Notes on the Tao

Tadashi - 正しい

Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right.

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Confidence thinking is really the mastery of one's mind. You need to have control over your thoughts and not the other way around. Once you gain this skill, and it really is just a skill you develop, you then not only think positively, you'll have an aura of complete confidence and inner peace.

You start by paying attention to your thoughts. What is that little voice you have in your head saying to you over and over?

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Hernacki's secret is that in order to achieve something, you must be absolutely willing to do everything it takes, and you must take action with total initiative. If you can do that, you will see your goal rushing to completion, and you end up not having to do all the things you thought you had to after all!

You simply decide on a specific goal that you can visualize, and write it down fifteen times a day. If you can do this consistently, your intangible desire will materialize. The difficult part is the consistency. What's so supernatural about this, you ask? Wouldn't you succeed simply by continuously motivating yourself? That's psychology, not metaphysics!

You can decide on a goal that is just beyond your reach, something that you cannot accomplish by your efforts alone. That way, when your wish comes true you'll be able to tell that the affirmations have played an undeniable role.

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A good plan, vigorously executed now, is better than a perfect plan executed next week

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The things that happen in our lives may seem random, but really aren't. We know events have causes and effects, so as we move through life, we are basically experiencing one effect after another. These effects are predetermined by their associated cause in other words, they are scripted, and karma is the author. We often know what to expect in life, but not always.

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Lao Tzu expressed it in chapter 27 of Tao Te Ching: "Good speech does not seek faults." When we seek faults in others, we are pointing the finger of accusation. We're also throwing stones of recrimination and blame. All too often we do so without thinking about our own faults. We cannot see the glasshouse in which we live.

The idea that the soft overcomes the hard is a recurring theme in Tao spirituality. The classical example of this is dripping water drilling through stone. Another example is one's tongue outlasting one's teeth. Given enough time, victory always belongs to the soft and the yielding.

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The Taoist concept of emptiness is not a vacuous state of nothingness; rather, it is a pregnant void bursting with potentialities. The blank pages in the book of your life are where the continuing tale of your adventures will be written. These empty pages are the place where unlimited possibilities exist.

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We start out with the unwritten, assumed rule that we have two choices, half full or half empty, and we must choose one of them. But must we really? Does it really have to be one or the other? Why can it not be both, or neither? The sage knows that the essence of life is to be lived, not debated.

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If you practise day and night in the Ichi school strategy, your spirit will naturally broaden. This is recorded for the first time in the five books of Ground, Water, Fire, Tradition (Wind), and Void. This is the Way for men who want to learn my strategy:

- Do not think dishonestly.
- The Way is in training.
- Become aquainted with every art.
- Know the Ways of all professions.
- Distinguish between gain and loss in worldly matters.
- Develop intuitive judgement and understanding for everything.
- Perceive those things which cannot be seen.
- Pay attention even to trifles.
- Do nothing which is of no use.

It is important to start by setting these broad principles in your heart, and train in the Way of strategy. If you do not look at things on a large scale it will be difficult for you to master strategy. If you learn and attain this strategy you will never lose even to twenty or thirty enemies. More than anything to start with you must set your heart on strategy and earnestly stick to the Way. You will come to be able to actually beat men in fights, and to be able to win with your eye. Also by training you will be able to freely control your own body, conquer men with your body, and with sufficient training you will be able to beat ten men with your spirit. When you have reached this point, will it not mean that you are invincible?

Moreover, in large scale strategy the superior man will manage many subordinates dextrously, bear himself correctly, govern the country and foster the people, thus preserving the ruler's discipline. If there is a Way involving the spirit of not being defeated, to help oneself and gain honour, it is the Way of strategy.

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The worst thing you can do in warfare is to underestimate your opponent. The worst thing you can do in life is to underestimate your challenges. In either case, it can cause you to charge forth recklessly. When I did that, I almost lost my treasures (compassion, conservation, and humility).

