May 7th (because somehow I missed posting it)

Concealment
Hide what you know.
Conceal talent.
Shield your light.
Bide your time.

Once you can follow Tao with skill, hide your abilities. Privately accumulate extraordinary knowledge and skill, but keep a plain appearance.There is great wisdom in being inconspicuous. Do not brag or try anything beyond your means. Don't let yourself become unbalanced before you have fully mastered an art. Thus, you will not be expected to use your talents on behalf of others unless you yourself volunteer, you will not become the victim of others' resentment, and the depth of your character will not be judged. When you know how to hide, you avoid the attention and scorn of others, but retain the strategic advantage of surprise. You need to do this not for personal advantage, but to manage yourself and your skills well.
Knowledge and skill are neutral. They are meant to be used. That is all. Mastery should not be used to bolster self-image. We should not allow ourselves to be categorized by what we do know. It is far better to simplify ourselves and free ourselves from the limits of tightly defined identities.

Personal Interpretation


Wise practitioners of Tao know when to act and when to hold back. They also know when to reveal their skill and when to conceal it. We should all strive to live modestly, to show the world a plain appearance, to be humbled rather than the thing that humbles. What others do not know cannot breed resentment. Concealment is also essential for good strategy. It enables us to use our skills when the situation calls for them rather than for self-glorification.. We must live our lives on our own terms and this means controlling what others know about us and our capabilities.

May 14th

Relaxation

Relaxation
Is total peace.

When you relax completely, there is total silence. No thought enters the mind, no problems arise from the body, no memories grip the spirit. This overwhelming sense of tranquility is really all meditation is about. The neutral stillness of the mind renews the tired soul, and this is regeneration.Even if you don't follow a formal meditation program, it is good to sit quietly for a little while every day. This form of rest should be as regular as sleeping each day. If you can sit still and just relax completely, you are actually meditating. All the various forms of complicated techniques and visualization exist because people can't bring themselves to this very simple state of relaxation. Their minds are constantly racing, their bodies are out of balance, and the worries of the day weigh heavily upon them. They cannot let go, so they need a formal routine to follow. But if you can simply sit down and empty yourself, you will experience a wonderful silence and a deep, satisfying sense of peace.
One should try to return to a relaxed state on a regular and periodic basis. The simple reason for relaxation is that it renews us, purifies us, and leaves us with a profound feeling of serenity. It is not a ritual. It is not a religious obligation. It is a wonderful state away from problems. In it, we are poised in our natural state.

Personal Interpretation

Relaxation is necessary for the rejuvenation of the spirit. While many complicate the concept of meditation or insist that it is an obligatory component of spiritual practice, it is in truth the natural state in which we were made to exist. It is simple and requires little more than absence of activity of mind or body. This does not make it easy. We live in a fast-paced society and most of us have difficulty disconnecting from the world. We must make an effort to do so too, if we want to avoid dangerous levels of stress and maintain our sanity. We must live in the world. There is no denying that. But as we must live in it, so must we also retreat from it on occasion.

May 13th

Cooper

Barrel maker planes staves to exact angles.
His shavings glow in the afternoon sun.
He joins fragrant wood together,
Fitting shoulders like building an arch.
Until the bands, there is no barrel.

There is no barrel until the cooper builds it. Until then, there are pieces of straight-grained wood, shavings, a round bottom, and metal bands, but there is no barrel. All parts are there, but they need to be composed in order to take shape. It is the same with the facets of our personalities. Until they are held tightly together as a single unit, there is no completeness, and usefulness will not be forthcoming.Spiritual practice can be the outside order that the personality needs. While such an order can be initially restricting, perhaps even feel artificial in its arbitrariness, it is absolutely necessary. It is a means to an end. Perhaps at the end we will not need such structure, but neither will we reach the end without the means. Before we leave the image of the barrel, there is one more thing to notice about it. A barrel encloses only one thing : void. That is the way it is with us, too. All the pieces of our personality, no matter how perfectly formed, only enclose what is inside us. All spiritual practice, while it may bind us into a cohesive whole, points to the emptiness of the center. This emptiness is not nihilism but the open possibility for Tao to enter. Only with such space will we have peace.

