The Acclaimed Wisdom of the Tao te Ching Made Simple.

It is one of the most acclaimed books of philosophy, and spiritual inquiry ever written.

This Entry #59 explores how we can guard the most sacred of places — Tao

This Commentary is extracted from the “Course on Essential Taoism A-Z and Beyond” — A program based on the merging of 20 different English Translations of the Tao te Ching (from Mandarin to English) which I developed between 1972–2012.

This entry, Guarding Tao, addresses the subtle distinction between resignation and surrender in the game of life.

Many treat these words as being synonymous but they are not. To be resigned is often to “give up,” in a state of incompletion, and with a sense of failure. Often, one resigns from a point of view or some position as a result of pressure or to avoid unwanted consequences.

For the transparent Essential Taoist, surrender implies that an Awakened person completely gives up their own will while existing in a natural flow and rhythm that comes through the subjecting of their thoughts, ideas, and deeds to the teachings of Tao. To surrender here is to willfully accept and yield to Tao. This way of being is exactly what you are observing when you watch a bird fly on thermals, wings spread out, rising higher and higher but without any flapping movement. This takes place because the bird has surrendered with intention and has immersed itself in hot air as it rises up from lower to higher altitudes.