Lao Tzu: Wisdom Cannot Be Learned It Can Only Be Known

I remember in London going to a Philosophy course. I felt it was about the ego and was about to leave, I had a quick glance at the books. One book looked like poetry to me so I looked and found myself drawn to the wisdom. It turned out this book would open a door for me to the universal way of masters. The book was the Dao De Ching (or Tao Te Ching), it was the Richard Wilheim translation. The words and meanings are different given the complexity of translation from Chinese to English. So it is not repeated exactly how it was spoken then written. It touched a chord in me and I’ve been singing this song ever since. There is much wisdom and hope on this planet. For me I am learning to let go. Perhaps one of the wisest things I learned has been ‘I might be wrong’.

Enjoy these quotes.

A brief overview of his story. http://www.awakeblogger.com/2008/10/top-10-most-inspiring-quotes-of-lao-tzu/

Lao Tzu was the most important spiritual Chinese sage. His name, which is also often called Laozi, literally means “Old Master” and is generally considered an honorific.

He lived in the 6th century BC, at the same time as Confucius, who was born a generation after Lao Tzu. He once sought out Lao Tzu who told him “Strip yourself of your proud airs and numerous desires, your complacent demeanor and excessive ambitions. They won’t do you any good. This is all I have to say you.”

Las Tzu is the father of the Chinese spiritual tradition Taoism, mainly because of his text called Tao te Ching (Tao: the way of all life, te: the fit use of life by men, ching: text or classic).

It is based on the Tao (The Way), which is the creator and sustainer of all things in the Universe, and the practice of doing by nondoing (wu-wei) that enables the disciple to unite with the Tao.

Lao Tzu wrote his only book Tao Te Ching just before he walked away from the Chou empire he served. There are a lot of translations of Tao te Ching.

There was another book… ‘The Later Teachings’ I found it in a book shop by chance or was it?

http://www.great-quotes-powerful-minds.com/lao-tzu-quotes.html

Lao Tzu Quotes…

Do the difficult things while they are easy
and do the great things while they are small.
A journey of a thousand miles
must begin with a single step.

The great way is not difficult
if you don’t cling to good or bad.
Just let go of your preferences
and everything will be perfectly clear

To the mind that is still,
the whole universe surrenders.

The master doesn’t seek fulfillment.
Not seeking, not expecting,
she is present, and can welcome all things.

The master observes the world
but trusts his inner vision.
He allows things to come and go.
His heart is open as the sky.

The power of intuitive understanding
will protect you from harm
until the end of your days.

By letting it go it all gets done.
The world is won by those who let it go.
But when you try and try.
The world is beyond the winning.

To know yet to think that one does not know is best;
Not to know yet to think that one knows
will lead to difficulty.

See the world as your self
Have faith in the way things are
Love the world as your self
then you can care for all things

To see things in the seed,
that is genius.

We hammer wood for a house,
but it is the inner space
that makes it liveable.

Love is of all passions the strongest,
for it attacks simultaneously
the head, the heart and the senses