Category Archives: The True Path – 10 Steps of Tao Virtue

Life is a serious business. That should be a given, yet we are reminded in Chapter 50 that only one in ten will take up and stay with the way, the path. This living experience requires a disciplined approach and devotion. If only one in ten of us can stay on the path of well being and longevity, the other ten are giving up and neglecting this serious business of living.

When you are ready, the Tao will be there. It is available to all of us. The Tao is the ultimate source for all of us. It is available to everyone, even those who are disconnected and lost within the ignorance of ego and the material domain. Yet when one has suffered enough and they hit bottom, the path awaits them which will take them to Tao.
If you choose, that is to say, if you are ready, the true source is awaiting discovery. You only have to wake up and leave the fetters of ego behind.

Sovereignty, The True Path - 10 Steps of Tao Virtue

Listening

Leave a comment

I opened a fortune cookie the other day. The fortune inside said “you can hear a lot just by listening”

A long time ago I heard a story about listening. The story goes that during his presidency, Franklin Roosevelt noted that few people were paying attention to what he said. To see how true it was, he decided to test his theory out during a white house gathering. As he greeted each person, he would say”I murdered my grandmother this morning.” Not hearing what he said most people just smiled, nodded and gave a courteous response such as “how nice” and “good for you”. Finally, he got a response when the Bolivian Ambassador responded with “Well she must have deserved it”.

To Listen; is to be present and give one’s attention to perception1

Communication Lets begin with the obvious.When we talk, we are not listening. Even when someone else is talking, we may not be listening.Even if you are hearing you may not be listening. On a deeper level, the listening is done with the mind, and hopefully, consciousness paying attention. You are looking at someone while they are telling something they feel is hugely compelling, only your mind is buried deep within your mind stream2. When something wakes you up and you pay attention outward, you realized that you haven’t heard a word of what was said because your attention was somewhere “upstream”.

Listening goes deeper than that. This chapter is about cultivating the skill to pay attention to what you hear. Or deeper yet, it is to pay attention to what you perceive3. It’s not just sound wave in the form of another person’s voice. It is “hearing” what the consciousness behind the words is conveying to you.

Intuition. Listening is a complement of Intuition. Deep listening leads to intuition. When you listen, you perceive. What you perceive, you can observe. The product of what you is what you hear. That is unless your attention is deeply in mindstreaming.

The anecdote to this is to be present and mindful. Being able to stay focused on hearing, listening and experiencing what you perceive is transforming.

Being able to stay focused and to listen requires not thinking at the same time. Recall what was discussed in the chapter on emptiness about it having functionality. Emptiness gives function to listening. Being empty in order to receive.The mind is still so it can observe. You cannot listen while you are thinking.

Contrary to how this may sound, this is the highest form of waking consciousness. Note the following words that are listed at the beginning of this chapter.

The function of the ear ends with hearing,
that of the mind, with symbols or ideas.
But the spirit is an emptiness ready to receive all things.

Excerpt from the Chuang Tzu Chapter 4

As I have mentioned many times in this and other books, the ability to wake up from mindstream and pay attention, hold focus is a spiritual ability cultivated through meditation. It is applied over and over in your waking life through continuously becoming mindful.

You are listening. Your mind drifts. Your consciousness realizes that your focus drifted and you refocus back to observing/listening (perceive/to pay attention). Listening with focused attention is a skill. When you practice it the same person enough, they will tell you that you are a good listener. The people in your life will regard you more favorably. They will also notice if you miss a lot because your mind is busy while they are talking to you. When you present some deep nuance that only you understand, then they will tell you that you ”think too much”.

So this focused attention is to be applied often but in a balanced way. The is a certain harmony that you must achieve where you observe/listen to each moment along with the need to think about what you are doing. It is best if you approach this with moderation. Just practice gently, giving yourself the rest of your life to cultivate it.

While you are reading this, notice how the “voice” will comment. Or notice how your mind will drift off when you perceive some interesting concept. Your eyes and mind will still be processing the material, yet the attention off in mindstream. Then you wake up and have to go back and reread the previous sentence. Sometimes the content can be so complex that it can provoke thinking, and you have to reread over a of bunch times. So stop right here. Raise your head up and think about this.

Spirit to spirit. If you did it, and now you are back. You went from listening to distraction, and now you are back listening. Interestingly, the information in my mind right now is taking a quantum leap and traveling through time and space. It is being perceived by your consciousness in some future date and in some other location. From my spirit essence to yours in the now continuum. Each spirit and mind still yet connected. Perhaps listening is a quantum event. This is the power of being present in the “now”. Such is the power of listening.

The final point is this; when you are present and still (out of mindstream), you are in the Tao. This is the Tao connection. When you listening and at one with the Tao, you are in the highest state of being. Your potential (what you are capable of) becomes unlimited when unified with the Tao. It is easier said than done. Yet you can transform your life with even the smallest connection. You connect every time you become still and listen. Listen with constancy4

The sovereign cultivates the ability of returning to the Tao and listening. With a bit of work, you can gain the ability listen to your own thoughts with a sense of detachment. Within your true nature is wisdom. Being able to remove your attention from ego mindstreaming and know your wisdom is a very effective skill. Work at it. Become a good listener.

1This definition was a composite from several sources.

2Mind stream, or mindstreaming is an ancient spiritual concept defined as the “moment to moment continuum. The focus of your consciousness is often deeply concentrated in thought. A type of ongoing distraction creating a loss of presence.

3 to perceive is the ability to see, hear, or become aware of something through the senses. Or a way of regarding, understanding, or interpreting something; a mental impression

4See the Chapter on “constancy”. – returning to one’s true nature

Sovereignty, The True Path - 10 Steps of Tao Virtue, To Find Your True Path - Start Here

Sovereignty

Quote Leave a comment

Sovereignty

Chapter 59 Tao Te Ching

In governing people and serving Heaven
There is nothing like conservation
Only with conservation is it called submitting early
Submitting early is called emphasis on accumulating virtues
Accumulating virtue means there is nothing one cannot overcome
When there is nothing that one cannot overcome
One’s limits are unknown
The limitations being unknown, one can possess sovereignty
With this mother principle of power, one can be everlasting
This is called deep roots and firm foundation
The Tao of longevity and lasting vision

Volume Two of The Dixie Taoist Handbook is underway. The topic is Sovereignty.

At the heart of Tao cultivation is the high virtue of Sovereignty. It is described above as the mother principle of power. And with it you can be everlasting. Sovereignty is the foundation for well-being and a long life.

It is with Sovereignty that you are able to find and follow your true path. Volume Two will define Sovereignty and give you step by step instructions on how to develop the deep roots and firm foundation.

The Tao or “The Way” is the a path of discovering insights about who you are and cultivating virtues. Discovering the way, your true path, is cultivated through self-awareness and mindfulness. This awakened consciousness is the true self.

Following the path is a step by step or moment by moment choice. Awake and self-aware, you are careful in with the direction your steps take you. Awake and present you are able to manage the ego and its distractions and illusions. In those moments you are no longer controlled by the ego, you are ruler of your kingdom (your life). This ruler or sovereign is the true self. The true self uses experience, wisdom, and virtue to choose the next step along the true path.

This awakening process is the subject of Volume One of the The Dixie Taoist Handbook. It is a what it is and how to do it handbook. Volume Two gives instructions on how to folllow the path once you are self-realized and mindful of choices. Choices plant the seeds for the future.

Life and reality are always changing. You cannot control everything that happens to you however you can control how you respond to life as it happens. When you are sovereign, you, the awakened and wise you, becomes the ruler over your destiny.

As I did before, I will be sharing some of the raw manuscript through the blog. I hope you will find the information useful.

Sam Beasley
The Dixie Taoist

The True Path - 10 Steps of Tao Virtue

Open The Door For Possibility: Be Flexible And Yielding (Strategy 12a)

Leave a comment

The Strategy: Open the door to possibility by yielding and being flexible. Realize that with possibility comes opportunity. Accept that resistance to life is futile.

The Application: When we are too rigid in our thoughts, opinions and beliefs we box ourselves in. and block possibility. Free your self from ego, be self-aware and see opportunity that is not available for those who are stuck in stubbornness, anger, vanity, greed, fear, pride and ignorance.