Personal Interpretation

Before the cooper assembles the barrel it is little more than wood and bands. It takes a skilled hand to assemble the end product, a thing that has been used for myriad purposes throughout the ages, and which, despite its usefulness, contains only void.

We are like the unassembled barrel. We need something to bring together the various aspects of ourselves. But what can do that? Spiritual practice fits the bill particularly well, and while it may seem stifling at first, it can liberate us in ways we never expected were possible. In the end, we too receptacles, containers that can only be filled once we empty ourselves. The void is so intimately connected to Tao because the former is the prerequisite for the existence of the latter. Through Tao all things are possible, and through nothingness is Tao itself rendered possible.

May 12th

Recognition


Spokes on the heavenly wheel
Keep rotation constant.

Those who follow Tao believe that Tao progresses through phases. They apply this principle to all levels of their outlook, from cosmology to the stages of growth in a person's life. On the macrocosmic level, they point to the rotation of the stars as evidence of smooth progression. In a person's life, they recognize the stages of aging beginning with childhood and ending with death.Each one of us must go from phase to phase in our development. If we stay too long in one stage, we will be warped or stunted in our growth. If we rush through a stage, then we will gain none of the rewards or learning experiences of that phase. Subsequent growth will be thrown off-balance; we will either have to go back and make it up, or, in the cases of experiences that can never be repeated, lose out on them forever. The proper discerning of these transitions is essential.
As we go through our various stages in life, it is important to mark the shift from one stage to another. Recognition is very important. We must understand that we are leaving behind one part of life and entering another. Sometimes, we mark this with a rite of passage such as graduation or marriage. At other times, it may be a personal declaration made privately. Whatever the reason, it is important to know exactly when to close one phase and when to open the next. That is why it is said that one counts the spokes on the heavenly wheel as it turns : It is the measure of our lives.

Personal Interpretation

Everything happens in phases. Learning to discern the transitions in our lives and in life is general can only serve to enlighten. And with enlightenment there can be informed action. We all go through stages as we grow. In this, we are no different than the butterfly, the mighty Oak, the Earth itself. We may operate on different scales, but we all follow the same basic order of operations. We must try not to rush through a life stage, but neither should we insist on staying when it is time to move on. We must all mature, but this is not just a matter of ages, but of acquiring wisdom. Sometimes the life events we miss out on as a result of failing to recognize a time of transition can never be repeated. Let us make the most of each moment that we are given and learn to acknowledge when it is time to move on. Even if it feels uncomfortable, it is sometimes what we need most.

May 11th

Meaning


Lightning tears temple asunder.
Divine wrath, or natural disaster?

There was a seaside temple in India that was struck by lightning. That minor storm was the vanguard to a full hurricane that eventually ravaged the entire countryside. The old temple was split from its roof line to its foundations. One entire end of the building was parted from its body like a severed head. Was this karma? Was this the punishment of the gods? Or was it simply an old building and an unfortunate accident?What you say shows your attitude about nature, reality, and whether you believe gods intervene in human affairs. If you insist that there was some reason that lightning cleaved the temple, then you live in a world where uncertainty is the by-product of some supreme being's emotional whims. If, however, you accept this incident solely as a natural disaster, then you also accept random occurrences in life. Such a viewpoint does not preclude any notion of the divine, of course. It merely states that not everything in nature is administered by some heavenly bureaucracy.
It is a simple fact that lightning split the temple. The meaning of this incident -- if there is any -- is determined by each person. One person regards it as a disaster, another as a good thing, while a third views it dispassionately. There is nothing inherent in the incident that dictates its meaning. It is enough that we all recognize that it happened.

