Agression, force only produce counter forces. Since we live in a physical world we are dealing with the forces of physical law constantly. I couldn’t break wind with out force, and trapped gas hurts.
So why does the Tao Te Ching talk about never doing anything, never being an agressor or a force of any kind?
Well, because according to the Lao Tzu, a fart will come out when it is ready and I do not need to force it. Well that is real convient but what about this job interview?
37 ducks playing west side story next to a banjo holster.
There is not an end
FOR
TO find any peace is to lose any chance at pizza
Beyond the grave is a ghost ship filled with dog diapers
They said I couldn’t make it to state, they were wrong
The fulfilled will alway find the perfume dangling song
Can a daughter of sixteen aunts still be in the same place as the frost kin?
I would like to challenge you to a duel, first hand me your gun.
Can cats kill cucumber carts catergorized correctly?
Tony believes in second chances, Tonya belives in love at first sight, are they the same person?
Romance lives in the heart, hearts lie with in every romance, the lies we tell to keep romance alive removes our hearts from with in, but without the lies only our lives are left with in the heart of our romantic lives.
A sentence is a terrible thing to waste.
Can you believe they only said yes to everybody?
This music makes me sad; I love this song.
Forget the championship, Ill take the goat for a walk.
Basketballs are shaped like ballons with solider edges.
ASS IS AN INTERESTING WORD, CAN YOU SPELL IT ANOTHER WAY.
Lets go to the prom, I hear they have great dance movers, I have to get this couch out of my apartment, I don’t care how they do it.
Those who are good at defeating enemies do not engage them”
TTC 68 (Lin)
Of all the greatest warriors in history, the strongest of the strong, each and every one of them had one thing in common; they all kicked some serious ass.
From Superman to The Incredible Hulk– The Navy Seals to The Samurai even One Punch Man.
Whether the warrior is one based in history or fantasy, each warrior has their very own code of honor, the way they go about being their warrior self.
What we see is that our greatest warriors do not look for a fight. They only fight when they have no other choice.
I think of Mr. Myagi from The Karate Kid; it wasn’t until violence visited his literal doorstep did he step in and fight. (Daniel-son is a different story; that guy is a maniac)
But we can see that those that choose not to fight are made of something different (Gama Rays mostly). Their virtues align with the ultimate power that they have. They are great warriors, yet they do not go around beating up people because they know that things usually work themselves out. To fight everything would be a complete contradiction of the will of the Tao.
The Tao Te Ching is the basis for Sun Tzu, the art of war, and most modern heroes and warrior’s character and virtue are based on this methodology.
Why?
Because it allows for life to flow as effortlessly as possible. Non-contention.
“It is called the virtue of non-contention
It is called the power of managing people
It is called being harmonious with Heaven
The ultimate principle of the ancients”
TTC 68 (Lin)
This is also a virtue that shows up in most disciplined people; the ability to be a great warrior is not practiced to beat up people or win battles but instead be at the peak of one’s potential.
As beacons of human potential, the warrior stands for what is beautiful and powerful about being human even in our fragility; we can conquer ourselves and push past limits that others believe to be impossible.
That’s what the warrior is about. Not engaging in any opportunity to increase our ego. Discipline and overcoming our lower selves are the virtue of Heaven.
It also speaks to the idea that warriors are not ones to hold grudges they view all people the same like nature does and only when something is in contention with them do they feel the wrath of a warrior.
Or…
To be a powerful force is also to create division if the division is created; one immediately becomes at odds with the way things are; to be at odds with the way things are is also not aligned with the Tao.
This is why Jesus the Warrior king taught to turn the other cheek, if they want your shirt give them also your jacket. One can not take what is freely given. The greatest warrior does not fight because they have nothing to fight for.
I feel like I just undid all the rest of the stuff I wrote at the top but I think you get it. Great warriors avoid fighting at all cost. The greatest warriors have nothing to fight for so they freely give up their lives, maybe.
The third is called not daring to be ahead in the world. (Humility)
TTC 67 (Lin)
So, you want to be a Taoist Sage, well here it is for you folks, the secret sauce Lao Tzu was living by 2500 years ago.
