I like the phrase that we are to hold ourselves in high esteem. Not from an outward ego point of view, but the opposite. That looking outwardly is nothing, that all comes from within. The Taoist looks within and finds the whole cosmos and the purpose of life. When he looks outward, he sees a world of those striving for purpose and things that don’t contribute to his, or our ultimate journey. Looking inward, consists of transforming his whole body into an eternal vehicle for his spirit, or soul. With all three, the physical, mental, and spiritual, playing an equal role in consciousness.
The Taoist sage could expect to spend years studying before any glimmering of understanding could reach him. His study usually requiring a thorough understanding of history and how “things” he sees and does fit into a pattern consisting of going through the motions of what life brings. Learning how to both respect and best respond to them as though the Tao, and ancient mentors, are guiding him through the rough current he finds in what life brings him. But first we must have a starting point, seeing beyond the present to beginnings, even to the stars and to nature. Gaining an understanding that man, and he, are simply one of what could be called the ten thousand things. Before defining his role, he must first seek what could be called or made of his highest endeavors as simply a microcosm of the universe itself.
It’s one thing for the words of those who came before us to pass through us. It’s quite another to live within the context of our own memories, and what they are here to remind and teach us. That there is an eternal path or way we are meant to travel. What Taoism teaches us is that Tao is the source of all things, the origin before origin and the uncreated that creates everything. It is the eternal ultimate, beyond time. That everything in nature is designed to exist in a state of mutual dependence and complimentary opposites.
As we strive to harness and refine our own attributes, we are called to cultivate and nurture them for benefit of all things found in nature, be they birds, bees, flowers, trees, etc., etc., etc… That there is a triad of Heaven, Earth, and Humanity which is the form by which all things come into actual existence. With all things being of equal importance and none greater than the next.
If we wish to perceive ourselves as having a “personal God who looks after us”, we must appreciate that He/She is not solely watching over us and as we learned in the song “He’s got the whole world in His hands”. Removing our ego from this we can say “We have the whole world in our hands”. That we are all on the road to self-expression as nature in-turn expresses itself. The Tao represents the eternal ultimate, surpassing even Unity and Oneness. It transcends language, which attempts to express the inexpressible, and manifests in more visible aspects, embodying the Unity and interconnectedness of all life and the path, or way, through which the Tao moves and creates both the material and spiritual worlds. Any notion of a god serves merely as a symbol, personifying these Taoist principles.
My travels with Lieh Tzu / Interpolations along the Way
Chapter Two – The Yellow Emperor
29. Traveling with Ease
Know that anyone who can swim can steer the boat. Simply because he takes the water lightly as he forgets the water’s presence. That a diver could handle the boat having never seen it before. Because the depths under it are as dry land and the boat tipping would be no worse than a cart tipping over. 
An ancient junk, or boat, from the Confucius Temple in Qingdao
Though ten thousand ways in which the cart may slip may exist, they never enter his mind. Therefore, he travels with ease wherever he goes. Gambling for tiles you play skillfully. For the shirt on your back and your confidence is gone. For gold you are lost. You have not lost your skill, but in holding yourself back you have given weight to something outside yourself becoming inwardly clumsy.
The Tao teaches to simply know without knowing. Until what you do outwardly is but the reflection of what you already have come to know inwardly. Simply as an extension of yourself.
Fear never entering the picture as neither success nor failure can matter in the end. Since neither can outweigh the other, the consequences are irrelevant making your actions truly non‑existent. Being non‑existent one becomes one with the water. Steering the boat with ease. As what can occur but the extension of us in the only way that could happen.
As with the cart slipping backward. How could this ever occur? As it is not an option that can enter your mind. You have become one with the path you now follow so the cart can only naturally follow behind with ease. Simply found and seen to be following Lieh Tzu with ease. 1/22/95
Number twenty-nine of one hundred fifty-eight entries.
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