10 Life Lessons From The Taoist Master Lao Tzu (Taoism)

lao-tzu is a Chinese legendary and historical figure who is considered to be the founder of Taoism Taoism is the philosophy that teaches us how to live in harmony with the world the word Tao itself means the way the pattern and substance of everything that exists so is also credited as the writer of Taoism most sacred texts tell take Jing it is packed with his remarkable wisdom and messages of peace resilience and living cohesively that reminds us what really matters in life he's a central figure in Chinese culture but his words can apply to people all over the world so here are 10 important lessons that we can learn from Lao Tzu number one look with him and you will find everything you need Lao Tzu says knowing others is intelligence knowing yourself is true wisdom mastering others is strength mastering yourself is true power we live in a culture that's geared towards doing succeeding crushing it making more whether it's money or of ourselves these actions from the Taoist perspective are considered Yang and are based on outwards and external movement the Chinese concept of yin and yang describes nature in dualities with two opposite complementary and interdependent forces in other words two halves balancing together that make a whole yin and yang always flows and changes with time one aspect increases as the other decreases and this balance continues as a pattern in nature just like nature human life - is all about balance and to maintain this balance we need to spend time cultivating our Yin which is our in experience we need to slow down reflect and just enjoy being without having to do anything practices like meditation Qigong and mindfulness can help us slow down so that when we do need to act move in the world and create we have a deeper and more valuable reservoir of energy and balance to draw from number two by letting go you become free according to Lao Tzu by letting it go it all gets done the world is won by those who let it go but when you try and try the world is beyond the winning enlightenment means to lighten the burden of life in this world and to lighten the darker aspects of human character but how then do we lighten ourselves how do we lighten our burdens and lighten our characters the key is to examine our attachments those things that we cling to in our minds so strongly that we cause pain to ourselves and others this examination this self watching can begin with understanding the three kinds of attachment attachment to recognition attachment to security and attachment to control relying on power to achieve what you want to achieve means you aren't relying on the towel it's important to understand that developing a stance of non-attachment is not the same as being callous or uncaring in fact losing your attachments makes you freer to open up your heart even wider it's like being able to see the world from a higher perspective instead of only loving those to whom you're most attached your self family your religion your political group and your country your heart can grow to embrace the whole world to be content is to be happy with what you have and to be happy with what you have is to be rich number three let go of your labels if you truly want to know yourself according to Lao tzus teachings he who defines himself can't know who he really is labels of what you call yourself in your head they're tags that you attached yourself to describe the person you think you are we have labels for ourselves such as a super dad a successful businessman a loser our good-for-nothing and so on we put ourselves in boxes trying to define who we are we do it to others and we do it to ourselves whether positive or negative what we whisper to ourselves every day has a great influence on our sense of self and dictates the direction of our thoughts and actions the problem with labeling is we only see fragments which have been defined by our own experience and perspective of the outer world let's say you or someone else may have given you a label you don't want anything to do with maybe because it reminds you of past mistakes you've made or floors who are trying to coexist with by not labeling yourself you can flow freely from experience to experience emotion to emotion without being chained down to any one way of thinking it's so much easier to move on from a mistake when you don't carry it along with you number four pay no attention to evil and it will crumble away as Lao Tzu teaches give evil nothing to oppose and it will disappear by itself according to Taoism we all have our personal spiritual planetary body which they call young son it takes in pre heaven essences and processes them pushing them into your soul and your soul will deliver it to your physical body here giving you your full potential for life in reality a Taoists cultivates mainly around two things one is to strengthen and repair the bridge between the young son and themselves here in the physical world by doing so they can live a better life and reach their full potential the second part of Taoism cultivation is to conclude by giving back to the yunsun for more to come in the future good is anything that flows with the way of the Tao meaning the johnsons flow to your body anything that helps and flows with what your young son is doing or leading you towards is good evil is the opposite which is anything that puts resistance to stops interferes with drags or damages your flow from the towel is considered evil good things help you to grow and empower you bad things will destroy you or break you up into pieces and push you to death evil or good is not always good or bad we must see the whole situation to determine if it's good or bad knowing what is evil to you is important as a Taoists because you'll then understand what's not good to do for yourself and what's going to harm you in the long run if you can live your life purely and devote your time to the betterment of yourself and the others around you evil can't touch you however evil never disappears and you can't ignore it the best that you can do is to be stronger than the evil temptations are you and you'll beat them number-5 kindness and compassion for others will always win in the end to quote Lao Tzu kindness inwards create confidence kindness in thinking creates profoundness kindness in giving creates love there's a beautiful metaphor for the virtue of unconditional kindness that we can learn from water as a river flows across the land it nurtures all living things that it comes across all the plants and animals benefit from the water of the river once it's done its work water moves on without waiting for recognition or praise when one practices compassion they gain great insight into themselves the Tao Te Ching says that the sage puts others before himself and by putting others before himself he puts himself first when one puts others before themselves showing compassion to one another what they get out of it isn't just a deep insight into the nature of suffering but also deep insight into their own nature the practice of compassion helps to strengthen our relationships with others it helps deepen our connection to the world at large it's something that seems to be a sign of weakness but in fact is a sign of strength number 6 