Chapter 76

When alive the body is soft and pliant

When dead it is hard and rigid

All living things, grass and trees,

while alive are soft and supple

When dead become dry and brittle

Thus that which is hard and stiff

is the follower of death

That which is soft and yielding

is the follower of life

Therefore an inflexible army will not win

A strong tree will be cut down

The big and forceful occupy a lower position

While the soft and pliant occupy a higher place

In Taiji Qigong, being tense, rigid, and inflexible is the biggest obstacle to raising and increasing the flow of Qi. For most people the origin is in the mind. In a type of Taiji practice called pushing hands, we cultivate sensitivity development.

There is a story about a Taiji Master by the name of Yang Lu Chan (1799-1873). It is said that his skills were so acute that he was able to catch a bird and play with it. Yet the most extraordinary part of this story is that when the bird tried to take off, Master Yang prevented it by not giving the bird a perch from which to push. The Master was so sensitive to the energy in the push of the bird’s legs, that as the bird pushed to launch, the Master would become soft and flexible so the bird’s feet pushed into emptiness.
pushing handsPushing Hands is a Taiji exercise where each Taiji player cultivate sensitivity, flexibility and softness so that the opponent has to perch to push or grab. Being rigid and inflexible will cause the player to become easy to manipulate and lose coordination. Stiffness and hardness is not a good attribute in Taiji, and so it is the same in life. This insight is applicable to both the tangible and intangible. It is a training that begins with the internal and is manifest in the external.

Yielding and being flexible allows acceptance. Acceptance frees one from the immobility of ego and allows negotiation. Negotiation is a process of problem solving and reaching a goal. The target might be tangible or intangible. The rigidity, hardness, stiffness, stubbornness may be internal conflict with the self or it may be external and with another person, object or situation.

Consider how flexible an octopus is. Because it is able to be soft and pliable it can escape into a very small place to live, hide and ambush prey.
octipus in a bottle

When one is too rigid in a set belief, the inflexibility prevents the ability to see truth. In problem solving, we must be open to possibility. By yielding to possibility we can see other perspectives and viewpoints. Pride, stubbornness, vanity, greed, revenge, attachment, unrealistic goals and religious intolerance lead to failure.

Collective ego can divide itself and assume opposing intractable positions and then gridlock ensues. We can look at the tension in the Middle East; we can see our own congress here in the United States as examples of rigidity and inflexibility. Without yielding, flexibility, and negotiation, these situations end up in stagnation and a loss for all parties.

Flexibility in understanding and foresight allows teachers and leaders to bring students and trainees forward. Because the wise leader or teacher is not too rigidly focused on immediate gratification, they can allow students to try and fail. New employees must be allowed to make a few mistakes as they become acclimated to a new task. Any student must learn through practice and be allowed to make mistakes so that they know what they are doing wrong. Rigidity and inflexibility of attitude will hinder growth, inspiration and opportunity.

Everyone of us will encounter problems or obstacles in life. It is part of the living and learning experience. We only become stuck when we are not able to flow around those obstacles. Like water, we can just move around the object, the problem, and continue onward without becoming stuck or trapped. Like water, life is a flow of moments; each moment a snapshot of experience. In each moment we have choice. We can choose yielding and flexibility and continue forward or we can be too solid and rigid and become stuck.

The strategy is to pay attention (mindful) of our reactions as they happen so that we can be soft, flexible, yielding, open-minded, inspired. When we face a problem, we can seek wisdom because we are not stuck in ignorance (ego). Free of ego, we do not become hardened and entrenched. As the true self we are able to realize all sorts of possibilities, ideas and solutions.
This is the true path. This is the Tao.

The True Path - 10 Steps of Tao Virtue

The Ego and The True Self

Leave a comment

Hey Y’all,

I am sharing an article that has a most useful explanation of The True Self and The Ego. As Tao cultivators, we work continuously on a Tao concept of “Sovereignty Over Self”. To realize and be the True Self, you must conquer and manage the The Ego. These concepts are crucial ones in the awakening process. Its one of the first big insights into Self Awareness (realization of the true self). You must discover who you are, and what you are not. It is important to contemplate the concept of lower consciousnesses that is called the ego so you can begin to transcend it. A good first question is “What is the Ego”.

This article covers the topic very well. This writer has that hit the mark in describing such a complex concept.

http://wakeup-world.com/2015/02/09/shedding-the-ego-moving-towards-the-soul/?utm_campaign=Wake+Up+World+e-Newsletter&utm_content=Latest+Headlines+inc.+Top+5+Foods+for+the+Pineal+Gland&utm_medium=email&utm_source=getresponse

The True Path - 10 Steps of Tao Virtue

Adopt A Child’s Sense Of Wonder (Chapter 32)

Leave a comment

Chapter 32 (The Dixie Taoist Handbook – How To Find Your True Path)
Adopt A Child’s Sense of Wonder

(Authors Note: This is one of my favorite chapters. This bit of Tao wisdom is very important. I hope you can receive it with an open heart and let your spirit align with it.

The Virtue: Innocence, non judgment and awe.
Its Application: Remember how to feel joy and excitement by adopting a child’s sense of wonder. Before you became conditioned by so much life experience, as a child everything was new, fresh and possible. Children live in a now universe, they reside in the present. In this now you can choose to allow to let go of pessimism and boredom. You can remember to be in touch with the child within you and return to the Tao.

Tao Te Ching Chapter 20 (excerpt)
“like an infant not yet smile”
Tao Te Ching Chapter 28 (excerpt)
“Know the masculine, hold to the feminine
Be the watercourse of the world
Being the watercourse of the world
The eternal virtue does not depart
Return to the state of the infant”

Can you remember your childhood before life’s many experiences created the “me” that you are now?
Try this exercise. Get a picture of you when you were a child. If possible find a picture where you looked happy and if you can remember that period of your life. See if you can remember what it ws like to be a spontaneously happy child. Notice the “me” of then and compare with the “me” in this now. Life experience has a way of tainting our view of the world in many ways. As ego develops, so does the dark side of coping to life’s problems. For many us, years of dealing life’s problems causes us to forget how joy and happiness can be simple and arise spontaneously. Sometimes you can even suppress a rising sense of joy and wonder with a darker view of pessimism and skepticism. The opportunity for wonder is constant in your world but you can become conditioned with feelings of; skepticism, doubt, distrust, mistrust, suspicion and disbelief. Mindfulness practice can help you become aware of these feelings as they arise. Insight meditation can help you get to the root of these feelings. When you can discern the memory or memories that effect your perspective of this moment, you transcend it and create the space for spontaneous joy to come forth.

There is so much you can learn so much from children. There is treasure buried in your own memory. The treasure is how to play and have fun. So many of adults are so busy seeking the sense of joy and wonder in all the wrong places that you may not be able to see how simple it can be.

Returning to a innocent child like view of creation (reality) is cultivating a sense of awareness that is pure. Children enter the physical domain still connected with spirit and aligned with nature. As they grow older, they learn to be distracted and separate from source. But it does not have to be this way. To attain the Tao, you must return to the connection with spirit.
As you grow older and begin to experience life’s challenges, you also begin to cope with the stress . As your ego assumes control, your connection to spirit erodes away. The more you resist life, the more stress you feel. You settle into adulthood coping with a life filled with problems. The coping is the ego way of trying to escape life and its problems.
Our culture has become a collective of individuals addicted to entertainment. We have become addicted to television programming. The worst aspect is that we how over 60 years of cultivating distraction. Today, millions of children will have their natural joy of play superseded by the practice of distraction. Rather than being outside in the world, doing what children do best, learning and interacting through play, they will be sitting in front of a television screen having all sorts of content downloaded. There some There are psychologists who feel that long term watching of television creates a neural network for a distracted state of consciousness. Now this is just my opinion, but I believe that children who play a lot away from television develop a different ability of awareness than those who spend so many hours watching TV. By the time they are grown, they are programmed to seek distraction and are literally addicted to this mind state. So now our culture has 3 or 4 generations of this type of consciousness construct. I cannot help but wonder how we, as a species is evolving.

I used to travel in Mexico where I visited some poor areas that had little or no Television to speak of . I noticed how the children and the people were so connected to nature and the land. They seemed happier than my home environment, and even though they seemed poor, their lives were rich with community and just being alive.
Back here in the United States, our culture is shaped by elements something called “reality TV”. Our definition of happiness is being defined by sitcoms and commercial ads. If your real life outside of TV land does not measure up to the paradigm you are programmed with on TV, then you begin striving to get there. This is a cultivated ego state that just leads to a life of problems.

Your ego can dominate your view so that sensation seeking or distraction become all that you can know. This striving can become your purpose in life. And in this, the beauty wonder and awe of the natural world can become lost to us. The wisdom of the Tao encourages us to remember and adopt a child like sense of wonder at what is present. Being present is what children do.

