In the Tao We Trust

Ori and Rom Brafman describe in their book 'Sway' an experiment in which students are given a placebo with the promise that it would boost their mental power. Indeed, students who got this 'wonder drug' at a healthy price performed better in a test than a control group without this drug. A funny twist in the experiment was that when the same students got the placebo with the information that it is available at a steeply discounted price, they performed worse - even worse than the initial control group. The only explanation of this finding is therefore that 'reality' is pretty much an outcome of your own expectation about it.

Have you ever observed for yourself the difference between trust and doubt? Have you observed when you are starting to lose trust in your own ability or in other people's abilities, and just as this suspicion is creeping in, things tend to go from bad to worse? When we trust instead, we feel firm and strong; we experience apparently infinite power. Yet when we worry, our power base is eroding in front of our astonished eyes.

It seems very obvious that it is much better to trust if you can. You probably have heard Jesus' promise in Matthew 17:20: 'Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed you can say to this mountain move from here to there and it will move. Nothing is impossible for you.' But these are empty words if you don't believe them. The question is, can you consciously upgrade yourself from a worrier to a believer? Run an experiment and see for yourself if you can succeed. If the outcome is good, you will have more confidence to do it again and again until you feel like that your life is blessed and your heart is always full of gratitude.

When you doubt, your ego is at work; you literally attack yourself. When you want things, your ego is at work too. It is both the same energy only worries are inward directed while desires are out-ward directed. Desires and doubts are the endless oscillations of the ego. You want something, you beat yourself up over the fact that you want it - often in the name of spirituality - and after that you doubt that it is in your power to get it anyway, and even if you could get it, you then fear that others will not allow you to get it, and on and on you go on this not-so-merry-ego-go-around. In contrast, when you trust, there is no ego involvement at all.

People who trust are blessed. People who trust know who they are and have no desire to prove themselves any more. People who trust see that everything that comes their way is a gift of the Tao. You do not have any goals anymore because you trust that if you just follow the flow, everything is easy and, in a weird way, everything is perfect as is. But please don't take our word for it, you have to try this out for yourself. Experiment with this concept and see whether this experiment of positive thinking works for you.

Have you even experienced that when you trust someone, you actually bring out the best in her. Because of your trust, she starts believing in herself and a positive cycle is about to start. The same is true along the Tao. When you trust in the Tao, you basically bring out the best in you and you have the energy and power to deal with every situation that comes your way. It is you who gives the power to yourself, to the people you are dealing with and you give a spiritual meaning to every situation at hand. You trust that you have the power to heal every situation that comes your way; you have the trust that all the people you interact with are your soul siblings who help you on this mission; and you have the trust that every situation that comes your way helps you along this healing course, helps you propelling yourself on the journey home to our Source.

The Tao is here to show you that everything you have is all that you really want. The Tao is here to show you the true worth of your soul siblings, and the Tao is here to show you that you can rejoice - you already are Home here and now. But don't just trust us on this - discover this positive cycle for yourself. The Tao is waiting for you with open arms.

By Christian and Su Zhen