Shine Bright Like a Diamond

He had been abused and trampled upon for a long time by people he thought were his friends. All his dreams were at risk of crashing. He would have thrown in the towel a long time ago had it not been for his children. One look at their innocent and hopeful faces and he re-doubles his efforts. "I will be damned if this movie repeats itself for another generation", he says to himself. So he keeps on laboring, keeps on pushing with a force that can literally move mountains. The wheels of the Universe respond to his incredible magnetism; the odds of success move from impossible to unavoidable without even stopping at improbable.

Many philosophers have speculated on the will. Why is it that some people keep going whole others fold like plastic chairs. We are all divine, but where we differ is the environment we operate in, as well as in our starting point. The soul is the accumulated longing of the "I" that had to sign up for this movie for eons. Under extreme heat and pressure coal turns into a diamond that is beautiful to behold. Sufferance is meaningless and should be avoided period. But when you are faced with unavoidable pressure cooker situations what else can you do but dive right in and create the beautiful diamond you are born to be.

Finding Serenity under Pressure

How do you feel about your life right now?  Do you feel stressed out by all the stuff that accumulates throughout the day; the work, the chores, or working out some rocky relationships? Do you feel your health is deteriorating? Do you feel like you are always running behind, never able to keep up with everything that is coming your way?  Do you feel a constant pressure and don't experience any fun at all?

 A depression is a darkness of expectation, a complete slump of energy. You somehow feel overwhelmed by the tasks at hand, with no relief in sight. You feel that life exerts constant pressure. All your attention is on duties and responsibilities, and you completely forget to focus on the incredible upside that slumbers inside of you. It must have happened to you that you suddenly felt that surge in energy inside of you and with that little energy kick all the problems vanished almost effortlessly. Yet these energy bursts feel sporadic to you and when you are dragged down by life's relentless attacks you can't even remember them.

We think the Tao can help you! Take pride and joy in facing everything that comes your way; consider every task, small and big, as a present you send to yourself to help you succeed. The German poet Goethe once said, "Even with stones that someone put in your way you can build something nice." That's indeed how the Tao works. There is no good nor bad along the Way, there is only the path that helps you discover who you truly are. Find the upside in everything that comes your way and you will find it!

The other energy booster is meaning. They say that you can bear almost any pain as long as it is meaningful. Well, we don't want you to experience any pain, we want you to have fun along the Way instead. Still, the same principle applies. Find meaning in what you do and discover a boundless energy source. Always remind yourself what each situation is for and see how the necessary energy to get the job done will be at your disposal.

Remind yourself of your mission and your life will be so much more purposeful; study the Tao at work and you will have so much fun. But then, if at some point resentment, pressure and anxiety do overwhelm you, that's ok too. That is what we all experience from time to time, just remember that you can always snap out of it. Your fears and restlessness are the impostors; serenity and peace is your natural state that you always can return to.  May peace be with you!

By Christian and Su Zhen

Let the Tao Help You Find True Success

Are you driven to achieve something? Have you ever asked yourself why are you so driven to do these things? Why do you work so hard? What is it really that you want to get in the end, and are you happy doing these things? Most people are driven to achieve something. We have seen so many people work so hard to the point that they torture themselves and others in the process. Have you ever asked yourself why this is the case? Do you really enjoy it, or are you perhaps driven by subconscious processes that are out of your control.

Isn’t that sad that you work so hard all your life only because you are out to prove something to yourself and others? Don't get us wrong, spiritual path travelers also have to work quite hard at times when the situation demands it. But there is an underlying serenity, a feeling that everything is perfect as is, and we don't put pressure on ourself and others. We just float along a strong flow that prevails at the time. The big question though, how exactly do you get there? If you just say 'I must not be competitive!" or "I must not hunger after power!" you are not solving anything.

Sometimes people have no idea about the true motivation behind their actions. They may have a vague idea that they want to succeed, that they want to be rich, that they want to be admired, that they want to be smart, but have no idea of what the real reasons behind it are. Can you imagine that you may have been teased as a child and now you hunger after power to compensate for it. Your father may have been out of a job for a couple of years and now you aspire to become the best surgeon in the world to erase the family shame. You may not consider yourself as very smart and now you put all the pressure on your daughter to get her admitted to Harvard. Or you may still carry a scar from a previous life so you were literally born with a drive to succeed that no one, including yourself, really understands.

A spiritual path often starts because you literally lose direction somewhere. Old goals that were so meaningful before suddenly have lost their attraction. If this happens to you, congratulation, we think that you are connecting with your potential to be truly successful. Most of us only start our spiritual journey when we feel lost and when we rightly conclude, there must be another way!

This loss motivates us to launch this journey to find out who we truly are and what we truly want. In this process, we start to take off layers and layers of expectations from our society, parents and friends until we get in touch of who we truly are. We are totally fresh and reborn. With our curious eyes we are able to see a new world and launch a journey in a totally different direction. We are light and fast because we carry no longer any baggage. At that stage you will find a friend, a guiding light, who you have overlooked all your life because you were too busy to look elsewhere.

The Tao can help you find your natural connection with others while avoiding the ones which are built on power games and hierarchy. The Tao can teach you how to find that natural flow of things, the presence of hard work without any pressure, as well as the flow of give and take of friends at work with a loving and serene mind set.

We hope you do really can express yourself when you are working. Work can and should be a joy. When you are really in tune with what you are doing you see the beauty of the Tao in action. Priceless connections with others manifest themselves, creativity flows out of you and become a fountain of love and joy. The trick is to know that you are successful already. You don't have to prove anything to yourself and others at all. Your success shines through and when you believe it others will acknowledge it. Your success is simply natural.

Find out what you truly love and want and let the Tao help you manifesting it. The Tao is a new perspective, it is a new way of looking at the world. As you stop looking for the glitter on the horizon you start seeing that you are standing on pure gold already. But you have to be empty inside. Let the Tao help you with this. You don't have to drop everything and become a monk in Tibet. All you have to do is to figure out what you truly love and the Tao will  show you how to find true love in the process. It is as imple as that. You will have a lot of fun and joy discovering who you truly are.

By Su Zhen and Christian

Under Pressure

Have you observed how insanely people can act when they are under pressure? Apparently there is the famous straw that breaks the camel's back. Just remember when you see a brother or sister acting insanely that this could be you, so please be kind. Also, all insane behavior has a clear message for you. The louder the voice, the more urgent your response needs to be. You or your temporarily insane brother or sister have chosen this high pressure environment for a reason, namely to bring the demon out in the open. 

As the Course in Miracles states "Pain thresholds can be high, but they a not limitless. Eventually, everyone realizes, however dimly, that there must be a better way." High pressure environments as well as insane behaviors serve a function, namely to reach this mental inflection point. Be kind to those who need your help right now and remember, this might just be the right environment to make a new start and turn your life around in a new and spiritually meaningful direction.