Tao Te Ching 6

The Tao is empty…yet inexhaustible.
It is always present within you.
You can use it anyway you want.
________________________________

We can only discover what is present within us if we are present within ourselves. What keeps us from being fully present and inexhaustible? It’s our lack of emptiness.

We’re filled with our judgments, opinions, concepts, assessments, ideas and views of the world around us, all of which have arisen in the past and are being projected into the future. Our minds are filled with past troubles and future worries; too often we’re focused on our fears – fears based on what we believe has happened to us and on what we believe may happen to us.

The inexhaustible power of “the way of life” is available to whoever makes the choice to return to the present within them.

The next time that you’re suffering or feeling dissatisfied, let go of the thoughts occupying your mind. The thoughts will still arise, but you can choose to let them come and go; you can choose not to grab hold of them. Instead, you can return entirely to the here and now and experience what is happening in the reality of the present.

Get back in touch with your breathing and the beat of your heart; get fully connected to your sitting, standing, walking or whatever else you’re doing at the moment. Touch the ground, literally and figuratively.