Tao Te Ching 16

Empty your mind of all thoughts.
Let your heart be at peace.

When you realize where you come from, you naturally become tolerant, disinterested, amused, kindhearted…dignified.

You can deal with whatever life brings you.
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There is a connection between the mind and the heart, between thinking and feeling. What we feel arises because of what we’re thinking. The Tao Te Ching invites us to return to the peaceful emptiness of non-thinking.

Non-thinking is ever present in each of us. If we can slow down a little we will see that non-thinking lies before and after each thought, and in between each word that we hear in our thoughts. We just need to open up that space and enjoy the peace that lies within it.

These teachings don’t mean that we’re to become thoughtless people. Thoughts happen, including good and productive ones. Rather, we’re being taught to know when we’re thinking, what those thoughts are, and what those thoughts aren’t. We’re being taught that the harm isn’t in the thinking, it’s in holding on to our thoughts as if they are real. We’re being invited to enjoy the freedom that comes in letting go of our thoughts long enough to become aware of what is real.

It’s in this clarity of the mind and peacefulness of the heart that we realize where we come from. We rediscover that clarity and peacefulness are our inherent nature, always awaiting our return – always present before and after the thinking that obscures that nature. In that realization we find tolerance, healthy disinterest, amusement, kindness and dignity.

With those strengths reclaimed, we can, indeed, handle whatever life brings.