1. Compassion- Defined as Sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others.
The first of Lao Tzu’s three treasures is the key to get you into the room. What I mean is this. Compassion is not something that can be faked; it can not be contrived. Compassion must be genuine. Yet, if I am told to have compassion for someone, I can’t just do it. It is not like tying my shoe. I need to know someone to have compassion. I need to care about them to be concerned for their misfortune. Maybe I can do that for the people closest to me, but the world? How can I be compassionate for everyone, even those that I do not know?
This is why compassion is the key to The Room because the only way to have authentic compassion for anyone is to learn compassion for yourself. To know compassion for yourself is to honestly know yourself; if you truly know yourself, you know the world.
“Therefore observe others with yourself
Ovserve other families with your family
Observe other communities with your community
Observe other countries with your country
Observe the world with the world
With what do I know the world?
With this
TTC 54 (Lin)
Stephen Mitchell translates “With this” to “by looking within.” I feel that looking within fits the overall theme properly. We can have compassion for other families by looking at the insanity (haha) of our own families, and so on.
How do we look at our selves? Honestly.
Welcome to the Room of Sagity.
2. Conservation- is defined as the action of conserving something in particular.
Here Conservation is translated by others as simplicity; I have found it to mean focus. If we look at simplicity and conservation, we can see that what comes from these words is a more focused life.
When I remove things from my life, say social media, tv, staying up late, and unhealthy foods, one could very quickly see how the clearing of these things would make my life 1. simpler and 2. more focused on whatever I would like to focus on. Cutting the fat in our lives is such a vital part of Taoist teaching. The unnecessary clutter in our lives keeps us from our 1st treasure, which is Compassion; if I have much in the way of distraction from outside things, how can I care about someone else with misfortune when I am too busy focusing on my excess.
Thus Conservation keeps us in The Room
3. Humility- is defined as a modest or low view of one’s own importance; humbleness.
Here is what I have learned of humility thus far in my life. I have had an inflated image of myself in my mind. One that when I wrote out my life on paper did not match up to the stellar God-like superhero I believed myself to be.
Once the idea of who I was matched up with the reality of who I was, was I capable of being of any use to anyone. Once of use, I have to check in daily to remain right-sized.
Humility is spoken of in the Tao Te Ching many times and so often compared to the rivers of the Valley.
“Rivers and oceans can be the kings of a hundred valleys because of their goodness in staying low.” (Lin 66)
Humility keeps us aligned with our second and third treasures. Without humility, we can not see ourselves as the world. Without humility, we can not live a simple, focused life of service to others.
So we can also see that all three treasures work in unison with one another, all-powerful virtues on their own, but together, they represent a fullness of the Tao.
Thus Humility makes us the Servant King in The Room.
Then we can begin to build a room with no walls, that everyone may be a part of this beautiful expression of the Tao. We can live in harmony with all because we are a representation of the Way and our treasures are on display by a disappearing of ourselves and an awakening of our oneness.
Rivers and Oceans can be the kings of a hundred valleys
Because of their goodness in staying low.
So they can be kings of a hundred valleys
Thus if sages wish to be over people
they must speak humbly to them.
If they wish to be in front of people
They must place themselves behind them.
Thus the sages are positioned above
But the people do not feel burdened,
They are positioned in front
But the people do not feel harmed
Thus the world is glad to push them forward without resentment
Because they do not contend,
So the world can not contend with them.
TTC 66 (Lin)
I think about the Universe. It has just sat there quietly, all this time being the Universe, and everyone now prays to the Universe.
“Oh great, Universe positioned as the backdrop of all reality give me the reality I want.” — Yep, that’s it.
It is greater than us, but we are not worried the Universe will harm us. It is the Valley of all reality and contains all life. Therefore it can be called great. It can be called Tao.
It’s like your grandma—the loving one, not the cranky one. A grandma doesn’t try and run your life; she doesn’t try and be the focal point of attention. She gives you cookies and love and tells you how everything will be ok, so we all love grandma.
These examples and more are what it means to live in the Tao; be a space of love, and everything will be added to you.
That is what I believe.
Happy Day.
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The struggle is real some days. And it is not a struggle like, oh life is so complex, or problems are unmanageable, but damn, somedays it feels like it.
