The high must make the low its base. Laozi More Quotes by Laozi More Quotes From Laozi Do you imagine the universe is agitated? Go into the desert at night and look out at the stars. This practice should answer the question..... The master settles her mind as the universe settles the stars in the sky. By connecting her mind with the subtle origin, she calms it. Once calmed, it naturally expands, and ultimately her mind becomes as vast and immeasurable as the night sky. Laozi starspracticenight Act without doing; work without effort. Think of the small as large and the few as many. Confront the difficult while it is still easy; accomplish the great task by a series of small acts. The Master never reaches for the great; thus she achieves greatness. When she runs into a difficulty, she stops and gives herself to it. She doesn't cling to her own comfort; thus problems are no problem for her. Laozi greatnessrunningthinking How can one liberate the many? By first liberating his own being. He does this not by elevating himself, but by lowering himself. He lowers himself to that which is simple, modest, true; integrating it into himself, he becomes a master of simplicity, modesty, truth. Laozi simplicitysimpledoe Does one scent appeal more than another? Do you prefer this flavor, or that feeling? Is your practice sacred and your work profane? Then your mind is separated: from itself, from oneness, from the Tao. Laozi onenesspracticefeelings A good athlete can enter a state of body-awareness in which the right stroke or the right movement happens by itself, effortlessly, without any interference of the conscious will. This is a paradigm for non-action: the purest and most effective form of action. The game plays the game; the poem writes the poem; we can't tell the dancer from the dance. It happens when we trust the intelligence of the universe in the same way that an athlete or a dancer trusts the superior intelligence of the body. Laozi athletegameswriting Never take over the world to tamper with it. Those who want to tamper with it are not fit to take over the world. Laozi taoismwantworld True perfection seems imperfect, Laozi perfectionwayart Marriage is three parts love and seven parts forgiveness of sins. Laozi marriagecouplerelationship Be who you are, and go the whole way. Laozi be-who-you-arewholeway The snow goose need not bathe to make itself white. Neither need you do anything but be yourself. Laozi being-yourselfbullyinginspirational Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend. Non-being is the greatest joy. Laozi confidencemotivationuplifting Anticipate the difficult by managing the easy. Laozi difficult-and-easyeffectivenessrisk Knowing that you do not know is the best. Not knowing that you do not know is an illness. Laozi taoismknowingknowledge Every human being's essential nature is perfect and faultless, but after years of immersion in the world we easily forget our roots and take on a counterfeit nature. Laozi positivityrootsyears My own words are not the medicine, but a prescription; not the destination, but a map to help you reach it. When you get there, quiet your mind and close your mouth. Don't analyze the Tao. Strive instead to live it: silently, undividedly, with your whole harmonious being. Laozi taoismmedicinemind He who stands on tiptoe Laozi empoweringlightinspirational Give evil nothing to oppose and it will disappear by itself. Laozi tao-te-chingevilgiving Sincere words are not fine; fine words are not sincere. Those who are skilled (in the Tao) do not dispute (about it); the disputatious are not skilled in it. Those who know (the Tao) are not extensively learned; the extensively learned do not know it. Laozi true-wordsdebatefancy Trying to understand is like straining through muddy water. Be still and allow the mud to settle. Laozi patiencewaterknowledge Because every portion of the body, mind, and spirit yearns for the integration of yin and yang, angelic intercourse is led by the spirit rather than the sexual organs. . . . Where ordinary intercourse unites sex organs with sex organs, angelic cultivation unites spirit with spirit, mind with mind, and every cell of one body with every cell of the other body. Laozi cellsmindsex
