Here are a few chapters of Dao De Jing which I’d like to share with you:
Recognizing Dualities (Chapter 2)
When all people know beauty as beauty, ugliness arises.
When all people know good as good, evil arises.
Thus being and non-being generate each other.
Difficult and easy complement each other.
Long and short form each other.
High and low support each other.
Tone and voice harmonize each other.
Front and back follow each other.
Therefore the sage:
Manages affairs without action,
Teaches without speech,
All things arise but he doesn’t originate them.
He works without exception,
Accomplishes without taking credit.
Because he takes no credit,
The credit remains with him.
Excellence and Non-Contention (Chapter 8)
The highest excellence is like water.
Water excels in benefiting all beings without contending.
It stays in places that men reject,
And therefore is close to the Tao.
The excellence of a dwelling is in its location.
The excellence of the mind is in its depth.
The excellence in giving is in being like heaven
The excellence in speech is in truth.
The excellence in leadership is in order.
The excellence in work is in competence.
The excellence in action is in timing.
He who does not contend will be free from blame.
Avoiding Excess (Chapter 9)
Better to stop in time than to overfill a vessel.
Over sharpen a blade and it will soon lose its edge.
A store of gold and jade cannot be protected.
Pride in wealth and rank brings calamity on oneself.
Withdraw when the work is done.
This is the Tao of heaven.
Mystical Masters (Chapter 15)
The ancient masters were mystics with profound intuitive insight.
They were beyond understanding.
Because their subtlety could not be understood,
We can only describe their manifestations.
Cautious, as if crossing a wintry stream.
Hesitant, as if aware of danger.
Reserved, like a guest.
Yielding, like ice melting.
Simple, like an uncarved block.
Opaque, like muddy water,
Open, like a valley.
Muddy water, when stilled, gradually clears.
Something at rest, when moved, gradually comes alive.
Those who preserve the Tao, desire not to be full.
Since they are not full they can be depleted and yet renewed.
On Unity (Chapter 39)
These things from ancient times achieved unity:
Heaven achieved it, and became clear,
Earth achieved it, and became stable,
Spirit achieved it, and became sanctified,
The valley achieved it, and became full.
Leaders achieved it, and became statesman.
All of this resulted from unity.
Heaven without clarity would soon split apart.
Earth without stability would soon quake.
Spirit without sanctity would soon wither and die.
The valley without fullness would soon run dry.
Leaders without statesmanship would soon fall from power.
Therefore power is based on humility,
The low is the foundation for the high.
Because of this, leaders call themselves alone, lonely, and unworthy.
Does this not acknowledge humility as a base?
The value of a chariot depends on the unity of its pieces.
Desire not to be as rare as jade,
Rather be as firm and as strong as rocks.
*****************************************************
These are just some samples of Dao De Jing. You can find many pieces of literature from libraries and book stores; it may be about Daoist practice, Daoist stories, or Daoist healing lifestyle.
Our modern world is far from Daoist wisdom, which leads to a complicated world, complicated life, complicated relationships, and complicated everything. Someday when you have a day off or doing nothing, you may realize that you can breathe, you can think, you have a clearer mind, you can remember things, and you can enjoy your life. You may ask yourself “Why do I feel so
good when I am doing nothing?” This does not mean you don’t have to work; it means “Balance” in life is important.
We have too many new things coming into the world market every day; we are overloaded with games, gadgets, and too much of everything. With all these new technologies, we have lost our privacy and freedom; we have lost precious time from so often looking at our smartphone, commercial advertisements, untruthful news, thousands of stories, and some are nonsense.
Guess what, the hackers love what we do, and our information is out there for hackers to manipulate. Also, we lost our precious time for doing things we always want to do. Again, using technology in a balanced way can be more productive without stealing your precious time.
The more we have, the more problems we have too, we have to manage the things we have. We get scam phone calls that make us not want to answer our phone calls anymore. Remember how we were used to be happy to receive calls from friends and family? We used be get together with friends, but now, our friends mostly are “virtual friends.”
We have too many environmentally destructive projects and non-stop greediness: want more, more possessions, and non-stop buildings. We don’t know when to stop, how to stop, and there is less and less protected land left on this planet, subsequently, not many places left for animals, it ends up that they come to human’s property and the streets. But we still have some genuinely devoted people to protect our planet, our motherland, and the natural habitats that provide us with oxygen and beauty.
If we take a moment to think it over, how much does it cost to live? Some may say “there’s never enough,” others may say “I am satisfied with what I have”; some say “I want more, I want to invest and make more”; others say “I am very happy no matter how much I have.” Some have achieved, and some have died after achieving or getting what they wanted; some suffer severe illness after they achieved. Many people feel happy with what they have even though they don’t have much “excess.”
Happiness is not found from “I want” because desire has no end; there is always something you want or someone you want to compete with. But what if we put our intention to “What can I do for others”? “What can I do to help or make changes?”
The energy is different; our kindness can bring more joy to both you and others. When you think this way, and when you give or help others without expecting to get back, you increase the positive energy in your body, mind, and surroundings. That positive energy will do much more for you than you might expect. This is part of practices of reaching spiritual freedom.
How can we improve? People, we can. We can do better; we can do profitable business without being greedy. We can think of others instead of ourselves; we can take care of our body, purify our mind or simplify our mind; and we can connect with nature by being with nature and put effort to protect nature. A small action from each one of us can make a difference.
Whatever we do, we must first think for a moment: Is this good for my health? Is this good for my conscience? Is this good for our environment? Is this good for our earth? Is this ethical, is this moral?
We have the choice to live the way we want, we have the choice to make changes, and we have the ability to make changes. The truth is that practicing Tai Chi or Qi Gong and Dao wisdom benefits our physical health and mental health and helps us reach spiritual freedom. When you reach that status, you feel light, happy and say to yourself: Life is Good!
