Verse 23 of the Tao Te Ching
To talk little is natural:
Fierce winds do not blow all morning;
a downpour of rain does not last all day.
Who does this? Heaven and earth.
But these are exaggerated, forced effects,
and that is why they cannot be sustained.
If heaven and earth cannot sustain a forced action,
how much less is man able to do?
Those who follow the Way
become one with the Way.
Those who follow goodness
Become one with goodness.
Those who stray from the Way and goodness
become one with failure.
If you conform to the Way
its powers flow through you.
Your actions become those of nature,
your ways those of heaven.
Open yourself to the Tao
and trust your natural responses…
Then everything will fall into place.
Lao-tzu urges us to follow the Way and to follow goodness. How true is it that those who follow goodness become goodness!! Its simple, you are what you do, you follow negativity, negative will come, you are disrespectful, disrespect will come to you, you are self-centered, and you will be all by yourself. Life will always give back what you give to it. Living as nature does is how we are supposed to live. When troubles come bend not break, for after the storm you will be standing tall once again. Nature moves along naturally nothing is forced every action is as it is supposed to be. Every reaction is in line with the Way. I think conforming to the Way is probably one of the hardest steps. First when I see the word conform or what have you I immediately feel the urge to do the complete opposite. If we live as nature does, if we flow like a river, listen more and talk less the power of the Way flows through us and with us. When our actions are one with nature we are living a Tao centered life, and our ways transform into the ways of heaven.
