Tzu-Ssu

I thought Tzu-ssu was a really awesome passage, although at this point it seems unoriginal. That may sound offensive or odd, but so many spiritual leaders seem to say the same thing – look inside yourself for the answers you seek. As repetitive as this passage may have seemed to me, there were still quotes that popped out at me. The first one was “the mature person pays attention to what is happening in his innermost self.” How many times have we seen this theme so far? Whether it is the concept of God that is within us or the unseen truth, there is undeniably something within us that we can turn to for inspiration and happiness. In this case it is the Tao and “if it is not inside you, it is not the Tao.”

Another quote that jumped out at me was the last part of the passage that starts out with “The mature person accepts his situation and doesn’t desire anything outside it.” If you find yourself in a particular situation, don’t worry about if it is good or bad, just go with the flow and be the master of yourself. Know yourself well enough to know how to act and react to new life experiences without stressing about the shoulda-coulda-woulda. I think it really speaks to the fact that we should take accountability for ourselves, appreciate what we have and don’t worry about what we do not have. Life is much less stressful when you can learn to roll with the punches and enjoy the moment versus always hoping and wishing for the future. It is easy to always blame someone else for your misfortune, or wish that life would’ve been different, but if you never take a look at what you have right in front of you as well as inside of yourself, you’ll never be able to appreciate anything.