Tao Te Ching Mastery: 83 Days Of Ancient Wisdom For Spiritual Enlightenment

In this opening session, you will receive an introduction to the Tao. You will also learn about the course's structure and the methods of meditative reading, reflection, and simple guided practice that will accompany you on your journey. You will also receive encouragement to engage with the instructor through the course comments. Our journey into the art of flow and letting go begins Now.

In any moment, you are either then-and-there or here-and-now. Use these readings as a sort of gravity to pull you into the experience of here-and-now. In this entry, we're cautioned that we can never actually say what the Tao is. It cannot be defined in words. We can use words as a guiding light, but true understanding lives in the darkness of unspoken feeling. "Darkness within darkness - the gateway to all understanding."

In this session, Lao Tzu introduces the idea of the Master. The Master is one who is flowing with the Tao, not against it. The Master has given up the controlling strangle-hold over life and instead embraced the art of letting go. Through our time together here, we are stepping into this sort of paradoxical mastery. "Having but not possessing. Acting but not expecting."

In this session, we discuss the central Taoist principle of wu-wei, the art of non-forcing. You know when you're forcing things, but likely this forcing provides a sense of control. If we trust in the guidance of the Tao, we can release the tense need for control, and allow authentic action to happen through us naturally, spontaneously, and effortlessly. "Practice not-doing, and everything will fall into place."

In this session, we introduce the theme of nonduality that repeats itself throughout the Tao Te Ching. When you are aware of something, there always remains an implied duality between you and what you are aware of. But what is it that is simply aware? This pure hidden awareness is a key to the healing of the Tao. It is healing because it is beyond the story of a separate you. The awareness is simply awareness. "It is hidden, but always present."

Like a leaf flapping in the wind, gripping tightly to its twig on a tree branch, we might be resisting the point at which we fall through the sky (i.e., lose control over life in some way). But what is it, fundamentally, that makes it a problem for us to fall? It is the feeling of separateness. When we are not separate, there is no problem. The challenge is that we can't quite describe this non-separateness sufficiently, due to the to dualistic rules of language. "The more you talk of it, the less you understand."

In this session, you'll receive encouragement to pair this course with a daily activity. And we'll explore the practice of regularly emptying your cup in order to receive something new. You must be willing to let go of what you already know in order to expand your existing perspective. "Empty yet inexhaustible."

In this session, feel the fact that we are experiencing this course together. On a certain level of awareness, there is no separation between us. This awareness is beyond the separate self. It is just this - the feeling of the Tao. This feeling (not thought) is a huge relief. It is a removal of pressure. "Let go of yourself, and you are perfectly fulfilled."

In this session, learn the way in which the Tao has positively impacted Charles' life, and see how this will happen for you in your own way, if you stick with the course. Today's reading provides a specific recipe for success in all the aspects of everyday life. "When you are content to be simply yourself, everybody will respect you."

In this session, learn about a psychological concept called "the relational paradox" and how this concept relates to the difficulty of being ourselves and connecting authentically with others. And gain an understanding of the guiding principle of the Bhagavad Gita as it relates to today's reading. "Do your work and step back - the only path to serenity."

Explore the idea of habit energy and learn the way in which, through this course, we are resetting the old heavy habit energy of our past, and building something much more flexible, adaptable, free, light, and new. The habit energy of our past is full of expectations, of shoulds and musts. To become free and light, we must "act with no expectations."

Inner space is what allows things to take place. The emptiness of a bowl is essential for the bowl to be filled with food. The emptiness of a room is essential for you to live, move, and do things within it. The emptiness within you is essential in the same way. "We work with being, but non-being is what we use."

In this session, we explore further the inner underlying space that allows for activity. And we learn about the value of remaining unconditionally open to the present moment, open to the Tao. We can remain open in the way we would for a young, innocent child. When we do so, we are rewarded, but in a way we couldn't have predicted, expected, or planned. "Allow things to come and go, your heart as open as the sky."

