Live Your Life with TAO Wisdom
Being a parent,
especially for the first time, can be very stressful. Learn to live your life
with TAO wisdom, the ancient wisdom from China
Don't
look elsewhere! TAO wisdom is internal wisdom;
it is already inside each and every one of us!
TAO
wisdom is the profound wisdom of Lao
Tzu, the ancient Chinese sage who was the author of the
immortal classic Tao Te Ching,
which is one of the most widely translated works in world literature, perhaps
only second to the Bible.
So,
what is TAO wisdom? Tao is also known as the Way—the way or direction to
understanding true wisdom, whether it is human or spiritual wisdom.
Look
no further! TAO wisdom is inside you.
You need not look any further because it is right inside you! Ironically
enough, it is not easy to find the Way: we tend to look to others or outside of
ourselves in quest of that far-fetched and forever elusive wisdom.
There
was the story of a beggar who asked a stranger for money. The stranger said he
had no money to give him, and asked the beggar if he would look elsewhere for
money, including the box he was sitting on. The beggar said he had been sitting
on that box for years but he had never looked inside it. The stranger urged him
to look inside the box. Reluctantly, he did. To his amazement, he found the box
was filled with gold coins.
Yes,
TAO wisdom is inside each
and every one of us! But you have to look, just like the beggar did in the
story!
Unlike
conventional wisdom, which is external,
focusing on the acquisition of knowledge, TAO wisdom, on the other hand,
is internal. According to
conventional wisdom, knowledge is empowering; the more knowledgeable you are,
the wiser you become. The ancient wisdom of Tao is quite the opposite: the more
you know, paradoxically, the less wisdom
you may have. As a matter of fact, there was the story of a professor seeking
the wisdom of Zen (originated from Tao) from a Zen master who kept on pouring
tea into the already filled-to-the-brim teacup of the professor. Later on, the
Zen master told the professor that in order to fully understand the wisdom of
Zen or the Way, he must, first of all, empty all his preconceived ideas of Zen,
that is, he must have an empty mind to be receptive of the wisdom. Hence, to
fully understand Tao, one must preempt one's mind of any knowledge.
Accordingly,
following the teachings of others, looking for role models to imitate, and
making extra efforts—all recommended by conventional wisdom—they will not work
for the ancient wisdom of Lao Tzu.
In TAO wisdom, you just look inside yourself because the internal wisdom is
based on intuition of, insight into, and internalizing of your own experiences
in life. It is "your" life and "your" own experiences that
are uniquely yours. Looking for external sources does not help, and nobody can
tell you how you should live your life. Only you have access to your life's
blueprint, which is the essence of Tao wisdom in living.
The Book of Life and Living is an
explanation of ancient wisdom, contemporary wisdom, and spiritual wisdom
illustrated with concrete everyday examples. Create your own recipe for wisdom
in living.
Stephen
Lau
Copyright
© Stephen Lau
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