For years and years, it has been said that the art of the soul is being
sensitive enough to register subtle impressions and resilient enough
to survive the barrage of influences that distract us from our
purposes. I might take this idea one step further and say that when we
apply these same principles to health and healing, we need just the
right mix of stimulation and grounding, death and renewal, receptivity
and core identity, and so on and so forth. When any of these competing
forces is dominant, survival is jeopardized so it matters deeply
whether we are in harmony with both Heaven and Earth and thus I would
urge each of you to resolve to do your part in sustaining the delicate
balance between conservation of tradition and progress into the
future, between love of the Earth and devotion to Heaven.

"If you love the sacred and despise the ordinary, you are still bobbing in
the ocean of delusion." --Lin-Chi, *The Taoist Classics,* translated by
Thomas Cleary