In this session, the underlying message reveals the possibility of complete fearlessness. But the fearlessness requires letting go of something we might be holding onto very tightly. When we look closely enough at who we truly are, or maybe zoom out far enough, we realize there is no need to hold on. "When we don't see the self as self, what do we have to fear?"

Remember that this is a shared experience you are journeying through with Charles, always only in the here-and-now. In this session, receive encouragement to "stop shoulding on yourself" and embrace a life beyond the conditioned rules you've learned. This life beyond rules cannot be known, understood, or controlled intellectually. But it can be experienced. "You can't know it, but you can be it."

Learn a hypothesis about the experience of goosebumps as it relates to the Tao. Maybe this feeling is the energy of the Tao breaking through the crust of the separate ego and igniting a remembrance of something beyond 'you.' And our entry for today provides guidance for taking action amidst indecision. "Can you remain unmoving, til the right action arises by itself?"

In this session, receive encouragement to acknowledge the pain and suffering that exists in the world, but also contemplate the return of all things to the Tao. Acknowledge the suffering of the X numerator, but remember the underlying source, the denominator infinity that transcends all time, space, and separateness. When you remember the source, you can face anything. "Immersed in the wonder of the Tao, you can deal with whatever life brings you."

To begin the session, learn the way in which Zen and Taoism are related, and utilize the Buddha's metaphor of "the finger and the moon" to help understand our exploration of the Tao. Today's message from Lao Tzu provides guidance for effective leadership, whether you are a manager, parent, coach, teacher, or simply a supportive friend. "The Master doesn't talk - he acts."

Learn the connection between Taoism and the martial art form of judo (the gentle way) through the central principle of wu wei, the principle of non-forcing. Today's reading connects to this non-forcing principle. "When the great Tao is forgotten, 'goodness' appears."

In this session, learn the importance of looking directly at and embracing the reality of death. Death is the underlying threat behind all surface threats, the ultimate unknown. When you embrace the reality of death as part of life, with your whole body and mind, you can face anything life brings you. Just stay at the center, where you connect with everything and thus, are no longer just 'you,' and the fear of losing 'you' and what's 'yours' dissolves. "Just stay at the center."

You cannot learn what you already know. You must release what you already know in order to learn something new, something eternally New. In order to truly be present, you must be willing to not know, to be completely open to what is happening right now without expectation, interpretation, or evaluation. "Stop thinking, and end your problems."

Go deeper into the difference between Beginner's Mind and Expert Mind, and remember to choose Beginner's Mind more of the time. In the reading, Lao Tzu articulates the simplicity of the Tao. "Since before time and space were, the Tao is."

Your hand must be open in order to receive anything. But the chronic tension of control turns you into a closed fist. Release the fist, open your hand, and let go. This is the only way to feel truly alive. "If you want to be given everything, give everything up."

In this session, we explore further this visual of the internal closed fist and open hand. To be in accord with the Tao is not to be passive. Rather it is to act, as presently and skillfully as you can, and then let go completely of your action. Close the fist through an authentic action, then let go and open your hand in order to receive something new. "Express yourself completely, then keep quiet."

Response-ability is the ability to respond authentically based on the present moment rather than react habitually based on the past or imagined future. When you respond instead of react, you harness the energy of the Tao, and your action becomes effortlessly effective. "If you want to accord with the Tao, just do your job, then let go."

In this session you'll hear a well known story from the Tao tradition. The story emphasizes the fact that we never really know what the future holds. Whether we think what's happening now is good or bad, we don't know what it will lead to. And today's reading from Lao Tzu reminds us of the fluid nature of words. The words we choose never fully capture what they are being used to describe. "For lack of a better name, I call it the Tao."

Ask yourself this question: Who am I? This question cannot be answered with the intellect, because that would imply some other you figuring out who you are. This question exposes the limits of the scientific thinking mind. You can only feel the answer. And the answer always live here. It is your true home. And it is waiting for you. "The Master travels all day, without leaving home."

