The Way and the Power of Virtue

  The Way is an empty vessel, and yet it never overflows with use. A vast abyss!  It seems to be the ancestor of all things. It blunts sharp edges, untangles knots, softens glare, and it joins with the dust. Submerged!  It seems to exist.   I don’t know whose child it is, it seems to be the ancestor of the gods.    The Way is like an empty vessel that we can keep pouring our lives into.   No matter how much we utilize it, it never overflows.   It has infinite capacity and potential for everyone, and as such is the Way to help us tap into our own infinite ability and potential.   There is never too much for it to handle, never something it cannot take on.   It applies to everything, everywhere, and is always available whenever we reach a crossroads in our lives and are ready to make a different choice.    Like a vast abyss, it is all encompassing!   Nothing falls outside of its purview.   The Way is a va...

Wise people set themselves and others forever free from outsmarting and expectations.   They won’t ever try to outsmart others and they do not act only for themselves – then nothing is left ungoverned. To become sages, we engage in a two-fold process of self-acceptance and surrender of our own expectations.   To become sages, or wise people, we must constantly setting ourselves and others free from the need to “outsmart” others – understanding that we are already enough.   Content in our identity and purpose, we don’t need to look for opportunities to appear smart or put others down to curry favor or to outmaneuver others through our cunning or intellect, our best laid plans, or by devising strategies to outcompete or get ahead at the expense of others.   We don’t need to “ show off ," roast someone, always have a witty or barbed comment or backhanded complement -- even though that is what is portrayed and propagated in so much of our entertainment and social med...

Third, wise people weaken, soften, or temper their worldly ambitions, their desires to become “someone” important or special in the world’s view, or to achieve something external to themselves.   Wise people recognize that worldly ambition is fleeting and therefore weaken the hold of such aspirations on their lives.   When our lives revolve around an external accomplishment, something like a promotion, a championship, or even a career, we can often fall into the trap of defining ourselves by those endeavors and when we don’t succeed or achieve we then run the risk of feeling like an unaccomplished failure.   This is not to say that we shouldn’t aspire.   No, we need dreams and aspirations, we need a greater purpose that we can give ourselves to wholeheartedly but we also need to remember that our if and when things don’t go our way that there is more to us and our lives than our broken wings and unrealized dreams.   Who we are is NOT based on what we do  – ...

  This is how wise people govern themselves and others:    They empty their hearts and minds and they fill their core. Because of the tendency and social pressure to try to engage in self-promotion to prove ourselves worthy , place excessive value external commodities, thereby robbing ourselves or our inherent worth , and show off our desirable attributes and abilities, the sage, or wise person leads out by regulating or governing four aspects of their lives – their hearts and minds, their core, their worldly ambitions, and their personal appetites.   They do so in four ways.   First, wise people empty their hearts and minds, their thoughts and feelings, of superfluous and frivolous things – things that are empty and vain and therefore contribute to a feeling of emptiness inside.   How much mental and emotional energy do we spend on things that are empty?   Do we keep ourselves so busy and full with memes, social media trends, fantasy sports leagu...

  Don’t put "desirable" objects on display and people’s hearts won’t be disturbed. We live in a world that feels like it must constantly “show off” and “showcase” its bling and put itself on display for all to see.   We are constantly bombarded with marketing manipulations telling us what is "desirable," what we should want, and what we need to do be "desirable."  So w e don our new swag, accessories with the latest fashions, surround ourselves with “eye candy” and wonder if it's enough.  We feel pressure from the world and put pressure on ourselves to look “desirable” personally and professionally – to be wanted, accepted, valued, and deemed worthy.   When we try to show-off, either our accomplishments, attributes, abilities, or accessories, we disturb our hearts and stir up trouble.   Who likes feeling that we are an object on display all the time?   Who likes the pressure of having to dress up, get made up, and appear a certain way to win acceptance...