Top 12 of the Tao Te Ching
The Path of Well Being

There is a Cedar tree by our Labyrinth. When walking on the outermost path you come to the Cedar. Its branches bend low and at first there appears no way through. For some people, this is upsetting. In fact, they’ve even told us that we need to cut down the tree, because it was in their way! For others, the Cedar represents the way of the Tao. To walk the outer path by the Cedar, one must bend. In bending, the Cedar’s branches gently brush the back of the walker; caressing and healing.  In bending, the walker continues along the path, richer for the experience.

To “play” with these ideas further, reflect on the following questions:

1.     When have you “bent”, perhaps in an argument, and found peace?

2.     When have you accomplished something, not told anyone, and later experiences far greater appreciation than if you had said anything at the time?

3.     When have you “yielded”, and overcome an obstacle in your path?

Sometime during this month, do the following:

Go outside on a windy day and watch the trees. Really observe how the branches move, how the trunks bend, to the wind. Their bending makes them stronger. The wind is just wind. After it passes, the tree resumes its upright position. And also notice that trees that only the trees that have become rigid break. Trees with life flowing through them are flexible. Reflect on your body, your mind. Bring the energy of yielding and flexibility into yourself, as a gift from the trees!

The Tao Te Ching  (pronounced Dow de ching) was written around 6th century BC  by the Taoist sage Lao Tzu, "Old Master", a record-keeper at the Zhou Dynasty court, by whose name the text is known in China. The text's true authorship and date of composition or compilation has not ever been verified. According to legend, Lao Tzu wrote the Tao as an old man, and then walked off into the hills, never to be seen again.

Tao means "way", "road", "path", or "route," but was extended to mean "path ahead", "way forward", "method", "principle", "doctrine", or simply "the Way".  Te means "virtue" in the sense of "personal character", "inner strength", or "integrity".  Ching originally meant "norm", "rule", "plan".

©September 2004 by Jill N. Henry, Mountain Valley Center, Otto NC. All rights reserved.

Dr. Jill Henry is the author of Energy SourceBook – The Fundamentals of Personal Energy (Llewellyn, 2004) and webmaster for www.mountainvalleycenter.com. She is founder, with her husband Charlie, of Mountain Valley Center metastore  and the Otto Labyrinth Park in Otto, NC. Jill is an Associate Polarity Practitioner, an Independent Distributor of the RichWay Amethyst Biomat, and developer and presenter of CEU workshops for nurses, physical therapists and massage therapists  http://www.mountainvalleycenter.com/flow.htm