I have been studying Daoist philosophy for 26 years. I often read the Tao Te Ching (Dao De Jing) book. Every time I read it; I gain another layer of understanding of the true meaning of the Dao. With an understanding of the deep meaning of the Dao, a sense of peace can be found.
The world is changing; some things are good, some are not so good, and some are very bad, such as war. We sometimes feel hopeless or helpless; other times, we feel anger or sadness. How can we deal with this? One thing we need to do is to keep our inner peace with Dao and Qi practice. As I continue practicing Qi Gong, the Dao must be present to keep my inner peace.
I want to share a sample chapter with you. I hope you may enjoy it and benefit from it.
Tao Te Ching, Chapter 2, Recognizing Dualities
By Lao Tzu
When all people know beauty as beauty, ugliness exists.
When all people know good as good, evil arises.
Thus, being and non-being generate each other.
Difficult and easy complement each other.
Long and short form each other.
High and low support each other.
Tone and voice harmonize each other.
First and last follow each other.
So, the sage acts by doing nothing,
Teaches without speech,
All things arise but he doesn’t originate them.
He works without expectation.
Accomplishes without taking credit.
Because he takes no credit,
The credit remains with him.
“One of the keys to Daoist thought is the recognition of dualities. All processes have active and passive principles. All physical conditions have opposites. Most failures come from thinking of the dualities as polarities. Instead of seeing active and passive aspects of action as complementary, we label one as good, automatically making the other bad, and try to ignore or eliminate the other. This makes no more sense than trying to cut a magnet in two to remove one of the poles.” …. by Jerry Dalton, Tao Te Ching A New Approach- Backward down the Path.
Each of us has a choice about how we live. Some people choose to work hard and make more money, others choose to work and follow their passion regardless of if making more money or not. Some people choose a lifestyle that has minimum stress. Unfortunately, stress is everywhere in this new world and is getting worse. The only way is to create a defense system to destress. If you choose to live in a peaceful environment and minimum stress, you will need to find a way to create your internal peace and let go of the past, stress, anxiety, and fear.
At the Tai Chi & Qi Gong Healing Institute we offer free monthly Dao study and discussions which is open to members and non-members. This activity has helped many members, including myself, with less stress, better emotions, better energy, and a better way of seeing the world and life. Please get in touch with me if you would like to participate in one of our meetings at the Tai Chi & Qi Gong Healing Institute.
The above is an original article by Dr. Aihan Kuhn, which appeared in her April 2024 “Natural Healing Newsletter”, reprinted by permission. Dr. Kuhn is also the author and co-author of many books discussing Western and Eastern medicine for optimal health.
