Further Thoughts Along the Journey - Verse 24 - We Are All One

       Yes, we are all one.  That is a hard reality to know and accept as a truth of life when all about us are divisions and opposition.

     The Tao sage looks with contempt upon those who set themselves above others, boast or display arrogance.  To the Tao sage they are like tumors, useless and without merit.  They do not last, for standing on tip toes is not a posture that can be long maintained.

     Yet, my own thinking seeks to understand the arrogant, boastful and egotistical.  They are more to be pitied than held in contempt, more in need of compassion than disdain.  What person has a need to boast?  A person who is insecure within themselves, a person who has a need for other's approval or a person who needs to be seen better than everyone else because they think themselves too lowly.

     To the Tao we are all one, equally loved, equally cherished.  I can understand the mindset 2,500 years ago when the Tao Te Ching was conceived, but I believe mankind has evolved and we can all live as one: members of the human family.

Further Thoughts Along the Journey - Verse 23 - "The Words of My Mouth and the Meditations of My Heart"

     The words of Nature are wind and rain so says the Tao Te Ching.  Their gusts and storms cannot be sustained and so Nature returns to calm and quietude.

     Our words reflect our thoughts and our thoughts reflect our soul's essence.  If our words are of harmony, peace is drawn to us; if they are of discord, conflict is our reality.  The impartial Tao gives us what we think about, dwell upon and feel

     Thus the Tao's wisdom mirrors the Universal Law: cause and effect...the Law of Attraction, if you will. and proves its veracity.

Further Thoughts Along the Journey - Verse 22 - The Way of the Sage

     In this most profound testament to living the Tao-centered life, Lao-Tzu sets before us plainly and simply the way of the sage.

     Upon reading it for the first time, it is beautiful and perplexing, paradoxical. Deeper study has me comparing it to my own life, proving its veracity in remembered circumstances and responses.

     Its truths become known as I contemplate my life thus far and layer upon layer of superfluous activity and futile striving falls away and the true essence of the Tao shines through - a rock upon which to build a life.

    "Yield and remain whole
      Bend and remain straight
      Be low and become filled
      Be worn out and become renewed
      Have little and receive
      Have much and be confused
      Therefore the sages hold to the one as an example for the world
      Without flaunting themselves -- and so are seen clearly
      Without presuming themselves -- and so are distinguished
      Without praising themselves -- and so have merit
      Without boasting about themselves -- and so are lasting

      Because they do not contend, the world cannot contend with them
      What the ancients called "the one who yields and remains whole"
      Were they speaking empty words?
      Sincerity becoming whole, and remaining to oneself"

This 22nd verse quoted from Tao Te Ching, Translation and Annotation by Derek Lin.
     

Further Thoughts Along the Journey - Verse 21 - The Mystery

         "I think, therefore I am."  Descartes

"Henny Penny didn't know, thinking doesn't make it so." The folk tale, Chicken Little.

     Who was right, Descartes or Henny Penny?
     Both? Neither?

     Emerging from the Great Mystery, the Origin of our existence, we are Spirit clothed in flesh.  At our heart, in our essence, is the kernel of the Divine, endowing us with self awareness.  Like unto like, even in this most important manifestation.

     Remaining faithful to this Principle bestows on us all the attributes of the Tao.  The world spins; amidst wars, economic collapse, catastrophic natural disasters, the Tao remains: unchanged, loving, peaceful. 

     Let us keep that awareness at the core of who we are - the Mystery made manifest.

 

Further Thoughts Along the Journey - Verse 20 - To This Day

     How many times during the course of this day do we tarry behind into another moment long past or leap ahead into a future not-yet realized experience neglecting the here and now?

     The precious moments of the present, these fleeting bits of life will never come again, yet when taken together they are life itself.

     Worry and regret and even past joys detract from the wonder of this day.  Each brief moment holding the sustenance and power that fulfills even our smallest need.

     "Look to this day, for it is life. The very life of life.", writes the Sanskrit sage.

     The power of the Tao resides in the now.  With the faith that all is provided brings us to a state of completeness and fulfillment.  Free from striving, we are free to love, appreciate and rejoice in the wonder that life provides... moment by moment.

Further Thoughts Along the Journey - Verse 19 - The Self-Referring Path

     When what we learn is based on what we read, when being moral is based on societal rules or religious dictates and when business is based on "getting a good deal" and "making a killing", we have moved from our true center of being.

   Living from the heart first appears to go against all the rules, expectations and acceptability of society.  So caught up in the all-encompassing outer fabric, we can forget for a time the loving guidance the Tao-centered path can bring.

     What is true?  What is good?  What is kind and generous?  Inwardly we know.  That spark of divinity within is never extinguished.  Having the courage and strength to follow our own true guidance honors our Creator and blesses our world.
    

Further Thoughts Along the Journey - Verse 18 - The Government of the Heart

     Love, compassion and kindness cannot be legislated and so we have laws.  When people cease to live from their hearts, from the qualities inherent in us, from DNA built into us from our beginnings, we are ruled by our government and religious leaders.

     When we live from our heart there is no need to have laws governing our actions.  We give love naturally, we give kindness freely and justice is always done because we know in our souls, we are all one.  We affect each other directly or like concentric ripples indirectly, but just as powerfully.

     It is not always easy to be kind when kindness is not shown us; our first impulse is to react with unkindness of our own.  It is the second impulse that makes us a person of the Tao when we remember who we are and what our purpose is.  We are children of the Most High and our purpose is to restore heaven on earth.