I always thought that everyone should work hard to make life happen. I never thought I will be able to come across a life philosophy that would tell otherwise. And now, I just allow things to happen and voila. Life has lots of surprises for me.
I dont have work. My partner do the working and I do the house chores. Sometimes, there are financial difficulties but we manage to make it through.
I have depression. And being a housewife made it worst for me. But I came across this book, Change your Thoughts Change your Life by Dr. Wayne Dyer and it did wonders for my depression. I now dont wake up with a sour face. I wake up with “Life is a mystery. Discover it.” thoughts, and it made me want to stand up and do everything I have to do. Lao Tzu’s philosophy made me feel great all the time. When I feel lousy, I will just internalize his teachings and it does wonders to me.
I want everything planned but Lao Tzu’s way is spontaneity so I quit controlling and just allow things to happen. I found myself more happier and less stressed because I just let things go like water freely flowing.
How is Lao Tzu’s way? His teaching is called Tao Te Ching and these are the summary of his philosophy:
Let the world unfold without always attempting to figure it all out.
Don’t try so hard to make something work. Simply allow.
Desire less.
Everything will come in its time.
Paradoxical unity, a oneness where all the spectrum simply is.
Just be.
Everything I need now is here.
Eliminate many judgments on your thoughts as possible.
Remove the word special from your vocabulary when you refer to yourself or others.
Extending generosity.
Be creative in your thoughts, in your feelings, in your actions. Apply your own uniqueness to everything you undertake.
Serve the needs of others and all your own needs will be fulfilled.
By not being irritating, you’ll be received with respect.
By not controlling the lives of others, you’ll be in peaceful harmony with Tao’s teachings.
We are water and water wants to be free.
To keep on filling is not as good as stopping. Enough is not only enough. It is in the alignment of perfection of the eternal Tao.
Meditation is a powerful tool to help you feel the bliss that accompanies your connection to your inner void.
Be like the master who prefers what is within to what is without.
No ego means no trouble.
Practice trusting your own inner nature.
Seeking favor is degrading and will lead you out of touch with your true self.
By seeing the unfolding of God in everyone you encounter and in all of your identification with the ego-based world, you’ll come to be more like Him and less like that which has tarnished your link to Him.
You are unfolding in Divine order.
Stop chasing your dreams. Allow them to come to you in perfect order with unquestioned timing.
What is yours will come to you when you aren’t trying to push the river.
This too shall pass. This phrase will remind you that change is the only constant in life. All endings are part of the cyclical process. You’re merely returning to a life of constancy.
Instead of believing that you know what’s best for the others, trust that they know what’s best for themselves.
When a leader trusts no one, no one trusts Him.
Live without attachment by being generous.
Your mind continually urges you to strive in spite of the all providing perfection of the Tao. It prompts you to pursue fame, to look for a groove or purpose. Lao Tzu encourages you to do the opposite. Stay outside the rat race and let your mind be in peaceful harmony with the Tao rather than worrying and fighting. Take time to let go and let God every single day.
I have no rigidity within me. I can bend to any wind and remain unbroken.
This is a temporary setback. I am going to release myself from having to be the person in control.
Walk the path of Tao by being a giver rather than a taker, providing for others, and asking nothing in return. Then view your desires to brag and seek approval as weeds on your journey. Seeing yourself as important and special because of your talent for instance is walking the path of ego. Walking the path of the tao means that you express appreciation for the hands that allow you to create a sculpture.
I come from greatness. I attract greatness. I am greatness.
Vow to seek a calm inner response to the circumstances of your life.
I have the ability to stay poised and centered regardless of what goes before me.
I am my own student and have this opportunity to learn that I am instructing rather than judging. I will now cease critiquing myself or any other and teach by being the Tao.
Instead of striving yourself as superior to others, perhaps choose the self-image of a valley. Be a humble earth source rather than a lofty ego-inspired person.
Give up needing to control.
Eliminate verbal or physical force in all situations.
Arms serve evil. They are the tools of those who oppose wise rule.
Give up the need to be in charge, which is just your ego working overtime.
Focus on understanding yourself instead of blaming others.
No one has the power to make you uneasy without your consent. But you are willing to freely experience your emotions without calling them wrong or needing to chase them away. It’s important to bypass blame and even understand the other person; instead focus on understanding yourself. By taking responsibility for how to choose to respond to anything or anyone, you’re aligning yourself with the Tao.
I am responsible for what I see. I chose the feelings I experience.
Begin noticing how the Tao is always flowing in an all providing, no boasting, nondemanding, nonpossessing manner.
Make it a daily practice to give thanks for the presence of the eternal Tao that is always with you.
Strive to know oneness by seeking awareness of opposites. Make every effort to stay in a state of oneness in your mind. For example, if you’re tired, remind yourself that you know what being rested is like. This will provide you with a balanced sense of being at peace within yourself. This is oneness wherein you entertain extremes and use your mind to be like the Tao, which never divides anything.
I am centered in the Tao. I trust that I am able to straighten myself out, and so is the world. I retreat into silence knowing that all is well.
Act without being concerned for your own ego.
Trust yourself to be an instrument of love by surrendering to your highest nature rather than being seduced by mortal laws.
So when life looks difficult, stop that you’re only one thought removed from being at peace.
The number one priority in my life is my relationship with my Source of Being.
See imperfections as perfect even if your ego-mind cannot comprehend this.
Enjoy the flowers, clouds, sunsets, storms, stars, mountains, and all the people that you encounter. Be with the world in it, adoring it, but not needing to possess it.
I see myself in this person, and I choose to be in a space of goodness rather than judgment.