As a Tao cultivator you can realizes the majesty of life and appreciates your world and the universe where life can be and should be experienced. As a Tao cultivator you are aware of your place in nature. As a spiritual beings you can be self aware of this physical experience. You as a spiritual being must awaken to experience and be appreciative of your form in a universe of forms. You are gifted with senses to appreciate this existence of form. Yet how often are you so distracted that you have lost your connection and oneness with them in distraction. The reawakening is when you first remember the sense perceived universe, and then enlightenment occurs when you realize that you are an integral part of it. “It” is the Tao. When you realize this, your spontaneous childlike sense of wonder will return.

This is something so basic and simple that it begins with just taking a moment be aware that you are alive. You can just stop and be present. You can just …be. After all you are a human-being. Yet when you become obsessed with being distracted, you are no longer aware of being … and being alive.
You must return to a path of simplicity. Simplicity is a path of that is uncluttered with coping elements. When you can become empty of striving for egoic values, you can access the Tao of infinite possibility.
As in all things, the Tao cultivator establishes balance. This is especially important in the basic of life experience. All creatures are involved with doing. Non sentient creatures stay busy supporting their existence, and who knows how much awareness and sentience they may have. Yet as a human “being” you have the ability to be self aware and sentient. Yet you may be allowing this state of consciousness to be out of balance. Distraction is when the mind is lost to something where you are not aware of being and being alive. Sometimes this is necessary as you focus on something you need to do. Yet you must not become so distracted that you remain disconnected to the world and your life experience. This moment by moment experience is where children excel at being full of wonder and joy.
The self aware Tao cultivator brings balance to the world of being and doing. In self awareness you can return and become at one with the universe and appreciate it through an innocent sense of wonder. A child’s sense of wonder. Children who have not yet learned to be disconnected from life, whose ego has not yet learned to be cynical and pessimistic can see everything as new and wondrous. Even though you grow older and accumulate experience, you do not have to lose touch with the childlike sense of wonder. Wisdom is learning from experience. You can treat your past experience as important for wisdom and remember the feeling of wonder you once felt with life. I encourage you to keep this as part of your wisdom. In this way life does not become mundane and boring. Each moment is not ordinary, it is special. When you adopt a child’s sense of wonder, there are no ordinary moments. Once again joy can be found in the simple view of a universe that is always new, always changing, yet somehow in a mysterious way remains interesting.

The True Path - 10 Steps of Tao Virtue

Keep It Simple And Effective

Leave a comment

I am one of those Taoist that likes to keep things simple and therefore effective. Even the founder of Tai Chi felt the same way. (See Taiji Quan Treatise).  Find ways and simple techniques that work and you will be more inclined to practice frequently. I find this article to be useful.
http://time.com/3605299/meditation-tips-focus/

Please feel free to comment, share or question.
TDT

The True Path - 10 Steps of Tao Virtue

A Dixie Taoist True Path Workshop (Meditation)

Leave a comment

dixie taoist workshop with book cover
My fellow Tao cultivators, we are offering some workshops next year to assist in the study of Tao cultivation.

The first is on January 10th, 2015. This workshop is titled “A Meditation Workshop”. It could also be called Beginners meditation for Tao Cultivators. This 6 hour workshop will cover the first Section of the upcoming book including chapters 1 through 5. This is a step by step process for finding your true path as described in the book, The Dixie Taoist Handbook which is in editing and due early next year.

The training will be in meditation, mindfulness, sovereignty of self, and the power of choice. It will include guided meditations, and some short lectures on how to develop the higher consciousness that we know as the true self.

In the video titled “Tai Chi As A Spiritual Path”, I give my personal story of how Tai Chi transformed my life. What I am calling “Tai Chi” is more correctly known as Taiji (Tie-gee) or Tao cultivation. The book and the upcoming workshop is the training on how to do what I have been discussing. It is how I was able to transform my life.

The video which sheds a little more light on my story can be viewed here: Taiji as a spiritual path.

This workshop and the meditation instruction is intended to be simple and straightforward. If you come looking for lots of dogma, you may be disappointed. However, what I will share with you will truly transform your life if you can follow the path.

Next year, we will take the training even deeper, with the energy cultivation of Qigong. For those who really want to cultivate the vital life energy, Qi Gong (aka chi kung) parts a and b are a must.

We will be post the dates for the other two workshops and their locations in January. Here is the information for the first workshop:

Saturday Jan 10, 2015 from 9 am to 2:30 pm
Location: Doctors Hospital H2U Building
1305 Interstate Parkway
Augusta, Ga 20909
Fee: $65 if registered and pay before Jan 1st. January 1st up until the workshop day will be $75
This is per person.
Lunch included.
If no lunch is desired, subtract $10

Please contact us with questions

The True Path - 10 Steps of Tao Virtue

Black Friday looms near – Hold To The One

Leave a comment

Excerpt from Chapter 22

Yield and remain whole
Bend and remain straight
Be low and become filled
Be worn out and become renewed
Have little and receive
Have much and be confused
Therefore the sages hold to the one as an example for the world
Without flaunting themselves – and so are seen clearly
Without presuming themselves – and so are distinguished
Without praising themselves – and so have merit
Without boasting about themselves – and so are lasting

In the Dixie Taoist Handbook, you are informed of the process for realizing the Tao begins with meditation and the practices of mindfulness. This is to realize self awareness and pay attention. In this way, you can become mindful of your life experience, what you are choosing and how these choices create your destiny. I call to you all to hold to the one.

As we approach the holiday season, you will be challenged in holding the one, to stay present and self aware. Thanksgiving day is one where we can embrace gratitude and share our blessing with each other. There will be a lot to observe and there will be lots to distract us.

This year, try to stay present and mindful of those things that can trigger the ego into choices that do not hold us on our true path. Be mindful of rising drama tensions and emotions and people gather and bring their distractions with them. Be mindful of desire as it overwhelms the senses with sensation seeking. Be mindful of desire as you are overwhelmed by TV ads.

Each year, I use an app on my smart phone to chime every 20 minutes to remind me to wake up and become present. The sound penetrates the distraction and helps me to hold to the one. When the sound of the chime rings (Tibetan singing bowl sound), stop, find your breath, and return to now. Realize where your mind has gone, what you are doing and why. Then take charge of your mind again, and take charge of the power of choice

And most importantly, have the experience. Experience, the sounds, the smells, the wonderful tastes, and best of all, experience each other. When things get crazy, stay present and choose virtue over ignorance. Choose patience, understanding, empathy, humility, compassion and conservation. Be mindful of your stress levels and deal with it effectively. Take walks, sit quietly and listen to music. Read to a child. Play with a pet. Listen to someone as they talk.

Even if you choose to stand in line of a big box store, in the dark, in the cold at 4 am in the morning, you can still be mindful. Perhaps you will even contemplate why you are doing such a thing. This could be a really good learning experience for gaining insight. Perhaps when the sun comes up, it will create a beautiful sunrise. As you stand in line, notice what is going on around you and practice the three treasures. Notice others and use softness to overcome hardness. Be like water and flow around obstacles.

Holidays can be heaven or hell. We have the ability to create either. You can do this if you hold to the one.

Happy Holidays
TDT

The True Path - 10 Steps of Tao Virtue

Editing In Process (The Dixie Taoist Handbook)

1 Comment

Hi everyone, just a note to inform you all that we are still editing the manuscript “The Dixie Taoist Handbook”. Not being a writer, the editing staff has been quite challenged with tyring to make sense of my scribbling. But all agree that the while it is quite challenged grammatically, the message is sound and will be a big success.

It is my intention to resume with excerpts from the various chapters and share weekly strategies for staying on the true path. Thank you all for your support.

TDT

The True Path - 10 Steps of Tao Virtue

May The Circle Be Unbroken

1 Comment

Signs of Love
– Taking and Giving

I have heard that there are people out in the world who have lost the ability to love anything other than their own ego. I have never met one. Most the people I know are somewhere between desperately seeking love or blissfully surrounded by love. There is a great discovery to be made by anyone seeking to love and be loved. People share love and communicate love in all sorts of ways. Today I realized a much deeper understanding about human behavior, love and how we demonstrate our love and affection.

The insight began as a small kernel of abstract thought triggered when I noticed an internet article on my wife’s computer that I was eaves-dropping on.

“That one”, I say, as she scrolls back up and I begin reading about an article that tells us how toddlers communicate love. “they demonstrate and communicate their love by sharing”. I considered this for a while, comparing it what I have experienced in life, and my experienced with my own children and now grand children. I even get up and go into the next room to observe my grand daughters at play”.

