Keeping to My True Nature: My Contemplation of Verse 38 of the Tao Te Ching

Dr. Dyer's book is Change your Thoughts--Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao.

Today, I am focusing on verse 38 of the Tao Te Ching, particularly this portion:

The great master follows his own nature

and not the trapping of life.

It is said:

"He stays with the fruit and not the fluff."

"He stays with the firm and not the flimsy."

"He stays with the true and not the false."

I have often asked myself questions before doing or saying something.  Should I do this?  Should I say that?  I replay something in my mind after traumatic events in my life.  Then, I keep those things in mind for the "next" time.

I know we all do it.  We second guess ourselves.  We wonder if we are doing the right thing.  Are we hurting someone?  Are we doing something we'll regret later?

A better question to ask is: What do I really want to do or say?  If we are honest with ourselves, we can retain our integrity.  We have to own our true natures.  I'm not giving permission to anyone to be cruel or rude.  I'm just saying we need to own up to what we really want to do or say.

I'll give you some examples.  There have been times boundaries have been crossed.  People have said inappropriate things to me.  Several people have told me I should respond in a rude manner and put the rude persons down; however, that's not how my mother raised me.  My personality is not built to pay back rudeness for rudeness.

My nature is to tear away from negative people like that.  I am not built to be rude.  I can't stand rude people.  I try to be respectful around others, but I have my limits.  That's my true nature--to tear away from people who continually mistreat me.

Let's be true to our natures and surround ourselves with positive people.

Thanks for reading today's post.  

I appreciate it.  

I hope this post blesses you, my dear readers.

I've got some questions for you: What is your true nature?  How do you deal with negative people?  Are you rude to rude people?  What is your gut reaction to rude people?  I pray we all seek our true nature. Let's ask God to help us live our true natures.  He will surely help us.

May God bless you, my beloveds, with His wisdom and peace, in Jesus' name.  Amen!

This has been an entry for Wisdom Wednesdays.

I am currently drawing inspiration from Dr. Wayne W. Dyer's book and the 81 verses of the Chinese wisdom book the Tao Te Ching.
 

Embracing Your Nature: My Contemplation of Verse 23 of the Tao Te Ching

Dr. Dyer's book is Change your Thoughts--Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao.

Today, I am embracing verse 23 of the Tao Te Ching, specifically these portions:

If you conform to the Way,

its power flows through you.

Your actions become those of nature,

your ways those of heaven.

Open yourself to the Tao

and trust your natural responses...

then everything will fall into place.

I think it's important to understand that we are part of nature.  We, who are part of nature, were created by a magnificent creator.  We have our ups and downs.  Nature around us has its ups and downs.  Weather is part of nature.

The wind is part of nature.  It blows, and it subsides.  In our lives, we have happy times.  We also have sad times.  Stuff happens!

I can tell you about all the negative events in my life.  I could sing you a song like the Blues.  My daddy, he died, duh, duh, duh, duh.  I lived in a rat-infested house, duh, duh, duh, duh.  My roof did leak, duh, duh, duh, duh.

The reality is that I have also had positive life points.  I had a loving mother.  She didn't give up my four siblings and me to foster care.  I finished high school and even got a Bachelor's degree.  I'm  married with four wonderful children.

Listen, we all have chaotic times.  We all have peaceful times.  There is an important question we must ask ourselves.  Are we going to let the bad experiences strike us so strongly?  Yes or no.

Will we keep depending on our abilities?  Will we keep pushing and pulling our way to what we think is success?  Will we keep trying to control all of the conditions in our lives?  When are we going to realize that we are limited beings?  Why fight the natural aspects of our lives?

How about depending on God?  He is the Tao--the Way and the Source of everything.  He is our Creator.  He loves us.  He wants what is best for us, and that includes trusting in Him.

God's ways are not our ways.

He is the One we should turn to when we are troubled.

Let's turn to Him.

Let's thank Him when the good things happen.

How about it, my readers?  Are you depending on your abilities to get you through the tough times?  Or are you turning to God?  I recommend going with the flow of your given situation.  For example, if someone is bad-mouthing you, keep quiet and let that person's nature run its course.

May God bless you, my beloveds, with His wisdom and peace.

This has been an entry for Wisdom Wednesdays.

 

I am currently drawing inspiration from Dr. Wayne W. Dyer's book and the 81 verses of the Chinese wisdom book the Tao Te Ching.

My Contemplation of Verse 19 of the Tao Te Ching

I contemplate the Tao Te Ching, verse by verse, with Dr. Dyer's help.

It is more important

to see the simplicity,

to realize one's true nature,

to cast off selfishness

and temper desire.

I think it is important for us to find our voice.  Our style of speaking and writing is different from that of others.  We must be true to ourselves.  We've got to do things from the heart.  We must tap into the Source (Tao-God) of our creativity.

Our true natures call out to us.  We can't quiet them down.  They are aching to come out and feel the air.  We must give in to our deepest wants and desires. 

I'm not talking about sinning.  I'm talking about what drives your passion for living.  I'm talking about what drives you to wake up in the morning.  I'm talking about something that would be work but wouldn't feel like it was work.  Can you imagine what that would be?

What is limiting you?  Is it religion?  Is it financial obligations?  Is it the legalities of your situation? 

I'm not asking you to turn on your religious beliefs.  I'm not even asking you to break the law.  I'm just asking you to cast aside the limitations of doubt and fear.    In order to be true to yourself, you have to keep to your integrity--your deep beliefs of fairness and love.  Living the life you want does not mean going against your beliefs.

That's why I'm writing this all out.  I'm living out my dream.  To write has been a burning passion in my life.  It has been a blessing when I had no one to talk to.  It's been a life saver for me.


How about your, my readers?  What is your passion?  Are you living your passion?  I challenge you to think about it seriously. 

May God bless you with His peace, my beloveds.

To read past entries about the Tao Te Ching (verses 1-15), please visit:
http://www.thoughts.com/Rebagv
The entry for verse 16 can be found here:

http://bit.ly/dRB4wH

The entry for verse 17 can be found here: 

http://bit.ly/i1R4Xa

The entry for verse 18 can be found here:

http://bit.ly/ee2qv1

I am currently drawing inspiration for Wisdom Wednesdays from Change Your Thoughts--Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao by Dr. Wayne W.