On a summer afternoon, a Taoist teacher gave a talk to local townspeople. After the talk was over, he was gathering up his things when a man approached him. “That was a great talk, I really learned a great deal. You are an excellent teacher!” The teacher smiled and said softly “Perhaps”. The man walked away and the teacher continued packing his bag for he had another town to visit and speaking engagement to fulfill. Suddenly, another man came up to him. “That was a total waste of time. You obviously don‘t know what you‘re talking about! You are a terrible teacher!” The teacher smiled and said softly “Perhaps”. Letting praise inflate us or letting criticism deflate us knocks us out of balance. The key to maintaining harmony with the universe is to keep one’s balance at all times. We can achieve this by not becoming attached to any emotions or concepts about others or ourselves.
