Tao Verse 29

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

This verse asks us to accept what is as what is. When we are feeling good, simply feel good. When we are feeling bad, simply feel bad. It asks us to stop fighting what is. To stop trying to control our lives based on limited information. We never know at the time what something represents. What we feel is bad usually turns out to be good. What we feel is good sometimes turns out to be bad. So we are asked to stay in the middle, to not becomes involved in the extremes of up and down, good and bad. That doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy life. It does mean that we can live with much less drama in our lives.

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

1. What are you holding on to? What are you trying to control in your life?

2. How would it feel to let go? How would it feel to stop judging?

3. From the Course in Miracles – Would you rather be right or be happy?

Sometime during this month, do the following:

Sit quietly and go within. Relax, let go, and find the Higher Self that always guides you. The quiet inner voice that is the One really in control, not you. Ask this Inner, Deeper, Wiser Self to guide you. Turn over your attempts at controlling your own life to that Inner Presence of Peace. Let Go, and Let God/Goodness/Light… take care of you. Just for a little while, allow yourself to be truly cared for by the Tao.

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".

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