Ancient Wisdom of the Tao Te Ching – Lao Tzu Quotes

Ancient Wisdom of the Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu Quotes | Third Monk image 12

Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching is cherished for it’s ability to suggest, rather than command a way to find one’s path to beauty, goodness, and high quality of life.

Lao Tzu’s words resonate now as before. One who can follow his teachings will discover the secret to lasting happiness.

Take a moment and contemplate the truth in his words.

lao_tse-Tao Te Ching

About the Self

When you are content to be simply yourself
and don’t compare or compete, everyone will respect you.

Knowing the constant, we accept things as they are.
By accepting things as they are, we are impartial.
By being impartial, we are part of the Nature.
By being a part of the Nature, we are one with Tao.
Tao is eternal, and we survive physical death.

lao-tzu-quotes-Tao Te Ching

He who conquers others is strong;
he who conquers himself is mighty

Knowing others is intelligence;
knowing yourself is true wisdom.
Mastering others is strength;
mastering yourself is true power.
If you realize that you have enough, you are truly rich.

Tao Te Ching

He who stands on tiptoe
doesn’t stand firm.
He who rushes ahead
doesn’t go far.
He who tries to shine
dims his own light.
He who defines himself
can’t know who he really is.
He who has power over others
can’t empower himself.
He who clings to his work
will create nothing that endures.

If you want to accord with the Tao,
just do your job, then let go.

polarity - Tao Te Ching

Non-attachment

The Master has no possessions.
The more he does for others,
the happier he is.
The more he gives to others,
the wealthier he is.

Tao Te Ching quote

Be totally empty,
embrace the tranquility of peace.
Watch the workings of all creation,
observe how endings become beginnings.

All creatures in the universe
return to the point where they began.
Returning to the source is tranquility
meaning submitting to what is and what is to be.

To understand the limitation of things,
desire them.

If you try to change it,
you will ruin it.
Try to hold it,
and you will lose it.

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If you realize that all things change,
there is nothing you will try to hold on to.
If you are not afraid of dying,
there is nothing you cannot achieve.

If good happens, good;
if bad happens, good.

Universal truth Tao Te Ching

Universal Truths

The Tao that can be told
is not the eternal Tao.
The name that can be named
is not the eternal Name.

The gentle overcomes the rigid.
The slow overcomes the fast.
The weak overcomes the strong.

Everyone knows that the yielding overcomes the stiff,
and the soft overcomes the hard.
Yet no one applies this knowledge.

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Mastery of the world is achieved
by letting things take their natural course.
If you interfere with the way of Nature,
you can never master the world.

In harmony with the Tao,
the sky is clear and spacious,
the earth is solid and full,
all creatures flourish together,
content with the way they are,
endlessly repeating themselves,
endlessly renewed.

When man interferes with the Tao
the sky becomes filthy,
the earth becomes depleted,
the equilibrium crumbles,
creatures become extinct.

zen_walkway Tao Te Ching

General Wisdom

The flame that burns Twice as bright
burns half as long.

My teachings are easy to understand
and easy to put into practice.
Yet your intellect will never grasp them,
and if you try to practice them,you’ll fail.

My teachings are older than the world.
How can you grasp their meaning?

If you want to know me,
Look inside your heart.

steps-and-Tao Te Ching

Give evil nothing to oppose
and it will disappear by itself.

When goodness is lost there is morality.

There is no greater misfortune
than not knowing what is enough.
There is no greater flaw
than wanting more and more.

Whoever knows contentment
is blissful at all times.

LaoTzu (1) Tao Te Ching

Do you have the patience to wait
until your mud settles,
and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving
until the right action
arises by itself?

The best leaders are those their people hardly know exist.
The next best is a leader who is loved and praised.
Next comes the one who is feared.
The worst one is the leader that is despised …

The best leaders value their words, and use them sparingly.
When they have accomplished their task,
the people say, “Amazing!
We did it, all by ourselves!”

 A great nation is like a great man:
When he makes a mistake, he realizes it.
Having realized it, he admits it.
Having admitted it, he corrects it.
He considers those who point out his faults
as his most benevolent teachers.
He thinks of his enemy
as the shadow that he himself casts.