My toddler grand daughter looks up from her work with play dough and says with a great big smile,
“look Popa”. In that instant, 10,000 occurrences from my life experiences filled my mind and realized how many times people along my path had shared and showed me love.

Later, in meditation, exploring this arising and intuitive insight, I began to wonder, explore, remember how I responded to these acts of love. In all those years where the ego pulled my strings, there were not too many sincere loving responses. In the years since I began the work of sovereignty over ego, the joy of receiving was known, experienced.

I looked back over the years, and realized some of those times where I completely missed what was not being said. I was now aware of so many opportunities to receive love from someone but was to self absorbed to know it for what it was.

As the insight began to mature, I realized the other part of the sharing. The giving part. There are memories where I gave but the other ego did not care or appreciate the giving, and my ego reacted with resentment. But then, I also realized how much ‘not giving’ or giving to my ‘self’ that had taken place. Its a wonder that anyone ever loved me, but that is one of the miracles of life, I guess.

I also recall the times where I was expressing my own love or affection for someone and felt the warm feelings that arose because of their sincere gratitude for my offering. There is something so very special about sharing, giving to someone you love and they love you back for it. These are exquisite moments.

When love compliments with love, spirit is joined. With every fiber of my being, I believe this is one of the door, if not THE doorway to heaven, or your version of it.

Giving and receiving, with a loving heart is of the highest virtue. This is the bridge between the spirit of each and the bridge between our spirit and source. We are called by so many of the common spiritual paths to practice this as a way of life.

It can happen anywhere at anytime. Perhaps you are in line at the grocery store, or come across a homeless person, or it maybe the little old lady sitting in the waiting room who offers a smile and friendly comment. We should especially pay attention to those who share their lives with us. They are our wives, girlfriends, husbands, boyfriends, sons, daughters, co-workers, club members, and those who consider themselves our friends. The inner circle people are who you serve and love first. Then try extending your taking and giving to those in the outer circle in your life.

Finally, when you can realize and truly understand how the ego causes so many people to do crazy things, your own spirit can recognize this and remain above it. When you know and understand why people strike out and hurt (ego), then it is possible to forgive them and still love them. Ego, self serving, and distracted striving lose touch with the taking and giving of love with others. The True self, the spirit, does not give into the sharing of the dark side of ego (anger, hate, revenge, manipulation etc). Spirit moves above ego and uses love as a means to transcend the dark side. In spirit, the true self, will practice and be willing to wait on the lost person to find themselves again. Then, in a moment of love, they will build the bridge with an offering. In a moment of love the other may also transcend love and join in with the taking, feeling appreciation and gratitude. And once again the circle of light is joint. The giving and receiving of love.

My friend, where ever you are, who ever you are … may that circle be unbroken.
<img

Lyrics to Song, sing along with youtube video at very bottom (Gregg Allman of course, im from Georgia)

I was standing by my window,
On one cold and cloudy day
When I saw that hearse come rolling
For to carry my mother away

Will the circle be unbroken
by and by, Lord, by and by
There’s a better home a-waiting
in the sky, Lord, in the sky

I said to that undertaker
undertaker please drive slow
for this lady you are carrying
Lord, I hate to see here go

Will the circle be unbroken
by and by, Lord, by and by
There’s a better home a-waiting
in the sky, Lord, in the sky

Oh, I followed close behind her
Tried to hold up and be brave
But I could not hide my sorrow
When they laid her in the grave

Will the circle be unbroken
by and by, Lord, by and by
There’s a better home a-waiting
in the sky, Lord, in the sky

I went back home, my home was lonesome
missed my mother, she was gone
all of my brothers, sisters crying
what a home so sad and lone

Will the circle be unbroken
by and by, Lord, by and by
There’s a better home a-waiting
in the sky, Lord, in the sky

We sang the songs of childhood
Hymns of faith that made us strong
Ones that Mother Maybelle taught us
Hear the angels sing along

Will the circle be unbroken
by and by, Lord, by and by
There’s a better home a-waiting
in the sky, Lord, in the sky

Will the circle be unbroken
by and by, Lord, by and by
There’s a better home a-waiting
in the sky, Lord, in the sky

src=”https://thedixietaoist.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/wuji.png?w=193″ alt=”wuji” width=”193″ height=”300″ class=”alignnone size-medium wp-image-314″ />wu ji

The True Path - 10 Steps of Tao Virtue

Conservation. Excerpt from Chapter 27 of the The Dixie Taoist Handbook

Leave a comment

august moon

“I have three treasures
I hold on to them and protect them
The first is called compassion
The second is called conservation”
excerpt from Tao Te Ching Chap 67

The Second Treasure Conservation 9, 23, 50,

Tao Te Ching Chapter 59
In governing people and serving Heaven
There is nothing like conservation
Only with conservation is it called submitting early
Submitting early is called emphasis on accumulating virtues
Accumulating virtues means there is nothing one cannot overcome
When there is nothing that one cannot overcome
One’s limits are unknown
The limitations being unknown, one can possess sovereignty
With this mother principle of power, one can be everlasting
This is called deep roots and firm foundation
The Tao of longevity and lasting vision

Conservation is a very powerful virtue in several respects. In the text above the old sage is sharing the wisdom that in controlling our desire and ego tendencies can we keep our alignment with the Tao (source). Through conservation, the preservation of this “divine” connection we strengthen our connection by following the virtuous path. When we can hold this connection the ancient (Lao Tzu) tell us that when we become at one with virtue,

“there is nothing we cannot overcome”

.

That is a pretty dramatic statement. So if this is true, then the Tao cultivator can overcome anything by controlling the ego and staying on the path of virtue and wisdom.
And then it gets even better.

When there is nothing that one cannot overcome
One’s limits are unknown
The limitations being unknown, one can possess sovereignty
With this mother principle of power, one can be everlasting

By staying on this path, “one’s limits are unknown”. When we possess sovereignty (control over ego) “one can be everlasting”
Thus this is the secret to long abundant and extraordinary lives. This is how the Tao cultivator creates and controls destiny. This is authentic power.

Tao Strategies for Staying on the True Path - Tao Application for the Self Aware, The True Path - 10 Steps of Tao Virtue

Strategy Number 27 – Tune Into Life

Leave a comment

Life

The Strategy: Wake up and live your life.  Stop missing chunks of it by intentionally being distracted. life is meditation (awake and aware).

image

Its Application: Learn how to wake up, stay awake, and experience life. Where ever you are, be there. What ever you are doing, know it, have the experience. The past is over and done. The future has not arrived. There is only right here, right now. In this now, be at one with the living experience.

Chapter 10

In holding the soul and embracing the oneness
Can one be steadfast, without straying?
In concentrating the energy and reaching relaxation
Can one be like an infant?

In cleaning away the worldly view
Can one be without imperfections?

In loving people and ruling the nation
Can one be without manipulation?

In the heavenly gates opening and closing
Can one hold to the feminine principle?

In understanding in all directions
Can one be without intellectuality?

Bearing it, rearing it
Bearing without possession
Achieving without arrogance
Raising without domination
This is called the mystic virtue.

We are called to embracing the oneness, to refrain from straying and to holding the soul. How does one accomplish this? Unifying the physical with the spiritual is the state of consciousness we know as meditation. Holding the soul is the moving above the singular view of materialism and sensation seeking (ego) and experiencing life without constant straying (distraction).

When we contemplate the nature of distraction, we can realize that it is a tuning out of life. Distraction is by nature the dropping of attention and our being captivated by the irrelevant. Experiencing life is the singularity of physical experience. We can refine the experience by paying attention to each moment and letting go of those things which block or create resistance.

LIfe, the cosmos, and reality simply is. Notice how ego has its own agenda and expects things to according to its unrealistic plan. There is the unrealistic ego reality and there is the true underlying reality. It just is. In each and every moment, we have the choice to accept or react needlessly. Reactive ego, does not accept what is, and seeks to disengage from life’s problems through distraction. There are a myriad of ways ego tunes out life and allows the attention to become absorbed. Distraction may seem like it is working, but it is only temporary and one will find themselves right back to facing that darn reality.This constant struggle with reality is resisting life. Through meditation and mindfulness, we can learn to accept and and flow around the obstacles.

So when life does not work the way you think it should, what are some forms of distraction or “coping” that you practice?

