The Way and the Power of Virtue

  Hard to come by objects make people do obstructive things – This is why the sage acts from the core and not the eyes.   As such he discards all of that and lays hold of this. As with the experience of thrill seeking, the same principle also applies to rampant consumerism – particularly when it is coupled with the belief that the things we own somehow make us more valuable or worthwhile.   There is nothing inherently wrong with purchasing or accumulating nice things.   The problem is when we place our identity or affix our worth to those external commodities or when we feel like we have to show off or showcase ourselves or what we own to enhance our worth .   When we do so, we can become so desperate to seek validation through those things that we can do regrettable, unethical, and even harmful things – things that obstruct our true selves and that get in the way of others.   As entrepreneur and lifestyle guru Tim Ferris has aptly taught, “Money doe...

  Racing off at a wild gallop in pursuit of a hunt  makes peoples’ hearts and minds go wild. In ancient China, there were few activities as exhilarating as the thrill of the hunt.   There is the sensation of the wind in your face, the feel of the horse running at a full gallop, the element of danger and uncertainty, and the adrenaline coursing through your veins.   Today, the activities may be slightly different, but we are still chasing that same feeling.   From bungee jumping to skydiving, cliff jumping to paragliding, squirrel suiting to free solo climbing, we spend more time and resources “thrill seeking” than any people ever have in the history of the world.   Most of us have a little “adrenaline junkie” inside us somewhere.    Yet, there is inherent risk in these activities and sometimes we push ourselves a little too far, we cross the line, take unnecessary risks, and make poor decisions, and even jeopardize our lives.   When I was...

  The “Five Colors” blind peoples’ eyes; The “Five Sounds” deafen peoples’ ears; The “Five Flavors” numb peoples’ mouths. This passage describes utilizes pairings of “Five” as a metaphor for various types of sensory stimuli as a caution against the sensory overload that comes with excessiveness .   Imagine the visual explosion of color if all colors were presented to the eyes simultaneously – the result would be “blinding” in the sense that too many colors mixed together actually inhibit our ability to differentiate between them, leaving only an indistinguishable grey/brown mass, like the color of water after rinsing all the paint brushes in it or the color of playdough after mixing too many colors together (speaking from experience :P).   The same is true for sound – imagine exposing your ears to every audible sound imaginable simultaneously.   The result would be a deafening cacophony of noise.   Lastly, imagine trying to work every flavor into a singl...

  Thirty spokes share a single hub, but it is the hole in the center that makes it useful in a vehicle. Mixing water with clay makes a vessel, but it is emptiness that makes it useful as a vessel. Boring windows and doors makes a room, but it is the open space that makes it useful as a room. Therefore, the presence of something makes it valuable, but the absence in something makes it useful. Similar to the valley and the bellows analogy , this chapter teaches us that value and usefulness aren’t always the same thing and often come from different sources.   A tire is comprised of many spokes but it is the hole in the center that allows it to spin around an axle – it is the opening that gives it function and utility – that makes it useful in a vehicle.   The same principle applies to a bowl.   Even though it is made from clay, it is the hollow in the middle that gives it its usefulness as a vessel – an empty vessel .  The greater the space in the middle, t...

  To produce things and then nourish them and yet,   To produce and not possess, to act and not presume,  to lead and not dominate – this is what is called profound virtue. We live in a culture of production.   Businesses are constantly looking at things like logistics, automation, and process improvement to increase productivity.   Countless self-help programs, inspirational videos, and motivational speeches exist to help us become more productive in our lives.   We also live in a consumer society; a world driven by the accumulation of wealth and material goods.   We amass and stockpile; we hoard and store.   The more money we make, the more things we get – cars, boats, ATVs, summer homes, winter cabins.   There is nothing inherently wrong with any of those things – the danger lies in when we attach our worth to those external commodities or allow our status to justify feelings of superiority rather than service and gratitude....