If I
should die tomorrow, I can still learn something tonight. The great painter
Paul Cezanne said this just before his death that he was finally beginning to
understand painting. Always be on a quest to learn. Standing still is for
stagnant water. Those who think they know enough do not know enough to know
that learning should never end. We cannot be so busy teaching that we forget to
learn. There is so much the Dao can teach us. You never grow too old to learn.
Unfortunately, some people’s desire ebbs. We learn in school but we learn so
much more outside of it. Where does the greatest learning take place? All
natural things in the universe are our brothers and sisters. They talk to us
and if we listen, we can hear them. They have much to teach us. We do not need
to translate dusty old books or find sages on mountaintops. Everything around
us has a story to tell, a lesson to share. The greatest professors are the
raindrops that fall, the snow that falls, the river that passes by our feet. Look at a sunrise, a misty
rain, frost on the grass, and more. It is the inquisitive mind that finds the
crevices that contain valuable information; the inquisitive mind that seeks out
the nuances of life. It is the same mind that can find the Dao in everything.
