tao-of-today

[tao-of-today]

42.

08/06.

Living by melting into Harmony.

“ The Tao gave birth to 1, 1 gave birth to 2, 2 to 3, all 3 begat the 10,000 things. The 10,000 things carry yin and embrace the yang. They achieve harmony by combining these forces. People suffer at the thought of being without parents, food or worth. Yet this is exactly the way that kings and lords once described themselves. One gains by loosing and looses by gaining. What other taught- I teach. The violent dies a violent death- this is the fundamental teaching.”

The Tao is the hidden force that brings all the 10,000 things into being as well as the untangable that brings us wholeness and oneness.

Blending these seemengly opposing forces is the way to achieve harmony. The Tao needs nothing to survive and the value that we put on things is usually something that is relevant to our physical existence. You will die as you live- so cut out the violet thoughts and you will exist in harmony. If you do so/ you will die that way.

Practice. Think of a person that has done wrong by you. Cut out the violent thoughts and replace hen with love and forgiveness. Watch your body as yourself thoughts change in this manner. This is/ the essential teaching of the Tao.

[tao-of-today]

41.

04/06.

Living beyond appearances.

“A great scholar hears if the Tao and begins designer practice. A middling scholar retails some and looses some. An inferior one hears of the Tao and roars with ridicule. Without that laugh - it wouldn’t be the Tao. The way of illumination seems dark. The way forward seems like retreat. The easy way seems hard. True power seems weak. True purity seems tarnished. True clarity seems obscure. The greatest wisdom seems childish. The Tao is hidden and nameless. The Tao alone nourishes evrything and brings it to fulfilment. “

By changing your thoughts & aligning yourself with the way of the Tao, you will begin to see that the whole world is based on a concept of being outward and is based on appearances only.

Decide what type of scholar you are... Great, middling or inferior. The greatness comes from practicing everything you learn out of the 81 verses. Commit and dedicate yourself - the day is full of opportunities to utelise the things learned here and with time you will be a great scholar.

“The Way is only attractive to those that are wise enough to realise how foolish they are. Following the way- rather than you ego- will allow you to be ordinary, simple & subtle.”

You are only one thought away from being at peace when you are in conflict, stop and evaluate. As your ego stops having its hold on you, you will see the illuminated worlds that is truly inviting. Not cold and cruel like our ego keeps trying to tell us.

Let go of needing prove of love. Love is there, unconditiononally and limitless- it doesn’t need to be shown to you for you to know this.

Practice. Spend an hour with a child today. Watch the kid Repeat the same word over and over- enjoying the sound. Watch the amusement of the little things and take note of the childish impulses. Vow to be a kid again as often as possible.

[tao-of-today]

40.

29/05.

Living by returning & yielding.

“Returning is the motion of the Tao. Yielding is the way of the Tao. The 10,000 things are being of being. Being is born out of non being.”

If you keane to master this simple verse, you will live in limitless happiness. As it holds all that is needed for it. Returning - means die whilst you are still alive - you don’t need to wait for your body to die before your spirit returns to the be whole again.

In order for you to form, you just come from spirit. Spirit gives you life. She’d your ego and return to spirit. The spirit is loving kind and not exclusive in any way. Surrender & become humble. My power is made perfect in weakness. When I am weak- I am the strongest.

Choosing to live and be a non being, regain the power of the source and reassess your steps in life. Are you moving to or away from the source in your actions towards others, your career. Are you separating and running with the ego? Or focusing more on the wholeness and generosity?

Practice. Make a ‘yield’ sign and put it somewhere visible for you to see and stop yourself in arguments or when you are trying to act on ego and puts how someone.

[tao-of-today]

39.

28/05.

Living Wholeness.

