Recently in the Vibe Shifters Tribe, we had a bit of a Taoist theme happening and we were discussing some of the parallels between LOA and Taoism through some interesting quotes, proverbs, and passage from the Tao Te Ching. I’m not a formal student of Taoism, but I have found through my own readings that a lot of the principles of Law of Attraction are echoed in the teachings of Tao, so it’s a book I tend to refer to fairly often. And it’s always thought-provoking.
If you’re not familiar with the Tao Te Ching, it’s one of the main texts for the study of Taoism. There are many different translations available, and the meaning of each of the 81 teachings contained within can vary, depending on which translation you’re working from.
Wikipedia defines Tao as “something that is both the source of, and the force behind, everything that exists”, and as a philosophy, it tends to embody such principles as compassion, moderation and simplicity.
I like the Tao Te Ching for its emphasis on mindfulness and not resisting things, and I find that when I am stressed — or distressed — I am often able to return to a sense of clarity and calmness by reading some of its passages.
An intuitive experiment with the Tao Te Ching
Here’s a fun little intuitive exercise for you to try: focus on something that you are worried about or have questions about or want guidance on and then randomly flip the Tao Te Ching open and read the first passage your eyes land on. More often than not, I find that the first passage I read when I do this has a direct relation to what it is that I was thinking about.
For example, I asked, “What is it that my readers most need to hear in order to understand the parallels between LOA and Taoism?” And then I opened my book and read this (it’s teaching #51, as translated by Stephen Mitchell):
Do you see the connection? It certainly fits the LOA view of life on earth – we are not only of Source, we are Source. And I think this is why all of these Eastern philosophies and “New Age” spiritual beliefs (not just LOA and Taoism, but also things like Buddhism, Vedanta, and many Native American beliefs, etc.) are becoming more main stream and prevalent throughout the world these days – they speak of kindness, compassion, connectedness and simplicity.
And we can feel that what these schools of thought have always been telling us is true. Like a half-remembered dream, these principles seem familiar to us and we are drawn to learn more, to remember the rest of the dream and the Truth that underlies everything.
We are starting to wake up…
photo credit: pixabay.com cc (modified by me)
I really hope we are Nathalie. I mean, I hope everyone else is, we already are. Waking up that is.
It springs into existence,
unconscious, perfect, free,
takes on a physical body,
lets circumstances complete it.
In the letting circumstances complete it, the problem is people get mean, bad, jaded, cruel, etc. They forget who they really are, and become a-holes. I find it sad that we are born perfect because then all the a-holes I have come across were perfect but life turned them into monsters. I know you will say something profound to this, as far as the reasoning behind it as well as its purpose, but I guess my point is there are too many of them around influencing things and enough already.
Stop focusing on those people. Not everyone is like that — most people, in fact, are not like that. Look for the others. Match yourself to the energy that you want to see in the world and you will find it all around you. There will always be monsters if that’s what you expect to find. But there are angels out there, too — everywhere. You just can’t see them because you’re caught up in the other stuff.
This is something that you seem to struggle with a lot, so my suggestion would be to try a simple exercise: make yourself a happy board. Do it on Pinterest or make a hard copy cut and paste version (a scrap book is also a good way to do this). But start deliberately looking for evidence that there are good people all around you. When you see stories that inspire you, cut them out or pin them. When you read about someone — celebrity or otherwise — find a picture of the person, or just a general image or quote that captures the essence of what their story made you feel, and add that to your board or scrapbook. Look at it frequently and keep adding to it. Just start looking for evidence that what you wish the world was like… it already is like that. What you focus on will grow.