7 Principles of Nature Quotes

“When the conceptual world of the intellect acts as a gravity well, it collapses the present moment into duality, which is not the actual nature of experience. We start to live farther away from the facts, resulting in a narrowing of vision, further concealing truths that may not benefit from being hidden.”
― Aldrich Chan, 7 Principles of Nature: How We Strayed and How We Return

“From another perspective, death is necessary to sustain the living. In our everyday lives, cells die; indeed, their death is necessary for life. Apoptosis, or selective cell death, is a developmental process that occurs throughout our lives especially in the initial stages. One of the primary risk factors of developing autism is the failure of apoptosis. This is also reflected psychologically; as we get older there are behaviors that must “die” before new psychological structures and behaviors can emerge. Alternatively, too much life can bring death. In adulthood, cells continue to proliferate, and when there is not the added component of death or apoptosis, cancer emerges.”
― Aldrich Chan, 7 Principles of Nature: How We Strayed and How We Return

“Rather than a linear evolutionary progression, the trajectory is like a spiral, the end eventually incorporates the beginning, though it also extends beyond it. One unlearns to learn, and by letting go we gain.”
― Aldrich Chan, 7 Principles of Nature: How We Strayed and How We Return

“To be spontaneous does not mean to simply express any urge and indulge every desire. That would be impulsivity. Impulsivity neglects complexity and context, whereas spontaneity considers them.”
― Aldrich Chan, 7 Principles of Nature: How We Strayed and How We Return

“A clear mirror reflects all things in the world, whether they are judged as “unpleasant,” or “beautiful.” “Unpleasant” things do not damage mirrors. A mirror does not cling to the images it reflects, once something is out of view, no trace is left behind.”
― Aldrich Chan, 7 Principles of Nature: How We Strayed and How We Return

“87. A clear mirror reflects all things in the world, whether they are judged as “unpleasant,” or “beautiful.” “Unpleasant” things do not damage mirrors. A mirror does not cling to the images it reflects, once something is out of view, no trace is left behind.”
― Aldrich Chan, 7 Principles of Nature: How We Strayed and How We Return

“Wisdom occurs when intelligence and experience combine into an effective and coherent spontaneous expression.”
― Aldrich Chan, 7 Principles of Nature: How We Strayed and How We Return

“Every free choice collapses an infinite set of other choices that could be made. In fact, one reason people suffer is precisely this sacrifice. We cannot be everything all at once, and once we choose a way of being, the only direction left is forward. We have to take responsibility for our becoming. Every choice made leads to a meeting with an alternate self, why not consider one over another? When we choose, we also sacrifice”
― Aldrich Chan, 7 Principles of Nature: How We Strayed and How We Return

“To be in Dao is to primarily exist in the fertile expanse where time stands still. Time loses meaning because primary identity shifts into alignment with the timeless principle itself. Distance in space loses felt degrees of separation, because of deep interconnectivity in its undifferentiated formless state. Death loses significance because it is perceived and experienced as another transformation of the Dao. Anxiety from change dissipates, as it is simply seen as part of Dao’s process of equilibrium. The intolerance of uncertainty fades, as it gives way to the adventure of potential and possibility. It is, in essence, alongside chance, the requirement for freedom. The Dao is self-generating, meaning it is root and branch. It is complete fulfillment, so temptations surrender their grasp to Dao’s quiescence. In a sense, to be with Dao is to favor loss over gain.”
― Aldrich Chan, 7 Principles of Nature: How We Strayed and How We Return

“Unlike the West, the “true self” is not created over time but discovered, which is why Daoist and Zen writings may refer to it as “original nature.” Our original nature is a primordial melody, and to hear it, one must silence all the extraneous noise.”
― Aldrich Chan, 7 Principles of Nature: How We Strayed and How We Return

“Zhuangzi might suggest, the true folly is not that they are greedy, but rather that they are not greedy enough. For why limit oneself to a single, fixed identity when one could, instead, embrace the boundless potential of becoming anything? As Zhuangzi puts it: “Without praises, without curses, now a dragon, now a snake, you transform together with the times, and never consent to be one thing alone.”
― Aldrich Chan, 7 Principles of Nature: How We Strayed and How We Return

“To embrace a stance of certainty, is to be static, narrow, and rigid. Certainty is death of a question, whereas uncertainty allows both question and answer to remain alive.”
― Aldrich Chan, 7 Principles of Nature: How We Strayed and How We Return