“These things from Ancient times arrive from one. The sky is whole & clear. The earth is whole & firm. The spirit is whole & full. The 10,000 things are whole & the whole country is upright. All things are of the wholeness virtue. When men interferes with the Tao the sky becomes filthy, the earth becomes depleated. The equilibrium crumbles & creatures become extinct. Therefore, mobility is in routed in humility. Loftiness is based on loneliness, this is why the Nobel people refer to themselves as alone, lacking & unworthy. The pieces of a chariot are useless unless they work as a whole. A mans life is worth nothing unless he lives in accordance with the universe. Playing ones part in accordance to the universe is humility. Trully too much honour means no honour. It’s not wise to shine like jade and sound like chimes. “

Existing harmoniously with the universe is the message - the moment you place yourself in a transient position in relation to others or the 10,000 things you are interfering with Tao. Your ego dictates that you are a seperate, distinct and superior being.

Your body is a perfect example of oneness. If all cells work together your body is healthy. If a cancer cell forms which comes from separation from other cells, it will kill itself by killing the host that it feeds of. People are the same, unless we live in harmony with our surroundings and the energy we will Jill ourselves off in the process.

“A mans life men’s nothing unless it is a part of the whole. “

Practice. Go for a 30min Walk and experince wholeness with everyone you encounter- animals, humans, races, ages. Feel one with them.

[tao-of-today]

38.

27/05.

Living within your own Nature.

A trully good man is not aware of his goodness and is therefore good. A foolish man tried to be good and therefore not good. The master does nothing and leaves nothing undone. The ordinary man is always doing things yet there is always things left to be done. The highest virtue is to act without a sence of self. The highest kindness is to give without condition. The highest justice is to see without preference.

Where Tao is lost, there is goodness- nature is good without knowing it. It is oneness. The moment you know you are good you intruduce polarity Of good and bad. This causes you to loose touch with Tao. If you then can’t be good, you fall deeper to be moral. When morality is lost - you turn to rituals. These are rules that people put into place for centuries. All the cultures and customs that devide us. These rituals keep you disconnected which goes against the nature of Tao- being one. Further you go down, you loose touch with culture- you steep to laws. Which creates chaos for yourself.

Instead try to act without being concerned for your ego. Trust yourself and reject artificial systems put in place to judge wether you are and aren’t good enough in this world. You don’t need anyone or anything telling you are as you are- you are a part of god. And god is goodness.

Practice. Sit down and observe god creatures- animals. They tryst their true nature & are so full of knowing.

[tao-of-today]

37.

26/05.

Living in Simplicity.

“The Tao does nothing but leaves nothing undone. If powerful men could centre themselves in it, the whole world would transform by itself in its natural rhythms. When life is simple, pretences fall away. Our essential natures shine through. By not wanting there is calm & the world will straighten itself. When there is silence one finds the anchor of the universe within oneself. “

Do nothing and all will be done. Hard to believe as this goes against our taught ways... however in reality when you interfier you disrupt the flow. Look at how you view yourself. When you stop judging yourself upon what you have done or haven’t done- a hived or not- you replace strong desires with calm contentment.

Allow your true nature to shine through. Step aside bite your tongue and zip your lips & let people around you figure out things for themselves. Let them find the anchors within themselves.

Cultivate your true self and don’t let the judgments of others identify you. You don’t have to do - anything. No need to compete, win, race or place. Just- be.

“I am the centre of the Tao. I retreat into silence and let my life unfold”.

Practice. Remember- “the Tao does nothing yet leaves nothing undone.” Go for a walk and emerge yourself into the natural world around you and let it just flow through you. Just be for those moments.

[tao-of-today]

36.

25/05.

Living with Obscurity.

We have been taught to have a ‘look at me’ attitude from a young age. Compete for Medals and marks. Rise up above the crowd. This is a system that tries to make compereasents, determine your success and happiness. Instead of this known way, change your perspective and remove competition from your life. Retreat and retain great strength outliving the jumping for fame people. Become an observer of your life. Let others shine, whilst you stay soft and subtle in the background. Don’t be the part of the herd.

Feeling belittled means you before experienced being important. Weak you have felt strength before, deprived because you have felt priveledged. Avoid these pitfalls of feeling down, fearful, depressed or scared. Balance it out by thinking about the feeling of the time you were happy when feeling down. Brave and strong when you are feeling weak.

If you find this balance, you will find oneness within. You will learn to balance out the negative feelings that may arise with positive ones - and let them be experienced simoteneously and together at the same time. This will give you more control over you feelings and your thoughts.