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Quality means doing it right when no one is looking.

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Life is a series of experiences, each one of which makes us bigger, even though sometimes it is hard to realize this. For the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks and grieves which we endure help us in our marching onward.

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Don't be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves.

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If you can't sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying. It's the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep.

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Your purpose is to make your audience see what you saw, hear what you heard, feel what you felt. Relevant detail, couched in concrete, colorful language, is the best way to recreate the incident as it happened and to picture it for the audience.

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“In the midst of movement and chaos, keep stillness inside of you.”

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If you want to reach a state of bliss, then go beyond your ego and the internal dialogue. Make a decision to relinquish the need to control, the need to be approved, and the need to judge. Those are the three things the ego is doing all the time. It's very important to be aware of them every time they come up.”

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“Whatever relationships you have attracted in your life at this moment, are precisely the ones you need in your life at this moment. There is a hidden meaning behind all events, and this hidden meaning is serving your own evolution.”

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Our thinking and our behaviour are always in anticipation of a response. It is therefore fear-based.”

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The true test of character is not how much we know how to do, but how we behave when we don't know what to do.”

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As you begin changing your thinking, start immediately to change your behaviour. Begin to act the part of the person you would like to become. Take action on your behaviour. Too many people want to feel, then take action. This never works.”

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Both praise and blame cause concern,
For they bring people hope and fear.
The object of hope and fear is the self -
For, without self, to whom may fortune and disaster occur?

Therefore,
Who distinguishes himself from the world may be given the world,
But who regards himself as the world may accept the world.

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Health or reputation: which is held dearer?
Health or possessions: which has more worth?
Profit or loss: which is more troublesome?

Great love incurs great expense,
And great riches incur great fear,
But contentment comes at no cost;
Who knows when to stop
Does not continue into danger,
And so may long endure.

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When fear does occur, it is important to realise why and let it dissipate or use it (if appropriate).
The key to handling fear is composure: the ability to maintain emotional calm despite the proximity of danger.
A quiet mind is essential.
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Tai chi self defence represents a commitment to face conflict with humour and good grace.
Standing alone in the face of hostility or adversity requires courage.
Other people may not support you or even understand.
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In tai chi we look for optimal alignment and relaxation at all times. Form exists to provide a framework for movement.
The movement must ultimately be allowed to operate without the scaffolding of fixed postures.

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10 - Can you coax your mind from its wandering
and keep to the original oneness?
Can you let your body become
supple as a newborn child's?
Can you cleanse your inner vision
until you see nothing but the light?
Can you love people and lead them
without imposing your will?
Can you deal with the most vital matters
by letting events take their course?
Can you step back from your own mind
and thus understand all things?

Giving birth and nourishing,
having without possessing,
acting with no expectations,
leading and not trying to control:
this is the supreme virtue.

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Success is as dangerous as failure.
Hope is as hollow as fear.

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Empty your mind of all thoughts.
Let your heart be at peace.
Watch the turmoil of beings,
but contemplate their return.

Each separate being in the universe
returns to the common source.
Returning to the source is serenity.

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Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right.

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SynchroDestiny and Abundance

Deepak Chopra

SynchroDestiny is coincidence but it contains a purpose. It contains a meaning. It has a direction. It has intention. And where do those qualities come from? They come from you.

I am convinced that once you understand SynchroDestiny, you will understand nothing less than the dynamics and mechanics of creation itself; but if that seems a bit abstract, I can also assure you that through SynchroDestiny, you can develop the ability to manifest abundance in your everyday life.

Abundance can mean many things. It can mean material wealth. It can mean emotional well being and spiritual fulfillment. Abundance can mean the ability to fully experience love and compassion. It can mean feeling joy and being able to spread joy to others.