Example: Eating.
Notice the WHY that you are eating. It is because you are coping and seeking distraction?
What are you doing when you are eating? (talking, reading, watching tv, on the computer)
Are you aware of eating? Or do you reach the end and wonder “how did that happen?”
Most importantly, Are you aware of the eating experience?
Are you enjoying all of the different sensations, taste, texture and smell of the eating experience? Or do you just shovel it down missing everything?

Ask the same questions about driving a car. Do you have the driving experience? Are you aware of the journey? Or are you so distracted that you drive on auto-pilot, arriving without ever being aware of the experience that got you there?

Life is meditation. Life is spirit having a physical experience. That is unless you are distracted. If life is experiencing reality, then its compliment, distraction must be not experiencing reality. Nature has this law, “if you don’t use it, you lose it”. So here is your moment of truth. Slow down and be present. Experience life and all of its wonder that is around you. If you pay attention, you will see that there are no ordinary moments.

Being relaxed and concentrating our life energy we become like infants, soft pliable and full of wonder. Allowing our “self” to become distracted and dominated by ego, we create resistance, stress and the sense of wonder is lost to anxiety and problems. When we allow our mental focus to become absorbed by distraction, we have lost our foothold on life as the spiritual or true self.

The Tao cultivator tunes into life, and pays attention to protect the sanctuary of keeping a peaceful heart. The sage or wise person does not lose nor waste energy on unnecessary clenching and striving against the flow of life. The sage reaches balance and harmony by realizing the flow and becoming one with it. The harmonizing of the spiritual and soul with the physical experience of life brings forth mystic virtue. This is the authentic path of heaven and true being. This does not mean there are not difficulties. This means we do not give into ego coping because the experience we are having is difficult. With hope, we bridge the gap between fear and courage. Especially in times of turmoil, we return to spirit for guidance and solace. The sage seeks the path of balance and harmony. The balance between the spiitual self and the physical world is the path of mystic virtue. Without arrogance, without dominance, without the illusion of possession, and without ego, the Tao cultivator embraces mystic virtue. This is life. This is true living.

Tao Principles, The True Path - 10 Steps of Tao Virtue

Wu Wei

2 Comments

Wu Wei and Goals
wagon_with_square_wheels

“No matter what it is you do, there is always a way to do it that is effective, effortless, and enjoyable at the deepest level. This is the true meaning of Wu Wei.” – Derek Lin1

Another important principle of Sovereignty is Wu Wei.

Typically, the term “wu wei” is translated as non-doing. However, to think that it means to do nothing is to over simplify the concept and miss the inherent power of unattached action. There are several chapters devoted to wu wei and each has a unique and important perspective.

If you spend enough time with Tao studies, you will at some point here the term “accomplish more by doing less”. This chapter illuminates the principles of Wu Wei and the ego traits to corrupt sovereignty.

Unattached Action

The softest things of the world

Override the hardest things of the world

That which has no substance

Enters into that which has no openings

From this I know the benefits of unattached actions

The teachings without words

The benefits of actions without attachment

Are rarely matched in the world.

Chapter 43, Tao Te Ching

The foundation of Wu Wei is unattached action. This foundation principle involves several components. In chapter 43, Lao Tzu explains how softness overcomes hardness. In the physical world, water is soft to the touch but will wear away stone over time. Water penetrates stone and weakens it. This process will eventually change rock and stone to sand. The most obvious example of this can be seen by looking at the Grand Canyon. Also when you walk along a beach you can feel the soft sand that was once solid hard rock. Following the Tao is following nature. In nature water does not have an agenda to wear away the rock, it is not attached to the outcome of creating sand, it just does what it does effortlessly. So another principle of wu wei is to not get caught up in the ego’s attachment to outcome.

Attachment To Outcome

The principle of detached action is another way of looking at how water wears down hard rock. Water is just water and has no attachment to outcome. The sages have instructed us to be like the Tao, so in this case, we are asked to be like water. When you can be mindful of attachment you choose an action that is not dependent on a specific outcome. This important principle forms the bedrock for “giving without expectation, producing without possessing, and nurtures without domination”2. Water does not benefit the world with the expectation of a reward, and neither should we. The ego always takes an action with the expectation of some benefit to itself. This principle of unattached action is important in developing good relationships. You cannot build trust if you are only doing something if you are only concerned with what s in it for me. This type of exploitation will have a karmic reward that you will not enjoy.

Striving

Another way of defining wu wei is action without striving. Attachment to outcome sets up the ego state of striving. Striving is defined as making a struggle, to make a vigorous exertion, to achieve or obtain something. Other features to note is that striving creates friction and uses a lot of energy it is working against the flow, to experience resistance, to stubbornly pursue something.

Without going out the door, know the world

Without peering out the window, see the Heavenly Tao

The further one goes

The less one knows

Therefore the sage

knows without going

Names without seeing

Achieves without striving.

Chapter 47, Tao Te Ching

Striving is the action of ego. It’s like swimming upstream, racing against the wind, or pushing against an unmovable object. Even if eventually you realize achievement, the effort will be too costly.

Accomplishing more by doing less.

The Tao is constant in non-action

Yet there is nothing it does not do.

If the sovereign can hold on to this

All things transform themselves

Transformed, yet wishing to achieve

I shall restrain them with the simplicity of the nameless

They shall be without desire

Without desire, using stillness

The world shall steady itself.

Chapter 37, Tao Te Ching

Opposite to striving is an effortless achievement. Like water effortlessly creating the grand-canyon or the beautiful beach, you too can reach your goals by going with the flow of the Tao.

Effortless achievement involves simplicity. When you remove the ego influenced from your perspective, simplicity is the way. Simplicity and effortlessness complement each other. The ego can get caught up in all sorts of crazy expectations driven by desire. Cleverness and complexity are a couple of common traps that make goal achievement much harder.

Controlling the ego is controlling desire. Desire can be a material gain or it can be a form of vanity. Through the stillness of the meditative mind, you can get to the root of desire that causes striving and realizes achievement in a way that is with minimum effort and without striving.

To apply Wu Wei as a living strategy requires being skilled in detached observation. In this state, you can be mindful and pay attention your actions in the present moment. You can call it a situational awareness. Become aware of a strong momentum that you may have as you strive to complete some ego driven outcome. The ego trying as hard as it can to get what it wants is moving against the flow. Where in Wu Wei you have the presence of mind to be detached from that desire driven outcome. Let simplicity and virtue guide you. Like water, you softly patiently penetrate that striving pursuit and listen to your own wisdom. When you can accomplish this, effortless accomplishment will be a very powerful tool.

Wu Wei is more than just a concept, it is a state of being. It is a state of being unified with the Tao

“Because Tao is the total spontaneity of all things,

so it can do everything by doing nothing.”

Fung Yu-Lan3

The Tao spontaneously creates without effort and without agenda. Cultivating Wu Wei has to become a way of life. This state of being is a kind of connected-consciousness. Maybe you have seen the phenomena but not recognized it for what it is. Some popular descriptions might be “in the zone” or “in the flow”. As are all things in Tao cultivation, meditation and mindfulness are how to develop the skill in being present and mindful of striving and attachment to outcome. Being self-aware, the sovereign can control the ego-choice to fixate on the outcome. Your life wisdom is apparent, but you must have the discipline and willpower to choose it. Of course, it takes a lot of practice, but the opportunity to work on your “self “happens in every moment of awareness.

1From the Tao of Happiness, Derek Lin

2See Chapter 51 Tao Te Ching; (mystic virtue).

3Fung Yu-Lan 1895-1990; was a Chinese philosopher, author of Chuang-Tzu, a translation and interpretation of Chuang- Tzu’s writings.

The True Path - 10 Steps of Tao Virtue

Give Without Expectation

Leave a comment

Give With No Expectations

Chapter 79

After settling a great dispute

There must be remaining resentments

How can this be considered good?

Therefore the sage holds the left side of the contract

But doesn’t demand payment from the other side of the person

Those who have virtue hold the contract

Those without virtue hold the collections

The Heavenly Tao has no favorites

It constantly gives to the kind people

Chapter 79 gives the reader a clear test to see if the ego mind is in control in our interpersonal relationships. We are being asked to give and share with others without an expectation of some payback or reward. It has been discussed in other chapters how the path of virtue leads to harmony and that mystic virtue is the key to unlocking the doorway to source. This virtue of giving without expectation is a very powerful insight that comes from spirit if you can be at one with it.