Practice. As much as you can - stay one day in the background. Shift the focuse from “I” to “you. Commit to being interested in other and use softness and gentleness in your tones.

[tao-of-today]

35.

24/05.

Living beyond the Worldly Pleasures.

“All men will come to him who keeps to one. They flock to him & receive no harm. They receive peace, happiness & security. Music & dining are passing pleasures, yet they get people to stop. How bland & incipient are things of this world when one compares them to the Tao. When you look for it- there is nothing to see. When you listen for it- there is nothing to hear. When you use it- it cannot be exhausted.”

When you think about pleasure, what comes to your mind? Generally these are things that we sencerly expperience in the world of the form. However, these can lead to addictions of many discriptions. Most things described as pleasurable, are temporary. Don’t be fooled to think that they will last and satisfy you in the long run. This is what has a grip on you and begs you to come back for more and more- it has control over you.

If you however put emphasis on the Tao, you will notice that you will enjoy a pleasure of a fine meal, but be in ore of what process took place for its creation. You will hear music and realise that the silence inbetween is what was created by the never exhaustible Tao. Being included in the internal Tao cannot have space for addictions.

Add thankfulness to your daily practice. You will Attract more people and things that are open minded and positive if you are open and greatful. When you chnage your view and see the nature of the Tao, you will no longer chase the worldly pleasures.

Practice. Fast for 24 hours. When you feel hungry, feel gratitude for the eternal force that is with you. Let your busy know that you will feed it soon and connect to the energy of the Tao which feels no hunger. Compare the feeling of potential bliss you may experience to the addictive feeling of pleasure you wrrr used to feeling.

[tao-of-today]

34.

23/05.

Living the Great way.

“ The great way is universal, it can be applied to the left or the right. All beings rely on it for life & but it doesn’t take possession of them. It accomplishes it’s purpose, but makes no claim for itself. It covers all creatures like the sky, but it doesn’t nominate them. All things return to it as if it were home, but it doesn’t lorde over them. Thus it may be called Great. By not calling yourself greatness - one achieves greatness.”

Reevaluate your conception on who is someone that identifies by being great. It isn’t the way we have been thought- people who stand out from the crowd. They are either famous or recognised and must have something apraxia about them to be great... The Tao is the real greateness. And it is present in everyone of us, even the ones that you previously saw as difficult people.

Discounting yryjnf to decide what anyone else should or shouldn’t be doing. Catch your thoughts and words that do so. Even with kids... they come through you, not from you. Let them decide and live by their own decisions. Listen- evaluate yourself and let go of others.

Practice. Find a couple of people in your life that have greateness in them, ones that do good and don’t look for the limelight for doing it, ones that follow the way without even knowing they are. Let them know of their greatness. Notice how the interaction changes with that person when you don’t focuse in the external factors of this person, but just see their true internal greatness.

[tao-of-today]

33.

22/05.

Living in self mastery.

“One who understands other has the knowledge, one who understands himself - has wisdom. Mastering other requires force, mastering the self requires strength. If you realise you have enough you are truly rich. One that gives himself to his position surely lives long. One that gives himself to the Tao- lives forever. “

Change the way you are seeing knowledge and power. Understand yourself rather than thinking about the behaviour of others. Learn to master yourself in any situation- not to dull out the emotions but live them, without judgment. Inspect and analyse your own feelings at the moment of conflict rather than blaming others & focusing on what they are doing. Abandon such a way of control and quit interfering with their life. Those who depend on you should also find their peace within themselves and not make you responsible for their feelings either.

Quit trying to control the behaviour of others, instead let them live out their Tao and learn of their mistakes. Focus within, master yourself and don’t allow anyone to be in charge of your reactions and feelings. By taking control back you are forbidding others to control how you feel. No one should have this power but you.

By passing blame & trying to understand the other person and focuse in understanding yourself by taking responsibility of the way you choose to react.

Practice. Have a conversation with a person with whom you know you usually have conflict with. Apply this new manner of thinking- shift the thoughts from them- to you. Analyse, inspect and experince the feelings freely and Choose how you want to react.

[tao-of-today]

32.

21/05.

