The Tao simply means The Way. It is not a religion or a belief. It is a deep understanding that comes from viewing the natural processes of life on our planet: the way a flower blooms, the way an acorn bursts from a seed to become a towering oak tree, the way we all begin life as the pure potential of an embryo, full of our parents' hopes and desires for us and the promise created with our first breath. The Tao describes a way of living that expands and deepens all the things that happen between our first breath and our last: what we do while we are on this planet, who we spend our time with, and how we take care of the precious life we were given.
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The Chinese character for Tao incorporates the concept of the deepest part of our being, in alignment with the highest part of our selves. The ancients tapped into this deep awareness and alignment, which allowed them to view themselves as an integral part of the great whole. When we, too, tap into that understanding, we see that we are a microcosm of the universal forces of nature, that there is something more than ourselves. When we follow The Way, we become creation itself - something new, the fulfillment of a dream - and we abide by the same principles of physics that govern all natural things.
Taoists look at life as the miraculous intermingling of body, mind, and spirit. They believe that your body came into existence through forces beyond your control, and that your spirit - the enlivening force in everything that exists - entered the cells your parents comingled to produce your form. While your body develops according to the DNA patterning that was encoded in your embryonic cells, Taoists believe each person chooses how he or she will blossom. They believe that spirit enables us to blossom in many ways, and lets us choose which, if any, fruit we want to bear. And while our body's potential eventually is exhausted and, like autumn leaves that have fallen, our form begins to crumble, our spirit lives on in what we have created.
The Tao is the spiritual force that brings all of existence out of the void. You may want to think of it as an intelligent, creative power that caused time, form, and space to rise up when nothing in our world existed. This creative power has two polar charge: one positive, called yang, and one negative, called yin. Both are found throughout the cosmos, in all of nature, and in each of our cells.
From the Tao comes light energy that forms a network of existence. In human form this energy aligns itself horizontally and vertically. The horizontal lines determine the time/space plane that we know as our material life. The vertical lines determine our ability to ascend from lower to higher spiritual planes. The soul - which zips the spirit into material form, enabling it to manifest - arises from this "energy grid" and is integrated with the body, giving us our potential.
Though you may not think so at this point, every one of us - including you - has constant access to this potential, to the power of creation. To reach it, one turns attention within, becomes still, and merges with the limitless void each of us has in the center of our heart. When you do this you will see that you are connected to all of creation - to energy, possibilities, acceptance, and fruitfulness. As Lao Tzu, the sixth-century BC philosopher who is thought of as the founder of Taoism, wrote:
We join spokes together in a wheel,
but it is the center hole that makes the wagon move.
We shape clay into a pot,
but it is the emptiness inside that holds whatever we desire.
We hammer wood for a house, but it is the inner space that makes it livable.
We work with being,
but nonbeing is what we use.
When we are born, we begin to grow into a predetermined horizontal plane of existence. But we also have within us a spark of the Divine - some call this God, spirit, harmony, or love, whatever feels right to you - that gives us our purpose, that lets us produce and create and manifest our dreams. If we can recognize and stay connected to this spark, it will guide us upward from our pure potential to our highest calling and show us our infinite possibilities.
The creative spark within all women I call the Divine feminine potential, or "Mysterious Mother," and I consider all women fertile souls who can recognize that spark and, through it, live happily according to The Way. Though Divine connection is and has always been accessible to all, over time many of us have become disconnected: our feet bound, our hands tied, and our souls stifled under various patriarchal systems. When we stop paying attention to our spark, we eventually lose power, and become stressed, depressed, and exhausted.
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This blog will help to strengthen that connection again, help you open your eyes, your heart, and your life to its great potential. In the words of the Indian saint Aroma Chi: "The essence of motherhood is not restricted to women who have given birth; it is a principle inherent in both women and men. It is an attitude of the mind. It is love - and that love is the very breath of life."
But how exactly do we open ourselves to our potential? How can we get back on the path we slipped off when we shed our childhood innocence? If you've ever thought that life would be easier and better if only you had a road map, you can take heart, because nature did provide you with one that you can easily learn to follow. All you need to do is to follow your natural tendencies - they will lead you to where you want to go.
First, however, you must open up to receiving your new path, As we learn in the story of the Zen master who could not teach a scholar because the scholar was too full of ideas, learning to empty yourself of forced ways of being will allow you to embrace your inner spacious and open your mind to a healthier and more vital approach to life. To learn more, you can check out When Do You Try To Get Pregnant.
