Live Aligned with Tao | Everything Else Is Bullsh*t

Tao

Today is day 4 of Spartan 365.

So far so good. I held the line.

I spent quite some time reading The Spirit of Tao AKA The Tao Te Ching which is an ancient chinese spiritual classic.

Here is a passage:

“Attain the climax of emptiness,

preserve the utmost quiet:

as myriad things act in concert,

I thereby observe the return.

Things flourish,

then each returns to its root.

Returning to the root is called stillness:

stillness is called return to Life,

return to Life is called the constant;

knowing the constant is called enlightenment.

Acts at random, in ignorance of the constant, bode ill.

Knowing the constant gives perspective;

this perspective is impartial.

Impartiality is highest nobility;

the highest nobility is divine,

and the divine is the Way.

This Way is everlasting,

not endangered by physical death.”

– Thomas Cleary

Today I spent quite a bit of time today preserving the utmost quiet like the passage above says.

I didn’t accomplish much in the world of business today but that’s OK.

Instead, I engaged in meditation, reading, reviewing my personal ethos, and yoga in the park.

Even though I didn’t accomplish much in the outer world, I accomplished quite a bit in the inner world.

I made conscious contact with the Divine stillness within.

I felt aligned with Tao.

Tao is another word for “the way” or “alignement with nature and the Divine.”

There are times when I’m aggressive and get a lot done.

But there are other times when I remove myself from the world of matter and monkey-mind chatter and simply enjoy stillness.

Now I finally understand what David Deida meant when he said:

“Make your life an ongoing practice of being who you are, at your deepest, most easeful levels of being. Everything other than this process is secondary.”

What he means is that a man should make it his highest priority to ground himself in this Divine stillness or Tao. Everything else is secondary.

When you’re grounded in source than everything else flows. When you’re not, it’s only a matter of time before the enemies at the gate come near.

These enemies take the form of impulsivity, reactivity, and negativity.

When you sit in stillness, these enemies don’t stand a chance.

Live from that place and the rest shall follow.

Best,

Maximillian Giamarco