Tao the Ching translates to The Classic Book of The Supreme Reality and its Perfect Manifestation, or The Book of the Way of Virtue. It contains deep wisdom in condensed form.

This short book – written by Chinese Sage Lao Tzu in the 6th century B. C. – is an ancient attempt to point us towards Truth.

Read my explanation of the 1st verse here.

VERSE 2

Everyone recognizes beauty
only because of ugliness
Everyone recognizes virtue
only because of sin

Life and death are born together
Difficult and easy
Long and short
High and low—
all these exist together
arrive together
Sound and silence blend together
Before and after

* * *

The Sage acts without action
and teaches without talking
All things flourish around him
and he does not refuse any one of them
He gives but not to receive
He works but not for reward
He completes but not for results
He does nothing for himself in this passing world
so nothing he does ever passes

Breakdown of Verse 2

Everyone recognizes beauty
only because of ugliness
Everyone recognizes virtue
only because of sin

Life and death are born together
Difficult and easy
Long and short
High and low—
all these exist together
arrive together
Sound and silence blend together
Before and after

This part explains the polarity within this world of forms. Opposites cannot exist divided. No good without bad. No life without death. No long without short.

Everything is relative, everything is paradoxical. Everything is inherently neutral.

Opposites attract, and they are born together as one. Polarities are often pulled to the extreme – forcing us to take closer look at them – before they again merge as one, returning home to the unity they never really left. This can be seen as the cyclic nature of Life. To see that every polarity is inseparable brings peace.

We live in a world of duality – we use reference points to distinguish between good and bad. But on a deeper level, everything is One.

The Sage acts without action
and teaches without talking
All things flourish around him
and he does not refuse any one of them
He gives but not to receive
He works but not for reward
He completes but not for results
He does nothing for himself in this passing world
so nothing he does ever passes

The Sage is frequently mentioned in Tao Te Ching. The Sage is someone like you and me – not a person elevated above the rest of mankind – but he or she has achieved true wisdom.

The Sage does nothing for himself in this passing world, yet he does not refuse any of the things that flourish around him.

To feel guilty about your own happiness and well-being is like saying that you are the only being not part of the rest of existence. It is the ultimate egoic statement.

Cherish anything that fills up your experience of life. If you do not refuse any of that, your sense of fulfilment starts to merge with your environment; you are expanding your personal bubble to include more than you-as-a-separate-being – you move from separation to unity.

If you have a non-separate view you can be ecstatic to give. You see that when you give, another portion of the same creation – the one you are a part of – receives. You see that what helps others is helping you, is helping everything, is helping life, is helping the Whole.

Doing things for yourself, is not doing things for yourself – it is doing things for everyone and everything.

Such an expanded point of view brings great passion that will leave a trail for others to be inspired from. It will never pass.
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Next time we’ll look at verse 3!

About the author:

Vegard Paulsen is co-founder of Global Harmony Crew; a movement to transform the world through pointing people towards realizations of Truth, and helping them manifest their lives from love and joy.

Let’s move from separation to Unity together, and wake up this world in ecstatic joy!

Subscribe to their emails and get their course “Master Your Inner Peace” for free.
Follow Global Harmony Crew on Facebook.
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Resources:
Translation of Tao Te Ching by Jonathan Star, found here.

Hand carved and formed to resemble a slab, a Himalayan salt block contains magnesium, iron, zinc and manganese. All these minerals are responsible for it’s lovely pink hue.

Trending in many kitchens worldwide, there are many creative ways to prepare or cook your vegetables, seafood, chicken and even cold dishes like sushi.

Why would you want to own one of these?

Himalayan salt is considered one of the purest forms of salt available, mined from the Himalayan mountain range. Well known as “pink gold” to the locals, it’s pollutant free and completely unrefined, relied upon since the ancient times for the human diet.

When heated, these slabs actually change color over time, very much lie a cast-iron skillet or wok which has been well seasoned with use.

Himalayan salt is rich in calcium, iron and 84 trace minerals, making this a very powerful cooking tool. Supplying our body with much needed elements, it also contains a small amount of bio available calcium, iron, potassium and magnesium. Slightly lower in sodium when compared to other regular salts makes for a healthy dose of amazing tasting food!

Amazingly, when using one of these slabs, one never over or under-seasons their food. They provide just the right amount of flavor!

Being naturally antimicrobial, this may be the safest cooking utensil one ever owns. Salt is well known to have been used throughout the ages to preserve food and kill off harmful microbes. Continue reading →

Kids are brilliant, period.

They understand the inherent truth behind the facade of society. There are dozens of videos on the internet of children speaking some serious truth that not all adults have even realized yet.

This time, this insightful girl is taking on the marketing industry. It’s no secret that toys are created specifically for a boy or a girl.

There is little in between, and we’ve created an air of shame or even disgust for children who play with the opposite gender of toys. Little boys aren’t suppose to play barbies, and little girls should never play with cars, right?

Actually, it’s fundamentally wrong.

Colors don’t hold genders and types of toys or clothing don’t have a gender; they never will. This all exists simply for marketing and to continue old traditions of gender roles in our society.

We’re taught girls are naturally submissive, serving and like the color pink while boys are aggressive, dominant and are represented by the color blue.

These are all societal constructs that box us into specific categories so we can create a sense of normality for everyone to follow. If you don’t follow these rules, then you aren’t normal and something is ‘wrong’ with you.

Children know gender doesn’t have a personification. Gender is fluid, ever changing and definitely can’t be represented by two colors.

This girl named Riley knows exactly what’s up; we need parents who are open minded and allow their children to discover the truth. Props to this girls parents for allowing her to speak her truth, she is a light we need in this world.

Recently, a friend of mine wrote about her beautiful Ayahuasca experience, and all it entailed, from start to finish. It made me think about my own Ayahuasca journey, and how much effort I put into preparing myself for what was to come.

One of my favorite books is Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations. Aurelius was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD. He is considered the last of the five good emperors and an important Stoic Philosopher. Marcus Aurelius’ quotes reveal some timeless truths of life that we all can benefit from.

1 – The Time for Action Is Always Now

“Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.”

Your actions speak louder than words. We can intellectualize forever what we should do, but action is the true gold.

“You suffer justly if you choose to become good tomorrow rather than to be good today.”

2 – Integrity Is a Treasure

“Never esteem anything as of advantage to you that will make you break your word or lose your self-respect.”

Always do what you know is right. Then nothing can harm you.

3 – Build a Haven of the Mind

“Nowhere can man find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in his own soul.”

Inner peace is always accessible within. Continue reading →