Hello all,
I been doing alot of research into one of the oldest timeless books of wisdom, written 2500 BC by Lao Tzu – (Translated to mean, Old Man) This book is timeless, because I feel it’s one of the great books of wisdom that still applies today in our times.
The Tao Te Ching -(Translated to mean ‘The book of the Way’)
When I first read a few verses, I felt a bit overwhelmed, as I felt each verse is written in such a way, that you really have to ponder what’s being said to gain true understanding of the wisdom. There are 81 verses in the Tao Te Ching all pointing to a way of living by going with the natural flow of life, back to nature, or rather the flow of nature or the source. But already naming it Is a big mistake! The first few words in the Tao is;
” The Tao that can be told
is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named
is not the eternal name.”
So the words I use, are just teaching words, but in really time the Tao can’t be named. Some people call it ‘Source’ or ‘flow’ ‘spirit’ ‘God’ etc…… But there is no name for this living force, it just is!
The more research I do on the Tao, the more everything falls into place, maybe that’s how it supposed to happen, the Tao also tells us to live life by ‘letting go’ ‘without effort’ ‘without attachment’…… Living the Tao is to live life by letting go, trusting in things will fall into place, Nature does this every single day. The leaves fall from the trees in autumn /fall, plants start to grow in the spring and so on, it’s just the natural law.
Lao Tzu talks about Water and how the rivers all flow to the great ocean, so be like water stay even and level and everything will flow to you at the right time and right place in your life.
Yin and Yang:
Everybody some time in their life have come across the Yin and Yang symbol,
The symbols represents that everything contains its opposite, If you push to hard at something, you will get the opposite, Both Polars contain or complement each other, that’s why there’s a little circle of Yin in Yang and vice versa. The outside of the circle is the universe while both polars work together within it, interconnecting with each other.
Verse 76 struck a chord with me, Learning about being flexible rather than rigid, has made one big difference in my life, I used to protect my beliefs, not letting anyone in, I was taught to stick by your beliefs no matter what, but Lao Tzu is talking about here, is to be flexible and open to new opinions, so if someone disagrees with you, don’t be rigid in your stance be open to new possibilities, but attached to nothing, that’s how we learn and live wisely with piece of mind.
Lao Tzu explains how nature and the natural law prevails. A flexible mind open to everything attached to nothing, rather than rigid thought, being gentle and soft is the way of the Tao.
Verse 76 of the Tao Te Ching
A man is born gentle and weak.
At his death he is hard and stiff.
Green plants are tender and filled with sap.
At their death they are withered and dry.
Therefore the stiff and unbending is the disciple of death.
The gentle and yielding is the disciple of life.
Thus an army without flexibility never wins a battle.
A tree that is unbending is easily broken.
The hard and strong will fall.
The soft and weak will overcome.
56th Verse of the Tao Te Ching Living by Silent Knowing
Those who know do not talk. Those who talk do not know. Block all the passages!
Close your mouth, cordon off your senses, blunt your sharpness, untie your knots,
soften your glare, settle your dust.
This is primal union or the secret embrace.
One who knows this secret is not moved by attachment or aversion,
swayed by profit or loss, nor touched by honor or disgrace.
He is far beyond the cares of men yet comes to hold the dearest place in their hearts. This, therefore, is the highest state of man.
The whole book is filled with beautiful verses filled with wisdom, I really enjoyed Dr Wayne Dyer’s interpretation of the Tao Te Ching via his audiobook ‘Change your thoughts, change your life’
You can listen to this book on Youtube, It comes in each verse of the Tao, with Dr Dyer’s interpretation of what Lao Tzu is saying. Link below….. I encourage you all to give it a listen, It might just change your life.
Thank you all for reading, Lance