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Lao Tzu Tao and Wu Wei on Audiobook

Surreal Looking Travel Spots (Photo Gallery)

Surreal Looking Travel Spots (Photo Gallery) | Third Monk image 10

Here is a list of travel locations that look so unreal, you’ll wish you had a teleportation machine equipped with cannabis and shrooms.

Crystal Cave – Skaftafell, Iceland

surreal-travel-spot-crystal-cave-icelandCreated by the awesome forces of the Vatnajvkull ice cap in the south of the volcanic island, the deep blue cave was formed by the glacier meeting the coastline.

The centuries old ice that has come from the slopes of 6,921 feet tall Vrffajvkull, Iceland’s tallest active volcano, has compressed all air out of the ice adding to the texture and color of the cave.

 

Mt. Roraima, Venezuela

surreal-travel-spot-mt-roraima-venezuelaThe mountains of this range, including Roraima, are considered to be some of the oldest geological formations known, some dating back to two-billion years ago. Its near daily rains have also created a unique ecosystem which includes several endemic species, including a unique carnivorous pitcher plant, and some of the highest waterfalls in the world.

 

Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

surreal-travel-spot-salar-de-uyuniSalar de Uyuni is the world’s largest salt flat. The area, some 11,985 feet above sea level, is always a tourist playground, with salt hotels and hot springs serving as major attractions.

 

Zhangye, China

surreal-travel-spot-zhangye-chinaEarly landscape formation joined together all the rock layers of colors imaginable in one place, specifically in the area known as Zhangye Danxia, thus achieving what is perhaps the greatest gathering of different pigments in natural stone in the world.

 

The Stone Forest – Yunnan, China

surreal-travel-spot-stone-forest-yunnan-chinaThe Stone Forest is a notable set of limestone formations located in Yunnan Province, China. The tall rocks seem to emanate from the ground in the manner of stalagmites, with many looking like petrified trees thereby creating the illusion of a forest made of stone. 

 

Lake Retba – Senegal

surreal-travel-spot-lake-retba-senegalThe bizarre pink color of Lake Retba is caused by Dunaliella salina, a type of halophile green micro-algae, that is found in the water.  The high salt content of the lake means that not only is there a booming salt collecting industry on its banks, but like the Dead Sea, you are able to float in it.

 

Grand Prismatic Spring – Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

surreal-travel-spot-grand-prismatic-spring-yosemiteGrand Prismatic Spring has the distinction of being the park’s largest hot spring. It measures approximately 370 feet (112.8 m) in diameter and is over 121 feet (37 m) deep. A hot spring is an area where heated water can easily rise through cracks and fractures in the earth’s surface.

The breathtaking colors are attributed to the various species of thermophilic bacteria living in the spring. The blue water in the center is very hot, but it may support chemotrophic life – a chemotroph is an organism that uses chemicals for a source of energy. As you move farther from the heat source of the spring, life begins to flourish. The cyanobacteria – aquatic photosynthesizing bacteria – that live at the edges of Grand Prismatic Spring cover the color spectrum including yellow, green, orange, red, and brown.

 

Door to Hell – Derweze, Turkmenistan

surreal-travel-spot-Derweze-TurkmenistanThe Door to Hell is a natural gas field in Derweze (also spelled Darvaza, meaning “gate”), Ahal Province, Turkmenistan. The Door to Hell is noted for its natural gas firing which has been burning continuously since 1971, fed by the rich natural gas deposits in the area. The pungent smell of burning sulfur pervades the area for some distance.

 

The Richat Structure – Mauritania

surreal-travel-spot-richat-structure-MauritaniaRichat Structure is not the site of an ancient meteor crater, as many people originally postulated. These concentric circles are actually alternating layers of sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous rocks that were pushed upward in a symmetrical anticline, geologic dome, from below due to a small incursion of magma. The structure is a deeply eroded. The sedimentary rock exposed in this dome range in age from Late Proterozoic (2.5 billion years) within the center of the dome to Ordovician (480 million years) sandstone around its edges.