Lao Tzu, is a Chinese legendary and historical figure who is considered to be the founder

of Taoism. Taoism is the philosophy that teaches us how to live in harmony with the world.

The word, tao, itself means “the way”, the pattern and substance of everything that

exists. Tzu is also credited as the writer of Taoism’s most sacred text, Tao Te Ching.

It is packed with his remarkable wisdom and messages of peace, resilience, and living

cohesively that reminds us what really matters in life. He is a central figure in Chinese

culture, but his words can apply to people all over the world. So HERE ARE 10 IMPORTANT

LESSONS THAT WE CAN LEARN FROM LAO TZU

1. LOOK WITHIN AND YOU WILL FIND EVERYTHING YOU NEED

Lao Tzu says “Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom. Mastering

others is strength; mastering yourself is true power”

We live in a culture that’s geared toward doing, succeeding, “crushing it”, making

more weather its money or of ourselves. These actions, from the Taoist perspective are considered

yang and are based on outwards and external movement. The Chinese concept of yin and yang

describes nature in dualities with two opposite, complementary, and interdependent forces.

In other words, two halves balancing together that make a whole. Yin and yang always flows

and changes with time. One aspect increases as the other decreases, and this balance continues

as a pattern in nature. Just like nature, human life too is all about balance and to

maintain this balance we need to spend time cultivating our yin which is our inner experience.

We need to slow down, reflect, and just enjoy “being” without having to do anything.

Practices like meditation, qigong, and mindfulness can help us slow down, so that when we do

need to act, move in the world, and create, we have a deeper and more valuable reservoir

of energy and balance to draw from.

2. BY LETTING GO, YOU BECOME FREE

According to Lao Tzu “By letting it go it all gets done. The world is won by those who

let it go. But when you try and try. The world is beyond the winning.”

Enlightenment means to lighten the burden of life in this world and to lighten the darker

aspects of human character. But how then do we lighten ourselves? How

do we lighten our burdens and lighten our characters? The key is to examine our attachments,

those things that we cling to in our minds so strongly that we cause pain to ourselves

and others. This examination, this self-watching, can begin with understanding the three kinds

of attachment: attachment to recognition, attachment to security, and attachment to

control. Relying on power to achieve what you want to achieve means you aren’t relying

on the Tao. It’s important to understand that developing a stance of non-attachment

is not the same as being calloused or uncaring. In fact, losing your attachments makes you

freer to open your heart up wider. It is like being able to see the world from a higher

perspective. Instead of only loving those to whom you are most attached - yourself,

family, your religion, your political group, and your country - your heart can grow to

embrace the whole world.

To be content is to be happy with what you have, and to be happy with what you have is

to be rich.

3. Let go of your labels if you truly want to know yourself

According to Lao Tzu’s teachings “He who defines himself can’t know who he really

is”

Labels are what you call yourself in your head. They are tags that you attach to yourself

to describe the person you think you are. We have labels for ourselves such as a super

dad, a successful businessman, a loser, a good for nothing and so on. We put ourselves

in boxes trying to define who we are. We do it to others, and we do it to ourselves. Whether

positive or negative, what we whisper to ourselves every day has a great influence on our sense

of self, and dictates the direction of our thoughts and actions. The problem with labeling

is we only see fragments which have been defined by your own experience and perspective of

the outer world. Let’s say you or someone else may have given

you a label you don’t want anything to do with – maybe because it reminds you of past

mistakes you’ve made, or “flaws” you’re trying to coexist with. By not labeling yourself,

you can flow freely from experience to experience, emotion to emotion, without being chained

down to any one way of thinking. It’s so much easier to move on from a mistake

when you don’t carry it along with you.

