Tao In You

We mold clay into a pot,
but it is the emptiness inside
that makes the vessel useful.

                                     — Laozi Tao Te Ching 11

To appreciate the value of things around us, look beyond the surface.

A pot is useful not for its clay, but its emptiness.

For the same token, you as a person is useful not for what you look, but what you do. 

Money is useful not for its paper and denomination, but the happiness it can bring.   

A house is useful not for its pillars and wall, but the empty space in it where you can live in and build the family bonds you treasure.

Knowing the difference between the being and non-being in Tao makes your life more fulfilled.

Picture source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/steveleenow/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Staying healthy begins from your mind.

How you see the values in the things that you have can make the quality of your life very different.  When you can be truly at ease with what you own, you are relaxed, and ‘chi’ begins to flow smoothly throughout your body.  This will lead you to a healthier life.

The following verse of Lao Tzu is useful in this aspect.

Which is more important, your renown or your life?
Which is more valuable, your possessions or your being?
Which is more harmful, gain or loss?

So deep love leads to great expense
and heaping wealth leads to greater loss.

Be contented and you will not be disappointed,
He who knows when to stop can stay clear of danger
an thus endure long.

Lao Tzu (44) (Translated by Tekson)

A secret for good health is to breathe like a baby.

Known as natural breathing, it is the way we breathed when we were born.  Observe how an infant breathes, and you will understand what I mean.  The basic principle is to breathe with your belly, rather than your lungs.

If you are not breathing this way, try the following exercise.

Lie on your back at somewhere comfortable — in your bed or on the floor.  Put your hands on your sides.  Breathe gently.  Focus your attention on how the air move in your body.  Ask yourself, “where does the air go to?”   You will notice that the air goes to you belly, rather than your lungs, when you inhale!  Feel the natural rise and fall of your belly.

Congratulations!  You are doing the natural breathing!

Your belly expands when you inhale, and contracts when you exhale.

It is so simple, because this is the way we should all have been breathing anyway.  Many of us have lost the habit as we grow older because of problems like stress.

It is a better way to breathe, and vital to our health.  As you inhale the air to the belly that has a bigger capacity than the lungs, you take in more oxygen with every breath.  Since we breathe every second, the increased amount of air from every breath will affect your health eventually.

Don’t lose this precious habit endowed by the Mother Nature!  It is so simple.

If a baby can do it, so can you!

A very valuable lesson that I’ve learned about success is to value failure.

It sounds paradoxical, but life is paradoxical.

There are opposite forces in all things we do.  Day is not purely day; and night is not purely night.  The moment when the sun rises, the day is inching to the night every second.

So why must a failure be a failure, and not a journey taking you closer to success?

In order to attract success, learn to see failure not as failure, but a necessary element of success.  Only when you are able to see failure in this way, that you are able to spot in failure opportunities that breed success.

As Lao Tze says,

“If you want to become whole,
first let yourself become broken.
If you want to become straight,
first let yourself become twisted.
If you want to become full,
first let yourself become empty.
If you want to become new,
first let yourself become old.
Those whose desires are few gets them,
those whose desires are great go astray. ”
(Chapter 22)

A secret weapon behind top achievers is the ‘energy field‘ they work in.

What is the ‘energy field’  that we are talking about?

In the context of Tao, it is described as yin-yang energy.  Do not bother about the terminology if you don’t really understand what it is.  Just feel it. There is an energy field within ourselves.  There is an energy field between ourselves and the things that we interact with.  At the same time, there is an energy field in the universe.

The high achievers knows how to make the energy field work in their favor.  Wittingly or unwittingly.

Try it.

When you meet a person, first smile at her, and then, turn your face sulky.  Take a pause to see how the chemistry between yourself and the person change.  This is how an energy field works.  You will be able to tell the difference in the change of the energy in this case.  It begins positive, then turns negative.  Decide on which of the two manners that works best for you , and use it in your favor — on your way to greater achievement.

In Lao Tze, it is said that:

The Tao gave birth to One.
The One gave birth to Two.
The Two gave birth to Three.
The Three gave birth to all of creation.

All things carry Yin
yet embrace Yang.
They blend their life breaths
in order to produce harmony.  (Chapter 42)

Contact Tekson at http://www.tao-in-you.com

A secret weapon behind people of high achievement is that they do not just work hard.  Working hard alone does not lead to exceptional performance.

In addition to working hard, they work on the magnetic field in which they work.

One way to do this is to see your work as if it’s your romantic partner.  See it as if it is someone that you have dearly fallen in love with.

We all know the power of romantic love.  If you have not experienced it yourself, you probably would have learned about it from novels and movies like Romeo and Juliet. Romantic love is powerful.   You are willing to die for someone you are truly in love with.

The moment that you can see your work as something you truly love, the magnetic field in which you work in changes.  You no longer get frustrated easily for not being able to see immediate results.  Obstacles become something that strengthens rather than taking your enthusiasm away.

This alone will lead you to exceptional performance.

From the perspective of Tao, the phenomenon is seen as the working of yin and yang.

As Laozi says,

All things carry Yin yet embrace Yang.   They blend their life, breath in order to produce harmony. (Lao Tze Chapter 42)

Contact Tekson.

Why many people can’t make decision, even about the most insignificant things in life?

They are not sure what they should eat for lunch and wear for the party; not to mention how they should react when their bosses ask them to comment on something.

What is keeping them from making a decision?

Little do they know, it could be their desire.

When they think of eating Italian pasta, they miss the steak.  When they are about to put on their jeans, they miss their skirts.

The problem is our desire is endless.  And if you keep thinking about the many things your want, no decision can ever be made.

Instead, find out the best options available, before entertaining your desire.  You’ll find decision-making is not exactly a hassle.

Learn from Lao Tze:

Freed from desire, you can see the hidden mystery.
By having desire, you can only see what is visibly real. (Chapter 1)

Contact Tekson.