Jade in the Cove *Change Dao*

The Taoist woke early in the chilly morning. Warming water and preparing for the Tea ritual, he pondered the reason why during the cold months the tea had a taste of ginger, and during the warmer months the tea is a cooler sensation of a tea.

Ginger warms you up immediately the Tao apprentice thought, it speeds blood flow and warms on up. Once the morning tea ritual the apprentice went out to meditate and ponder things. The jade in the cove was beautiful. He started to work on the blank stone of the jade.

As one polishes the jade, one must polish the core being of ones cultivating essence. As he chiseled the rock, he pondered how each change one brings may shape a person, but essentially would need to be polished as well. Each change is like the striking of the chisel, lines are left, rough edges that could cut or left in the open. With out sanding and polishing one may end up cutting themselves, or not capturing the image in it's full beauty.

The Taoist knew that the piece of jade he was working on would take months for him to complete, but he realized that even like jade changes in a person rarely occur quickly, but more like a caterpillar spinning it's cocoon, and spending months changing itself inside.

One that choose to try to be silent will find that it takes time to reduce ones talking habits enough to be silent while still talking at the right time. Changes happen like jade is shaped. Slow, tedious, and attentive the taoist shaping the jade must be, so to the person who wishes to change things in life.

Takes time to quit smoking, takes time to become one to not speak unless it is appropriate to do so, takes time to cultivate a being. When time, heat and pressure is applied to a piece of coal, you eventually get a diamond. Same goes for cultivating one's being.

Takes time to perform. When you begin a change it takes time to chisel it, and it takes time to polish the edges. Once finished and the end comes you realize that it just leads into the beginning of a new change. Heat and Pressure are applied directly through determination.