Have you ever been in a situation where everything is seemingly just fine, yet you find yourself full of anxiety, unsure of how you will be able to complete what’s ahead of you? I feel that today, I can not get my mind to take smaller bites. It wants to eat the world today. My mind is screaming that I must accomplish all the things today.
This is a chronic addict mindset that I have dealt with the majority of my life. When I was a kid, I thought I had to eat all the food when any food presented to me. Then it became every workout I had to do, all the working out a human could do, every muscle group, every machine, for multiple hours at multiple gyms and locations.
Then it turned into alcohol; one beer, one shot was never enough. I was thinking about my 5th shot before you even knew we were drinking. I wanted to consume the world.
This mindset destroyed my life, my body, my relationships, and my mind for many years. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy believes this kind of thinking results from a broken feedback loop in the brain of an addict that never receives a shut-off signal once the original itch was scratched.
I see it now as a recovering addict and a person who has read the Tao every day as an unmanageable life. Step 1 in the 12 steps of AA says We admitted we were powerless over alcohol and that our lives had become unmanageable.
Powerlessness in this regard does not just mean alcohol, but for me, it means everything outside of myself. I have no power over people, places, and things. I lose every time I believe I do. So I accept my powerlessness over those things and give up my control; thus, I can start to work towards manageability in my life again.
In Chapter 63 of the Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu says something similar:
“Therefore, sages regard things as difficult
So they never encounter difficulties all through life.
TTC 63 (Lin)
I had a hard time understanding this line of the Te Ching for a while until I saw it in the context of the rest of chapter 63 and applied it in terms of my unmanageability and powerlessness.
Chapter 63 also says,
Act without action
Manage without meddling
Taste without tasting
Great, small, many, few
Respond to hatred with virtue.
TTC 63 (Lin)
Manage without meddling, act without action, tasting without tasting. All these lines are saying is—experience, people, places, and things, without holding them to your will or expectations. Let them all be. They will do as they do, just like alcohol did as it did when I drank it. I couldn’t control the way it affected me, I could only control whether I engaged with it or not, so I no longer engage.
Now the manageability part comes in the next part. Remember, I said my brain was acting wild today and wanted to eat the world like it does when it is in a sick way. Chapter 63 also has the remedy for this, and it is something we use in AA as well.
“Plan difficult tasks through the simplest tasks
Achieve large tasks through the smallest tasks
The difficult tasks of the world
Must be handled through the simple tasks
The large tasks of the world
Must be handled through the small tasks
Therefore, sages never attempt great deeds
All through life
thus they can achieve greatness.”
TTC 63 (Lin)
You know what would be a great task if I never drank again, until the day I died, and I can imagine myself living a long time. That would be a great task, but if I look at it like that, then I am on my way to a drink; I am trying to eat the world all in one moment, in one thought.
But if I say, I am not going to drink today, or hell, I won’t drink at this moment, well then I am doing a great task in a small way.
Someday’s I have to live moment to moment. I did not think I would be able to get this blog done. Kids out of school, summertime in full swing, trying to find time for myself to read the entire Tao Te Ching, find something meaningful, and then put it into a readable format seemed unmanageable today.
But I did it. I did it one word at a time. One chapter of the Tao. One paragraph, one quiet moment, and guess what the unmanageable became manageable. The great became simple. And I became a Sage master of the Universe. Haha.
We can do anything in this life by:
Becoming Clear on what we want to accomplish
Moment by moment effort in the direction of our goal
Gratitude for the opportunity to go for our dreams
Forgiveness and grace for our own shortcomings.
Thats it, it’s done.
Oh, this is also known as chunking in my training as a Peak Performance coach; we are taught to either chunk goals up or down depending on the size and difficulty of achieving said goal.
For instance: Writing a 400 page Science fiction novel, let’s shoot for 500-1000 words a day. This is chunking down.
On the opposite end, Brushing your teeth: let’s brush all our teeth for 1 minute twice a day- this is chunking up.
Anyway, just sharing how to conquer the world, I hope you all feel more manageable; I know I feel like a more sane person than when I started, so thank you for allowing me this space.
I Don’t know that there is anything better than spending time with the people you love. It is both fulfilling and challenging. It is fulfilling because to experience the light of another divine, human consciousness connected to your own feels like the reason for the entirety of the cosmos.
