Knives

Contend against the Tao and you are fighting a doomed battle you have no chance of winning. Trying to stop the Tao is like trying to stop a rolling ball of butcher knives. Yet, sometimes people think they can somehow catch all the knives without getting hurt. Realize things as they are instead of trying to conform everything to your own likes. You are but one of billions of people on this planet. How realistic is it to think that you should always get your way?

Natural Rhythms

Those who seek to be one with the Dao live in close harmony with nature. They seek to find themselves blending with the natural rhythms and flow of life. They find their center when wandering about in nature. They find peace in the deep woods, alongside a flowing river, or sitting on a rock high up in the mountains. They are content sitting in the sand and gazing at the ocean with no need for the contrived.

The Great Paradox

As we have learned, the way of the follower of the Dao can seem to be a great paradox. This may seem odd to some, yet is not nature a great paradox in itself? Many paradoxes, yet all in harmony with one another through the power of yin and yang. The follower is impossible to categorize, impossible to pigeonhole, impossible to classify. Most of the traits that one finds in a seeker of the Dao would be described as foolish by modern society. Yet, who is really the foolish one? The one who seeks instant gratification again and again, fills himself with the empty calories that today’s culture finds so wonderful, or the one that seeks to be one with the universe?

All Things Get Done

Wu-wei teaches us that many things can be accomplished by doing nothing. In this manner, we can achieve yet not strive. All things get done in due time. A butterfly measures its life in moments, yet achieves all. By not forcing, all things come naturally. By not expecting, all things are absorbed gradually. By not demanding, all needs are met.

81

The size of package does not indicate the quality within. You can read volumes and volumes of material, hundreds of thousands of books, and listen to a million lectures. You can travel to the ancient monasteries at the rooftop of the world or anywhere else. Yet all you need to know is contained in the mere eighty-one verses of the Tao Te Ching. Many people are obese with knowledge when they should be lean with wisdom.

Captains

Smooth seas do not make skillful captains, yet a wise captain avoids the stormy seas and finds calmer waters. Avoid the turbulence whenever possible, but when encountering the same, do so with the quiet, unfazed mind of Dao. Be the gentle breeze that tames the rough sea. An uncertain captain cannot be relied on to bring his ship in to the right port. A captain who is with the Dao can be counted on to maintain a steady hand.