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Tao fundamentally assumes that an inner cultivation of character can lead to an outer resonance.
the outside world is only known in relation to an inner point of view.
In the beginning, all things are hopeful. We prepare ourselves to start anew.
All life is a dream, not because it isn’t there, but because we all project different meanings upon it. We must cleanse away this habit.
If waters are placid, the moon will be mirrored perfectly. If we still ourselves, we can mirror the divine perfectly.
True stillness comes naturally from moments of solitude where we allow our minds to settle. Just as water seeks its own level, the mind will gravitate toward the holy. Muddy water will become clear if allowed to stand undisturbed, and so too will the mind become clear if it is allowed to be still.
Wind in the cave: Movement in stillness. Power in silence.
When listening not with the ear but with the spirit, one can perceive the subtle sound.
The deepest sound is silence.
Things cannot remain in stillness forever.
All growth comes with a shock.
We may think that it came up suddenly, but in actuality, it emerged as the product of unseen and subtle cycles.
Whether it is the time or the method, true labor is half initiative and half knowing how to let things proceed on their own.
In adulthood, we often see responsibilities as something dreadful. Why should we dig the ground when the weather is disagreeable? We see activities only as obligations, and we strain against our fate. But there is a joy to working in harmony with the proper time. When we do things at just the right occasion and those efforts bear fruit later, the gratification is tremendous.
Disasters may well change us deeply, but they will pass.
We must keep to our deeper convictions and remember our goals. Whether we remain ash or become the phoenix is up to us.
Actually, without these slight imbalances, there could be no movement in life. It is being off balance that keeps life changing.
All life is continual destruction and healing, over and over again.
even in the midst of an extreme situation, the w...
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Whether the situation is illness, calamity, or their own anger, they know that heal...
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From centering to finished pot, Form increases as options decrease;
This is how we shape all the situations in our lives. We must give them rough shape and then throw them down into the center of our lives.
We must stretch and compress, testing the nature of things.
As we shape the situation, we must be aware of what form we want things to take. The closer something comes to completion, the ...
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Our options become fewer, until the full impact of our creation i...
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Beauty or ugliness, utility or failure, comes from the p...
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In nature there is no alienation. Everything belongs.
Only human beings hold ourselves aloof from this process.
We divorce ourselves from process, even as we yearn for love, companionship, understanding, and communion. We constantly defeat ourselves by questioning, asserting ourselves at the wrong times...
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Our alienation is self-...
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The bird moves when it must; it does not move when stillness is appropriate.
The secret of its serenity is a type of vigilance, a contemplative state.
Actions in life can be reduced to two factors: positioning and timing.
If we are not in the right place at the right time, we cannot possibly take advantage of what life has to offer us.
we must be vigilant and...
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Position is useless without awareness. If we have both, we make no mistakes.
Those who believe that life was better in the “old days” sometimes are blind to the reality of the present; those who live only for the present frequently have little regard for either precedent or consequence; and those who live only for some deferred reward often strain themselves with too much denial.
We must understand how the past affects us, we should keep the present full of rich and satisfying experiences, and we should devote some energy each day to building for the future.
When you buy something that has assembly instructions, you follow the directions, but you do not then venerate the instructions. Spiritual attainment is no different.
Cooperation with others. Perception, experience, tenacity. Know when to lead and when to follow.
Influencing others requires perception.
True leadership is a combination of initiative and humility.
we cannot allow ourselves to be swept into the vortex.
Action must be guided by both intellect and experience.
Only when wisdom, courage, timing, and perseverance are combined can one have a sound basis for initiative.
The action must be complete. It must burn clean; it cannot leave any bad ramifications or lingering traces.
An act that leaves destruction, resentment, or untidiness in its...
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Let us not follow vulgar leaders Who exploit the fear of death, And promise the bliss of salvation.
But if we do not fear death and are happy, what will such leaders have to offer?
True spirituality is liberation, not just from the delusions of reality but from the delusions of religion as well.
