Tao Te Ching 48

In the pursuit of knowledge, every day something is added. In the practice of the Tao, every day something is dropped. Less and less do you need for force things, until finally you arrive at non-action. When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.

True mastery can be gained by letting things go their own way. It can’t be gained by interfering. ______________________________________________________

I rarely meet someone who doesn’t quickly embrace the idea of simplicity. We live complicated lives that exhaust us and often leave us in turmoil. Simplicity offers peace. The path to simplicity is simple – every day, something is dropped. True knowledge teaches us what to drop. So we pursue knowledge, adding to our understanding of what matters and what does not matter, so that we may step away from the unnecessary and the inappropriate.

One day we arrive at a point where we no longer feel like we have to act on life. We no longer arise each day to our “must do” list. We no longer interfere in the lives of others. We even stop getting in the way of our own life.

We arise for the purpose of living the life that is presented to us each morning. When that day comes we will find that nothing is left undone, which is what we’ve been seeking all along.