Free Yourself From Self-Delusions

Albert Einstein once said: "A human being is part of the whole called by us 'universe,' a part limited in time and space. We experience ourselves, our thoughts, and feelings as something separate from the rest. A kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from the prison . . . . "

One of the objectives of THE BOOK OF LIFE AND LIVING is to free yourself from the self-imprisonment of self-delusions created by your self-consciousness, as pointed out by Albert Einstein. This book not only explains in simple terms and plain language how you may unconsciously create your self-limiting thoughts that prevent you from truly understanding who you are and what you really want from life, but also shows you how to create a substantially new manner of thinking through the integration of both conventional and ancient wisdom.

In particular, this book is about the art of living well through understanding and embracing the wisdom of Tao—the wisdom of Lao Tzu succinctly expressed in TAO TE CHING, one of the most translated works in world literature. However, Tao wisdom is simple but difficult to understand. THE BOOK OF LIFE AND LIVING explains in simple language with common everyday examples to illustrate the essence of Tao wisdom and how it may integrate with conventional wisdom to live a life of your choice.

This 200-page book is full of wisdom based on the author’s extensive research and personal experience. In this book, you will learn the following:

(1) Eliminating unproductive thoughts, and overcoming chaotic struggles in your inner world and outer life to enhance health and performance, master stress, and deepen appreciation of life.

(2) Understanding the essentials of contemporary wisdom and ancient wisdom to help you contemplate and internalize their respective meanings and values in your daily life

(3) Harnessing mind power to operate your mind to integrate the acquired knowledge into your daily activities.

THE BOOK OF LIFE ANDLIVING is the wisdom in the art of living well.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

Overcoming Food Addiction

Overcoming Food Addiction

Addiction to food is more than just a problem of overeating: it is a reflection of problems in physical, mental, and emotional health. If you have addiction to unhealthy food or unhealthy food cravings, you may have to overcome yours in order to have wholesome healing of the body and mind.

Overcoming food addiction, like any other addiction, is never easy. Denial and guilt are common characteristics in individuals who have food addiction problems.

First, you need the intention, which is the desire to stop the addiction. Of course, that means you must be aware of the addiction problem in the first place, and then express the intention to change for the better.

Lao Tzu, the ancient Chinese philosopher, once said: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.” Take your first step: your intention to recover from your food addiction. 

The long process of recovery, often punctuated with relapses, requires determination to overcome all obstacles. Use daily self-affirmations to reinforce your determination and willpower to overcome food addiction. Harness your mind power to control your behavior to heal your body. 

Although it may be mind over matter, the body has to respond appropriately to the mind. Give your body the right environment for recovery and recuperation. 

Regulate your blood sugar level; a balanced blood sugar level prevents impulsive eating and keeps hunger at bay. 

Balance your body chemistry, such as your acid-alkaline level; too much acid in the body breeds toxins that prevent healing. 

Reduce your hormonal swings. Leptin is the appetite-controlling hormone, also known as "thin" hormone. Eat adequate calories to boost leptin production to minimize food craving. Exercise can also enhance your body's responsiveness to leptin. 

Eating enough, ironically, is critical to recovery from food addiction. Eat three regular meals a day; skipping a meal may lead to a reduction of leptin, making your appetite out of control. Don't starve yourself, but neither do you over-stuff yourself. Don't go on any diet, especially fad diets. Just eat right.

Food addiction may also be a result of emotional distress, such as emotional trauma or stress. Meditation is a way to relax yourself as well as to get toxic emotions out of your mind.

If you are healthy in body, mind, and spirit, you do not have any eating or weight problem. 

Stephen Lau

Copyright © 2018 by Stephen Lau

Anything Is Everything

Anything and Everything

To live well, you need wisdom to know, to understand, and to act or react accordingly. One of the essentials of human wisdom is awareness, which is the capability to what is happening to you and around you.