This insight of giving without expectation is only possible from a position of great strength and true power. True power and true strength only reside with sovereignty over self. I am defining sovereignty as true and supreme power. This is sovereignty over mind, specifically the ego self. When we have realized who we are and reside in sovereignty as the true self (spiritual self) then we no longer cling to the illusions that the ego is lost in. The virtue here is that we can give, share and not cling to those things in the world of form.

Virtue (goodness, high level of morality)  is rooted in selflessness. Ego is rooted in self serving. We the ego shares or gives, there is always a greedy strategy of “what’s in it for me”. Ego only gives with expectation of benefit of return. In your mind you may be thinking of giving in the sense of some “thing”, like money or some other tangible. Yet giving can also be in the sharing of our love, affection and attention. The true self sees others as spiritual beings. The ego sees others and judges others as according to gender, race, ethnic background, economic level, physical beauty etc.

One can tell who their true friends are by seeing the conditional nature of the relationship. True love and friendship is unconditional. Perhaps you or someone you know has been in a situation where circumstance arose where so called friends quickly bailed out on you because the conditions for love and friendship were no longer favorable. Or maybe, after the dust settled there was one true friend or loved one still standing with you with love and friendship holding strong and true. Are there people in your life who accept you as you are? Sometimes we can be especially blessed and be loved in spite of our failings. True friends and loved ones are are gifts from heaven.

This virtue of giving without conditions and expectations is truly as aspect of heaven. It is a matter of choice.  Choice is available to the self aware person.  The self aware person is residing as the true self, the distracted delusional person is stuck in ego. Through the practice of meditation we can awaken and be aware. We can learn to be mindful of what the state of mind is. In this higher state of consciousness we choose the path of virtue. We can give with no expectations.

The law of cause and effect is always at hand. It is an integral part of the creative force of the Tao. What you put out into the universe will return to you, many times stronger. In this way you plant the seeds of the future. We are called to wise and aware of what we are creating. If you want to experience heaven and the mystic virtue, those are the seeds that you must plant. If you want to be loved, love is what you must share with the world. If you want to experience heaven, you must practice the virtue of heaven.

Dear reader, the quirky way life flows will present you very soon with the opportunity to give without expectation. It may be your spouse, friend, child, co worker or some stranger. It may be the homeless person you notice on the street who does not want your money but only a smile or to be acknowledged. You may be invited to give the gift of forgiveness with no expectation. The strength for giving without expectation is very special and may have to be cultivated. Try it. If you fail, then try again.

I encourage you to wake up and be self aware and watch for the opportunity to gain this insight. Some circumstance will present itself where you will be called on to help someone, give to someone, love someone… to give without expectation. This will be another moment of truth for you to grow and transcend ignorance of ego. If you can do this from the heart, if you can give with no expectations, if you can give and share from a place of love and compassion, the doorway to heaven will open to you. It is there in front of you. It has always been there, but is hidden from the ego mind. When you realize your self as spirit, your inner eyes open and mystic virtue will flow into your life.

The opportunity will present itself in the present moment, the now. You will find yourself with the opportunity give without an expectation. In that moment, you must remain connected with source. Since we can not share what we do not have, we must make sure that we have virtue in our hearts at all times. We must be sovereign and rule over our ego.

There is a saying that goes something like: “Giving is its own reward”.  Yet you must not give with the expectation of virtue for that is tricky ego playing a being virtuous.  Because love is its own complement, we begin to realize that giving without expectation is love. Give and let go. Share and remain quiet. This is the way of heaven, this is the way of the Tao.

Tao Strategies for Staying on the True Path - Tao Application for the Self Aware, The True Path - 10 Steps of Tao Virtue

Expect The Unexpected

1 Comment

expect the unexpected

The Strategy: Expect The Unexpected

Its Application: Understand that the ego has its own agenda. It is a unrealistic view that life is without change and problem should not happen. The true self realizes that understanding of full understanding of life is illusive. Because we cannot know the future and what will happen a lot of the time, we must expect the unexpected. When the unexpected happens, we use the wisdom of the Tao to flow like water around a large boulder. By holding to the one (true path, the way) we endure.

Chapter 21

The appearance of great virtue
Follows only the Tao
The Tao, as a thing
Seems indistinct, seems unclear

So unclear, so indistinct
Within it there is image
So indistinct, so unclear
Within it here is substance
So deep, so profound
Within it there is essence

Its essence is supremely real
With it there is faith
From ancient times to the present
Its name never departs
To observe the source of all things
How do I know the nature of the source
With this

In our arrogance, the collective ego of humanity believe that it understands all there is to know about our nature and our cosmos. Yet time and again, we are shown how little we really understand. Weather is one example where we are lulled into a complacency with forecast and when they are incorrect we get angry with the forecaster. Weather is just one way that energy moves about the universe and the wise forecasters tell us to always be prepared for disaster. We are advised to store food, water, and other essential supplies for the time when the unexpected happens. In this way way we can expect the unexpected.

Tao Strategies for Staying on the True Path - Tao Application for the Self Aware, The True Path - 10 Steps of Tao Virtue

Strategy Number Two – Mindfulness

Leave a comment

Aerial of Maui coast.

Strategy Number Two – Mindfulness,

Strategy: Wake up, Stay awake and pay attention.
Application: Meditation does not end when you open your eyes. We must pay attention to our state of mind and return to the true self (self awareness) and not become lost in ego and distraction.

Tao Te Ching, Chapter 10

“In holding the soul and embracing oneness
Can one be steadfast, without straying?”

In the first strategy, one learns to wake up and become self aware as the true self. In strategy number two we must learn to not stray too far from our true self and oneness with virtue. Self aware, we balance being present with thinking and doing. In this way, life becomes meditation.

Many, if not most people, live their lives in various degrees of distraction. In this sense, distraction means to divert the attention away from being present. Let us define attention as where the mind is concentrated. Self awareness is the attention held as the true self, the highest state of consciousness. But the attention can be absorbed in thinking or some distraction and become disconnected to the true self. This can become so deep that even the identity can be absorbed. In this state, many identify with their thoughts. In this state where thought and subject are the same, our whole reality is influenced and defined by what we think about. When our attention becomes absorbed in the prison of stressful thinking we become trapped and suffer, not knowing how to extract ourselves.

However, the ancients of eastern spirituality have long known that this ego self is the ignorant identity and can be transcended. Here ignorance is defined as a lack of knowing or understanding. When only the emotional mind is apparent, when only desire seeking is known, we are following the path of ignorance which leads to self destruction. Thinking is neither good or bad, it is just a cognitive function of the brain mind. But thinking when controlled by the ego, is a state that is out of control. When ego and thinking cannot be controlled, the voice in the head will drive us crazy. Since thinking is a necessary part of life, we must bring thinking under management of the true self, the higher self. Consciousness observes thinking, and uses it as a tool to insight and higher understanding. Thinking can be directed and controlled. When thinking and ego are in controlled, things are in reverse and we experience chaos and suffering. Perhaps the metphoare of “the tail wagging the do” will give you the insight.

We must to learn to control the ego and take back control of the mind. This is the intention in mediation, where we learn to leave or transcend being absorbed with thinking. By concentration we can transcend thinking and observe the thoughts. When we are observing our thoughts we can then pay attention them and manage this process. When thinking begins to slow down and become still, we can realize our true self. This realization of your ‘self’ outside of thought is the true self. You are not your thoughts. By lots and lots of practice we can learn to become empty of the thoughts. Thinking is fueled by attention. The mindstream can build up a powerful inertia and when we get captivated, that is when we become absorbed by the thinking and cannot stop, we just continue to feed the stream of thought.

When we concentrat our attention out of thinking onto something else, like the breath, we are no longer giving the thinking mind the fuel it needs to keep going. If we sit long enough without feeding the ego and thinking, it will eventually slow way down. Finally the mind will become still and empty of the crazy thoughts.

Now here is the a big insight. Even though thinking becomes still, you still exist. Existentialism is not and should not be grounded in thinking, its foundation is being and stillness. The beingness, this stillness is found in the present moment. The now.

The now is infinite and eternal. In this infinite and eternal now, you connect with source. This is the realm of spirit. And spirits avatar is the true self. This is where we manage the physical realm from to follow the true path. If is only found in mediation. Strategy number two is returning to the now and managing the the physical with the spiritual. This is mystic virtue.

Sometimes after meditation, one may resume their regular life of distraction, where they return to the conditioned mind set. That is, however, unless they become mindful of this distraction and keep from being completely absorbed. This is the practice mindfulness and the heart of strategy number two. This is very powerful and a necessity in changing your life.

