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
It is packed with his remarkable wisdom and messages of peace, resilience, and living
cohesively that reminds us what really matters in life. He is 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
1. LOOK WITHIN 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 toward doing, succeeding, “crushing it”, making
more weather its 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 too is all about balance and to
maintain this balance we need to spend time cultivating our yin which is our inner 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.
2. 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 Tao. It’s important to understand that developing a stance of non-attachment
is not the same as being calloused or uncaring. In fact, losing your attachments makes you
freer to open your heart up wider. It is like being able to see the world from a higher
perspective. Instead of only loving those to whom you are most attached - yourself,
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.
3. Let go of your labels if you truly want to know yourself
According to Lao Tzu’s teachings “He who defines himself can’t know who he really
is”
Labels are what you call yourself in your head. They are tags that you attach to yourself
to describe the person you think you are. We have labels for ourselves such as a super
dad, a successful businessman, a loser, a 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 your 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 “flaws” you’re 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.
4. 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 Yuen
Sun. It takes in Pre-Heaven essences and processes it, pushing them into your soul, and the soul
will deliver it to your physical body here, giving you your potentials for your life in
reality. A Taoist cultivates mainly around two things. One is to strengthen and repair
the bridge between the Yuen Sun 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 Yuen Sun for more to come in the future. Good is
anything that flows with the way of the Tao, meaning the Yuen Sun’s flow to your body.
Anything that helps and flow with what your Yuen Sun is doing or leading you toward is
good. Evil is the opposite, which is anything that
puts resistance to, stops, interfere, drag, or damage your flow from the Tao is 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 is it good or bad. Knowing what is evil to you is important
as a Taoist because you will then understand what is not good to do for yourself, and what
is going to harm you in the long run. If can live your life purely and devote yourself
to the betterment of yourself and others around you, evil cannot touch you. However, evil
never disappears, and you can’t ignore it. The best thing you can do is be stronger than
the evil temptations around you, and you will beat them.
5. KINDNESS AND COMPASSION FOR OTHERS WILL ALWAYS WIN IN THE END
TO QUOTE LAO TZU “Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.
Kindness in giving creates love” There is a beautiful metaphor from the virtue
of unconditional 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 Teh Ching says that the Sage puts others before himself,
and by putting others before himself, he put himself first. When one puts others before
themselves, showing compassion to one and other, 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 to
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.
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 is nothing wrong in wanting others to like us or to think well
of us, but it should not be done at the expense of our integrity. We have to get on with the
tasks in life and take our own decisions based on our highest thoughts, not the thoughts
generated through the filter of approval seeking, 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 are in accord with the Tao, you will do your own job, and then stop. Leave others
opinions alone. Don’t go against the current of the Tao. Instead, go with the flow of it.
Accept yourself! Believe in yourself! Because if you did, you wouldn’t have to try to
convince others. Be content with yourself! Because if you were, you wouldn’t need others’
approval.
7. WISDOM AND STRENGTH COME FROM REMAINING HUMBLE
AS WE LEARS FROM LAO TZU “The wise man is one who, knows, what he does not know”
There is a story in the “Lieh Tzu,” a book of Taoist parables written around the
same time as the “Te Tao 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 has earned his success, saying, “Maybe there is just
more in me than there is in you.” They both meet Master Tung-kuo, who says, “When you
say that one man has more in him than another, you mean only that they are 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
obtain 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 Tao 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 are companions of impeccable humility.
8. 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 the changes. But change is key to life, because, despite change
being seemingly painful, it's forever necessary. Most of us tend to settle in our comfort zone,
we are afraid of change or something new. We tend to get used to the rut and routine
and begin to love that as 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,
or maybe because we live in the belief that every ending is painful and doesn’t 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 difference,
lies life's momentum and progress.
9. LEARN TO FOLLOW FIRST IF YOU EVER WISH TO LEAD
According to Lao Tzu “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”
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