CONTROL AND OVER-DOING
Controlling
external events is futility because control is but an illusion based on
expected results projected by the thinking mind into the future. Concentration on controlling makes it difficult to
concentrate on doing the right things to make you live longer.
The TAO, which is the wisdom of Lao Tzu, the ancient sage from China, looks upon the world as
something to be accepted, and that involves invoking the profound but
paradoxical wisdom of “action through inaction”—which is action based on
acceptance of nature or the natural turn of events in life.
“Whenever
we try to control,
we
separate ourselves from our true nature.
Man
proposes; the Creator disposes.
Life
is sacred: it flows exactly as it should.
Trusting
in the Creator, we return to our breathing,
natural
and spontaneous, without conscious control.
In
the same manner:
sometimes
we have more,
sometimes
we have less;
sometimes
we exert ourselves,
sometimes
we pull back;
sometimes
we succeed,
sometimes
we fail.
Trusting
in the Creator, we see the comings and goings of things,
but
without straining and striving to control them.”
(Lao
Tzu, Tao Te Ching, chapter 29)
According to the TAO, everything in life must follow a
natural cycle, whether we like it or not, and that we must be patient because
nothing is within our control, especially our destinies.
”That which shrinks
must first expand.
That which fails,
must first be strong.
That which is cast down
must first be raised.
Before receiving, there must be giving.
This is called perception of the nature of things.
Soft and weak overcome hard and strong.”
(Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, chapter 36)
must first expand.
That which fails,
must first be strong.
That which is cast down
must first be raised.
Before receiving, there must be giving.
This is called perception of the nature of things.
Soft and weak overcome hard and strong.”
(Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching, chapter 36)
Spontaneity is the essence of the natural cycle. What
goes up must eventually come down; life begets death; day is followed by night—just like the cycle of the four seasons.
"Allowing
things to come and go,
following
their natural laws,
we
gain everything.
Straining
and striving,
we
lose everything."
(Lao
Tzu, Tao Te Ching, chapter 48)
Intuition of spontaneity is an understanding of the impermanence
of all things: nothing lasts no matter how we strive to keep the impermanent
permanent, and everything remains only with that very present moment.
"Strong
winds come and go.
So
do torrential rains.
Even
heaven and earth cannot make them last forever."
(Lao
Tzu, Tao Te Ching, chapter
23)
The bottom line: do what needs to be done, but without
over-doing, which causes stress in everyday life and living.
Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
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