Simplicity and humility are often spoken of as though their meaning were self-evident. The older Daoist sources offer a more exact ground: responsiveness to what is present, freedom from unnecessary force and a practice refined through close attention.
A historical ground
Chapter 3 of the Zhuangzi, usually dated to the fourth century BCE, is titled around nourishing life. Its central story follows Cook Ding as he carves an ox. His skill lies in following the natural grain and moving through the spaces already there. Lord Wenhui hears the account and says that he has learned how to nourish life.
The scene presents an art of action shaped by attention, practice and accord with the conditions in front of the hand. Force gives way to discernment. Mastery becomes less about imposing a design and more about seeing clearly enough to respond.
Another early source, the Neiye or Inward Training, is commonly dated to about 350 to 300 BCE. Scholar Harold D. Roth presents it as an early text of Daoist self-cultivation. Its presence widens the historical picture: cultivation was expressed through practice and disciplined attention before later institutional forms of Daoism developed.
These sources belong to a complex history. Modern scholarship cautions against treating philosophical and religious Daoism as two perfectly separate worlds. The useful distinction here is chronological and textual: an early cultivation record can be named without making it carry every later doctrine.
A current Temple reading
At TI YA RA, simplicity begins with enough. At the tea table, one tea, one brewing vessel and the cups required for the people present may carry the whole sitting. Another object belongs when it serves the occasion. Empty space allows hands to move, water to be poured and the leaf to remain visible.
Humility keeps service near the centre. In Yangsheng Cha Dao, tea is the teacher. The person preparing it pays attention to leaf, water, company and time, then responds. Skill matters because it can serve the tea and the people at the table.
This posture continues after the last cup. Ware is washed. Cloth is rinsed. The surface is cleared. Each object is returned after use. The ending is part of the practice because it protects the next beginning.
Enough is not a number fixed outside the occasion. A table for one person and a table for several will ask for different objects. Humility appears in noticing the difference and choosing accordingly. The same principle governs the ending: nothing is left in place simply to prove the sitting happened. Use determines what belongs, and care determines what returns.
The same reading applies to garments. A familiar piece can be worn, washed, repaired and worn again. Material, cut and care give it authority through use. Repetition offers a quieter measure than accumulation.
Simplicity and humility become visible through these decisions. Choose what serves. Attend to it fully. Return it with care. The practice at TI YA RA is contemporary, while its orientation towards attention and responsive action remains in conversation with the older cultivation texts.
Source notes
The Cook Ding passage is in Zhuangzi, chapter 3, translated by Burton Watson. Harold D. Roth’s account of the Neiye appears in Original Tao. The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy provides context for the historical complexity of Daoist categories and institutions.