In any moment, there is a primary purpose and a secondary purpose related to whatever you are doing. The secondary purpose is the reason why you're doing what you're doing. The primary purpose is simply, what you're doing. The secondary purpose is important, but what's most important, and most real, is the primary purpose. Just this one action. Give it all of your care and attention. "A good traveler is not intent upon arriving."

Connect the question of who you most truly are to the imagery of the apple. You are not just this one apple. You are clearly, empirically, the whole thing. When you are separate, life is made of individual objects. But when you know the underlying connection, you remember the free and easy feeling of the objectless subject. "Know the object, but keep to the subject."

When Lao Tzu says the world cannot be improved, he's pointing to the fact that you are not separate from the world. To wish to improve the world or to improve yourself is founded in an idea of separation between you and the world, and between you and yourself. When the pressure of having to improve or fix is removed, the spontaneous joy of living takes its place. "Just reside at the center of the circle."

In this session, we transition from the question of who we are into more of a statement. The statement you'll learn reminds you that some part of you existed before the story of you existed. Can you come back to the you beneath your story? Beneath the story lives freedom. Beneath the story lives complete unconditional acceptance. "Because he accepts himself, the whole world accepts him."

In this session, Lao Tzu tells us that the Master enters conflict with a somber tone and does not relish fighting. The Master resists the use of force except for in the most dire circumstances. And in those circumstances, there remains compassion, not hate, for the opponent. "His enemies are not demons, but human beings like himself."

You cannot know it, but you can be it. In this session, Lao Tzu reminds us that we cannot perceive the Tao in any intellectual, conceptual way. Our effort to do so only reinforces the feeling of separation, of a separate me subject who will grasp the separate Tao object. I am the Tao. Or rather, the Tao contains me. "All things end in the Tao, as rivers flow into the sea."

In this session, we make one more shift to the statement we've been building in the last few sessions. Simply, I am. I am not this or that. Most deeply, I just am. In the reading, Lao Tzu reminds us to stay with this knowing of self and to not worry so much about what others do or think. "Knowing others is intelligence. Knowing yourself is true wisdom."

Continue to practice with this statement: I am. Keep this top of mind throughout your daily life. Not I am this or I am that, but simply, I am. The liberating truth of your existence is held within this statement without an object. In the reading, Lao Tzu shows us the path to true greatness lies in letting go of greatness. Simply be yourself. There's nothing else you can be. I am. "Unaware of its greatness, it is truly great."

As humans, we have a tendency to predict the presence of threat even when threat is not present. This causes us to remain in a chronic state of tension and stress. The feeling of the Tao reminds us to release the predicted threat and open into relaxation, until there is actually a threat present, in which case it makes sense and is natural to be stressed. There is a deepest level of awareness, though, that is never stressed, even in the face of immediate danger and pain. "Even amid great pain, you can perceive the universal harmony."

What is here is already here. What you feel is already being felt, whether or not you want it to exist. There is no point in resisting. The resistance only causes a pressure build up. Complete genuine allowance is what enables true change. "If you want to get rid of something, you must first allow it to flourish."

When you look directly at the sensation of desire, it is seeking its own end. It is seeking the feeling of desirelessness. This feeling can never ultimately be achieved through any external object. It resides at the very center of you. It lives at the point of your connection with the Tao. "When there is no desire, all things are at peace."

In this session, we'll explore the visual of a wave in the ocean. When we become attached to the wave, we forget we also, most deeply, are the ocean. Remember your oceanness, and the pressure of this one wave is released. In the reading for today, Lao Tzu pokes fun at so-called virtues of goodness, kindness, and morality. He shows us that these qualities emerge naturally from the Tao and cannot be artificially forced. "The Master does nothing, yet leaves nothing undone."

In this session, Lao Tzu reminds us that humility is a practice. When in doubt, return to the feeling of humility. Remember how vast this universe is. And you are part of it. "Let humility be your constant practice."