When we are completely absorbed, we are bound by ego, desire, sensation seeking and distraction. Lost to the true self, discipline and self control are lost to ego. Ego decides what choices are made. These choices are going to choose from the ego’s menu of desire, sensation satisfaction and distraction from living. If you are trying to transform your life from one of suffering and learn one of well being and wisdom, you must control your attention. This is concentration. This you that I a speaking to, is the true self. The you that has set the intention of making virtuous life changes. This is the identity that must remain present and manage the ego mind. Your spirit, that is your mood, morale or state of mind is influenced by the emotional state of the mind. If you let the ego run the show, you will feel whatever it is feeling. It does not have to be this way. You must be mindful of your thoughts and feelings and return to the true self to seek wisdom and virtue. Choices made while in the ego mind state are the ones that get us all in trouble.

So, how does one develop mindfulness? One must practice the mindfulness of mindfulness or maybe mindfulness of paying attention to attention. Just kidding around here, playing with labels and terms. Seriously, we must find ways to wake up, and stay awake and keep the attention present.

In our modern society there are tons of technical gadgets that can help. Watches and smart phones are great. One can even use strategically placed sticky notes where they can been seen. You leave your “self”, your true self, a clue, to wake up and be present, to return to the now, and the spiritual.

I learned this before the advent of smart phones. I those days, digital watches were trending and I had one that would chime at what ever integral I wanted to select. In the beginning, I set my watch to beep every hour. When I heard the watch beeping, I would stop, find my breath and return to the present. I found my attention completely absorbed in the craziest thought places. I would be in various states of emotion and mood, usually ones of stress. Yet when I woke up and payed attention, I could choose to let the stressful thinking go. Even in traffic, or I should say especially in traffic, I could find my breath and concentrate my mind there, until stillness set in and the stress thinking receded. This had an immediate positive effect on my life. As I begin to extend the stillness in mediation to my active life, my stress levels begin to drop. As the stress dropped, my weight went down, and my energy went up.

In the beginning, my watch was set for every hour. After a while, I begin to realize that just before the hour, I was anticipating the chime. My body and my inner clock were becoming conditioned for regular relaxation and quiet time. So I moved my alarm to chime to every half hour. Later I took it down to every 15 minutes. Eventually I gave up wearing a watch altogether. My mind and body had learned to balance between being and doing.

Once I was paying attention to my choices, and being the true self, my choices changed dynamically. There was kind of critical mass of sustaining awareness and choosing wisdom in everything that I did. People began to notice and very much approved of the new “me”. I eventually wrote a book about my experience and published a self awareness handbook on how people with messed up lives can turn things around.

Both strategy number one and two are critical must do’s. These are not optional for true transformation. People are in different ends of the spectrum for self awareness and their ability to be present and mindful. So this process is easier for some and harder for others. The rule of thumb is, the more deeply your consciousness is embedded in ego, the more your spirit is dominated by ego. The more you are transcendent and identifying as the true self, the more self control you have and employ. You probably know by now where you fall on the spectrum. The more out of balance your life is, the deeper you are absorbed by the ego, the more problematic your life is. To find the true path is to realize who you really are as the true self. Follow strategy number one and two as if life depends on it. Why? Because they do. One is self realization the other is self destruction. Self aware and paying attention, we can choose the way of happiness and well being. This is the way of the Tao.

The True Path - 10 Steps of Tao Virtue

Moderation

Leave a comment

Moderation

Chapter 9

Holding a cup and overfilling it
Cannot be as good as stopping short
Pounding a blade and sharpening it
Cannot be kept for long

Gold and jade fill up the room
No one is able to protect them
Wealth and position bring arrogance
And leave disasters upon itself

When achievement, fame is attained
Withdraw oneself
This the Tao of heaven

Not so long ago, popular culture adopted the mindset that if more is better, extreme is the best. There were television shows that proclaimed all sorts of extreme interest areas. It became a goal, a competition to see who be the most extreme. And then the great recession hit and brought the advent of extreme unhappiness.

Why is it, that enough is not enough? The concept of moderation is simple enough and the result in practicing it is known to be a virtue of wisdom. So why is it that so many of us cannot practice moderation?

The answer to this can be realized when we identify the ego self in charge of our life. Ego is the emotional and desire aspect of the self that seeks to fulfill desire. Ego is self serving and is completely grounded in a perspective more is better when it comes to sensation. Enough is never enough. Ego, initiates the self serving circularity, where ignorant indulgence leads to disastrous consequences that lead to suffering. To ease the suffering, the ego copes with more sensation seeking. The cause and effect of these choices leads to more disastrous results, which leads to more coping. Round and round it goes in a downward spiral. This is all ego knows. Ego is absolute in its belief that happiness lies in fulfilling desire. When the ego experiences unhappiness it seeks to to cope. The coping creates desire. That desire may be a bacon-cheese burger and biggie fries or it might be that tv show that brings a few minutes of distraction. Sometimes the coping device is addictive. Our coping mechanisms are always personal and are rarely practiced with moderation.

Moderation brings balance. Balance brings harmony. Harmony is a state of well being that cannot be acquired. There is no happiness store with boxes of happiness that you can consume. True and lasting happiness is not sourced in any material form. To be free from this downward spiral of ego suffering, one must find their true path. One must wake up and become self aware. In this moment of self awareness where you are paying to what you are doing and why you are doing it, you can choose… moderation. Mindful of of our desires we can choose moderation.

Moderation allows one to keep balance. When we can enjoy some thing and then let it go without clinging, then we do not become bound by it or we do not become attached to it. When we cannot seem to let go, we become entangled, dependent, trapped and addicted.

Chapter 12
Sensation Seeking and Desire

The Five Colors make one blind in the eyes
The Five Sounds make one deaf in the ears
The Five Flavors make one tasteless in the mouth

Racing and hunting make one wild in the heart
Goods that are difficult to acquire make one cause danger

Therefore the sage cares for the stomach and not for the eyes
That is why they discard the other and take this

Have you ever heard music and really enjoyed it? Sometimes we hear a particular song that moves us. Maybe its the words, maybe it is the sounds themselves or the chords. And sometimes really beautiful songs combine both in such a way that we pause and experience a profound moment. It may be a song from our past that provokes a wonderful memory, and for a minute we experience a kind of blissfulness. These create a sensation of wonder and joy which feels good on many levels. And then here comes the ego. Instead of enjoying the moment and letting it go without clinging to it, ego becomes attached. It feels and says to itself “I have to have it”, “I have to hear it again”, and “I need to hear it over and over”. The ego mind quickly slides into striving to immerse itself in the blissfulness that was just experienced and the mindset becomes “more is better”. Enjoyment quickly becomes dependence.

But notice what happens. After the ego has listened the song over and over for a period, the blissfulness begins to fade. The meaning becomes mundane. The song no longer brings the sensation it once did. The ears no longer hear the magic. Time for a new song.

In this way, the ego whose eyes once held the beauty of another person becomes blind after obsessing over them for a time. The trap lies in the clinging and becoming entangled.

These days when someone says something is “very vanilla” it is not a compliment. It means very plain or ordinary. Yet to someone who has never eaten vanilla ice cream, it [vanilla] will be felt as exotic, wonderful and extravagant. Vanilla once was an exotic spice that only the rich could enjoy.

The self aware person, who as the true self, can mange ego and appreciate the simple life. They learn to be happy with the basics in life. And when they hear that song, or taste vanilla it is wonderful and magical. In wisdom, they enjoy the moment fully, staying above distraction, and become one with that experience. When the experience ends, they let it go, not seeking to cling to it. They do not become bound by it or become dependent upon it. The wise person realizes and appreciates the virtue of moderation. This middle way of enjoying with becoming trapped is very powerful. It is a power that can only realized by being sovereign over the ego self.

The willpower to practice moderation is only found in the true self.
The true self is realized through self awareness.
Self awareness is realized through meditation.
Self awareness is maintained along the path through mindfulness.

Paying special attention to what the mind is being influenced by and choosing moderation will bring about harmony. Harmony brings well being and well being is an aspect of the true path.

One can see where there is moderation in their life by realizing how well their life is in balance. One can realize how there is a imbalance and see the lack of moderation. Stop and view your life as it truly is.
Are there areas of imbalance?
Look at the obvious. How much debt do you have? How is your savings?
Is your weight in balance? Are you over or under weight?
How is your health? Are you causing any decline because of bad habits?

You must be honest. You must take ownership. Most importantly you must wake up and pay attention to what you are doing and why. You must free yourself from the ego domination and balance your life with wisdom.