Challenging because sometimes we can be a lot to handle. Some consciousness, when expressed in certain ways, bends you backward and tries to break you. That is the Yin and Yang of relationships. They fill you, and they deplete you.
If I have a little knowledge
Walking on the great Tao
I fear only to deviate from it
The great Tao is broad and plain
But people like the side paths
TTC 53 (Lin)
When I feel that my life is in harmony and I am walking in the way, I am meant to incredible things start to happen. Synchronicities start to pop up everywhere, and life takes on this state of flow that is unlike anything I have ever experienced. It is Fear, Excitement, and Uncertainty, mixed with some Hell Yeah and some Oh No.
The path is interesting, though, because, like the Tao Te Ching says, “But people like the side paths.” What is not talked about often is the loss that we endure while moving on this flowy path.
People do like the side paths, so the ones we love may end up going down different paths, and in those times, I know I have found myself questioning if I should go with them. Earlier in my life, I did go with them.
It can be difficult because, again, there is nothing more significant than spending time with those we love, but when they need to go down the side path, I have to remember that all paths lead to the same place.
It doesn’t mean that the loss of family and friends doesn’t hurt like hell. It just means that I can have faith that I will see them again. And that many times, those relationships that go off side-paths create more space for other things that are needed in our life at the moment.
So what does a side path look like?
“The courts are corrupt
The fields are barren
The warehouses are empty
Officials wear fineries
Carry sharp swords
Fill up on drinks and food
Acquire excessive wealth
This is called robbery
It is not the Tao!“
TTC 53 (Lin)
This might be confusing unless the people you love are all government officials. But what I can compare it to is the way in which people judge one another. The fields being barren can be a metaphor for one’s inner life being empty; unhappiness is their drink unless they are getting something from outside of them.
Carrying sharp swords can be the way in which they speak to you or others. Only concerned with getting theirs, taking care of themselves at all costs.
This is said not to be the Tao. Not the path of the Tao. Speaking as someone that took side paths for a few years of my life, I can attest, they are not as glamorous as they look. And from my experience walking in the Tao is so much more incredible.
I keep coming back to the word “Contentment.” The word means a state of happiness and satisfaction. The Tao Te Ching says,
“There is no crime greater than greed,
No disaster greater than discontentment
No fault greater than avarice
Thus the satisfaction of contentment
is the lasting satisfaction“
TTC 46 (Lin)
Avarice means extreme greed for wealth or material gain.
So, I keep coming back to contentment because if I am to be satisfied and not work to attain material wealth, then I must be content with what is right now, all of it.
If I am content with right now, that means I see who I am in this moment as all that I could ever be and have peace with that.
It means that my strengths are strong enough. It means I have all that I need at this moment to be content.
To be otherwise would mean that I am in greed of something more, and there is no greater disaster or fault than this, according to the Tao.
So to be with the Tao, I must come to a place of gratitude and peace with what is in this moment and trust that it is enough.
I keep coming back to contentment because sometimes it feels impossible, and other times it feels like the only option.
This past week I was not content; I was greedy for life to be better for someone else. I was greedy for the way that I wanted things to be. My greed for my outcome did not lead to me getting my way. It only led to my suffering.
Wanting to help is greedy, just help.
Wanting to save is greedy, just save.
Wanting peace is greedy, just be peaceful.
Wanting love is greedy, just love.
Wanting certainty is greedy, just be certain.
Wanting compassion is greedy, just be compassionate.
Wanting joy is greedy, just be joyful.
Wanting community is greedy, just be in communion.
I am drained from the emotions of my day yesterday and feel the need to allow the feelings of difficult relationships to settle. Forcing anything today would be creating a storm where there is no need for one.
“Thus those who follow the Tao are with the Tao.
Those who follow virtue are with virtue
Those who follow loss are with loss
Those who are with the Tao, the Tao is also pleased to have them
Those who are with virtue, virtue is also pleased to have them.
Those who are with loss, loss is also pleased to have them
Those who do not trust sufficiently, others have no trust in them.”
TTC 23 (Lin
Choose your path and know that it will accept you willingly. Also know that each path leads somewhere, so I will choose the path that leads to the Tao.
Seeking Purpose Today 