Awareness of your own responsibility for humanity may enable you to rein in your temper and inhibit your anger. Better understanding of humanity lets you acknowledge the destructive forces of anger, and thereby instrumental in reducing their strength. Your short temper can benefit from Tao wisdom, which shows you the importance and necessity of embracing all—the easy and the difficult, as well as the pleasant and the unpleasant. In life, difficult and unpleasant experiences not only train but also enhance you mental stability to control your temper, which often undermines your compassion for others. Tao wisdom teaches you not to pick and choose but to embrace anything and everything in life because any situation in life can make you become either a teacher or a student. Life is about anything and everything that you can learn from, and this is where true wisdom comes from.

Understanding that anything is everything may also make you see things very differently. People and things do not exist independently; they all exist with a reason; the reason may or may not be apparent to all of us. When there is long, there has to be short; they do not exist simply because of their own nature. Everything in life is not only relative but also related. Viewing any life situation—whether it is good or bad—with this profound human wisdom may help you see that anything is everything, In other words, any life situation is not under its own power but depends on many present causes and conditions, as well as many past causes and conditions; otherwise it could not have come into being. With this perspective, you can see much more of the whole picture, and thus you can see the reality of the situation.

For instance, in economics, if you just go after profit, you may end up with corruption. Failure to look at the whole picture that anything is everything means your failure to see the reality of everything in life. Failure to see the reality means your outlook becomes distorted and exaggerated, and thus leading to inappropriate actions or reactions. To illustrate, if a person or an event causes anger and hatred, the ugliness of anger and hatred is often exaggerated when the whole picture of the reality is not seen. An unreal mental projection of the exaggerated ugliness of anger and hatred may result in disproportionate actions or reactions that result in unhappiness.

Anything Is Everything

The bottom line: anything is everything. Always look at self and others from the whole perspective that anything is everything; and, accordingly, you may be a better and happier you.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

The Wisdom in Living in 2018

The Wisdom in Living in 2018

Reflect on your current state of being, and see others as the same. They are not better or worse than you are, but just different in their own ways. There is no basis for you to be angry with them, or to be envious of them. There is no rhyme or reason for you to dwell on “what if” or “what should have”— they only prey on your mind, preventing you from living your 2018 as if everything is a miracle.

In 2018, follow the wisdom of Lao Tzu, the ancient sage from China:

“The ancient masters were

subtle, mysterious, profound, responsive.

The depth of their knowledge is unfathomable.

Because it is unfathomable,

All we can do is to describe their appearance.

Watchful, like men crossing a winter stream.

Alert, like men aware of danger.

Courteous, like visiting guests.

Yielding, like ice about to melt.

Simple, like uncarved blocks of wood.

Hollow, like caves.

Opaque, like muddy pools.

Who can wait quietly while the mud settles?

Who can remain still until the moment of action?

Observers of the Tao do not seek fulfillment.

Not seeking fulfillment,

they are not swayed by desire for change.”

(Chapter 15, Tao Te Ching, Lao Tzu)

Based on the above, just about anyone who has an empty mind can attain the profound wisdom in living in 2018. 

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau

A Better and Happier You in 2018

A Better and Happier You in 2018

There is an old Latin axiom: “nemo dat quod non habet” — meaning, one cannot give what one does not have.

If you don’t have the wisdom to know your real self, you won’t have the wisdom to understand others, especially who they are and what they need. In order to understand others to have better human relationships, you must first and foremost have the wisdom attained through asking self-intuitive questions throughout your life.

Then, with mindfulness, you observe with a nonjudgmental mind what is happening to you, as well as around you. Gradually, you will be able to see things as what they really are, and not as what they may seem to you: anything and everything in life follows its own natural cycle, just as the day becomes night, and the night transformed into dawn. With that wisdom, you may become enlightened, which means you begin to know your true self—what you have and what you don’t have, and you were created to be who you are, and not what you wish you were or want to become. Knowing what you have, you can then give it to others. It is the giving, rather than the receiving, that will make you become a better and happier you in 2018.

Stephen Lau

Copyright© by Stephen Lau