To quote Lasu, the first is gentleness,

the second is economy, and the third is

shrinking from taking precedence over

others. Gentleness means simply being

kind to all life and not coming from a

place of egotistical desires. When we

practice gentleness, we give up the need

to be right because being kind is more

important than being correct. Lasu put

gentleness before everything else and

thought that a spiritual person is the

one that does not interfere with the

natural flow of Dao. To understand this

natural flow, Dowists often use the

metaphor of water to observe its

effortless capacity for following its

own pathway formlessly and shapelessly

adjusting to whatever it meets along the

way. Water also sustains life. For

humans and animals alike, water has a

cooling effect on the body, dissolving

impurities, driving nutrients and waste

around the body, replenishing the

balance within its energy systems and

its reserves. Similarly, gentle people

are often therapeutic people, less

punishing of others, more empathetic,

flexible, and adaptive. As with flowing

water, they can preserve their own

character. On the other hand, if you

have been going against the flow, acting

on ego, and trying to fight the will of

the universe, then you will most

probably find yourself in a very dark

corner, feeling desperate and depressed.

Since there's no happiness without

sorrow, as the dowist principle of ying

and yang would suggest, Laoo emphasized

that every spirited individual who's

come out of that dark period has

embraced the Dao and as a result has the

capacity to understand other people that

are stuck in their own trials. Hence,

gentleness arises as the core virtue in

relation to other people. If you scour

the writings of Drsu and Dowist monks,

you will come to a conclusion that

gentleness is the umbrella term that

encompasses forgiveness, acceptance, and

love. As an individual who accepted the

ways of the universe through your own

trials and tribulations, you will be

much more ready to forgive because you

understand the suffering of others.

You've been there. You'll learn to

accept the differences and treat every

person as the messenger that conveys a

spiritual message with their own mission

in life and treat them with the respect

they deserve. In today's world, we get

so easily carried away with our own ego

and desires that we forget to be gentle

and attuned to other people's needs.

With all of the social media attention

we get, we turn into many false

celebrities, each with our own spotlight

that allows us to broadcast our

idealized phantom selves while losing

touch with real life and continuing to

inflate our own egos. Since power,

influence, number of followers, or

Facebook friends is the currency we

respect and the language we understand,

we can oh so easily forget to tune in to

other people's needs because we're

encouraged to be so self-centered. To be

truly emotionally healthy and happy, you

need to form close bonds with good

people. And the best way to do that is

to be gentle and understanding of other

people's needs, struggles, and

tribulations.

We as modern people are also often

guilty of thinking that gentleness is

weakness since we do not grasp the

concept of sensitivity the way that we

should do. But we need to understand

that the key to true strength, the one

that dissolves the limitations of our

own ego, is sensitivity itself. Again,

as the staple of dowist ideas, the

yin-yang symbol would suggest, there is

no night without a dawn. So therefore to

be truly strong you need to be

vulnerable and sensitive first and

without those yin qualities integrated.

We cannot be spiritually healthy. The

key to global change begins with the

individual. So start with your own life

and surroundings. Be gentle to the

planet. Recycle all the plastics we use

in our daily lives. Go and donate some

of your less used clothes to people in

need. Instead of fulfilling your

superfluous consumerist desires, go and

donate some money to a good cause. But

first, start with the small steps. Be

gentle to yourself and your loved ones.

If you happen to get into an argument,

remember that kindness is more important

than being right. And when you remind

yourself of this, you will no longer

have a strong ego inspired desire to

dominate or control others, which will

allow you to move into a rhythm with the

universe.