Further Thoughts Along the Journey - Verse 17 - The Tao of Leadership

     These are the levels of leadership: 

• The greatest leader trusts those they would lead wherein the people have faith in themselves to proceed rightly.  This respects the innate qualities of the individual where all feel powerful and in control of their own destinies.  
• The revered leader is praised, honored and loved.  People look up to them for guidance, but the guidance is rightly in themselves.
• Governing by fear, either imposing it or evoking it in the people is short lived, for when the threat is gone, so is the power it holds.
• At the lowest level, a leader who uses their power to harm their people, will experience rebellion and will eventually be destroyed.

     What kind of leader will the people here in the U.S. elect in the coming year?  I believe the outcome will reflect the prevailing consciousness of our times.  As we rise in awareness let us have faith that our leaders will also rise and a new era of justice and equality will prevail.

Further Thoughts Along the Journey - Verse 16 - The Return

    
     As I look out my window this bright December morning the trees are now bare.  For awhile there, it seemed as if they would cling to the branches indefinitely.  In a few days it will be officially Winter, a time when Nature sleeps.  We humans use this time to color our days with festivals, parties and overindulgences of every kind in order to keep the darkness at bay.

     In this dark and quiet time renewal takes place, whether we resist it or embrace it.  The sage is aware that this is a time to return to our root Source and be aware that endings are a signal that there are new beginnings emerging.

     Broken relationships, job changes, transitioning from this earthly plane and a hundred other endings that are faced in the course of this journey can be painful if held with attachment.  Endings are impartial and if dealt with a compassionate heart and not resisted can be a welcome for new possibilities.

     In quiet times amid the comings and goings of the season let us be aware of our Source, letting the constant Love that is always there welcome us home.

Wandering Off the Path - Psychoanalysis

Further Thoughts Along the Journey - Verse 15 - The Tao Master

     Not by appearances the master is known.  What transpires within only can be known through time like muddied water gradually clearing in stillness.

     In its time the river merges with the sea.  In its time the seedling pushes through the soil and is loved by the sun.  Nature has an order; it is open to possibilities.

     Aware, alert yet still within, the Tao master harmonizes with the world.  No force is needed; all that is true and beautiful, loving and peaceful comes to us in its own time, orchestrated by an Invisible Hand in Divine Order.

Further Thoughts Along the Journey Verse 14 - It is....

     Whatever you know It to be in your heart, It is.  And so It is soundless, invisible and without form.  That freedom and belief in the Spirit within each one of us given to us by Grace, is the gift to choose, to make of the Tao as we will, defined by our own individual perception.

     We can make of It a great tyrant, a great father or a great friend.  Defining the Tao empirically is impossible.  It is many different things to many people.

     We can choose to harmonize with It, resist It, or ignore It, but It is ever aware of us, giving of Its love, whether or not we choose to accept it.

     Joined with the Tao and in Its flow, life is a paradise.  Indifferent to It, taking up our own yoke in the world, sets us up for a life of pain and grief.

     We choose.
    

Further Thoughts Along the Journey - Verse 13 - True Nature

     Following your true nature is not glamorous.  In following it you will not receive honors or accolades or admittance to the Hall of Fame.  But it will not disgrace you; it will not leave you bereft when the spotlight has dimmed and you are alone on an empty stage.

     The ego feeds on praise, seeks it and is nourished by its presence.  When praise is withdrawn, when the opinions of others turn against you, the ego punishes and can drive you to despair.

     That is why following your true nature, the nature of the Tao and evoking the qualities of love, gratitude and peace will always raise you up from a world gone mad to dwell with angels.

Further Thoughts Along the Journey - Verse 12 - The Allure of the Manifested World

     The world of effects, the 10,000 things, can lead us a not-so-merry chase.  Colors, tastes, sounds and transitory sensations are but effects and dissipate like smoke in the air.

     In striving after possessions, money and fame, when is enough, enough?  Living from the center of our being where all is at peace, we know true joy lasting as long as we are aware, trusting and faithful to the Author of our being.

     Living simply, nurturing the highest and best in ourselves, we know deep within we have enough and we are enough.