be yourself without caring what others think Lao Tzu says care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner nothing can be more time and energy wasting than being overly concerned about what other people think of us there's nothing wrong in wanting others to like us or to think whether of us but it should not be done at the expense of our integrity we have to get on with the tasks at hand in life and make our own decisions based on our highest thoughts not the thoughts generated through the filter of approval sinking and people-pleasing if we take our own decision based on our highest intuitive thoughts and certain people disapprove we shouldn't really pay that much attention to them our business to get on with the business of life is guided by our own consciousness not by the opinions of other people in our circle when you're in accord with the towel you will do your own job and then stop leave others opinions alone don't go against the current of the towel instead go with the flow of it accept yourself believe in yourself because if you do you won't have to try to convince others be content with yourself because if you are you don't need others approval number seven wisdom and strength come from remaining humble as we learn from Lao Tzu the wise man is one who knows what he does not know there's a story in the liao su a book of Taoists parables written around the same time as the tech out ching it's the story of a pair of twins they look the same talk the same belong to the same family but one is loved trusted and promoted by others while the other is not he wears nicer clothes eats better food and lives in a nicer home the successful twin treats the unsuccessful twin with undisguised arrogance because he falsely believes he's earned his success saying maybe there's just more in me than there is in you they both meet master Tong Cole who says when you say that one man has more in him than another you mean only that they're not equally gifted what I mean is something different from this the unsuccessful twin has more worth than luck you have more luck than worth your success is not due to wisdom nor is his failure due to foolishness both are from heaven and not from man yet you are presumptuous because you have more luck while he is ashamed though he has more worth neither of you perceives that things must be as they are the truth is that the great power of Tao can only be obtained with great love and great humility one should always be impeccably humble because it's the humility that guarantees great victories over oneself it's the basis of the correct achievements in the transformation of the soul you should agree with tell completely if you do this only partially this will result in a dangerous breakdown because only complete humility is the cure for the disease called pride sadness and anger are companions of pride whereas calm and joy a companions of impeccable humility number eight change is inevitable so embrace it even if it seems uncomfortable in the words of Lao Tzu new beginnings are often disguised as painful endings we resist and often resent change but change is key to life because despite change being seemingly painful it's forever necessary most of us tend to settle into our comfort zone we're afraid of change or something new we tend to get used to the rut and routine and begin to treat that at the sole option available to us a sort of mental complacency sets in and we don't want to alter that maybe because we no longer hope for better things well maybe because we live in the belief that every ending is painful and doesn't always lead to something better every change is important and every change is meaningful in and of itself what seemed negative or painful in the beginning may turn into something new in a new beginning in a new way in a new direction a new opportunity a new life or even a new you change often paves the way for something better and if not better at least different in change lies life's momentum and progress number 9 learn to follow first if you ever wish to lead according to Lao Tzu if you want to govern the people he must first place yourself below them if you want to lead the people you must learn how to follow them to understand this let's look at Lao tzus comparison between rivers and seas and hundreds of streams rivers and seas are more powerful than streams they're larger deeper and stronger without water flowing in from hundreds and thousands of streams rivers and seas wouldn't be what they are rivers and seas can be powerful because they're ready to receive similarly from the perspective of Tao leadership a leader is more powerful than their people but their powers derived from their people they need their people to feed them both physically and metaphorically otherwise they only have their own resources to draw from just like rivers and seas a good leader must be ready to receive to receive water from streams rivers CAES stoop low to harness energy from their people a leader positions themselves lower as well in order to receive they pay attention and listen a leader follows before they're followed number 10 always go with the flow in our final piece of wisdom from Lao Tzu we learn when nothing is done nothing is left undone why is a Chinese concept central to Taoism which roughly translates to the action of non action or action without intent it says that rather than fighting against the conditions in our lives we should allow things to take their natural course well many of us wake into our day with multiple to do's stacked on our list and a sense of urgency to get things done it's powerful to consider that there's a natural order in everything we do if we tune in and follow the order things get done effectively efficiently and without extra effort if we go against the order it takes extra time and energy to get things done and in some cases nothing will get done no matter how hard we try let us take writing for example if you feel uninspired and tired don't force yourself to write a perfect chapter instead recognize the direction of nature and take care of yourself maybe go for a walk then when you feel inspired and motivated take advantage and write with great ferocity and determination this is what war means recognizing the forces of nature and acting accordingly some people intuitively interpret non-doing as something passive laid-back or lazy in the eyes of Tao there are often times for action but if no action is needed based on the laws of nature then doing anything may be overdoing it it's all about realizing when our efforts are being useful and when they're being wasted if you 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Channel: Philosophies for Life

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Keywords: taoism, Taoist, lao tzu, tao te ching, taoism today, taoist lessons, practical taoism, modern day Taoism, taoism philosophy, taoist philosophy, lao tzu tao te ching, Taoist teachings, lao tzu teachings, lao tzu Taoism, how to practice Taoism, how to be a Taoist, philosophy of Taoism, stoicism, taoist meditation, lao tzu quotes, chinese philosophy, taoist philosophy of life, tao te ching by lao tzu, laozi tao te ching, laozi

Id: NtcgJ1yZkIc

Length: 15min 9sec (909 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 12 2019