Masters of Life

When people see some things as beautiful,

other things become ugly.

When people see some things as good,

other  things become bad.

What is a good man but a bad man's teacher?

What is a bad man but a good man's job?

(Tao Te Ching)

What exactly constitutes a "good" life? If you only hang out with "good" people? When you are "successful"? When you are happy, surrounded by light, and when everything you do comes easy to you?

Observe how your belief system of what is "good" limits you. People shouldn't get fired, right? But what if they tell you seven years later that their professional move was the best thing that ever happened to them? Marriage shouldn't break, but what if both partners afterwards discover their true soul partner? Once you define what is good, you automatically reject its mirror image. But if life keeps on exposing you to the other side, than that's where your struggle comes from. You can let go of the struggle once you let go of your notion of what is "good" and "bad". Welcome everything that comes your way without classifying it.

Even when you walk a spiritual path you are still caught in the duality of life. Yet, the Tao is a feedback mechanism. When you still struggle at times you ask why, and the Tao promptly sends you answers. Christian derives his energy from sunlight; Su Zhen loves rain and storms. You need all weather conditions and all seasons to sustain and nourish life. The Tao gives you a lesson plan in wholeness. "Foes" from a previous life either disappear naturally as you grow along the Way, or you start recognizing them as your mirror image. Along the Way there are no foes, only spiritually meaningful people.

In the beginning it takes conscious practice to open up to all aspects of life. Where in the past you instinctively shied away from an experience or blocked it out altogether, you now experience a blow. But this is just a sensation and as you stand there open to whatever may come your way you realize how your assessment of events is changing with it. A Tao master can see the dynamics behind everything. The acceleration already implies its peak, just as the plateau already foretells the next climb. The pleasurable event can bring decay, just as a painful procedure can heal you. Our life is always in transition, be open to everything and observe how your evaluation changes along the away. Soon enough everything just is.

William Shakespeare once said, "Nothing is either good or bad; only thinking makes it so." He must have been a wise man. Along the Tao you don't think, you live instead. As you keep opening up to everything life brings your way, you find yourself in tune with it: you are in accordance with the people around you; you are in harmony with the moods of your environment, and you are synchronized with the changes that lie ahead. As you accept life as it is, you in fact become a master of life. 

By Christian and Su Zhen