Being is the ground for doing, and the quality of your being informs the quality of your doing. But there is something even beneath being. The space beneath being is the point at which you become no longer you. "All things are born of being. Being is born of non-being."

In this session, we're encouraged to embrace the paradox of truth. As Lao Tzu says, all truth expressed in words appears paradoxical. Specifically, we're guided to embrace and move into darkness, into the uncertainty of who we really are. "The path into light, seems dark."

Now that we've reached the halfway point, let's take some time to slow down and let go of any urge to get to the end. There is nowhere other than here, so let's be here fully, in the only time we can, now. In this session, we'll begin a practice of wu wei that will be integrated into the next several sessions and that will test our willingness to be open to silence. "Ordinary men hate solitude, but the Master makes use of it."

Let's continue this one-minute practice of wu wei. This is really the only way to practice non-doing. You cannot not do on purpose. Simply open yourself to what is. Open yourself to being as it's happening through you. There is nothing at all you need to do about it. This space of non-doing enables the most effective sort of doing. "Non-action is the ground for action."

Your original state is desirelessness. All seeking of objects of desire are attempts to return to this original state. But the objects provide merely a brief feeling of desirelessness, only to be replaced by a new desire. In this reading, Lao Tzu reminds us that, most deeply, nothing has ever been lacking. "When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you."

When you look through a window, you can focus on two things: either your own reflection or what you see through the window. Let's use this visual to help with our wu wei practice. Release self-consciousness and become an empty vessel to be filled by the Tao. "True fullness seems empty, yet it is fully present."

In this session, we continue to utilize the visual of the window as part of our wu wei practice. And we explore the root of fear. The root of fear is also the root of desire. It is our basic assumption of separateness. And, thankfully, this assumption is an illusion. "There is no greater illusion than fear."

Here we return to the difference between scientific and spiritual understanding. Scientific, intellectual understanding implies a separation between the knower and the known. True spiritual understanding transcends this duality, and realizes it cannot know with the thinking mind. But it can feel. It can be the understanding. "The more you know, the less you understand."

We continue this exploration of intellectual knowledge versus spiritual understanding, or what you might call wisdom. You cannot know it, but you can be it. And you can only ever be it here and now. In today's reading, Lao Tzu shows us that the spiritual path is one of releasing, of letting go, and not of adding or accumulating. "In the practice of the Tao, every day something is dropped."

In this reading, Lao Tzu describes true goodness and trust as unconditional, offered freely to both the good and not good, the trustworthy and untrustworthy. One is able to offer goodness and trust in this way when they are not attached to a separate identity they must protect. When one's identity is simply the open space of consciousness, there is truly no threat. There is only confidence and unbreakable security. "The Master's mind is like space."

Where is the core of your tension? This is also the core of your ego. It is the nerve center of your separate self, clinging to its own existence. There is a deep awareness that there really is no separation. When we reach this awareness, the tension lets go like one knot untying itself in a never-ending string. "No resistance in the Master's body."

"Every being in the universe is an expression of the Tao." In this session we recall the visual of the numerator and denominator, X and Infinity. Remember the underlying Infinity that runs through not only you but through all seemingly separate things. You are not only you, but only you can be you. And you can allow the Tao to happen through you spontaneously, authentically, vulnerably, awesomely.

"If you keep your mind from judging, your heart will be at peace." Your mind is either an instrument of judgment or a tool for observation. Judgment comes from the story, from separateness, and observation comes from the present, from unity, from the Tao. In this session, Lao Tzu encourages us to release all judgment as a remedy for the troubled heart.

"Be aware when things are out of balance. Stay centered within the Tao." In this session, we discuss the manifestation of outer collective imbalance that arises from inner individual imbalance. When you correct the inner imbalance, the outer imbalance naturally corrects itself. But if you focus on the outer imbalance from an internally imbalanced place, you create an unending vicious circle, the snake eating its own tail.