At the most fundamental level, an understanding of SynchroDestiny can provide a sense of spiritual abundance--a sense that our lives are truly connected at every moment to the creative power of the universe. This power is the intelligence that orchestrates the whole dance of creation on every scale, from the furthest reaches of the cosmos to the events of our own daily lives.
There are seven key principles that must be grasped. Master these seven principles and you will have mastered SynchroDestiny. You will know the secrets of how the invisible is transformed to the visible. How what has been only dimly felt becomes what is absolutely clear and tangible.

These seven principles are the starting points for everything you will learn in this program and the process of mastering them will follow a very clear path. Each of the principles should be understood thoroughly and individually before moving on to the next one, so you may want to listen to some of the tapes several times before going further in the program. It is best to concentrate on the individual principles one at a time-really focus on them-and then go on to the next, until you're finally ready to put them all together.

Here are the seven principles that underlie SynchroDestiny. Right now I will briefly describe each one and on the tapes that follow they will be discussed in much more detail.

The first principle of SynchroDestiny is the existence of the Conscious Energy Field. By that I mean the underlying intelligence that gives rise to my body and your body and to the universe as a whole, from the stars and galaxies down to the atoms and molecules-all this is really the extended body we all share. The conscious energy field is really the antithesis of the idea that the universe is a machine or a clock or some other mechanism that operates essentially without consciousness or awareness or intention.

I refer to the second principle as Creating Cosmic Connections. Understanding how human relationships operate is one of the most important keys to SynchroDestiny. In the West, we tend to think that the principles of the natural world exist separately from human thoughts and feelings. We may acknowledge that networking and meeting lots of new people is important to our careers-but this is really just using human relationships as a tactic. In mastering SynchroDestiny, the ability to create positive human relationships is much more than a tactic, it is fundamental, in the same way that gravity is fundamental or having air to breathe is fundamental. Creating Cosmic Connections means creating the human environment in which SynchroDestiny can take place.

The third principle, which I call Mastering Inner Dialogue, concerns the way your mind literally creates reality-and the ways in which you can transform reality to create abundance. Here is a quick example of what this means: Suppose you are dissatisfied with your job and you want to find a new one. You start looking through the newspapers and talking to friends who are familiar with your career, but nothing turns up. If you were asked to describe this situation, you might shrug your shoulders and say, "Well, there's just nothing out there for me. I looked around, but there just wasn't anything out there.

Now let me contrast this analysis with another example from a very different part of the world. Suppose a hunter in the Amazon rain forest is having difficulty finding game. If he goes to a shaman to deal with the situation, neither the hunter nor the shaman looks anywhere but within the hunter himself for the solution to the problem. It never occurs to them to say something like, "There's no game out there," because they know there is game out there. The problem is that something within the hunter is preventing him from finding the game. Maybe something within the hunter is even driving the game away. So the shaman asks the hunter to participate in a ritual that is designed to change what is in the hunter's heart and mind-because it is the heart and mind that control the external reality.

This is an area in which I think we have a great deal to learn from traditional societies, because we really underestimate the extent to which we literally create the world around us.

When we find ourselves looking at the world and saying, "There's nothing out there," we should probably also look into our hearts and ask, "If there's nothing out there, is there anything in here?" What is in here is what I mean by Inner Dialogue and Mastering Inner Dialogue is the third principle of SynchroDestiny.

The fourth principle is the art of Penetrating the Conspiracy of Improbabilities. This is a very exciting area of the program and it can really be a lot of fun. Penetrating the Conspiracy of Improbabilities means learning to recognize meaningful coincidences. It means learning to see them as opportunities rather than just little breaks in your daily routine.

The fifth principle deals with Harnessing Emotional Turbulence. Once we understand that external reality cannot be separated from internal reality--once we understand that the universe really is our extended body--it becomes very clear that negative energy within ourselves is very self-destructive. Emotional Turbulence is a major barrier to the spontaneous fulfillment of desire. Transforming negative energy into a higher level of awareness is the fifth principle of mastering SynchroDestiny.

