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Being empty in this sense means not being full of beliefs, possessions, or ego-driven ideas, but rather remaining open to all possibilities.
all. Similarly, the flexible person is open to all possibilities—there’s nothing for him or her to prove because the Tao, not ego, is in charge.
“I don’t know for certain, but I’m willing to listen,” you become a person whom others identify with.
Because your flexibility lets them see that their point of view is welcome. By being open to all possibilities, everyone who encounters you feels their ideas are valuable and there’s no need for conflict.
To be in harmony with the Tao is to be free of goals, immersed in all that you’re doing without concern about the outcome—just
How can you fail at being yourself and trusting completely in the wisdom of the Source of everything?
Let go of having to win an argument and being right by changing the atmosphere with a statement such as “You’re very likely correct.
As Lao-tzu reminds you, when you suspend your pomposity and rigidity, others recognize themselves in your flexible nature, and they’ll trust you.
have no rigidity within me. I can bend to any wind and remain unbroken. I will use the strength of the wind to make me even stronger and better preserved.
“I’ve never considered that point of view. Thank you for sharing your ideas with me.”
Those who follow the Way become one with the Way. Those who follow goodness become one with goodness.
If you conform to the Way, its power flows through you. Your actions become those of nature, your ways those of heaven. Open yourself to the Tao and trust your natural responses . . . then everything will fall into place.
Nature doesn’t have to insist, push, or force anything; after all, storms don’t last forever.
The Tao creates from an eternal perspective, but everything is on its return trip home the moment it comes into being.
So Lao-tzu instructs that if you live harmoniously with this simple principle, you’l...
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The Tao points out that the Way is responsible for everything, with a naturalness about it that isn’t forced.
Suspend ego-driven plans and instead participate in the power that created you—allow it to be the guiding force in your life.
Change your life by actively observing nature’s way.
Change your life by trusting your ability to respond naturally to the circumstances in your life.
T. S. Eliot evokes the natural cycle in his poem “Ash-Wednesday”: Because I know that time is always time And place is always and only place And what is actual is actual only for one time And only for one place I rejoice that things are as they are . . . That’s the idea: Rejoice in the stillness of the Tao.
Everything that you see, touch, or own is a gift from the Tao; thus, it is your duty to suspend your ego and seek an attitude of gratitude and generosity for the Tao’s creativity.
Walk the path of the Tao by being a giver rather than a taker, providing for others and asking nothing in return.
Seeing yourself as important and special because of your artistic talent, for instance, is walking the path of ego. Walking the path of the Tao means that you express appreciation for the hands that allow you to create a sculpture.
Change your life by consciously choosing to be in a state of gratitude.
It really doesn’t matter whether you’re thanking God, Spirit, Allah, the Tao, Krishna, Buddha, the Source, or self, because all those names represent the great wisdom traditions.
say I thank You for what lies ahead.
Note how your gratitude for another truly nurtures your Tao path, not that of your ego.
Thus, to know humanity, understand earth. To know earth, understand heaven. To know heaven, understand the Way. To know the Way, understand the great within yourself.
know this formless perfection, you must “understand the great within yourself.” You’re the central character in this wonderful saga!
Your greatness won’t be found in a classroom; an apprenticeship; a teacher; or flattering comments from well-meaning family members, friends, or lovers. It is within you.
to do so, meet it in meditative moments of gratitude, and cease to be influenced by contrary points of view.
Trust in your own greatness.
Keep this thought uppermost in your mind and you’ll attract to yourself these same powers of creation: The right people will appear. The exact events that you desire will transpire. The financing will show up. That’s because greatness attracts more of its own self to itself, just as thoughts of inadequacy act upon a belief that ensures that deficiency will become your reality. Affirm the following to yourself over and over until it becomes your automatic inner response
You’re good enough to withstand the passing disappointments and pain that afflict life on this planet—but trying to protect yourself by believing that you don’t embody greatness is overkill.
Whatever you desire to become or to attract to yourself, make the internal shift from It probably won’t happen for me to It is on its way!
Then begin the process of looking for even
So think about how fortunate you are to have greatness located within yourself. Now you can live the ultimate paradox: You can be greatness and be nobody, simultaneously.
must be like what I came from. I will never abandon my belief in my greatness and the greatness of others. Read
sense of serenity regardless of what you may see taking place around you.
When you maintain a peaceful inner posture, even in the midst of chaos, you change your life.
Self-mastery only blossoms when you practice being aware of, and responsible for, what you’re feeling.
what could be better than the freedom of going through life without feeling that people and circumstances control you without your permission?
Whatever your current state, if you believe that a changing economic picture or a tapestry of events taking place around you is responsible—and you then use these external factors to explain your inner state of mind—you’ve lost touch with your root.
Because you’re allowing yourself to be “blown to and fro” by the shifting...
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Vow to seek a calm inner response to the circumstances of your life.
make the immediate decision that you will find the calm center of yourself.
By not thinking of what is taking place, and instead taking a few deep breaths in which you opt to empty
You have the innate ability to choose calmness in the face of situations that ...
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There was a time when I thought this was impossible. Now I know that even in the most troublesome of times, my reaction is to choose stillness . . . the way of the Tao.
have the ability to stay poised and centered, regardless of what goes before me.
