The Tao of Success

The ancient Chinese philosophy of Taoism provides us with timeless wisdom we can certainly apply today to help us through our present crises, and also help us through the high levels of success that will surely follow if we apply this ancient wisdom today.

"Tao" is a term that refers to the basic, unchanging foundation of reality. It is the balanced, harmonious condition that all unbalanced, inharmonious conditions naturally gravitate toward. And it is essentially supportive, being the eternal foundation of reality.

All conditions in time are destined to go up and down. The economy, your relationships, your healthy, your happiness, all must rise, and fall, fall and rise, like your chest when you breathe, like the ocean waves, like the path of the sun to your vision. As you integrate with the unchanging, balanced and harmonious state of Tao, you find yourself so completely supported that the so-called "good" and "bad" times turn into mental illusions that dissolve into an ever-present condition of essential good. This fills you with a faith that surpasses reason and belief. You cannot enter this experience through reason or belief. You have to attain liberation from your own unbalanced, discordant conflict with reality to release yourself into it.

Every challenge gives you the opportunity to free yourself from emotional dependence upon the changing circumstances of your life. In life, while whatever goes up comes down, and vice versa, as you respond to both the ups and downs with clear, calm emotional equanimity, you see no need to react with emotional stress to any condition, because you experience at the core of your own consciousness the same supportive, loving embrace of reality underlying all change.

The greatest virtue is like water; it is good to all things. It attains the most inaccessible places without strife. It is therefore like Tao.

Lao Tze

One lesson we can glean from this is the wisdom of avoiding trying too hard to control what happens, be it the frightful struggle to avoid danger, or the desire-driven struggle to seek or seize opportunity. Work for what you want, but not at the expense of your eviction (in consciousness) from the ever present support of the Tao. Whatever you achieve or lose, circumstances tend naturally to return to balance, like a pond of water blown about by the wind. When the wind stops blowing, the water naturally returns to balanced calm on its own and once again reflects the ever-present limitless beauty of the heavens above. The same will prove true in every area of your life.

Water has traditionally been used as a symbol of life for this very reason, among other reasons: Water changes forms like life, but the water itself remains life-giving water. As you stop working too hard to direct your life, your life works out. You have the power to direct your destiny. But losing your balance directs it toward chaos. Working for what you want in a calm, loving, balanced way directs your life toward the changes that you want with the support of the Tao, with the support of the basic unchanging nature of the universe.

You will find all the support you need to achieve your goals when you count on the Tao for your support.

May you freely imbibe the life-giving, spiritually buoyant quality of Tao's sacred balance and harmony in time.