"Let the Tao be present in your life, and you will become genuine." Lao Tzu tells us that genuineness is not really something we can achieve or do purposefully. You cannot make yourself genuine. Rather, let go of trying to be genuine and focus instead on unconditional present moment awareness (i.e., the Tao), and genuineness occurs naturally, though maybe not in the way you would have wanted or predicted.

"He never expects results; thus he is never disappointed." In this session, we explore the source of happiness. All we can ever do is plant the seeds of happiness through authentic present-based action, and then let go of the miraculous growth of the seed. It will sprout in a way that is out of our control and that likely will be unexpected at least to some degree. Act and let go - this is the whole thing.

"Those who know, don't talk. Those who talk, don't know." The truth we have been exploring ultimately cannot be articulated in words. This theme has been repeated throughout the course, and the repetition is necessary because we're having to use words to describe this indescribable truth. It is a feeling.

"If you want to be a great leader, you must learn to follow the Tao." In this session, we're reminded of this central theme: let go of control and allow natural harmony to occur in a way you couldn't predict. This is the main challenge we are faced with. Can we trust the Tao?

"The Master is content to serve as an example." In this session, I offer a definition of wisdom, and Lao Tzu continues an exploration of leadership and governance, both over the collective and of oneself. He encourages us not to impose our will on others, but to lead by our lived example.

"Find freedom from your own ideas." The most peaceful place in the world is the space beyond, or maybe beneath, ideas. This is your freedom. Or rather, this is freedom from you. This place simply is. Remember this space as often as possible, maybe through just a few deep releasing breaths.

"Give evil nothing to oppose, and it will disappear by itself." In this session, we slow down further and make an adjustment to the silent wu wei practice. In the reading, Lao Tzu shares a method for interacting with evil, and really any form of negativity.

"Humility means trusting the Tao, thus never needing to be defensive." In the reading, Lao Tzu asks us if we can view our critics as our most benevolent teachers, if we can release defensiveness completely and trust the Tao with all of ourselves. Said differently, can we let go of ourselves?

"Being one with the Tao, when you seek, you find." When you identify most deeply as the universe, you naturally function in accord with the universe, and the universe naturally functions to benefit you. But this is not the you of your familiar story. This is the you who actually identifies as the entire universe.

"The Master doesn't cling to her own comfort; thus problems are no problem for her." This is the essence of wu wei. When I cling to comfort, or to a certain expectation or desire, I become rigid and unable to flow with the energy of the present moment. When I'm unattached to a certain pre-established outcome, problems become no problem and I deal with them both effortlessly and effectively.

"What the Master has learned is to unlearn." In the reading, Lao Tzu emphasizes the value of returning to the present moment, and even goes to the extent of saying the Master cares about nothing but the Tao (another way of saying the Master cares about nothing but the present moment). What if the present moment was all you cared about?

"When you know what you don't know, you can find your own way." Having developed a new habit, we move deeper into silence in juxtaposition to the words of Lao Tzu. In the reading, he invites us to not-know. Real life occurs only in the space of unknowing.

"Because she competes with no one, no one can compete with her." Beginning and ending in wu wei silence, we allow the reading to become a wave of energy emerging from and falling back into the silent ocean. In the reading, Lao Tzu describes the principle of wu wei as non-competing. Release the desire to win, to conquer, and you subtly defeat your opponent by removing their opponent identity.

"I have just three things to teach: simplicity, patience, and compassion." Lao Tzu simplifies his simple teaching by distilling it into three pillars. Live simply. Live in patience. Offer compassion. When in doubt, simplify, return to patience, and express compassion.

"Not that they don't love to compete, but they do it in a spirit of play." Lao Tzu expands on the wu wei principle of non-competition. This might be taken as a completely passive state, but it is not. It is passively-active. It engages in competition not in order to win for some instrumental reason, but simply for the sake of the activity, for the fun of it. The Master engages in competition like a child who has not learned competition.

