Tao Quotes - Page 5

• Man suffers only because he takes seriously what the gods made for fun.

  Alan Watts

  Buddhist, Fun, Buddhism

  Alan Watts (2003). “Become what You are”, p.29, Shambhala Publications

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• Knowing others is wisdom, knowing yourself is enlightenment.

  Laozi

  Spiritual, Wisdom, Self Esteem

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• The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal Name.

  Laozi

  Names, Tao Te Ching, Taoism

  Laozi, Bi Wang, Paul J. Lin (1977). “A translation of Lao Tzu's Tao te ching and Wang Pi's commentary”, Univ of Michigan Center for chinese

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• The Tao is infinite, eternal. Why is it eternal? It was never born; thus it can never die. Why is it infinite? It has no desires for itself; thus it is present for all beings. The Master stays behind; that is why she is ahead. She is detached from all things; that is why she is one with them. Because she has let go of herself, she is perfectly fulfilled.

  Laozi

  Letting Go, Desire, Infinite

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• If you want to accord with the Tao, just do your job, then let go.

  Laozi

  Letting Go, Jobs, Work

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• A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent upon arriving. A good artist lets his intuition lead him wherever it wants. A good scientist has freed himself of concepts and keeps his mind open to what is. Thus the Master is available to all people and doesn't reject anyone. He is ready to use all situations and doesn't waste anything. This is called embodying the light. What is a good man but a bad man's teacher? What is a bad man but a good man's job? If you don't understand this, you will get lost, however intelligent you are. It is the great secret.

  Laozi

  Teacher, Jobs, Men

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• The great Way is easy, yet people prefer the side paths. Be aware when things are out of balance. Stay centered within the Tao.

  Laozi

  People, Taoism, Balance

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• Can you step back from your own mind and thus understand all things?

  Laozi

  Mind, Taoism, Steps

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• The Tao is like a well; used but never used up.

  Laozi

  Tao Te Ching, Taoism, Used

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• A well-frog cannot imagine the ocean, nor can a summer insect conceive of ice. How then can a scholar understand the Tao? He is restricted by his own learning.

  Benjamin Hoff

  Summer, Ocean, Ice

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• The Tao belongs neither to knowing nor not knowing. Knowing is false understanding; not knowing is blind ignorance. If you really understand the Tao beyond doubt, it's like the empty sky. Why drag in right and wrong?

  Alan Watts

  Ignorance, Sky, Knowing

  Alan Watts (2010). “Tao: The Watercourse Way”, p.49, Souvenir Press

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• There are three layers to the universe. In the lower, Tai Ching, and the middle, Shan Ching, the hindrance of a physical bodily existence is required. Those who fail to live consistently in accord with the Tao reside here. In the upper, Yu Ching, there is only Tao: the bondage of form is broken, and the only thing existing is the exquisite energy dance of the immortal divine beings.

  Laozi

  Broken, Energy, Three

  Laozi, Brian Browne Walker (1992). “Hua Hu Ching: Teachings of Lao Tzu”

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• Quiet your mind and stop judging and resisting and manipulating the natural way.

  Laozi

  Judging, Mind, Taoism

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• Once you open your heart, you will start to absorb many things that come from the source - from Tao itself.

  Henry Chang

  Heart, Open Your Heart, Source

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• The one who is conscious (in Tao) can't speak. The one who can speak is not conscious (centered in Tao)

  Laozi

  Speak, Conscious

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• Nurture the spontaneous peaceful life.

  Laozi

  Peaceful, Taoism, Spontaneous

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• Approach your own inner life with a loving quality that accepts who you are without trying to change who you are.

  Laozi

  Taoism, Trying, Quality

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• The generals have a saying: "Rather than make the first move it is better to wait and see. Rather than advance an inch it is better to retreat a yard." This is called going forward without advancing, pushing back without using weapons. There is no greater misfortune than underestimating your enemy. Underestimating your enemy means thinking that he is evil. Thus you destroy your three treasures and become an enemy yourself. When two great forces oppose each other, the victory will go to the one that knows how to yield.

  Laozi

  Moving, Mean, Thinking

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• Weapons are the tools of violence;all decent men detest them.Weapons are the tools of fear;a decent man will avoid themexcept in the direst necessityand, if compelled, will use themonly with the utmost restraint.Peace is his highest value.If the peace has been shattered,how can he be content?His enemies are not demons,but human beings like himself.He doesn't wish them personal harm.Nor does he rejoice in victory.How could he rejoice in victoryand delight in the slaughter of men?He enters a battle gravely,with sorrow and with great compassion,as if he were attending a funeral

  Laozi

  Peace, Compassion, Men

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• Those who follow the Tao are of clear mind. They do not load their mind with anxieties and are flexible in their adjustment to external conditions.

  Zhuangzi

  Encouragement, Anxiety, Mind

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• The Master has no mind of her own. She works with the mind of the people. She is good to people who are good. She is also good to people who aren't good. This is true goodness. She trusts people who are trustworthy. She also trusts people who aren't trustworthy. This is true trust. The Master's mind is like space. People don't understand her. They look to her and wait. She treats them like her own children.

  Laozi

  Children, Space, People

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• Tao is obscured when men understand only one pair of opposites, or concentrate only on a partial aspect of being. Then clear expression also becomes muddled by mere wordplay, affirming this one aspect and denying all the rest. The pivot of Tao passes through the center where all affirmations and denials converge. He who grasps the pivot is at the still-point from which all movements and oppositions can be seen in their right relationship... Abandoning all thought of imposing a limit or taking sides, he rests in direct intuition.

  Zhuangzi

  Men, Expression, Opposites

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• What is essential to practice the Tao is to get rid of cravings and vexations. If these afflictions are not removed, it is impossible to attain stability. This is like the case of the fertile field, which cannot produce good crops as long as the weeds are not cleared away. Cravings and ruminations are the weeds of the mind; if you do not clear them away, concentration and wisdom do not develop.

  Zhang Sanfeng

  Weed, Practice, Long

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• This is a concept that western culture has forgotten : everything is one! The idea of dichotomy is deeply wrong and nothing is better than a great symbol of China, the Tao, the wheel of yin and yang that represents life. The universe is the harmony of opposites, because there is no water without fire, there is no female with no male, there is no night without day, there is no sun without the moon ... there is no good without evil! This symbol is perfect since the white and black are embracing each other; inside the white there is a black point and inside the black there is a white point.

  Tiziano Terzani

  Moon, Night, Opposites

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• True perfection seems imperfect,
  yet it is perfectly itself.
  True fullness seems empty,
  yet it is fully present.
  True straightness seems crooked.
  True wisdom seems foolish.
  True art seems artless.
  The Master allows things to happen.
  She shapes events as they come.
  She steps out of the way
  and lets the Tao speak for itself.

  Laozi

  Art, Perfection, Way

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