This does not mean that you must stop enjoying life. Remember all things in moderation. This even includes how you moderate your life. “All things in moderation, even moderation” is a saying credit to the Buddha.

Moderation is the path of balance. In spirit we must find balance between the true self and the ego. This the balance between the spiritual and physical. This balance is known as mystic virtue. This is the way of the Tao.

Tao Strategies for Staying on the True Path - Tao Application for the Self Aware, The True Path - 10 Steps of Tao Virtue

Strategy Number One – Meditation and Self Awareness

Leave a comment

Woman in straw hat.

Tao Cultivator Strategy Number One

Strategy: Build the foundation for self control through meditation and self awareness.

Application: By transcending the ego mind and thinking one can wake up into the higher state of consciousness of the true self. Transcending distraction and ego dominance is realized by concentrating or “tuning” the mind and becoming “present”. As the true self is realized, wisdom becomes the foundation for self control, discipline and implementing wise choices. In each moment, in each step, in each choice along life’s path, we create the new reality.

Any project must have a good foundation. To transform your life you must build the plan upon a good foundation. Strategy number one is building that foundation on Self Awareness and Meditation.

To implement any strategy, you must have set an intention. To follow the path of virtue you must keep a virtuous intention. How does one keep a virtuous intention? Through willpower, self control, and self discipline. These are terms that you have heard all of your life yet may  not have been able to stick to them. The only way to change a bad habit is by adopting a good habit and sticking to it. It has to become the new default. This takes self control. This is something you already know at the surface level. A deeper understanding of self control is to realize which self is in control.

If one is only able to make and keep bad habits and self destructive behaviors, it is the ego self that is in control. Please read the chapter on Ego to understand what drives this aspect of the self. For now, just understand that this is the ignorant self that can not break the need to fulfill desire.

The wisdom self also known as the true self is the higher aspect of self that can control the ego and implement patience and wisdom. This also your spiritual self that has great power because it is the aspect that is unified with source. To wake up and realize the true self, you must align your spirit with source (the Tao). Thinking is a cognative function that can be influenced by either aspect of the mind, yet it is only the true self that can control the ego and manage the thinking mind.

Self discipline and self control are choices. The secret or deeper understanding is to realize who is doing the choosing. There is the true self and the lower ego self. The true self, your authentic self and your spiritual self is not bound by desire and the clinging of the physical domain. That is the essence of the ego. The true self is also called the wisdom mind and this is the part of you that can make the wise choices. Think of the image of the devil on shoulder and the angel on the other.  The angel is a metaphor the spiritual self, the wise you. When your sense of “I” becomes the true self, you are identifying as your spiritual self. When your mind becomes absorbed by the physical desire and sensation nature of the physical realm, many of the dark elements arise.

We must train, learn to find wake up and realize our true identity, which is the true self. This waking process is done through meditation. Meditation is a higher state of consciousness where we transcend from or move above the purely thinking mind. The transition in meditation is the raising of the true self, the waking of the true self, the remembering of the true self and taking charge of the ego and emotional mind. The practice of meditation is to” tune” the mind  or to focus and concentrate the attention from thinking to observing. Thinking is necessary and has its place, but it is not the sole aspect of existence. You are not your thoughts. The imbalance of too much thinking and especially distraction is where suffering begins.

Realizing that you are not your thoughts is a good first realization. This realization happens when we can observe the thoughts and thinking. In the beginning of the mindfulness meditation, one begins to practice observing the breath.

Here is an exercise. Close your eyes and ask yourself “am I breathing?”

Look and see. Look with your mind and observe whether or not you are breathing. In that instant, you switch from thinking to seeking and observing. There is very short moment that you notice the breathing. You may even make your self breath just to make sure. Yet for just a brief instant you were observing.

Who is this that is doing the observer?

Now watch the breath for a few minutes with judging or thinking. Just allow the natural rhythm of breathing to happen without interference. You may even silently count them. You may or may not count very far before thinking begins. When the thinking begins your attention becomes absorbed somewhere else, in the thinking. But as soon as you leave thinking and return to observing, your back. This being “back” is to be “present”. You are present when you are observing. When you are present, you are in a state of “being”. For most beginners, there is a switching back and forth between thinking and observing. It will back and forth, back an forth, with thinking eventually taking back over. Meditation is the cultivating of remaining longer in the being  or higher consciousness state of mind. This state of being is found in that tiny gap between thoughts and thinking episodes. “Being” in the gap is fleeting at first, but with practice one learns to remain longer and longer. This is the waking up from the thinking mind. This is the identity shift from purely physical being to spiritual being. This may too simplified, but try practicing this and you will find that it is extremely effective in balancing mindfulness.

Since we are spiritual beings having a physical experience, we must first wake up and take back the identity of the spiritual self, or the true self. Yet we are having a life experience in the physical realm, so that is part of us too as long as we are alive.

Meditation and mindfulness is the balancing of being, as both the true self and the ego self. If your life is a mess, it is because the ego self has been in charge and only knows one plane of existence., the material world of form. When we realize our spiritual self, the true self take over management. The spiritual self is not bound illusionary world of the physical. So when we are realized as the true self we can effectively manage our physical experience, and this other aspect of consciousness. The true self is not bound by sensual desire or need for distraction. The true self is not a prisoner to physical neediness, but is aware of them and even enjoys them in moderation. Self control and self discipline are manage by the true self. So if a person wants to practice them, they must wake up and become assume the identity of the true self. They must wake up from the physical and return to spirit. Spirit is the confluence of both selves, the true self and the ego self which is like your physical life avatar.

 

This brings us to choice. The dichotomy is wise choice and emotional reaction. When any experience is perceived what happens next depends on which state of mind the person is in. If they are lost in ego, then the mind will react in accordance with the sensation seeking, distraction seeking, narcissistic and “what’s in it for me” point of view. If the person is awake and “self” aware as the true “self”, then it [spirit] is free from ego influence and considers various perspectives and will use wisdom to guide in choice. And this is how we create our reality and our life.

 

Therefore, to implement the wisdom of the Tao sages, we must be awake and aware. We must be mindful of what we are doing and why. We must be present as the true self and be aligned with the Tao create along with it. Ego is “tuned outward” or absorbed and  true self is tuned to source or present in being. Distraction is the state of consciousness where we are not awake and aware. You can quickly notice that when our minds are captivated for long periods of time with obsessive thinking, we are “away” for extended periods. Decision making is on ego autopilot. The consequences can be severe.

 

Here is an example. Think about driving your car to some destination. As soon as you sit in the car, crank up and go, what is the mind doing? Typically, as soon as you pull away, the mind goes away too. You will go off in a prolonged mental state of thinking and be completely unaware of the driving experience. Amazingly, we can drive for many miles, passing through dozens of traffic lights and dangerous intersections, switching lanes and stopping at stop signs without ever being aware of it. We do all of this without having the driving experience. We are only vaguely aware of driving the car. Its no wonder that ther are so many traffic accidents. And in this modern day, there are additional distractions added to being lost in thought. Now many of us are trying to use phones, send text message, surf the internet and more … while we are driving in very dangerous conditions! This is not a lecture about texting and driving. The insanity of this is obvious to the self aware and wise person.

So strategy number one is to learn and practice meditation so that you can wake up and stay awake as you live your life. If you are awake and aware you can develop a strategy, implement the wise strategy and stay with it because you can choose. You can choose from the foundation of self discipline and self control.

Each moment, each step, and each day you can recreate your life by choosing the wise path. This is not just good advice, this is a necessity for well being and longevity. We can look at our own life or the life of others and see how well life is in balance. The imbalances are very obvious and many time, if not most of the time, the result of poor choices. The obvious question is “why”. Why do we cause ourselves to have so many difficulties and cause so much suffering to yourself? Now you know the answer. It is due to being lost in the mind of ego.

How do we wake up from ego? By practicing meditation. How do we pay attention to ego and seek balance? The answer is Mindfulness.

How do we develop a wise and effective life strategy and stick to it? The answer: by our choices. Harmony is created by balance. Balance is achieved by returning to the true self and  choosing wisdom over ignorance.

Most importantly, the true self always brings balance. Balance between the spiritual and physical. Balance in all areas of life. Moderation is the wisdom, harmony is the result.

Mindfulness instruction is in most major cities. You just have to look for them and begin the practice. Here is the link to a guided meditation to give you something to practice with.

https://taichiuniversity.dpdcart.com/cart/add?product_id=89660&method_id=93802

The power of the Tao (source) is only realized by the true self. To return to source, you must first return to being. This is the way, this is the Tao.