Wayne Dyer on the Tao Te Ching

A few of my favorite things:

Wayne Dyer, in case you haven’t heard of him or seen his profound specials on PBS, is one of our great modern spiritual teachers. I’d seen his books long before I ever heard him speak or saw him on TV. Suffice to say, his quiet and humble teachings inspire me, always giving me a different and more empowering way to look at things. If you have 10 minutes or so, check out this short clip from his PBS special, “The Power of Intention.” You’ll probably want to see more:

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In fact, it was while listening to one of his cassettes (yes, that relic of audio recording from last century) that I first heard of the Tao Te Ching (pronoucned Dow Deh Ching).

The Tao Te Ching is a book of ancient Chinese wisdom, written probably about 6,000 BC by Lao Tzu. Having read it multiple times now, I can see how its language and poetry might seem nonsensical to some people; for me, I always feel like its wisdom bypasses my logical mind and implants itself directly into my soul. I always feel peaceful when I read it — which, for me, is plenty reason enough to read it over and over again. For instance, from the Gia Fu-Feng/Jane English translation:

Eleven
Thirty spokes share the wheel’s hub;
It is the center hole that makes it useful.
Shape clay into a vessel;
It is the space within that makes it useful.
Cut doors and windows for a room;
It is the holes which make it useful.
Therefore benefit comes from what is there;
Usefulness from what is not there.

So anyway: Not long ago, Dyer published his own teaching guide of the Tao Te Ching. And I found this short sampling of it over on BeliefNet. I hope you like it, and I hope it brings some calm to your life as it does to mine. Here’s the link again:

Wayne Dyer’s 10 Ways to Go with the Flow