Its Power), a compilation of poetry and sayings from third and fourth centuries B.C.E. that guides Taoist thoughts and actions.

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Taoism is an ancient Chinese philosophy that teaches how to live In accordance with the Tao (or Dao), translated as “The Way”: a cosmic force which flows through all things and binds and releases them.

The central figure through the Tao Te Ching is “The Master”

:: someone whose life is in perfect harmony with the way things are. He/She has mastered Nature; not in the sense of conquering it, but of becoming it.

I am attaching the Tao Te Ching below, I hope this book finds you by chance like it found me, and that it changes your life like it changed mine.

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This book is absolutely breathtaking, less than an hour read, but surely extremely transforming. I see it as a manual for the art of simple living. Hard to find something as deep, but so down-to-earth these days. Read it slow, savoring every word and taking time to digest every learning.

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One of the central themes of the Tao is our harmony with nature. As human beings, we have the funny illusion that we are separate from the earth, and that the earth is here FOR us. This automatically means that we think we are separate from each other.

The Tao invites us to reflect on how we all emerged from the same source :: from The Way :: and to return to that oneness. What does returning to oneness exactly mean? I have no idea, but my conclusion is that one of the biggest gems of the Tao is

self-interpretation.

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ACTION-NON-ACTION

Also known as Wu Wei, translated literally as the “non-doing”. Which is the freakiest thought our western brains can read. But! This principle is not about “doing nothing” – it is about aligning our movement with the greater flow of life. Are we able to move freely with the energy of the moment rather than forcing actions?

Is hard to think of integrating non-action in our daily lives. Sure, we can interpret it as to retreat to a cave and meditate our whole lives, but I think the way the Tao describes this non-action is: instead of retreating from the world, experience the flow of it by the way we live in it.

One part of the book that I've been repeating to myself over and over through this trek is:

"Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear

Can you remain unmoving until the right action arises by itself?"

In our age of high-speed-everything, can we fall in love with the idle place between two actions?

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"In the pursuit of Knowledge, every day

something is added.

In the practice of the Tao, every day

something is dropped"

Reading this is a mental orgasm. This passage is so powerful it needs no further explanation.

Life is simple, we make it complicate it.

What is one thing that, when you imagine it leaving your life, makes you breathe deeper?

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Close your eyes. Focus on the space in between your eyebrows – zoom out of it and see yourself from above. Keep zooming out slowly until you see your whole room. Visualize your house, your surroundings, your country. Zoom out a bit more and see the whole Earth, the Solar System, the Milky Way. Further&further. Zoom out until you don't recognize the million galaxies you're seeing.

Trust that deep inside, there's a part of you that recognizes every star of the universe, because you and everything you're seeing came from the same source. Trip out and come back feeling the oneness.

Keep this feeling close to your heart.

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☻ SUPPORT COLECTIVA☻

If you fuck with the content I've been sending in any of my newsletters, consider supporting the project to print physical issues (or an independent publishing label lol universe are you reading thru!?) one day.

Thank you so much, I really do appreciate you reading this.

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//UPDATES ●○

I've been hiking through the Himalayas for 8 days going from mountain town to mountain town, moonrise to moonrise - a trek around the Annapurna circuit - 21 day hike. 3k up and altitude is getting trippeee af. Magical, the timing of life will never stop surprising me. INSANE that the Tao landed in my hands just now.

I truly encourage you to download it and read it, it is a delight.

I started a blog to share my travelogues, plus mindful productivity practices for freelancers and creatives. More on Annapurna + Nepal there :D

Colectiva remains dedicated to non-sensical rants lol.

Much love, this project has shape shifted so much since it started and I've met the most incredible people through this project. Thank you for forwarding Colectiva, and PLEASE reach out if you want me to cover a specific theme, I'm here to digest intense shit and feed you bite size pieces of it ❤︎

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So much amor <3 Stay curious

M(:

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Treptower st
Berlin, Berlin 10967, Germany