CHANGE Your THOUGHTS - Change Your LIFE
Living the Wisdom of the Tao 108-111
23rd Verse
To Talk little is natural:
Fierce winds do not blow all morning;
A downpour of rain does not last all day.
Who does this? Heaven and earth
But these are exaggerated, forced effects,
And that is why they cannot be sustained.
If heaven and earth cannot sustain a forced action,
How much less is man able to do?
Those who follow the Way
Become one with the way.
Those who follow goodness
Become one with goodness.
Those who stray from the way and goodness
Become one with failure.
If you conform to the way,
Its power flows through you.
Your actions become those of nature,
Your ways those of heaven.
Open yourself to the Tao
And trust your natural responses…
Then everything will fall into place.
Living Naturally
You are asked to observe & live harmoniously with nature.
-All things including you are temporary & in a state of change & eventually decompose.
Everything is on a return trip from the moment it comes into being.
-Let go of desire to force anything, as nature doesn’t push or force.
-Everything eventually subsides & “blows over.”
Pause in the midst of strife or tension and remember serenity & peace are on the way.
You always have a choice.
-You can observe forced, energy and know it will return to calm -or-
-You can attempt to control situations or curse life’s events.
Do you wish to participate consciously with the natural way, or live in anxiety and failure?
-The ego believes in is ability to force things to happen
The Tao reminds you that what seems devastating in the moment becomes benevolent perfection in the next.
Suspend ego driven plans and allow the Tao to be your guiding force.
Change your life by actively observing nature’s way.
Affirm: This is a temporary setback. I ’m going to release myself from having to be in control.
Change your life by trusting your ability to respond naturally to the circumstances.
T. S. Elliot evokes the natural cycle in his poem “Ash-Wednesday”:
Because I know that time is always time
And place is always and only place
And what is actual is actual only for one time
And only for one place
I rejoice that things are as they are…
Do the Tao Now
Notice nature and the countless ways its cycles organically.
Seek ways you’d like to be more natural in your response to life.