The TAO in Everyday Life
STEPHEN LAU
The TAO is in every aspect of life: growing up; receiving education; seeking careers; getting married; raising children; connecting with others; staying healthy; growing old; and facing life challenges.
THE TAO IN CONNECTING WITH OTHERS
If the Creator has no identity, why should you strive to create one for yourself?
An identity is no more than an ego-self that separates and distinguishes you from others -- which is essentially pride.
With pride, you see more of yourself and less of others.
With humility, instead of pride, you may see things quite differently: more of others and less of yourself.
Live your everyday life not just for yourself, but also for others as well. Live a life of love and compassion to become a better and happier individual, being more connected with others. In any life situation, if you have to choose between “being nice” or “being right”, always choose “being nice.”
Imperfection, however, is a gift of life: knowing that nobody is perfect may enable you to understand that you should always accept others as they are, because you, too, like everybody else, are imperfect.
Living in balance and harmony is accepting others as they are, as well as knowing your true self and that of others.
Trusting and obeying the Creator is to believe that balance and harmony comes from nothingness, and ultimately everything will return to its nothingness.
An eye for an eye only makes you blind to your own mistakes and magnifies the faults of others.
Vengeance only leads to violence -- a vicious circle of more violence.
In 2016, in Arkansas, a woman with her 3-year-old grandson sitting at the back of her car stopped at a stop sign; the man in the car behind honked her, and she honked back. The road rage ended with the man shooting dead the boy in the woman’s car.
Getting even with someone always comes with a hefty price.
Was it worth it for the woman to honk back? Was it worth it for the man to shoot at the woman’s car to teach her a lesson?
Words only distinguish and separate yourself from others, making you different. Words often incorrectly classify, profile and segregate people.
True human wisdom cannot be expressed in words, because words are created by man, and profound human wisdom comes from the Creator, who has no name, and His ways are inexplicable in words.
The Creator is formless, and yet He is present in everybody and in everything.
The formless is the most powerful.
That is why the more you do, especially exhibiting your effort, the less you will achieve.
Likewise, you do not argue with others to convince them of anything. Remember, your way is not their way.
The reality
To pursue the wisdom of the Creator, you must think like Him. He has no judgment; He is fair to all.
So, why should you judge others? Nobody is perfect, including you.
To think like the Creator, be all inclusive and all embracive.
The TAO
Balance and harmony: Connecting with others with no demand and no expectation holds the key to peace and harmony.
"With the grace of the Creator, we experience natural goodness.
Natural goodness requires no effort, no expectation of reward or recognition.
Contrived goodness requires great effort, with little or no accomplishment.
Compassion and loving-kindness seek nothing in return.
Fairness and justice demand results, with expectation of correct behavior.
Natural goodness comes from within, which is our essence, and not from without, which is only our appearance.
When we are separate from our true nature, we experience no natural goodness, no compassion and no loving-kindness.
Our goodness then becomes contrived, demanding fairness and justice, focusing on appearance and superficiality.”
(Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, chapter 38)
Gratitude and appreciation: Always be grateful for not getting what you deserve, and be thankful for having every opportunity to learn lessons from any adversity.
“Life lives itself in us, when we focus on the Creator.
From that focal point, around which all of life revolves.
We watch everything come and go,
with no judgment, no preference.
Everything that is, was, or ever will be,
will return to its origin: the Creator.
Understanding the comings and goings of things,
we fret not, and judge not.
Focusing on the Creator,
we are open to all of life.
Opening to all of life,
we embrace all with thankfulness for what we get,
with gratitude for not getting what we deserve.
Discovering the true nature of things,
we live with compassion and loving-kindness.
All endings become beginnings, all returning to the Creator.”
(Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, chapter 16)
To seek the Creator, take a look at nature. You will see why it lasts: the reason is that everything does not exist for itself, and that is why it can last forever -- they are all inter-connected with one another for existence and survival.
So, focus on others, and not just on yourself. By doing so, you may discover the true meaning of love and loving-kindness.
Opening to all, you learn to appreciate others and connect with them.
No judgment, no preference: Judgment and preference separate us from others, making us different and unique -- the raw materials for the ego.
"So, we, too, embrace everything and everyone with no judgment, no preference.
His grace, never depleting and forever replenishing, shows us the Way.
Judgment and preference separate us from His grace, causing attachment.
Only with His grace do we find renewal and rebirth along the Way.”
(Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, chapter 5)
Forgiving and forgetting: Holding to grudge is self-destructive.
"An eye for an eye
makes us become what we hate.
Knowing this, we do not
rejoice in victory over our enemies,
nor take delight in their downfall.
Victory is but an illusion;
getting even gains us nothing.
Once vengeance and violence are over,
there is nothing left but our own pain.”
(Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, chapter 31)
Internal balance and harmony: No aggression, no conflict, and no pain.
“We do not become aggressive when we are confronted.
We do not become angry when we are provoked.
We see neither an enemy nor a competitor,
because we do not seek our own way.
Knowing both our strengths and weaknesses,
we use them to complement one another.