Living with the perfect goodness of the Tao.

We need to figure out a way to live in perfect balance of living in this physical world and existing alongside the great creating Tao. Look at what you want to bring into your life and be grateful for all that you encounter. If you fight the current of the Tao, you will always be pulled under and struggle or drown.

Be aware of anything that directs you forwards trully igniting your passions. If signs pop up and your job changes or a new direction arrises, don’t be pulled under with the current of fear. Take the new leap of faith and have trust that the Tao will always take care of you. It is much easier to drift along the current than fight against it.

Pay attention to the flow of your life- stop trying to control the uncontrollable! Take note of who and what shows up and when, look for clues that get exposed to them leading you to the new ways and experiences along the flow of the great Tao. Watch out for strange coincidences that seem to collaborate to stir you in this new direction.

Practice. Take a few hours of your day and go for a walk, let you legs take you werever they will, listen if the sounds, notice the smells, temperature and watch the surroundings. All things happen at their own pace, find that current and just set yourself free and flow upon it.

[tao-of-today]

31.

20/05.

Living without weapons.

“Weapons are the tools of violence. All decent men detest them and that’s why the men that follow the Tao never use them. Arms serve evil - they are the tools for those who oppose the wise rule. Use them only as a last resort. Peace and quet is a decent man’s behaviour & to him even a victory is no cause of rejoicing. He who thinks a triumph is beautiful, has the will to kill. And if one has a will to kill - he will never prevail upon the world. It’s a good sign when his higher nature comes in sight and a bad if the lower does. With the slaughter of multitudes we have grief and sorrow. Every victory is a funeral, when you win a war you should celebrate with mourning.”

Design, production, selling, marketing or using weapons is the business of killing. Humanity has evolved the wrong way and created ‘ weapons of mass distraction’ , oh how far we have strayed. We have been at war since humanity can remember.

No victory in any battle should be celebrated- we are all connected- we all come, stay and return to the one source. If any pain is afflicted- you should be mourning for the person affected & not buying into your competitive ego.

There are physical and non physical weapons. Don’t take part in using either. Notice your language and deminir - demonstrate through it that you value all life.

Practice. Today, say a prayer for everyone who has been killed by the use of weapons.

[tao-of-today]

30.

19/05.

Living without Force.

“ One who will guide the leader of men will warn him about uses of arms to conquest. Weapons often turn on their holder. Where armies settle, nature offers only thorns. After a great battle, the land has been cursed and the earth lies stripped of its motherhood. After you have attained your purpose, you must not parade your success. You must not boast of your ability or feel proud. You must regret that you haven’t been able to prevent a war. You must never think of conquering others by force. What ever strains with force will decay, as it isn’t in tune with the way. It’s end will come too soon. “

We should strive for a conflict free existance free of battle related stress along the ravages that wars have caused us. If it’s a war in your personal life, it equally gets stripped of its fruitful nature after war. One thing to remember is that- if force is used- mental or physical where any kind of weapons of hate red and intolerance are used - there will always be a counterforce of revenge and resentment. This shows that that person has lost their way.

Examine relationships where you have conflict and completely stir away from any force, tone down the harsh language and never use physical force. Practice to stop the thoughts of violence and instead tune into listening. Hold yourself back from saying ANYTHING back in force- the weapons WILL be turned back on you with much to loose.

If ever forse was needed to be used to protect yourself or someone- don’t take pride in it, don’t boast about it. But instead retrieve to a place where you can amend the use of force applied.

Practice. Create distance between yourself and violence. It is all around us on news, social media, music and movies. Remove your involvement as even a passive observer is a supporter of violence when taking part in viewing or following the content.



[tao-of-today]

29.

18/05.

Living by Natural Law.

“ Do you think you can take over the universe and improve it? I don’t think so. Everything under heaven is a sacred vessel & can’t be controlled. Trying to control leads to ruin. Trying to grasp - we loose. Allow yourself life to unfold naturally- know that it too, is a perfect vessel. Just as you breathe in & breathe out- there is a time of being ahead & a time of being behind. Time for being in motion & a time of being at rest. A time for being rigorous & a time for being exhausted. A time for being safe & a time to be in danger. All of this life is moving towards perfection- so what need is there for obsessive, exaggerate or extreme?”