Personal Interpretation


We are likely to witness much loss and devastation in our lives. Is it all part of some deity's plan or mere randomness? What we believe speaks measures about how we see the world and respond to crisis. It is enough for Taoists to admit that a thing happened and to attempt to move on. We don't have a profound need to know why because such resolution cannot possibly change what has happened. Ultimately, nature is not good or evil.  It simply is. Erupting volcanoes obliterate the surrounding area and also enrich the soil. Rains nourish crops and destroy homes. Nature gives and nature takes away. We must be able to respond to whatever happens. In the end, we have free will and are responsible for using it as we see fit. Our exposure to destruction is the foundation on which we can build the most meaningful lives. When we operate within a dualistic frame of mind, we may find ourselves less troubled by disaster.

May 10th

Struggle

Life acquires meaning
When we face the conflict
Between our desires
And reality.

We all have differing personalities vying for predominance in our lives. Some come out at just the right moment. At other times, our aspirations and our fondest hopes find little support in our environment. Only a few can truly say that they are living their lives exactly according to their desires. For the majority of us, life is a series of conflicts between our inner ideas and outer constrictions. How will we test ourselves against the flexing of external circumstances?Goals are important. Forbearance is also important. But the very process of struggle is equally essential. Rice must undergo the hardship of pounding in order to become white. Steel must endure the forge in order to become strong. Adversity is the tempering of one's mettle. Without it, we cannot know any true meaning in our accomplishments. Of course, when things happen without struggle, it does not mean that we did not deserve it.
A musician may compose a brilliant piece in an afternoon. An artist will dash off a masterpiece in a single sitting. A writer will write significant passages as if they were dictated. Each might say, "It happened so fast!" But in reality, it took all of them years of dedication and struggle to come to that moment of climax. Thus even the virtuoso performance is the tip of a lifetime of struggle, and the gem of meaning is set in the metal of long perseverance.

Personal Interpretation

For most of us, life is a constant struggle between our innermost desires and external constrictions. We can't always realize our dreams when we must hold down an unsavory job in order to pay the bills. We don't always have the time to devote to our pursuits when we must meet the needs of others who are dependent on us. Day-to-day life can be hectic and draining. We might often wish to do things that we simply don't have the excess energy for. Somehow, we find a way to do what we love, even if it is in short bursts, but it is often a challenge. There will of course be times when we seem to create masterpieces effortlessly, when the pieces seem to fall together without our thinking about them, when we are promoted and find ourselves doing the work we always dreamed of doing. Think of all the struggle we endured before these breakthroughs though. Even they did not truly come without conflict. The struggle is universal and eternal, and we must understand that it is what forces us to grow strong.

May 9th

Uncertainty


Kicking a pebble by the side of the road,
Watching it tumble pell-mell.
Chance and randomness become order.

There is chance in this world. Things happen randomly. When a pebble is accidentally kicked down the hill, there was no arrangement, there was no plan. It simply happened -- a colliding of bodies. Some people argue that there is order to this universe, asserting that "God doesn't play dice." What is the relationship of order and disorder?We might say that randomness becomes order. There might be an overall framework to things -- like procreation, for example -- but within that framework, we have the random combination of cells that accounts for the vigor and creativity of the system. By the same token, we may have some constants to a system, such as gravity, but within the constraints of that system, there is chance. One wonders if this means that everything tends toward disorder.
For this to be true, there would have had to be order in the first place. Where did it come from? How was it imposed? Or was there always disorder and chance inherent in the universe, and did they somehow become part of the fabric of reality? Those who follow Tao say that there is no definitive way to resolve this question. They are more interested in accepting the fact that there is always uncertainty in the universe and working with that. For them, incorporating uncertainty into life is at the heart of Tao. That is when they feel the most human.

Personal Interpretation

Uncertainty is part of life. Followers of Tao worry less about why this is so than most other spiritual adherents. They embrace the truth of chance in the universe. That is enough. But what is the relationship of order and disorder? Perhaps our understanding of chaos can come to color our worldview. Does the universe tend toward chaos? Was there once order or is chaos inherent in the design of things? Whatever decision we come to, the acknowledgement of uncertainty means that free will matters. Nothing is predetermined. It is our decisions that will ultimately determine the flow of our lives.