Taoism and Lao Tzu
Many people believe that nature and the vibrations of the universe can respond to our most positive and dominant desires. They think that if we listen closely, these entities, often called spirits, will respond to us. 
This often involves using what’s referred to as our “whole mind”, which we can access by quieting our thoughts so we can truly hear them. It’s here that we seek illumination and can begin to understand the role of the “immortality of spirit”. That all things are in the process of rising and returning. Stop for a moment and think what this means.
I like to think of this as nature’s ultimate role, where everything moves through its cycle and returns to its beginnings. Plants reach their peak by flowering, producing seeds to carry on their kind, and those seeds fall, sprout, and take root, thereby keeping the cycle going season after season.
The eternal spirit is always changing and expanding so that the truest and most lasting version of itself endures and to what following the teachings of the ancient shaman and following the cosmos tell us. This is meant to include us as well and why our diversity is our ultimate strength and becomes so essential in our becoming the highest version of us…
Watching this unfold feels like witnessing pure tranquility, as if we intuitively sense that nature’s destiny and our own role is secure. In a way, the plants become immortal. 
That’s why we call them heirloom—something that has been cherished and passed down as spirit through friends and family for generations.
To what immortality means as having a long ever-changing and ever renewing life that fits into this flow that remains authentic to its beginnings and origins.
Life is about finding the most authentic version of the story for each of us. We may share stories over eons of time; however, my story cannot be your story just as your story cannot be mine. Holding onto the memories, relationships, and traits that feel timeless, letting hindsight and virtue bring clarity, and using those as guideposts that gently push spirit/us toward the next inevitable step.
If we don’t know who we are or where we’ve been, it’s hard to choose or know the right path toward the harmony and peace that leads us home and to our destiny. It’s about recognizing the paradox of personal limitations designed to lead us toward spiritual growth, reaching what we call our “whole mind”. From where our highest aspirations emerge and continue to evolve as the continuation of spirit expressing our own growth and why we are here.
Before we go on with Verse number 8 of 81, it’s worth noting that the title of the book we’re adding commentary to—Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching—is my own version, titled “Thoughts on Becoming a Sage: The Guidebook to Leading a Virtuous Life”. It’s important to note that Lao Tzu wrote the Tao Te Ching in the sixth century BC.
Verse 8 – Taking Shape while Remaining Shapeless
Travel as if you were water taking on every shape that comes your way as you give life to everything and everyone you touch and meet. Conveying the eternal spring that comes forth from you each day as if you were just passing by.
Being content to remain at the bottom of all things – free from blame. Avoiding competition while maligning no one.
Choosing humility and that which no one else chooses to do.
Travel like water as if approaching the unattainable Tao. Remaining clear and deep. Yet constantly emptying to give life to others. Reflecting but remaining pure as you cleanse all that you touch. Having no purpose of you own, assisting truth and helping others to find their natural way as if you were all encompassing, but not really here.
第8节 无形之中要有形
你象流水般到处漫游，遇河成河，入溪化溪，给遇到的万物和众人以生命。
仿佛你刚刚路过，每天传递永恒的春天。甘做万物之底，就不会遭人指责。不要诽谤别人，避免竞争。
保持仁爱，为他人之不为。
象流水那样漫游，走向那似乎不可接近的道，清如镜，深如渊。保持持久的虚空，赋予众人以生命，出泥而不染。不要别有用心，维护真理，帮助别人寻找自然之路，你似乎就在附近，但实际上不在这里。
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