Lessons from the Tao

7/14/2020

Lessons from the Tao

True leaders pursue continued growth and mastery every day and never stop.

What better way to learn to master ourselves than to learn from the masters of the past.

Our coaching group “Project Stay Home — The Ultimate Performance Forum” Lead by my coach and mentor James Arthur Ray and his wife Bear are, as a group, reading a book called the Tao Te Ching.

The Tao Te Ching is an old book of Chinese wisdom ( similar to proverbs but also a lot different) It was written by a Chinese Sage named Lao Tzu — Our group is reading a passage a day. We are 61 days in at the time of this post and I wanted to share my top 10 lessons with you.

Heres how I did this. It is not an article so will not read that way. Instead I listed The lesson learned, followed by a passage or quote and then below that are my notes that I’ve been taking daily after meditating and considering the meaning of the passage for me. I believe your gonna like this… Enjoy.

Here We Go - 10 Lessons from Lao Tzu and the Tao Te Ching

LESSON 1: Look Within and you will find everything you need

"Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is wisdom.
Mastering others is strength; mastering yourself us true power."

My notes and thoughts:

we are living in a world of devastating distraction.
People are fixated on external focus of materialism and consumerism to find happiness and peace — yet depression, anxiety, unhappiness, and a lack of fulfillment are at all time highs.
When would be a good time to slow down? Doing more and wanting more are perpetuating the problem and disconnecting us from our true selves.
It’s incredibly healing to spend time cultivating our inner experience or as the Sage call it our “yin”.
We are human “beings”; not human “doings” — seems to be a forgotten fact…

Lesson 2: By letting go, you become free

“By letting it all 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 winning.”

My notes and thoughts:

Enlightenment means to lighten the burdens of life in this world and to lighten the darker aspects of human character.
How do we do this? The key is to examine our attachments. Those things that we cling to in our minds so strongly that it causes pain and suffering and we don’t even know it’s ourselves that are causing it.
There are three types of attachment. Attachment to recognition. Attachment to Security. And attachment to control.
Developing a stance of non-attachment makes you freer to open your heart up wider. You’ll see the world from a higher perspective.

“To be content is to be happy with what you have, and to be happy with what you have is to be rich.”

Lesson 3: Let Go Of your labels if you truly want to know yourself

“He who defines himself can not know who he really is.”

My notes and thoughts:

Labels are the things you call yourself — tags that you begin to identify yourself with. Dad/Mom. Entrepreneur. Doctor. Loser / Winner.
We put ourselves and others in boxes trying to define who we/they are.
What we whisper to ourselves has great influence on our sense of self and ultimately dictates our thoughts and actions.
Labels limit ourselves to the definition or box of that label.
Without labels, you can flow freely from experience to experience, emotion to emotion, without being chained down to any one way of thinking.

Lesson 4: Pay no attention to evil and it will crumble away

“Give evil nothing to oppose and it will disappear all by itself.”

My notes and thoughts:

We can not change evil with the low vibration and negative energy of anger, hate, fear, anxiety, etc...
We cannot fight hate with hate or anything else with equally negative emotion and behavior.
We must seek to understand, overcome and raise our perspective and personal standards to raise the collective vibration.

Lesson 5: Kindness and compassion for other will always win in the end

“Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love.”

My notes and thoughts:

When one practices compassion they gain great insight into themselves.
The Sage puts other before himself and by putting others before himself, he puts himself first.

Lesson 6: Be yourself without caring what others think

“Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.”

My notes and thoughts:

Our integrity is tested when we live for the approval of others.
Our highest thoughts become diluted when we run them the the filter of approval seeking.
Go with the flow of nature and the universe; not the world and its masses.
If you are truly content with yourself then you do not need others approval.

Lesson 7: Wisdom and strength come from remaining humble

“The wise man is one who knows what he does not know."

My notes and thoughts:

The measure of success in itself is a judgement and lack of humility.
All good comes from heaven not from the world.
The truth is that great power can only be obtained through great love, great humility and the transcending of the ego (false self)
Only great humility is the cure for the disease called pride.
Sadness and anger are companions of pride whereas calm and joy are companions of impeccable humility.

Lesson 8: Change is inevitable, so embrace it, even if it seems uncomfortable

“New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.”

My notes and thoughts:

We must not settle into our comfort zone.
Change is the key to life, because, despite change being seemingly painful, it is forever necessary.
Remember the routine that has become your life is not the sole option available to you.
Most stop hoping for better things because most believe that every ending is painful and doesn’t lead to something greater. This is why most resist change and seek comfort.
Every change is important and holds deep meaning.
Every change has the opportunity to pave the way for something better if the observer will l change his perspective to believe so.
In change lies life's momentum and progress.

Lesson 9: Learn to follow first if you ever wish to lead

“ If you want to govern the people, you must place yourself below them. If you want to lead the people you must learn how to follow them.”

My notes and thoughts:

Rivers and seas are more powerful than streams because they are open to receive the streams.
Streams feed the rivers and seas and therefore rivers and seas derive their power from the seemingly less powerful streams.
For a stream to flow into a river or sea and empower it the river and/or sea must be below or in a lower position than the stream.

Lesson 10: Always go with the flow

“When nothing is done, nothing is left undone."

My notes and thoughts:

Wu Wei is a Chinese saying that translates to the action of non-action — or action with out intent.
Rather than fighting against the conditions in our lives, we should allow things to take their natural course.
If we are willing to let go of control and follow the natural order of things, things get done more effectively and efficiently.
When we resist or go against the natural order, it take more time, energy, and resources to get things done.
This is what Wu Wei means: to recognize the forces of nature and acting accordingly.
This is all about realizing when our personal efforts are being useful and when they are being wasted.

Our Coaching Group is Seeking More Growth Minded Individuals

Project stay home is only $14/month

weekly live coaching/Q&A sessions with one of the top thought leaders of our time James Arthur Ray
access to a resource library
an active forum of growth minded people who are all growing together.
Discounts on other growth and coaching products and services.

If you're interested text me using the link below and Ill get you the information to explore and/or register.

Text us to Receive more information about Project Stay Home. The Ultimate Performance Forum!

Comments are closed.

YOUR CART