Live in effected by the ego- know- that you aren’t in charge, you haven’t been in charge and you never will be. Let go of ideas of controlling anything, anyone including yourself.

The Tao is a natural law and it allows all of creation to reveal itself in present timing. All that is revealed- bad or good is sacred. There is a time for everything. “The things we live we need to learn to leave alone”.

Practice. Notice a Time when you want to force or control a situation and let go. Let it infield in front of you and observe without judgment & with curiosity.

[tao-of-today]

28.

17/05.

Living Virtuesly.

“Be a humble valley allowing opposites flow through you. Be the pattern of the world - by seeing it and living in harmony & not imposing your ego on others. In accord with eternal power, be the fountain of the planet and constantly pouring from the ocean of goodness & virtue- after all it is your birth right. Preserve your original qualities, by reclaiming & reacquainting yourself with the Tao essence which proceeded your birth into form & is your original quality. These are the 4 priciples to live by when one describes living virtuesly.”

01/ be a valley under heaven and let the river of life flow through you. Live in radical humanity. Do not lead over people, stoop down and lest them be lead without leadership.

02/ be the pattern of the world as you see nature unspoiled by culture & humans. This is the design of the Tao. Rather than insisting, changing and resisting- gently row your boat doesn’t the stream and trust the Tao.

03/ act in accord to eternal power. This is the fountain of power that never fades or stops. Power to create, go into form, return to formless and then back to the source. Always there- and always inside you too.

04/ preserve tour original self- this is the self that existed before you were you- love, kindness & beauty - that was your essence before you formed into a particle & than into the human being.

Replace all negativity with love. Actively begin the process of projecting your original self - especially in places and situations- where it’s hard to do.

Practice. Be childlike. Play rather than work, giggle rather than be serious all the time. Be in owe for a moment over something as simple as a spider web.

[tao-of-today]

27.

16/05.

Living by your inner Light.

“ A knower Of the truth travels without leaving a trace. Speaks without causing harm, gives without keeping account. The door he shuts all thought there isn’t a lock- can’t be opened. The knot he ties, even there is no cord- can’t be untied. Be wise and help all beings impartially. This is what is called following the light. What is a good man, but a bad mans teacher. What is a bad man, but a good man’s job. If the teacher isn’t respected or the student isn’t cared for, confusion will arise- however clever one is. This is the great secret. “

If all your riches were left on the table, could they be left without security? Stealing isn’t the way of the truth, so if you were surrounded by people who follow their light there is no point of locking anything away. Giving is simultaneous of receiving. Trust the inner light and it will point you and those around you on the right path.

Live spontaneously, there is no need to wrap each moment separately in advance. Just enjoy. Go away and don’t make any particular plans and let the magic unfold in front of you.

Trust in yourself, nothing will dissuade you from yourself. Don’t judge yourself or others. Have empathy & understanding. We are - all one.

Practice. Find a person labelled as ‘bad’ and let them know your love. Email, call or mail to a stranger- maybe in prison and let them be your assignment right now.

[tao-of-today]

26.

15/05.

Living Calmly.

“ The heavy- is the root of light, the still is the master of unrest. Realising this, the person is centred & poised in the midst of all activities, although surrounded by opulence - you are not swayed. If you let yourself to be thrown to and fro - you loose touch with your root. To be restless is to loose one self’s mastery”.

Retain a sence or serenity, regardless of what is taking place around you. A true master knows that the skill to remain calm is located within and is a choice. There isn’t any need to assign responsibility to others about how you feel. Own your feelings and actions. Don’t let circumstances determine your state of mind, only you can from within. Be aware of your feelings and be responsible for them- as otherwise your will be a hostage to your ego.

When you maintain a peaceful posture- even amongst chaos you will change you’re life.

“I have the ability to stay firm and poised. Regardless what stands in front of me”

Practice. Sit down, close your eyes and imagine someone that you haven’t been agreeing with or have negative emotions towards. Tell them - “ I forgive you. I surround you with love & light as I do myself”.