The Tao of you

Tao means 'the way.' Self-directed goal-setting known in the West doesn't influence this picture.  Taoists believe that the goal will evolve without you seeking to influence it.  According to Tao, you grow to learn during each moment and each step of your existence, and have no reason to worry about creating end goals. 

Instead, you can realize that goals are waiting to be discovered in each of your experiences. In this mindset, goals are not perceived as destintations.  Rather, your own evolution is the goal which can be happening constantly.  To be living and choosing to learn is to be 'at the goal.'

The Tao of you is uncharted territory.  You have no recipe or map to guide you on this journey.  It's not possible to follow in someone else's footsteps and find your way.  As you evolve to live your life with courage and explore your unknown, you must go forth alone.  Only as you become more aware of yourself can you create your own patterns and unconditional freedom.

Taoists believe that personal freedom is desirable at the same time as they realize it has no traditional safety or security. The real way, your way isn't found in crowds, which by their nature, offer safety in numbers yet, don't compel you to seek and inquire on your own.  If you borrow someone else's truth, or conform to goals established by others, you never know you.    

Mirror of the past

The Tibetan Book of the Dead speaks of a sense of success as an ego-bound state of thoughts, speech and actions.  We undergo such a process of inner judgment while living and also dying.  Death is apparently a phase where we will have an opportunity to peer into an 'all-seeing mirror' which will reveal the consequences of all our actions. Each of us will weigh our past actions in a life-review. It is possible we will frame success differently in this existence and in others.  How we come to recognize our underlying nature, our impulses, and tendencies will supposedly enable us to come face-to-face with our individual identity. Whether or not you realize what you set out to achieve in your life will be one way you redefine success in the past, present and future.

Eyes as big as saucers?

To feel reborn in a place is a kind of re-education. You may take in your surroundings and notice details that you had missed before.  What is it that would prompt you to see life differently? If someone told you to change or that you could change, would your eyes grow as big as saucers?

Some people suddenly realize there must be more to what they had seen and done without the need for any further travel.  They describe this as a kind of awakening or revelation about details they've always known. They tell themselves they always have more to learn and still value the evolving state of their perception. As long as your mind is open, you're free to embrace learning.

What is it that would cause you to examine what you learn and how in more depth? It has been said that stepping back and increasing objectivity raises awareness and redefines education.  Consider how your own mind may limit your sense of potential before you interact in schools and learn about opportunities to perform different social roles. Were you ever told you had to follow a particular path? Did you ever feel stifled and ready to undertake something new but held back?

In order to continue raising your awareness, take time to realize societies and structures tell you what they think you should know, what they desire you believe, who they think you should be and how they think you should live. It's up to you to learn to sift through it to define your truth. 

You against them or yourself?

Who or what do you consider your opponent? Are you not ultimately competing against the core of your own nature?  As you take a closer look at the basis for your values and principles, you will realize this perceived enemy has only ever been an opponent in your mind and grew from there. 

What if you aren't really competing against anyone then? What if you simply create the illusion of competition to motivate yourself to raise your own standards?  As far as people are concerned, their behavior may evolve into the role of an opponent which is defined by your deepest fears.  After all, you may be conditioned to feel that everyone needs a role and you aim to shape them.

As your fears take shape, you may sense that something desires to conquer what you stand for.  What if you only imagined your life was a struggle and you also only imagined yourself as victim?  What if each step of your life actually enabled you to gain new insight,  strength and ideas?

Take a moment to consider that you have options to roll with life's punches, to cooperate with people, to embrace events rather than to struggle and compete against it. Consider that you're not required to condemn anyone or anything, seek revenge or retribution. What if learning about your feelings and desire to judge and criticize are all part of a process to learn to rise above it? What if controversy was concocted to provoke arguments and distract you from more meaningful pursuits?

See, speak, hear, and smell no evil

Higher forces work in mysterious ways. Recently, in the middle of the night,I was convinced that I saw a nose, a pair of eyes, an ear, and a mouth float separately by the end of my bed.  None of these parts seemed to belong to the same person. I watched the spectacle in silent apprehension, unsure if I was dreaming.

The next morning, I reflected back on the idea that I should trust my intuition and instincts about people I had met the previous day. In their own ways, they symbolized guardian angels or helpers who taught me new things about myself.  The more I thought about it, the more I realized my views about myself form my perceptions and shape what I gain from each experience.

I thought of a blond woman I had met seated in a cafe and studying Italian. This student admitted learning new things was difficult and carrying a big dictionary of knowledge was a burden, but also that her struggle was worth it. Turned out this student was moonlighting as a cafe waitress and offered me her table. I realized this was a good vantage point to remind myself who I am. I sensed all that I think, say and hear reinforce my perceptions of myself, my potential and the world.

I thought of a computer technician I had met in the city after a year working abroad. He expressed joy about his new experiences, the struggle to make money and to find another new place to live. He reminded me that I constantly seek ways to satisfy my needs when there is really nothing I have to do but live life.I realized my willingness to engage in each new experiences enables me to meet my needs. My imagination may exaggerate my irregular circumstances yet my growing ability to listen and understand is inestimable.

I thought of an Indian man I met who is concerned about his evolving long-distance relationship.  He has slowly learned he can't resolve his current fears without accepting that each decision he makes is valuable. He reminded me that assuming I ask meaningful questions about my own relationships enables me not to worry about the answers. The point is recognizing I don't know everything about the 'here and now'. I become more thankful about new obstacles that appear because they prompt my increasing self-awareness and understanding.

I sense a deeper significance of, "see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil." This phrase is often used to describe someone who wishes a difficult learning phase of a life journey was over. This phrase also reminds you how speaking ill of others may come back to haunt you. Do you wish that?

The saying is typically associated with three monkeys; one covering his eyes, one covering his ears, and the other covering his mouth that may originate in a 17th century temple in Japan. The Nikko Toshogo Shrine, also known as the Sacred Stable, in Japan has a carving of three wise monkeys. Many scholars believe the monkeys were carved as a visual representation of this key principle.

Others believe the saying originated from a Japanese play on words. “See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil," translated into Japanese is, “mizaru, kikazaru, iwazaru." The Japanese word for monkey is “saru", and sounds similar to the verb-ending “zaru". The saying may stem from a play on words.  Curiously, a Chinese Buddhist monk introduced the three wise monkeys to Japan in the eighth century A.D. Their gestures may represent the command of a blue-faced deity called Vadjra.

As it happens, we're all free to see, hear and say what we chose, provided we don't care about the consequences. They will unfold, regardless of our attitude and what we sense about them. It's up to each of us to decide whether we choose to experience any kind of conscious evolution.