Who was Lao Tzu?

Lao Tzu is the supposed author of the Tao Te Ching, one of the greatest books of wisdom. There is no proof that he was ever born, founded Taoism, or wrote the book. Here is the legend:

Some say that on the 14th of September 604 BC, Lao Tzu was born. His mother had carried him for 81 years (I love Conor, but no WAY) so at birth he had white hair, large ears, and could walk and talk. Hysterical that the ears are mentioned, its not wild enough that he was born at 81 but his large ears are noted?

His name means Old Wise One. He was born wise and already knew the magic arts of energy, medicine, healing, longevitiy, clairvoyance, protection and transcendence. And he could talk to the animals. Conor might become a Taoist master if they can teach that.

I want to write a bit about the magic arts. I think it is very interesting that the 7 arts are all based in energy and knowledge. I believe we can all learn these arts, actually I think we are born knowing these arts but our lives and environment bring in stress (or truthfully we allow in) anxiety, greed, etc and these over ride our natural inclination. As we get older we try to release the negativity but we have grown so used to them we are scared of becoming or being perceived as weak, or we worry about losing friends, respect, possessions. I think we can get back to basics, but even as I write this I don't do daily meditation. My mornings are spent thinking what I have to accomplish. Work is more important because it pays the bills, or having a clean house, or lots of other things when I KNOW I could make time for it but don't. This is why I am starting this and making it public. Knowing others are doing it too helps me stay focused.

Ok, back to the legend. When Lao Tzu was asked how he found the Way to Heaven (Tao te Ching), he said "I made a great effort: I tried and tried and tried to find it, but I couldn't. Then one day as I was sitting under a tree, a dry leaf fell, slowly moving with the wind. the wind moved north; the leaf moved norht; the wind moved south; the leaf moved south; then the wind stopped-and the leaf fell down and rested beautifully on the earth. Then again there was some wind and again the leaf rose high in the sky. Suddenly I became that dry leaf; and suddenly I understood the Way To Heaven. No longer was I separate from Heaven, but I was a part of Heaven. Wherever Heaven went, I went. If it changed its mind, I changed my mind. If it stopped, I stopped. If it flowed, I flowed. And that is how I found the Way."

Back to me. This paragraph had a HUGE impact on me. This simple story implies that by going with the flow it is all good. Think about that, if we just went with what was happening in our lives and not fighting it - no stress, no issues, etc. Sadly I had an opportunity to practice this and I failed miserably. I was doing a favor for an acquaintance, which I offered to do and I received absolutely no appreciation, instead I got phone calls wanting more, no thank yous just earlier deadlines. Now if you offer to do something out of the goodness of your heart you should not be looking for accolades. However my ego was hurt and I was pissed. I kept thinking- this is how it is meant to be, learn from this. I did learn a lesson on making sure I show appreciation to others regardless of the task, but I still bitched. If I had just bean the leaf, did what I offered to do, understood where that person was coming from (a place of panic), I would have still ended up in the same place but without the aggravation.

One of my favorite lines from a movie is from Evan Almighty, where the wife is asking for help and God says, "If someone prays for patience, do you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If they pray for courage, does God give them courage, or does he give them opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for their family to be closer, you think God zaps them with warm, fuzzy feelings? Or does he give them opportunities to love each other?" I had an opportunity to release and flow on the wind and missed it. The great thing about God - more chances.

And the legend continues....
Some consider Lao tzu the greatest teacher of all time. He had many disciples, whom he taught Heaven's way by example and silent meditation. He said, "The truth that can be told is not the real truth; the truth that can be told becomes untrue immediately." This is the first verse of the Tao and one I have trouble with. Other translations of verse 1 are: The ways that can be walked are not the eternal Way; The Tâo that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Tâo. I can't wrap my head around this. The best I can come up with is that anything that has rules, instructions, guidelines and consequences for not following them is not being the leaf. The leaf is in complete harmony with the wind. It doesn't have to do anything for the wind to carry it, there are no regulations to follow, it just happens. My Irish Catholic mind is totally blown!

At 160 Lao Tzu had seen enough corruption and decline to make him want to leave and live his life in peace elsewhere. As he tried to enter a pass, a guard stopped him and refused him passage until he wrote his teachings. For 3 days he wrote the Tao te Ching and then departed.

There are 81 verses in the Tao, as there were 81 years in Lao when he was born. You can also use the 8 as a symbol if infinty and the number 1 as togtherness - so we are all 1 in infinity.

Starting tomorrow our journey begins.....
I think it is going to be one hell of a ride!