4. Pay no attention to evil and it will crumble away

As Lao Tzu teaches “Give evil nothing to oppose and it will disappear by itself”

According to Taoism, we all have our personal spiritual planetary body which they call Yuen

Sun. It takes in Pre-Heaven essences and processes it, pushing them into your soul, and the soul

will deliver it to your physical body here, giving you your potentials for your life in

reality. A Taoist cultivates mainly around two things. One is to strengthen and repair

the bridge between the Yuen Sun and themselves here in the physical world. By doing so, they

can live a better life and reach their full potential. The second part of Taoism cultivation

is to conclude by giving back to the Yuen Sun for more to come in the future. Good is

anything that flows with the way of the Tao, meaning the Yuen Sun’s flow to your body.

Anything that helps and flow with what your Yuen Sun is doing or leading you toward is

good. Evil is the opposite, which is anything that

puts resistance to, stops, interfere, drag, or damage your flow from the Tao is evil.

Good things help you to grow and empower you. Bad things will destroy you or break you up

into pieces and push you to death. Evil or good is not always good or bad, we must see

the whole situation to determine is it good or bad. Knowing what is evil to you is important

as a Taoist because you will then understand what is not good to do for yourself, and what

is going to harm you in the long run. If can live your life purely and devote yourself

to the betterment of yourself and others around you, evil cannot touch you. However, evil

never disappears, and you can’t ignore it. The best thing you can do is be stronger than

the evil temptations around you, and you will beat them.

5. KINDNESS AND COMPASSION FOR OTHERS WILL ALWAYS WIN IN THE END

TO QUOTE LAO TZU “Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness.

Kindness in giving creates love” There is a beautiful metaphor from the virtue

of unconditional that we can learn from water. As a river flows across the land, it nurtures

all living things that it comes across. All the plants and animals benefit from the water

of the river. Once it’s done its work, water moves on without waiting for recognition or

praise. When one practices compassion they gain great

insight into themselves. The Tao Teh Ching says that the Sage puts others before himself,

and by putting others before himself, he put himself first. When one puts others before

themselves, showing compassion to one and other, what they get out of it, isn't just

a deep insight into the nature of suffering, but also deep insight into their own nature.

The practice of compassion helps to strengthen our relationships with others, it helps to

deepen our connection to the world at large. It's something that seems to be a sign of

weakness, but in fact is a sign of strength.

6. BE YOURSELF WITHOUT CARING WHAT OTHERS THINK

LAO TZU SAYS “Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner”

Nothing can be more time and energy wasting than being overly concerned about what other

people think of us. There is nothing wrong in wanting others to like us or to think well

of us, but it should not be done at the expense of our integrity. We have to get on with the

tasks in life and take our own decisions based on our highest thoughts, not the thoughts

generated through the filter of approval seeking, and people pleasing. If we take our own decision

based on our highest intuitive thoughts and certain people disapprove, we shouldn’t

really pay that much attention to them. Our business to get on with the business of life

is guided by our own consciousness, not by the opinions of other people in our circle.

When you are in accord with the Tao, you will do your own job, and then stop. Leave others

opinions alone. Don’t go against the current of the Tao. Instead, go with the flow of it.

Accept yourself! Believe in yourself! Because if you did, you wouldn’t have to try to

convince others. Be content with yourself! Because if you were, you wouldn’t need others’

approval.

7. WISDOM AND STRENGTH COME FROM REMAINING HUMBLE

AS WE LEARS FROM LAO TZU “The wise man is one who, knows, what he does not know”

There is a story in the “Lieh Tzu,” a book of Taoist parables written around the

same time as the “Te Tao Ching.” It’s the story of a pair of twins. They look the

same, talk the same, belong to the same family — but one is loved, trusted, and promoted

by others while the other is not. He wears nicer clothes, eats better food and lives

in a nicer home. The successful twin treats the unsuccessful twin with undisguised arrogance

because he falsely believes he has earned his success, saying, “Maybe there is just

more in me than there is in you.” They both meet Master Tung-kuo, who says, “When you

say that one man has more in him than another, you mean only that they are not equally gifted.