"Underestimating your enemy means thinking that he is evil." In this reading, Lao Tzu reminds us of the three treasures: simplicity, patience, and compassion. When we see those we have difficulty with as evil, or bad, or defective in some way, we lose the treasure of compassion. When we do not see them as evil, we can engage with the difficulty the present in a much more effective, efficient, clear-minded way.

"If you want to know me, look inside your heart." In the reading, Lao Tzu tells us that while his teachings are easy to understand and practice, our intellectual mind can never grasp them. And if we 'try' to practice them, we'll fail. We don't need to try. We need to release trying to force something, trying to attain something, trying to reach externally for completion. The truth lives inside. Said differently, the truth lives where the deepest inside meets the outside.

"Heal yourself of all knowing." Expert mind is a disease. Don't-know mind is the cure. When you already know, you block yourself from the new present moment. When you don't know, you allow in true knowledge, that which cannot be translated into words.

"Don't lose your sense of awe." Lao Tzu states that religion arises when we lose our sense of awe and authority arises when we stop trusting ourselves. Do whatever you can to remember the feeling of awe that came so naturally as a child. Awe is your immediate connection to the Tao.

"The Tao answers without speaking a word." Let's keep slowing down and let go of any pull to reach the end. There is no end. When we reach the end, it will still be the beginning. So there is no rush. In the reading, Lao Tzu explains the effortless way of the Tao. All is done without trying to be done.

"If you aren't afraid of dying, there is nothing you can't achieve." Lao Tzu tells us that we are not meant to control the future, and if we try to do so, we end up mangling our own lives. When we embrace uncertainty and remember we are not separate from life, we can face death. When we face death, we fully live.

"Trust yourself. Leave yourself alone." When Lao Tzu refers to government, you can apply the message to your roles as a leader, teacher, parent, coach, etc. But you can also apply the message to your relationship with yourself. Act for your benefit. Trust yourself. And leave yourself alone.

"Whoever is soft and yielding, is a disciple of life." Lao Tzu articulates the difference between life and death. Life is soft and supple, tender and pliant. Death is stiff and hard, brittle and dry. When you allow yourself to be soft and yielding, you are a disciple of life. When you prefer rigidity and control, you are a disciple of death. Which do you choose?

"The Master doesn't think she is better than anyone else." In the reading, Lao Tzu describes the Tao as like a bow. It bends down from the top and up from the bottom to bring existence into natural harmony. When we grasp for control, it's as if we try to take one side of the bow for ourselves, and end up simply pulling the other side of the bow along. The Tao is in charge of creating harmony. Just act in the best way you can, now, and trust the rest.

"True words seem paradoxical." This is because words are limited by their dualistic form. In order to fit the non-dual truth into words, we must make the truth dual by following the subject-object rules of language. Remember to use language like an orienting tool, a finger pointing at the moon. Don't get caught up on the finger.

"Failure is an opportunity." When we focus on failure and attempt to blame others or ourselves, it leaves us closed to the opportunity living in the wake of the failure. When we release blame, we remain open to possibility. This does not mean to deny the failure. We may feel the sting, but remain open.

"Since they dearly love their homes, they aren't interested in travel." Lao Tzu describes the experience of contentment with the little things. When we create a daily life we love, there is no desire for something more. And when we realize that love is found in the simplest places, a simple life is one of deep contentment and satisfaction.

"The Master has no possessions." Lao Tzu tells us, the more the Master gives to others, the wealthier he is. The more he does for others, the happier he is. By giving fully, we tend to receive, as long as the giving is not conditional. I open the door for someone not to be thanked, but because I choose to, because it feels good.

In our closing session, we'll do a guided visualization practice involving the apple on the tree. Feel yourself as the apple, fully ripe and ready to fall. How does it feel to completely let go? When you remember you are part of the tree, and the ground, and the whole universe, there is no fear. You are free. And really, you are just this. And just this, is okay.