Tao Te Ching: Lao Tzu's Timeless Classic

The Tao Te Ching + Reflective Journal, (also Daodejing, Dao De Jing, or Daode jing) is a classic of ancient Chinese literature. It is a guide for creating harmony in yourself and the world around you by describing a fundamental force called the Tao that operates uniformly throughout the universe and is the cause of everything that happens. The Tao can be understood as the laws of Nature, or the laws of Physics if you prefer. The Tao Te Ching shows you how to develop personal power through cultivating alignment with the Tao, otherwise known as 'going with the flow' in popular culture.THE CENTRAL IDEACentral to the Tao Te Ching is the importance of avoiding extremes and keeping to the moderate middle path as you go through life. Find the middle ground between the extremes in any situation, thus avoiding counter-reactions and unintended consequences. The result is neutrality and stability. Harmony with the Tao is living so that the events of our life do not turn into personal dramas. The problem with drama is that it sets up a pendulum-like swing from one drama to the next, which get in the way of calm inner reflection and clear perception of reality. But people quite enjoy their dramas. It might even be true to say that they are addicted to them; it's how they define themselves. The Tao Te Ching encourages us to sense the world around us directly; and to contemplate our impressions deeply from a position of neutrality. It advises against relying on the structures of orthodox belief that have been created by others. Such ideologies remove us from a direct experience of life in the now and cut us off from our intuition. Following the Middle Path requires you to develop an awareness of the unseen physical forces that direct the events taking place around you. Such forces operate at the levels of macrocosm and microcosm. You could think of them as operating in the universe as a whole and in the minds and lives of individuals. Mental alignment with these forces gives you the power to influence events in the world without resorting to force. That is the way of the Tao.SUBTLE INFLUENCE IS BETTER THAN FORCEThe Tao Te Ching suggests using subtle influence, not force, to achieve your goals. The objective is to avoid taking action that elicits strong counter-reactions that are a distraction, and which consume time and energy to manage. In Nature, we see that excessive force in one direction triggers the growth of a neutralising force. It returns the system to a stable state. This principle is seen in human affairs too. Force is not the basis for a sustainable social environment.ACCEPTING THE INEVITABILITY OF CHANGEWhen you come to know the Tao, you understand that everything in the universe is in a state of dynamic change. Nothing, absolutely nothing that exists is permanent. Everything passes into non-existence when its time comes. When you know this, you become less attached to the transitory things of this world. You can still enjoy and value these while they last, but when they leave you, your suffering will be lessened. The forces of change are largely beyond your control. It is not easy for people to accept the inevitably passing of that which we care about, but it can be done. Accepting the reality of impermanence aligns our thinking with those forces that bring about gradual change in the social and physical world. We learn to embrace change and not mind when it happens. One spiritual teacher from another discipline was asked what the secret was to being enlightened. The master replied; I do not mind what happens.BECOMING A FORCE OF NATUREOur alignment with the forces underpinning Nature makes us an integral part of the evolving world. It confers upon us the momentum of those larger forces. You become that metaphorical swimmer calmly going with the current in the great river of life while all around you other swimmers flail this way and that.