“have just enough talent
have just enough skill
have just the right amount of tools for work
have just the right amount of weapons for protection

the ancient child asks how much is the right amount

know one hundred songs
so you can play a single simple melody
from the heart
to a heart”
—Lao-tzu, Tao Te Ching: Chapter Eighty

“great knowledge comes from the left hand
holding something broken and flawed

accept the small inequities

a bodymind embracing the tao way of life
doesn’t need perfection”
—Lao-tzu, Tao Te Ching: Chapter Seventy-Nine

“remember
to be at your best
pattern yourself after water”
—Lao-tzu, Tao Te Ching: Chapter Seventy-Eight

“released with resoluteness
the bow projects its arrow fixedly to a target
by equalizing itself“
—Lao-tzu, Tao Te Ching: Chapter Seventy-Seven

“remember
an unyielding tree will snap under a strong wind
or fall easily under a dull axe”
—Lao-tzu, Tao Te Ching: Chapter Seventy-Six

These are inevitable aspects of existence. Accept their presence, and then move on with your life. Do not waste precious time and energy trying to remake the world in a better image. You cannot remake the world; you can only reshape your conscious will and sense of self.

To fear death is to bring on the “bodymind killers.” no matter how competent, strong, intelligent, or enduring one may be, if he is not courageous enough to apply his ability without hesitating at the crucial moment, then he might as well be frail, befuddled, and useless.

Cultivation of our character—being open, looking inward, listening carefully, and letting go of the illusion of control—reveals the wisdom necessary for each of us to see our unique place in the world.

Allow this revelation to wash over you in the same was a wise sage allows his own dark and terrifying revealed truths to wash over him. Recognize that there is no need for absolute power, absolute freedom, or absolute certainty. There is a world out there which we cannot fully know and to which we are subject—so what? It cannot be any other way

Perhaps if you are as I was (and, in a sense, still am), very scientifically and secularly minded, the idea of revealed wisdom and revelation sounds too much like magic, mysticism, and delusion to you. Your skepticism is reasonable and applicable in more cases than it is not. . . Now, with that out of the way, let us play with our conception of revelation for a moment.

We often get in our own way. We imagine obstacles on the Road and fall for mirages that tempt us off the Path. But really, living the Tao way of life is how most of nature lives. It is easy if it is allowed to happen, if we just habituate ourselves to the condition that is ever-changing-condition. And yet, this seems to be the one thing most of us refuse to do.

Whether we like it or not, whether we agree with it or not, some things are facts. Truth is made of the same stuff as the universe, unknowable in its entirety, but nonetheless impactful on our existence. Perhaps you find it difficult to accept: power is a fact, as are competence, hierarchy, success, failure, weakness, envy, pain, and terror. Unfairness is a fact as much as is fairness, and so is violence as much as peace.

Fear is not a virtue, and neither is weakness. These are cavities in a man’s personality through which arrogance and resentment take possession. Do not fall prey to them. Instead, cultivate bravery, strength, and judgement. Gain control over your life by nurturing yourself. Choose to build who you are into who you could be.

But with the proper balance, seeing the world for what it is—light and dark—not withholding judgement, but choosing to love it in the end is what allows the Tao source of life to shape you into your most authentic self.

Harmony with nature is harmony with reality. To choose otherwise is the same as choosing discord. From these it follows: we can either become harmonious exemplars, or else we inevitably turn into cacophonous orchestrators.

“Be wary of wisdom you have not earned.” Work to cultivate humility through introspection. Laugh at yourself. Become again and again like a reincarnating child—immortal and impervious to arrogance, senility, and the death-march of time.

“it is much easier for the tao to believe in you
if you believe in yourself”
—Lao-tzu, Tao Te Ching Chapter Sixty-Four

Taoist alchemy is action through inaction; it is the change of that which is outside through a transformation of what is within; it is the transmutation of meaning and significance of a substance, a person, or a situation via the transmutation of perception and attitude. And to attain to this seeming magic, one must be willing to venture into the depths.

In Chapter Sixty-One, we discussed much already the metaphor of the river and how it relates to the Tao way of life and the original self. Today, I’d like to shift our focus to a few particular stanzas which more uniquely describe the opening of the mind toward adaptation, acceptance, and change.

“What is meant by, ‘original?’” Answer: something in its initial state before being altered, developed, or modified; something primordial from which there are no steps backward without undoing the thing in itself. In this sense, “original” can be synonymous with “fundamental.” So, then, what do we mean when we talk about our original, fundamental selves?