No one dies including myself. Affirm that you can never be harmed or destroyed for you are not your body.
Live each day trusting in the hidden virtue that’s both within you and that caused you. Keep in mind that the feeling of being secured, shielded, and nurtured won’t come from anything you might possess. Instead, it will arise when you know you’re in constant contact with a virtuous power that lies within every cell of your being.
Use fewer words: commit yourself to long periods of listening; and eliminate giving advice, meddling, and participating in gossip.
Seeing the smallest mystery reveals the grandest mystery. Noting the same spark in microscopic creatures that animates you is a way of exploring life as a return trip rather than a dead end.
Make compassion the essential foundation of your personal philosophy.
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Realize how much your life matters.
Living by letting go means releasing worry, stress, and fear. If you can spend a perfectly useless afternoon in a perfectly useless manner, you have learned how to live.
The highest state of man is silence. Silence is your evidence of inner knowing.
Those who talk do not know.
I am free to be myself. I do not have to live by anyone else’s rules and I release the need for laws to regulate my behavior.
Allow others and enjoy how your nonauthoritarian leadership inspires them to be themselves.
See wholeness in place of good and bad fortune. When you feel overpoweringly discouraged during a trip to the valley of despair, it can feel as if, that’s all there is.
If you’re unable to see a circumstance or situation as part of a larger picture, remind yourself that good fortune is leaning on this bad one, just as morning follows the darkest night.
Lao Tzu reminds you that if nothing is impossible then there are no limits. So practice living without limits by gathering virtue and modeling it.
I choose not to have any thoughts of harm directed to anyone by me. I am a being of light and love. Therefore, the only thoughts that can emerge from me are with the harmony of great loving tao.
By staying calm and under the radar, others will ultimately flow to you, joining with you in creating friendship and trust. Think of yourself as the ocean and stay low enough to allow all others to stream down to you and create a great country wherever you elect to settle.
Cast out any behavior you dislike about yourself, allow your pain to be felt, and absolve yourself. With these behaviors removed, visualize embracing yourself, and notice the radiant being of light who is yourself in your imagination.
Change your notion of “thinking big” to “thinking small and getting big things done”. Examine whatever it is that is enormous that it terrifies you to start. Then shift your thinking to what can be done today in your precious present moments, completely ignoring the overall picture.
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Keep in mind that nature never forces anything to grow, but is silently and invisibly ever-present. Do the same to the best of your ability by not forcing yourself or your ideas on anyone. The simple truth is that neither we nor anyone else really knows what’s ideal for ourselves or others.
There’s a silent destiny always at work; there are fortunes as well as misfortunes in every life, independent of our particular opinions.
Even if you’re older, wiser, and richer than others and have more influence and power than they do, never assume that you know what’s best for anyone. Instead, imagine yourself as the great ocean that allows and encourages the smaller stream to come to you. Stay low, speak softly, and remain humble – and let others be in control of their lives as much as is humanly possible.
By seeing yourself as the all-receiving sea, you remove your ego from the picture and thus become like one of the leaders.
The key to living in harmony is compassion and mercy. You’re not in competition with anyone, so don’t feel as if you must defeat another person or compare yourself on any level. Extend mercy and compassion toward every form of life, including yourself. When you radiate love and respect for all, you’re aligning yourself with the Tao, which will protect you as if you were a baby in the arms of a loving mother.
Do as Lao Tzu advises and “[employ] the power of others to elevate yourself to the status of winner. That is, cooperate with your opponents by wanting them to play at a high level – the best they’re capable of. When anger isn’t a component, your game will go to a new level. What you fight weakens you – what you cooperate strengthens you. So change your thinking about competing to cooperating in all areas of your life, including your work.
I have no enemies. There are people with whom I have strong disagreements. I may even be required to defend myself and my way of life, but I will not think of them as adversaries. Recall Lao Tzu’s statement that the person without an enemy will surely triumph.
Stop fighting, eschew violent thoughts and deeds, and give up trying to control others or the world. Stay humble; don’t interfere; respect your creative genius, return to your Invisible source, and shed your troublesome ego. If you do all of this, you will naturally live a long life in joyful, nonjudgmental peace.
I just returned from Puttaparthi after spending a week there in Sai Baba’s divine presence. I was saddened to see Sai Baba in a wheelchair due to multiple fractures in his hipbone. According to the doctors, no normal human body can survive such physical agony. But Sai Baba remains ever so blissful and completely unaffected by his physical condition. A devotee asked Sai Baba how is it that a God-realized being has to undergo physical suffering. Why doesn’t he cure himself? My life is my message. People need to learn to give up body attachment and experience their divinity within. Pain is a natural phenomenon. But suffering is a choice. I do not suffer as I am not the body.
Change your view of the world to one of awe and bewilderment. Rather than looking for miracles, shift to seeing everything as miraculous. By being in a state of awe, you won’t be able to mentally experience boredom or disappointment. Try seeing the invisible Tao flowing through and supporting everyone and everything: a rainstorm becomes a miraculous event, the lightning, a fascinating display of electrical fireworks, the thunder, a booming reminder of the invisible power of nature. Live the mystery by beginning to perceive what average eyes fail to notice.
Don’t see caution as a weakness or an expression of fear. Instead view it as a way to step back and allow events to unfold naturally. Bravery is a fine quality, but reckless bravery, that is where you rush in without thinking – is a sure way to invite disaster. Think before you act. Allow heaven’s way to do the conquering without you having to fight or defeat anyone. Very often your first impulse is dominated by your ego’s need to win and conquer.
These are the interpretations of Wayne Dyer with Lao Tzu’s philosophy.
The Whisper 