Tao of the Day S2_049

A day that started sluggish ended up beautifully. It began with Alex joining me for the first time with #7 and I chose #50. Another first timer Maria chose #59 when Graciela joined with #27 Followed byt Energy Lady, Jose, and finally Mina with #17, #44, and #8 respectively.

#7
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.

#8
The supreme good is like water,
which nourishes all things without trying to.
It is content with the low places that people disdain.
Thus it is like the Tao.

In dwelling, live close to the ground.
In thinking, keep to the simple.
In conflict, be fair and generous.
In governing, don't try to control.
In work, do what you enjoy.
In family life, be completely present.

When you are content to be simply yourself
and don't compare or compete,
everybody will respect you.

#17
When the Masters take charge,
hardly anybody notices.
The next best leader is obeyed out of love.
After that, there's the leader who is obeyed out of fear.
The worst leader is the one who is hated.

Trust and respect people.
That's how you earn their trust and respect.

The Masters don't give orders;
they work with everybody else.
When the job's done,
people are amazed at what they accomplished.

#27
With enough practice,
you could walk without leaving any footprints.
Speak without stumbling over your words.
Do complicated math problems in your head.
You could build a door with no lock
that nobody could open.
You could tie something down with no knots,
without even a rope,
and nobody could get it loose.

Masters have time to help everybody,
and ignores nobody.
They uses their resources wisely,
wasting nothing.
Some people call this "following the light."

Good people teach others
who have the potential to be good.
Brains count for nothing
if you fail to respect your teachers
or to honor the potential in others.
That's one of the most important lessons of Tao.

#44
Fame or integrity: which is more important?
Money or happiness: which is more valuable?
Success of failure: which is more destructive?

If you look to others for fulfillment,
you will never truly be fulfilled.
If your happiness depends on money,
you will never be happy with yourself.

Be content with what you have;
rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking,
the whole world belongs to you.

#50
People who look
for the secret of long life
wind up dead.

Their bodies are the focus of their lives
and the source of their death,
because they think a healthy body
is all there is to life.

Lao Tzu used to say
a man who truly understood life
could walk through the jungle
without fear
or across a battlefield
without armor, totally unarmed.
Wild animals and weapons couldn't kill him.

I know, I know:
what the hell does that mean?
"Well, he couldn't be killed,"
Lao Tzu said,
"because his body
wasn't where he kept his death."