The sixth principle is learning to use the Infinite Organizing Power of Intention. Again, mastering this principle means letting go of the idea that the universe is basically an inert machine. It means getting beyond the idea that there are certain forces like gravity or electromagnetism that control the universe to the utter exclusion of a force from within ourselves, such as intention.

But intention is a force of nature just like gravity. In fact, there have been experiments to measure the power of intention. Can you, for instance, cause a person to turn around and look at you simply by staring at the back of his head and intending for him to turn around? Experiments like these have yielded some very interesting results and we will be discussing this in connection with the sixth principle.

The seventh and final principle is really about taking the ideas presented at the beginning of the program about the Conscious Energy Field and making them the guideposts of your own life just as they are the ruling principles of the universe. Awareness that these principles are not just abstractions, that they are operating in everything we do, is really more than just awareness, it is really a kind of celebration. I refer to it as Celebrating the Cosmic Dance and that is also the name I have given to the seventh principle of SynchroDestiny. When you have mastered SynchroDestiny, when you have learned to synchronize your life with the universe itself, you are Celebrating the Cosmic Dance. This is really a very important point. Suppose you were to ask the next person you meet this very simple question: "What are the principles you live by?" Most of the time, in answer to a question like that, you are just going to get a blank stare. People just are not used to thinking about questions like that and sometimes they even feel offended about being asked to think about them.

On the other end of the spectrum, you might get an answer that is so narrow that it avoids the question in a different way. Someone might say, "Well, I live by the principle of an apple a day keeps the doctor away." Or, "I live by the principle of always carrying some change for parking meters." What I am suggesting is that we really can recognize a connection between how we live our lives and the way the universe works and we can live in harmony with that connection.

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Successful men become successful only because they acquire the habit of thinking in terms of success.
- Napoleon Hill

Responsibilities = our abilities to control our responses.
- paraphrasing Steven Covey

Between stimulus and response, there is a space.
In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and freedom.
Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

Life is limited and you should go after your dreams

Understand that even if you can't control outside circumstances, you can control your reaction to them. Make a conscious effort to tell yourself that his poor behavior can make you upset only if you allow it.

Leave your work at the office, mentally that is. When you step outside after a trying day's work, tell yourself that you have all day tomorrow to deal with the problems and mentally switch gears by thinking something positive or planning your next vacation, even if it's months away.

Self-Confident
Doing what you believe to be right, even if others mock or criticize you for it.

Low Self-Confidence
Governing your behavior based on what other people think.

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And then commit yourself to success!
The final part of preparing for the journey is to make a clear and unequivocal promise to yourself that you are absolutely committed to your journey, and that you will do all in your power to achieve it.


Build the knowledge you need to succeed:
Focus on the basics
Set small goals, and achieve them:
Keep managing your mind:

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Quite often, our experience of stress comes from our perception of a situation. Often that perception is right, but sometimes it isn't. Sometimes we are unreasonably harsh with ourselves, or jump to wrong conclusions about people’s motives, and this can send us into a downward spiral of negative thinking.

The most commonly accepted definition of stress is that it occurs when a person believes that "demands exceed the personal and social resources the individual is able to mobilize". In short, it's when we feel out of control.

When people feel stressed, they have made two main judgments: First, they feel threatened by the situation, and second, they believe that they're not able to meet the threat. How stressed someone feels depends on how much the situation can hurt them, and how closely their resources meet the demands of the situation.

Perception is key to this as (technically!) situations are not stressful in their own right. Rather it is our interpretation of the situation that drives the level of stress that we feel.

One approach to it is to observe your "stream of consciousness" as you think about the thing you're trying to achieve which is stressful. Do not suppress any thoughts. Instead, just let them run their course while you watch them, and write them down on our free worksheet as they occur. Then let them go.

Worry about other people's reactions: If you have prepared well, and you do the best you can, then you should be satisfied. If you perform as well as you reasonably can, then fair people are likely to respond well. If people are not fair, the best thing to do is ignore their comments and rise above them.

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