“First, we recognize that thoughts are options, not commands. Our heart pumps blood throughout the body, like how thoughts arise in relation to our brain activity. It is easy to be swayed by the illusion that you are just the content of your thoughts, but you are also the process that can transcend and guide them. They are options, just information to be considered, not who you are.”
― Aldrich Chan, 7 Principles of Nature: How We Strayed and How We Return

“Nevertheless, what is possible is always greater than what can be realized, which is why the frontier of human potential seems to endlessly recede as soon as something is achieved”
― Aldrich Chan, 7 Principles of Nature: How We Strayed and How We Return

“Herein lies a profound irony, the very faculties that distance us from nature also afford us the potential to rediscover it in new and meaningful ways. If human experience is folded into nature’s order, then so too must we regard our moral intuitions, our sense of beauty, and our quest for meaning as natural unfoldings. Might it be that through understanding and harmonizing these faculties, we may not only reconcile with nature but unlock deeper potentials?”
― Aldrich Chan, 7 Principles of Nature: How We Strayed and How We Return

“Artificial drugs or technological temptations hijack our natural reinforcement systems into believing we are meeting a goal that was important for survival. This deception increases their value and presence while reducing the importance of more beneficial interests. We can be like moths swarming an artificial light, believing it is the moon.”
― Aldrich Chan, 7 Principles of Nature: How We Strayed and How We Return

“Wisdom occurs when intelligence and experience combine into an effective and coherent spontaneous expression”
― Aldrich Chan, 7 Principles of Nature: How We Strayed and How We Return

“Science attempts to “shed light” over unknowns to improve our understanding of the world, whereas Daoistic practices are aimed at “eclipsing light” in order to amplify nature’s autonomous illumination (明) within.”
― Aldrich Chan, 7 Principles of Nature: How We Strayed and How We Return

“I adopt a different path, one that unfolds horizontally.... Rather than framing humankind’s condition as a “fall”, I consider it a “straying”—a term whose roots can be traced back to the vulgar latin word “estragare” which translates to “wander out of bounds.” Language, as Daoism observes, deepens this estrangement by carving out distinctions, magnifying the sense of multiplicity and separateness. By systematically dissolving these conceptual edifices, we traverse the horizontal continuum, potentially unveiling a primordial state known as the uncarved wood(樸).”
― Aldrich Chan, 7 Principles of Nature: How We Strayed and How We Return

“In the enigma of existence, nature becomes a wordless teacher whose very process serves as a path toward deeper knowledge and insight. Science seeks to understand nature through observation and measurement. Daoism seeks a way of life that is most natural (自然, Ziran), guided by an attunement to nature, the discernment of its patterns and the expression that follows.”
― Aldrich Chan, 7 Principles of Nature: How We Strayed and How We Return

“Nature may be seen as a continuity extending from moral intuitions in humans to the trees that populate a forest.”
― Aldrich Chan, 7 Principles of Nature: How We Strayed and How We Return

“Organicity is the natural intelligence and wisdom our bodies are born with, outside of awareness. It is … communicated through our intuition—the old-growth forest of the mind, a non-linear, dynamic, complex medium through which nature’s potential is unveiled.”
― Aldrich Chan, 7 Principles of Nature: How We Strayed and How We Return

“It only takes a few seconds to remember that our bodies are vibrant landscapes, worlds shaped by the forces of nature. Within each human are elements forged from ancient stars, rivers of blood reflecting the great waterways of earth, neural pathways branching like sprawling roots of forests, and electromagnetic waves humming in rhythm with invisible forces around us. We are simultaneously mountain, ocean, and sky; a microcosm, home to millions of organisms.”
― Aldrich Chan, 7 Principles of Nature: How We Strayed and How We Return

“2. It only takes a few seconds to remember that our bodies are vibrant landscapes, worlds shaped by the forces of nature. Within each human are elements forged from ancient stars, rivers of blood reflecting the great waterways of earth, neural pathways branching like sprawling roots of forests, and electromagnetic waves humming in rhythm with invisible forces around us. We are simultaneously mountain, ocean, and sky; a microcosm, home to millions of organisms.”
― Aldrich Chan, 7 Principles of Nature: How We Strayed and How We Return