Thus, we find balance and harmony.
Naturally and easily, we follow the Way.”
(Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, chapter 68)
Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
If the Creator has no identity, why should you strive to create one for yourself?
An identity is no more than an ego-self that separates and distinguishes you from others -- which is essentially pride.
With pride, you see more of yourself and less of others.
With humility, instead of pride, you may see things quite differently: more of others and less of yourself.
Live your everyday life not just for yourself, but also for others as well. Live a life of love and compassion to become a better and happier individual, being more connected with others. In any life situation, if you have to choose between “being nice” or “being right”, always choose “being nice.”
Imperfection, however, is a gift of life: knowing that nobody is perfect may enable you to understand that you should always accept others as they are, because you, too, like everybody else, are imperfect.
Living in balance and harmony is accepting others as they are, as well as knowing your true self and that of others.
Trusting and obeying the Creator is to believe that balance and harmony comes from nothingness, and ultimately everything will return to its nothingness.
An eye for an eye only makes you blind to your own mistakes and magnifies the faults of others.
Vengeance only leads to violence -- a vicious circle of more violence.
In 2016, in Arkansas, a woman with her 3-year-old grandson sitting at the back of her car stopped at a stop sign; the man in the car behind honked her, and she honked back. The road rage ended with the man shooting dead the boy in the woman’s car.
Getting even with someone always comes with a hefty price.
Was it worth it for the woman to honk back? Was it worth it for the man to shoot at the woman’s car to teach her a lesson?
Words only distinguish and separate yourself from others, making you different. Words often incorrectly classify, profile and segregate people.
True human wisdom cannot be expressed in words, because words are created by man, and profound human wisdom comes from the Creator, who has no name, and His ways are inexplicable in words.
The Creator is formless, and yet He is present in everybody and in everything.
The formless is the most powerful.
That is why the more you do, especially exhibiting your effort, the less you will achieve.
Likewise, you do not argue with others to convince them of anything. Remember, your way is not their way.
The reality
To pursue the wisdom of the Creator, you must think like Him. He has no judgment; He is fair to all.
So, why should you judge others? Nobody is perfect, including you.
To think like the Creator, be all inclusive and all embracive.
The TAO
Balance and harmony: Connecting with others with no demand and no expectation holds the key to peace and harmony.
"With the grace of the Creator, we experience natural goodness.
Natural goodness requires no effort, no expectation of reward or recognition.
Contrived goodness requires great effort, with little or no accomplishment.
Compassion and loving-kindness seek nothing in return.
Fairness and justice demand results, with expectation of correct behavior.
Natural goodness comes from within, which is our essence, and not from without, which is only our appearance.
When we are separate from our true nature, we experience no natural goodness, no compassion and no loving-kindness.
Our goodness then becomes contrived, demanding fairness and justice, focusing on appearance and superficiality.”
(Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, chapter 38)
Gratitude and appreciation: Always be grateful for not getting what you deserve, and be thankful for having every opportunity to learn lessons from any adversity.
“Life lives itself in us, when we focus on the Creator.
From that focal point, around which all of life revolves.
We watch everything come and go,
with no judgment, no preference.
Everything that is, was, or ever will be,
will return to its origin: the Creator.
Understanding the comings and goings of things,
we fret not, and judge not.
Focusing on the Creator,
we are open to all of life.
Opening to all of life,
we embrace all with thankfulness for what we get,
with gratitude for not getting what we deserve.
Discovering the true nature of things,
we live with compassion and loving-kindness.
All endings become beginnings, all returning to the Creator.”
(Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, chapter 16)
To seek the Creator, take a look at nature. You will see why it lasts: the reason is that everything does not exist for itself, and that is why it can last forever -- they are all inter-connected with one another for existence and survival.
So, focus on others, and not just on yourself. By doing so, you may discover the true meaning of love and loving-kindness.
Opening to all, you learn to appreciate others and connect with them.
No judgment, no preference: Judgment and preference separate us from others, making us different and unique -- the raw materials for the ego.
"So, we, too, embrace everything and everyone with no judgment, no preference.
His grace, never depleting and forever replenishing, shows us the Way.
Judgment and preference separate us from His grace, causing attachment.
Only with His grace do we find renewal and rebirth along the Way.”
(Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, chapter 5)
Forgiving and forgetting: Holding to grudge is self-destructive.
"An eye for an eye
makes us become what we hate.
Knowing this, we do not
rejoice in victory over our enemies,
nor take delight in their downfall.
Victory is but an illusion;
getting even gains us nothing.
Once vengeance and violence are over,
there is nothing left but our own pain.”
(Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, chapter 31)
Internal balance and harmony: No aggression, no conflict, and no pain.
“We do not become aggressive when we are confronted.
We do not become angry when we are provoked.
We see neither an enemy nor a competitor,
because we do not seek our own way.
Knowing both our strengths and weaknesses,
we use them to complement one another.
Thus, we find balance and harmony.
Naturally and easily, we follow the Way.”
(Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, chapter 68)
Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
TAO in the following: