Less Is More

According to contemporary wisdom, more is often better than less; and the more the better. This misconception has led to the belief of hoarding: people accumulate wealth -- much more than they could ever spend. This has also resulted in the development of a compulsive mind in contemporary living: people have too many goals and just not enough time to accomplish them; as an illustration, people talk on the phone while driving.

According to the ancient wisdom of Tao, which is the profound wisdom of Lao Tzu, the ancient sage from China, who was the author of the immortal classic Tao Te Ching, one of the most translated works in world literature, less is more.

“To guide a great country, we need a great ruler.

To wage a successful war, we need good strategies.

To live a life of harmony, we need letting life live by itself.

That essentially means:

the more efforts we exert, the more failure we experience;

the more weapons we make, the more danger we encounter;

the more laws we enact, the more law-breakers we produce.”

(Chapter 57, Tao Te Ching)

President Reagan had quoted this in one of his state-of-the-union addresses when he referred to the less interference of America's foreign policy to benefit the country in the long haul:.

“Living our lives is like frying a small fish;

we neither over-season nor over-cook it.”

(Chapter 60, Tao Te Ching)

There is much wisdom in the above. Look what the United States has got into all sorts of political problems in the Middle East through over intervention.

Understanding human wisdom is the first step in the journey of a thousand miles towards clarity of thinking. If the human mind is too overloaded with thoughts of the past and projections of those thoughts into the future as desires and expectations, the mind is unable to concentrate and think right. understanding God’s wisdom. Without human wisdom, God’s wisdom is even more unfathomable and forever unintelligible to many.

Many of us often overwhelm ourselves in our pursuit of knowledge, thinking that the more we know, the wiser we become. Wisdom has much to do with clarity of thinking, the capability to separate the truths from the half-truths or myths. 

Lao Tzu shows us the importance of taking the first step, a small step, and one step at a time, along the journey to self-enlightenment. So, beginning with less, we may get more in the long run.

“Accordingly, we do not rush into things.

We neither strain nor stress.

We let go of success and failure.

We patiently take the next necessary step,

           a small step and one step at a time.”

(Chapter 64, Tao Te Ching)

Learn the art of getting what you want out of life through your mind. If you find yourself facing constant frustration from never-ending problems in life, or you feel as though your life is a proverbial treadmill, not going anywhere. Now is the time to take charge of your life. It is all in your subconscious mind that is the real power center of your being and the "headquarters" of your body. Learn all the secrets to harness your mind power! MIND SECRETS EXPOSED.

Stephen Lau 

Copyright© by Stephen Lau