What I mean is something different from this. The unsuccessful twin has more worth than

luck, you have more luck than worth. Your success is not due to wisdom, nor is his failure

due to foolishness. Both are from heaven and not from man, yet you are presumptuous because

you have more luck, while he is ashamed though he has more worth. Neither of you perceives

that things must be as they are”. The truth is that the great power of Tao can only be

obtain with great love and great humility. One should always be impeccably humble because

it’s the humility that guarantees great victories over oneself. It’s the basis of

the correct achievements in the transformation of the soul! You should agree with Tao completely.

If you do this only partially, this will result in a dangerous breakdown because only complete

humility is the cure for the disease called pride. Sadness and anger are companions of

pride whereas Calm and joy are companions of impeccable humility.

8. CHANGE IS INEVITABLE, SO EMBRACE IT, EVEN IF IT SEEMS UNCOMFORTABLE.

In the words of Lao Tzu “New beginnings are often disguised as painful endings.”

We resist and often resent the changes. But change is key to life, because, despite change

being seemingly painful, it's forever necessary. Most of us tend to settle in our comfort zone,

we are afraid of change or something new. We tend to get used to the rut and routine

and begin to love that as the sole option available to us. A sort of mental complacency

sets in and we don't want to alter that. Maybe because we no longer hope for better things,

or maybe because we live in the belief that every ending is painful and doesn’t lead

to something better. Every change is important and every change is meaningful in and of itself.

What seemed negative or painful in the beginning may turn into something new; in a new beginning,

in a new way, in a new direction, a new opportunity, a new life, or even a new you. Change often

paves the way for something better - and if not better, at least different. In difference,

lies life's momentum and progress.

9. LEARN TO FOLLOW FIRST IF YOU EVER WISH TO LEAD

According to Lao Tzu “If you want to govern the people, you must place yourself below

them. If you want to lead the people, you must learn how to follow them”

To understand this let’s look at Lao Tzu’s comparison between rivers and seas and the

hundreds of streams. Rivers and seas are more powerful than streams. They are larger, deeper

and stronger. Without water flowing in from hundreds and thousands of streams, rivers

and seas wouldn’t be what they are. Rivers and seas can be powerful, because they

are ready to receive. Similarly, from the perspective of Tao leadership,

a leader is more powerful than their people, but their power is derived from their people.

They need their people to feed them both physically and metaphorically. Otherwise, they only have

their own resources to draw from. Just like rivers and seas, a good leader must

be ready to receive. . To receive water from streams, rivers and

seas stoop low. To harness energy from their people, a leader

positions lower as well, in order to receive. They pays attention and listen.

A leader follows, before they are followed.

10. Always go with the flow In our final piece of wisdom from Lao Tzu,

we learn “When nothing is done, nothing is left undone”

Wu Wei is a Chinese concept central to Taoism which is roughly translates to ‘action of

non-action’ or ‘action without intent’. It says that rather than fighting against

the conditions in our lives, we should allow things to take their natural course. While

many of us wake into our day with multiple ‘to-dos’ stacked on our list and a sense

of urgency to get things done, it’s powerful to consider that there is a natural order

in everything we do. If we tune in and follow the order, things get done effectively, efficiently

and without extra effort. If we go against the order, it takes extra time and energy

to get things done and in some cases nothing will get done, no matter how hard we try.

Let us take writing for example. If you feel uninspired and tired, don’t force yourself

to write a perfect chapter. Instead, recognize the direction of the nature and take care

of yourself, maybe go for a walk. Then, when you feel inspired and motivated, take advantage

and write with great ferocity and determination. This is what Wu Wei means - recognizing the

forces of nature and acting accordingly. Some people intuitively interpret ‘non-doing’

as something passive, laid back or lazy. In the eyes of Tao, there are often times for

action, but if no action is needed based on the laws of nature, then doing anything may

be overdoing it. It’s all about realizing when our efforts are being useful and when

they are being wasted. If you like this video, please do make sure

to check out our Stoicism playlist and for more videos to help you find success and happiness

using ancient philosophical wisdom, don’t forget to subscribe. Thanks so much for watching.