In the words of Lao Tzu “The ego is entranced by ... names and ideas...

However names and concepts only block your perception of this Great Oneness.”

Taoism teaches us that everything is connected and we are part of a greater whole. That we are

much more than our job or our physical appearance and only when we let go of this false identity

given by the ego, will we be able to live a fulfilling life. By linking our identity to

what we do professionally, or the job title we hold, we put ourselves in boxes and these boxes

end up being our prison as we endlessly strive to live up to these identities. If you focus

too much upon labels, career titles and money, when you lose those things, you lose yourself.

We need to understand that our name, our possessions,

our profession, what constitutes our ego does not define who we are. The Tao says

that which can be named is not the Tao. As soon as you place a label on someone you reduce your

estimation of that person to the expectations that label implies - even if that person is you.

Taoism, however, does not discourage us from having goals and pursuing them,

and instead asks us to not get too attached to the ideas or identities we create because

when we are attached to something we hold on to it, and holding on to anything beyond its

due time means we cannot let go of it and so we move in opposition to the flow of our life.

Many people, for example, go all their lives proudly attached to the

job position they hold. They might have had one of the highest earning and most

respected positions in their firm for decades, but their whole world comes crumbling down the

day they get fired. This happens because we can’t let go of our narrow self-identity.

Instead of looking at the unity of all things and how we form part of a greater whole,

we end up reducing ourselves to a mere job title, or physical trait.

We came into the world without any preconceptions – we had no concept of race, religion or social

class when we were born. It is only when we grow older that we cling to these things,

even believing they define us. We segment ourselves into groups and shun people who don’t

fit into the same bracket as us. The Tao Te Ching says forget the rules and flow freely in whichever

way life takes you.

We need to realize that we are already connected to everything in our lives

that we think is missing, such as love, happiness and inner peace,

we just have to align ourselves properly to find it. Lao Tzu teaches us that we are like an onion,

and we must unpeel the different layers of skin to become free. He says “When I let go of what I am,

I become what I might be”. Once we become free, especially of the ego and false identities,

we find all of the things we had been longing for flowing into our lives in abundance.